Savosolar has been selected as general contractor to build the largest solar thermal system in Finland to date, on behalf of Suur-Savon Sähkö Oy for its district heating network in Puumala, which supplies households with healthy heating. In this hybrid installation the solar thermal system is producing both, high-temperature heat to district heating supply pipe and also low-temperature heat to improve heat pump plant COP.
Brewing is a very suitable application for solar thermal systems, because of the relatively low temperatures used in several production phases.
In the brewery of Flecks in Frohnleiten, a solar thermal system with Savosolar collectors is used to support the hot water production required by the brewing process. The heat from the collectors is stored in four 3,000 litre water tanks for later use in the brewing process. The mounted collectors also act as a rain shield.
Lolland forsyning’s district heating plant in Søllested is located on the island of Lolland and was the first installation, where Savosolar’s double glazed collectors were used. The double glazing reduces heat losses through the glass side of collector and offers a higher efficiency, especially at higher operation temperature levels and during the darker months of the year. Søllested district heating plant has ca. 500 customers and also uses a 5 MW straw boiler and an oil burner to produce its heat.
The collector field in Søllested has a so-called hybrid field, with both single and double glazed collectors. The single glazed collectors are in the cold end of the collector rows and increase the low temperature as rapidly as possible, while the double glazed collectors are located in the warm side of the collector rows where it is more important to reduce the heat losses.
In Søllested, Savosolar was faced with a special challenge since the customer’s land has a sewerage pipe running through it. Since the owner of the sewer pipe needs to be able to access it in case of maintenance, Savosolar supplied a collector field which both optimised the use of the available land, while still providing access to the sewer pipe
Largest solar thermal plant in Finland
Savosolar has been selected as general contractor to build the largest solar thermal system in Finland to date, on behalf of Etelä Savon Energia Oy for its district heating network, which supplies households with healthy heating. The plant operate as an additional peak load sources during summer season while the main boilers are out of service.