- Secure heat supply in comparison to fire places or gas stove
- Reduced fossil fuel use, emissions and costs
- Quiet electricity generation
- Tried-and-tested technology
- Low maintenance requirementss

Solar heating collector
© Fraunhofer ISE
While photovoltaic technology converts sunlight into electricity, solar thermal technology, on the other hand, turns sunlight into heat.
Solar collectors are used to harvest solar energy and use it to heat a carrier fluid, which is conducted into a heat store. Solar thermal energy can be used to heat water and to support heating in private homes. Commercially, it is used to produce process heat or cooling energy or to support drying processes in industry, agriculture and forestry.
The advantage of this technology is that the heated liquid can be stored. As a result, energy is also available at night when there is no sunshine.
Solar thermal energy is an extremely reliable and climate-friendly technology. However, its market development is dependent on changes in the price of electricity and gas and on funding opportunities.
In 2016, the total capacity of solar thermal technology installed worldwide amounted to more than 450 gigawatts-thermal (see IEA SHC).
Companies in the German solar thermal sector count among the world leaders in this field. Currently, they are investing in particular in research into new materials and technologies.