- Main Navigation
- Products + Services
- Testing Partner
- Certificates / Registrations
- Home
- Products + Services
- Certification of Products
- Heating and Air Conditioning
- Solar Thermal Products - Solar KEYMARK
Solar Thermal Products - Solar KEYMARK
Solar thermal products make an important contribution to the conservation of fossil energy. The sun provides enough heat to cover 50 to 70 % of the average annual need of hot water of a 4-person-household and only few m² collector surface are needed. Leading to a reduced operation of the boiler this saves not only our environment but also the purse.
With the White Paper "Renewable energy", the European Commission has set the ambitious target to install 100 million square meters of solar thermal collectors in the EU till 2010. Germany takes a leading position as 50 % of the collector surface all over Europe are installed here. The German government supports the Commission's target with attractive promotional programmes.
The core of every thermal solar system is the solar collector transforming the solar rays directly into available energy. A broad range of technically matured flat-plate and vacuum tube collectors comes into operation. Also the market for complete solar systems becomes more and more unmanageable. For planner, installer and consumers it is increasingly difficult to decide on the right product especially as these products are hardly distinguishable. Therefore the decision is mostly taken in favour of the apparently lowest-priced product.
As product's quality has significant influence on its life, the right purchase decision is worth hard cash.
Confidence is good - KEYMARK and DIN-Geprüft are better
With the recognized "DIN-Geprüft" certification of solar collectors, DIN CERTCO successfully offers for years to the manufacturers of solar collectors the possibility to convince consumers of the quality of their products and to help them with the purchase decision.
Also the overview on certification and quality marks becomes more and more difficult because they strongly differ also in the testing and surveillance criteria. To counteract the flood of marks , the European Standards Organizations CEN and CENELEC established the European quality mark "KEYMARK" giving the manufacturer the opportunity to convince users and consumers of the quality of his products. This meaningful certification gives the manufacturer a market advantage against his competitors.
Testing and certification foundations for Solar KEYMARK
As already successfully practised in connection with the certification of thermal insulation products for buildings, a European harmonized certification procedure has also been established for solar thermal products (solar collectors and factory made systems).
The "Specific CEN KEYMARK Scheme Rules for Solar Thermal Products" have been drawn up with the participation of manufacturers, testing laboratories, certification bodies as well as the European federation of the solar industry ESTIF (European Solar Thermal Industry).
This certification scheme specifies that manufacturers have their products been tested and surveyed according to common European quality criteria by neutral, independent and competent bodies. That improves the confidence of users and consumers – throughout Europe.
The KEYMARK is granted in combination with the certification mark "DIN-Geprüft" on the basis of the European certification scheme for solar thermal products that is based of these two European product standards:
- DIN EN 12975-1 "Thermal solar systems and components - Collectors - Part 1: General requirements"
- DIN EN 12975-2 "Thermal solar systems and components - Solar collectors - Part 2: Test methods"
- DIN EN 12976-1 "Thermal solar systems and components - Factory made systems - Part 1: General requirements"
- DIN EN 12976-2 "Thermal solar systems and components - Factory made systems - Part 2: Test methods"
These specify the requirements and testing procedures for solar collectors and factory made systems concerning usability, safety and reliability as well as for the determination of the thermal efficiency of a solar collector or a solar system.
Quality criteria
The following quality criteria are subject to the testing of solar thermal products:
- Internal pressure resistance
- Mechanical load
- High temperature resistance
- Internal and external thermal shock resistance
- Exposure
- Rain proof
- Impact resistance
- Thermal performance
For factory made systems the following characteristics are tested additionally:
- Suitability for drinking water
- Freeze resistance overtemperature protection
- Reverse flow protection
- Pressure resistance
- Safety equipment
Furthermore the manufacturer has to operate, in both cases, a product related factory production control taking into account the elements of the EN ISO 9000 series.
Testing and assessment
Only those solar thermal products are certified with the KEYMARK in combination with "DIN-Geprüft" which were successfully tested by a testing laboratory approved by the CEN Certification Board and DIN CERTCO, neutrally assessed and thus proofed the compliance with the relevant standards.
After a positive result of the assessment DIN CERTCO issues a certificate that is valid for 5 years. It can be renewed for further 5 years if applied for, provided that the surveillance (annual inspection of the factory and physical inspection of the product at least every 2 years) shows that the preconditions are fulfilled.
For further information about the Solar KEYMARK please click here.