Heating village heating networks with sun and wood is becoming a model for success. In Germany, five such heat supply systems are being launched this year.<\/p>\n
While the heating sector is the problem child of the energy transition throughout Germany, numerous villages are showing how the conversion to renewable energies can be mastered in one fell swoop. More and more often, village communities are relying on a combination of sun and wood, with a large solar thermal system taking over the entire heat supply in the summer. While one such network was launched in each of the past two years, the number of German solar bioenergy villages will grow by five to a total of eight by the end of 2018.<\/p>\n
Thomas Pauschinger, a member of the management team at the Steinbeis Research Institute Solites in Stuttgart, where he is in charge of the Solnet 4.0 project for the promotion of solar heating networks, sees a clear trend towards solar heating in Germany's villages: \"It is obvious that solar thermal energy is becoming a reliable and economical heat generator in more and more energy villages, because such systems are a future-proof investment and enjoy a high level of acceptance among the residents. With current technology, even more is possible than the 20-percent share that is common in Germany's solar villages today, says Pauschinger: \"We expect that in the future solar thermal will not only cover the summer demand of such heating networks, but will also achieve higher solar shares through larger storage tanks.\"<\/p>\n
New to the club are: <\/p>\n Solar energy village Randegg, district of the municipality of Gottmadingen, Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg <\/p>\n Solar energy village Mengsberg, district of the town of Neustadt, Hesse Solar Energy Village Breklum, Schleswig-Holstein<\/strong>Operator: B\u00fcrgerGemeindeWerke Breklum e.G. <\/p>\n Solar energy village Ellern, district of the municipality of Rheinb\u00f6llen, Rhineland-Palatinate
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\nSolar energy village Liggeringen, district of the town of Radolfzell, Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg
\n<\/strong>Operator: Stadtwerke Radolfzell GmbH
\nCommissioning: 2018
\nHouse connections: 90 (first construction phase)
\nNetwork length: 5 km
\nCollector area: 1,100 m\u00b2 (first construction phase)
\nCollector type: High-temperature flat-plate collectors
\nExpected annual yield: 470 MWh\/a
\nSolar coverage: 20 %<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Operator: Solarcomplex AG
\nCommissioning of heating network: 2009
\nCommissioning solar thermal: 2018
\nHouse connections:150
\nNetwork length: 6.6 km
\nCollector area: 2,400 m2<\/sup>
\nCollector type: CPC vacuum tube collectors
\nExpected annual yield: 1100 MWh\/a
\nSolar coverage: 20 %<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Operator: Bioenergiegenossenschaft Mengsberg BEGM eG
\nCommissioning: 2018
\nHouse connections: 150
\nNetwork length: 9 km
\nCollector area: 3,000 m2
\n<\/sup>Collector type: High-temperature flat-plate collectors
\n<\/sup>Expected annual yield: 900 MWh\/a
\nSolar coverage: 17 %<\/p>\n
\nCommissioning: 2018
\nHouse connections: 42 (first construction phase)
\nNetwork length: 3.8 km
\nCollector area: 652 m2<\/sup> (first expansion stage)
\nCollector type: CPC vacuum tube collectors
\nExpected annual yield: 289 MWh\/a (first construction phase)
\nSolar coverage: 8 %<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Commissioning: 2018
\nHouse connections: 105
\nNetwork length: 5.3 km
\nCollector area: 1,245 m2<\/sup>
\nCollector type: CPC vacuum tube collectors
\nExpected annual yield: 555 MWh\/a
\nSolar coverage: 15 %<\/p>\n