Inclusive media. 16.1.2020
Kokkola-based company Heliostorage has developed an affordable and climate-friendly solar heating system.
It involves transferring heat from the sun on the roof of a building in summer to the ground, where it is stored at around 70 degrees Celsius. From there it is transferred back to heat the interior of the building.
According to Science magazine (1/2020), its maintenance and production costs are less than €10 per megawatt-hour. The cost of geothermal heat is €40-60 per megawatt-hour, most of which comes from the electricity required for the compressor (NB: Geothermal unit corrected on 18 January at 10.00).
A solar thermal collector does not require a compressor, but only a circulating water pump, which makes the running costs about seven times cheaper than, for example, district heating.
The larger the heat storage tank, the more cost-effective it is. At present, the minimum size of a heat storage tank must be the size needed for three detached houses, according to an article in the German magazine ‘Die Tiede’.
As the cost is then between EUR 15 000 and EUR 30 000 per property, it is worth organising the financing on a long-term basis and the state should provide various financial subsidies to speed up the projects.
The energy from the roof can heat a one or two-storey building, but for buildings higher than that, additional heat is needed from elsewhere. For industrial halls and low-rise schools and office buildings, the system works well.
The system can also be used for cooling, to store industrial waste heat or to capture excess wind power generated by storms.
The company’s development director Timo Sivula estimates the market for cooling and heating systems at €18 billion. (Yle, 29.8.2018)
This is a revolutionary low-cost and environmentally friendly Finnish system that should be supported by the state in many ways. For example, by ordering the system for at least ten buildings to give Heliostorage a boost to expand rapidly and employ people.
At the same time, the state would set an example of how Finland’s carbon neutrality target can be achieved through economically advantageous measures.
