Solar energy located in the Green Tech Valley
Styria is the breeding ground for intelligent solutions regarding the utilisation of solar energy, particularly as far as hot water preparation, heating, plants and refrigeration are cancaned. Whereas in the beginning of the 1980’s it was the world’s first self-assembly units that began their triumphant advance from Styria. Now leading know-how and innovative products are progressing:
Solar refrigeration
Styria is well-known for outstanding white wine. This wine needs to be cooled during production — just like many office buildings or industrial processes. Intelligent solutions for refrigeration using solar energy have been developed and tested in practice by using Styrian know-how. One example for this is the first solar-power wine refrigerations system using solar power worldwide.
Big solar plants
The largest solar plant in Central Europe originated in the Styrian provincial capital Graz. With a collector surface area of 5,900 square metres, this facility annually supplies 2,500 megawatt hours (MWh) of heat for about 3,000 households in the district heating network. The efficiency of solar plants (including those for high-temperature process heat) was once again substantially increased by means of product innovations such as innovative controllers or photovoltaic-powered street lighting.
Export of solar know-how
Numerous international showpiece examples have already been created by using Styrian know-how. In addition to the EU “Renewable Energy House” in Brussels (which is equipped with Styrian biomass and solar solutions), the 2008 Olympic Village in Beijing will be supplied with solar heating and refrigeration technology from Styria.