The aim of the proposed research is to provide the necessary knowledge to allow the development of a pre-prototype High Performance Vacuum Flat Plate Solar Thermal Collector with minimal materials content. The development of a thin evacuated solar collector offers new and exciting prospects for integrating solar collectors into building designs and for their use in medium temperature (100-200 Celsius) applications such as air conditioning or low temperature process heat. The research planned will develop technology for the effective utilisation of the solar energy resource and fits within EPSRC's Energy theme. Solar thermal energy is predicted to be a significant growth market with the potential to make a significant contribution to reducing fossil fuel use in the building energy sector. The research is targeted at providing new knowledge and techniques that will enable the advances in technology necessary for a step change in solar thermal collector performance to be realised and a range of new products and application areas developed. Such new products will encourage inward investment and lead to the creation of new companies that can contribute significantly to the transition to a low carbon society whilst maintaining and improving quality of life.

Potential Impact:
The proposed research will provide the necessary knowledge to allow the development of a pre-prototype High Performance Vacuum Flat Plate Solar Thermal Collector with minimal materials content. The development of a thin evacuated solar collector offers new and exciting prospects for integrating solar collectors into building designs and for their use in medium temperature (100-200 Celsius) applications such as air conditioning or low temperature process heat.

A 2008 UK survey found that each household consumes on average 122 litres of hot water each day. In 2009, hot water accounted for 18% of all delivered energy consumed in the domestic sector. A growth in the UK solar thermal market is predicted as a result of the target set by DEFRA in 2008 of reducing the energy use for conventional domestic heating and hot water systems. Solar thermal heating for domestic hot water is the fastest growing renewable technology across Europe; the UK solar thermal market grew by 24% to £25M in 2010. This project is particularly timely as a renewable heat incentive tariff is planned for implementation in the UK in summer 2013. The scheme is intended to increase the contribution of renewable heat generation technologies from 1.5% (in 2011) to a level of 12% by 2020. The research planned will develop technology for the effective utilisation of the solar energy resource and fits within EPSRC's Energy theme. Solar thermal energy is predicted to be a significant growth market with the potential to make a significant contribution to reducing fossil fuel use in the building energy sector.

Across Europe, there is clear interest in and demand for technology that allows production of low and medium temperature heat from systems that are simple to install, have good aesthetics and can be adapted for effective building integration. Low temperature process heat constituted over 30% of UK industrial energy use in 2009. Advanced solar thermal systems have a huge potential market both in the UK and overseas and can play a significant part in meeting our CO2 emission reduction targets both in the near term and to 2050. This project will build on current UK world leading research into technology for vacuum glazing and develop a new research area in solar energy that will be crucial to our transition to a low carbon society. The planned research is targeted at providing new knowledge and techniques that will enable the advances in technology necessary for a step change in solar thermal collector performance to be realised and a range of new products and application areas developed. Such new products will encourage inward investment and lead to the creation of new companies that can contribute significantly to the transition to a low carbon society whilst maintaining and improving quality of life.