Today, the cumulative installed area of water heating collectors in China reaches 100 million sqm. That is almost 80% of the global solar thermal capacity installed worldwide. But this number corresponds only to 78 sqm of collector surface installed for every 1000 in-habitants.  In terms of capacity in operation per capita, China is far behind countries like Cyprus, Israel, Greece, Germany and many others. This low penetration rate means that the Chinese solar thermal market still has a huge growth potential for the years to come. By 2015, the total installed solar thermal capacity in China is forecasted to be 20 times as large as it is now, reaching 2.3 billion sqm.  20 to 30% of the Chinese population will then be using the sun to heat its domestic water!

While Europe is mainly equipped with flat plate collectors, China has developed its own technology: the evacuated tube. Two high quality glass tubes - a three-layer coated inner tube (anti-reflective, frequency-converter and infrared reflective coatings) and an outer tube - are melted together.  The air between the two tubes is evacuated. The vacuum forms a thermos flask, thus producing a highly efficient solar water heating element.

The evacuated tube technology was initially developed by Qing Hua University in Beijing in the early eighties and is now very mature. The Chinese Solar water heating systems using the evacuated tube technology are robust (a standard life-time for a good quality system is 10 years). It proved to be more efficient then earlier vaccum tubes using a metal/glass sealing.  And, asthey are produced massively in China, these tubes become cheaper than any other system in the world.
Although only 2 Million sqm of water heating systems were exported in 2006 (10% of the total yearly production), the unique advantages of the Chinese water heating systems shall drive up the volume of exports to Europe in the coming years.

But, the usual China Sourcing pitfalls remain: suppliers must be carefully selected, qualified and managed locally. Out of the current 5,000 manufacturers in China (including many small or family-run businesses) a few suppliers only are structured enough to deliver consistent quality. For example, there are quality problems with some supplier's design of collectors for pressurized systems.  As always, a close follow-up and a dedicated supplier management proves to be a a good sourcing practice in this sector also.  Even more so that the European market remains small in comparison with the Chinese market.  Therefore, ensuring a lasting commitment from Chinese solar thermal suppliers will also require to build ansd maintain a close and personalized relation with them.

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