Germany is financially supporting the construction of the first large-scale solar thermal power plant in Morocco. The Moroccan Solar Energy Agency and KfW Entwicklungsbank have signed a corresponding agreement. The power plant with parabolic trough collectors is planned to have an output of 160 MW. The storage capacities integrated in the design enable the operation to be continued up to three hours after sunset. Construction is earmarked to begin in 2012 and is scheduled to last around one year. The plant will be located in the town of Ouarzazate, which is situated on the northern edge of the Sahara.  more...

Its sounds ideal: a domestic energy plant that generates heat and electricity works almost without emissions and also exclusively utilises the sun and bioalcohol as renewable energy. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy systems ISE are working on such a plant. The heart of the system comprises a fuel cell combined with a newly developed reformer that generates the hydrogen required for the fuel cell from bioethanol.  more...

"Within the next ten years, the number of load changes in large-scale power plants will double." In his opening speech, Professor Michael Beckmann outlined a central task for power plant technology, namely to flexibly ensure grid stability without overly reducing the service life of turbo engines. Each year, his Institute for Energy Technology at the Technical University of Dresden organises a conference at which hundreds of experts discuss a wide range of issues spanning from solar power plants to nuclear technology.  more...

While the amount of process heat produced from solar sources is still low, the potential is high. Heating chemical baths, generating solar cooling and using hot air in a drying oven: these are classic examples of process applications. Now a metal finishing plant near Wuppertal has achieved first time worldwide by connecting its own steam network to parabolic trough collectors in which steam is generated directly in the absorber pipe. This simple technology eliminates the need for thermal oil as a heat transfer medium and saves on fossil generated energy.  more...

The political conditions for a change in energy policy (from fossil fuels and nuclear energy to renewable energy sources) have never been better. However, a successful change in energy supply can only take place with the support of private households who change to green electricity and homeowners who invest in renewable energy technology. How can potential users (and especially women) be persuaded to change? The interdisciplinary research project "Renewable energy sources and green electricity - communication according to specific target groups" intended to find the answer to this question.  more...

In its 2010 Annual Report, the German Federal Ministry of the Environment has presented its focal areas for funding research in the field of renewable energies. Topics include wind energy, photovoltaics, solar thermal energy, solar thermal power plants, geothermal energy, the optimisation of energy supply systems, ocean power, interrelated issues and international collaboration.  more...

In June 2010, the Solar Decathlon Europe took place for the first time in Madrid. The aim of the international competition is to develop and independently build experimental and cutting edge homes. In terms of their annual energy balance, the buildings must cover their energy needs by using solar power. During the eight-day competition, judging panels assessed the buildings in ten individual disciplines. In Madrid, the University of Virginia from the USA successfully beat off 16 competitors to achieve first place. Two university teams from Germany also made it onto the winning rostrum.  more...

The residents of the Olympic Park housing estate are also supplied with solar thermal heat for space and domestic water heating in winter. This is ensured by a seasonal hot water storage tank in combination with a heat pump. With a capacity of 5.7 million litres, the underground bunker is large enough to almost fill three average-sized public swimming pools. With their heating concept, the researchers at the Bavarian Centre for Applied Energy Research achieved a return temperature of just 30 °C in the local heating network.  more...

There are already more than 100 regions and many rural communities that are promoting sustainable development based on renewable energies. After developing individual concepts and strategies, the lengthy and often very complex implementation begins. A research project organised by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment has been supporting these regions in conceptual and technical terms since 2007. This project is being conducted by the deENet competence network and the University of Kassel, and is being advised by the German Federal Environment Agency. In a second project phase, it is planned to create a national network by 2013.  more...

The eagerly anticipated draft version of the "Lead Study 2010" can now be downloaded. The study, entitled "Long-term scenarios and strategies for developing renewable energies in Germany taking into account developments in Europe and worldwide", is available on the website of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. For the first time the study carries out a complete dynamic simulation of the electricity supply and describes the technical and economic impacts of developing renewable energies.  more...