Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Collector.
The approximate costs of the collectors currently available are between
50 and 1,200 €/m
2
. The decisive factor is the collector type; simple absorber mats
cost between approximately 40 and 80 €/m
2
and single-glazed flat-plate collectors
with black or selective absorbers can cost between 200 and 500 €/m
2
depending
on the plant size. Vacuum pipe collectors, multi-covered flat-plate collectors or
collectors improved by transparent heat insulation, can increase costs to more than
700 €/m
2
and sometimes above.
Apart from the technology, the collector costs also depend on the size of the
collector. Collector modules with large areas are cheaper, relative to their size,
than small collectors; in some cases large collector modules have been offered at
220 €/m
2
, or even less for very large collector areas (i.e. below 200 €/m
2
), includ-
ing installation and piping /4-15/. However, costs are generally slightly above that
level.
The collectors are often also available as kit and can assembled by the per-
son/company in charge of operating the system. Costs are then somewhat lower.
However, collector kits for self-assembly have lost market share over the last few
years as prices for readily installed systems have gone down.
Storage.
The costs for the storage depend mainly on the storage volume; invest-
ment costs for smaller systems with a storage content between 200 and 500 l in-
cluding the heat exchanger are between 1.5 and 3 €/l storage volume or 100 to
200 €/m
2
collector area.
Heat-insulated steel tanks of up to 200 m
3
are currently the state-of-the-art of
technology. A 100 m
3
storage costs between 300 and 400 €/m
3
. Larger reservoirs
in the ground are significantly cheaper. Total costs between 75 and 80 €/m
3
were
estimated for a ground reservoir with a size of 12,000 m
3
. This includes the labour
and material costs for setting up the building site, ground works and drainage plus
steel and concrete works. Other sources quote costs between 50 and 80 €/m
3
for
heat-insulated ground reservoirs with metal foils for sealing and volumes between
7,000 and 40,000 m
3
.
Other system components.
This includes the pipes, the sensors and control instru-
ments, the pump, the anti-freeze plus all installations related to security-
technology (e.g. security and shut-off valves, expansion tank). For decentralised
domestic hot water supply systems, normally 20 to 30 m of pipes have to be in-
stalled. Thus, the costs for the pipes including the heat insulation are between 40
and 70 €/m
2
collector area. In total, the investment costs for these components are
between 60 and 90 €/m
2
collector area for decentralised solar thermal systems.
For centralised, solar thermal domestic hot water systems the total costs of
other components can vary between 65 and 130 €/m
2
. As a first estimate, this
range can also be taken as being representative for larger solar-supported district
heating systems.
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