SOLAR COLLECTOR TUBE MARKET SIZE AND SHARE ANALYSIS - GROWTH TRENDS AND FORECASTS (2023 - 2030)

Market Challenges And Opportunities

Solar Collector Tube Market Drivers

• Supportive government policies and incentives promoting renewable energy: Governments across the globe are implementing policies, regulations, and incentives to drive the adoption of renewable energy sources including solar thermal technology. Initiatives like renewable heat incentives, zero/low interest loans, tax rebates, and renewable energy targets are encouraging the installation of solar water heating and space heating systems which utilize collector tubes. For instance, the European Union (EU) Renewable Energy Directive sets a binding target of 20% final energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020. The U.S. offers a 30% federal tax credit for solar water heaters. Such measures are expected to boost the solar collector market.
• Technology advancements leading to higher efficiency and lower costs: Ongoing advancements in materials, coatings, heat transfer mechanisms, and manufacturing processes are enhancing the efficiency of solar collector tubes while reducing costs. For example, the development of selective surface coatings with high solar absorptivity and low thermal emissivity has improved collector efficiency. Manufacturers are focusing on vacuum optimization in evacuated tubes to minimize convection and conduction heat losses. These technology enhancements are increasing the cost-competitiveness and performance of solar collector tubes, propelling market growth.
• Growing adoption of solar heating for residential, commercial and industrial applications: Growing awareness regarding renewable energy and need for energy-efficient, eco-friendly heating solutions is driving the adoption of solar collector tubes across the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. Residential installations of solar water heaters utilize collector tubes for domestic hot water needs and pool heating. The commercial segment includes collector tube applications in hotels, hospitals, and educational institutions. Industries are using large collector arrays for process heat and preheating boiler feedwater. The broad usage across sectors is fueling the growth of the collector tubes market.
• Supportive regulatory norms mandating renewable energy use in buildings: The implementation of building codes and standards making the integration of solar water heating systems mandatory or preferential in new and existing buildings is providing an impetus to the collector tube market. For instance, all new buildings constructed in Israel require solar water heating. Spain mandates solar coverage of 30-70% of hot water needs in new buildings. Such regulations are creating strong demand growth scenarios for solar collector tubes globally.

Solar Collector Tube Market Opportunities

• Integration with thermal energy storage systems: Collector tubes combined with thermal energy storage systems provide a promising opportunity to address intermittency, a key drawback of solar thermal technologies. Thermal energy storage enables available solar heat to be stored for later use. For instance, solar collector tubes can be coupled with pit or borehole thermal storage for seasonal storage and continuous utilization of solar heat. Such integrated systems allow extension of collector tube applications beyond basic water heating into process heat and air conditioning.
• Emergence of solar district heating (SDH) plants: Growing development of centralized solar district heating networks for residential and commercial heating applications presents an attractive opportunity for the solar collector market. These systems utilize large-scale collector arrays to provide hot water and space heating on community scale. Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Austria have been frontrunners in establishing SDH plants. China aims to reach 800 million m2 installed solar collector area for SDH by 2030, thus signaling massive potential. Collector tubes are essential components in such plants.
• Integration in combined heat and power (CHP) systems: Solar collectors can be integrated in combined heat and power plants that produce both electricity and usable heat from the same fuel source, thereby improving overall efficiency. Collector tubes find application in solar-boosted CHP plants to preheat water before entering the CHP system. China, Denmark, and Germany have pioneered solar CHP demonstration plants. With growing interest in solar-assisted CHP, the collector tube market is slated for high growth. For instances, in 2023, according to a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), solar district heating applications are expected to grow rapidly in the next 5 years across regions like Europe, China and India. IRENA predicts solar thermal technologies like solar collector tubes, which will play an important role in hybridizing district heating networks with renewable energy.
• Potential use in solar cooling technologies: An emerging application for collector tubes lies in solar thermal cooling systems which produce chilled water for air-conditioning using solar energy. Collector tubes provide heat to drive thermally-driven chillers in these systems. Though current adoption is limited, research and development (R&D) focused on improving collector efficiency, integration, and cost-reduction is expected to create attractive avenues in solar thermal cooling. This will provide new growth prospects to collector tube.