SOLTHERM (Installation of solar water-heater) (Subsidy)

Wallonia awards a subsidy ranging from € 500 to € 2,500 for the installation of a solar water-heater provided the conditions referred to at heading 4 and the town-planning regulations have been met, pursuant to the Territotial Development Code (CoDT). A bonus per additional m2 is also awarded.

Benefit granted

Definition

A solar water-heater is considered as a system contributing to the production of hot water and which, to this end, resorts to solar energy through a (plain or tubular) glazed solar collector.

Subsidy

Within budgetary limits, the following subsidy is awarded :

1. The amount of the subsidy is an inclusive amount of € 2,500 for an individual equipment with solar collectors with an optical surface ranging from 2 m2 to 4 m2 and an additional amount of € 200 per m2 of optical surface of additional solar collector.

This amount is awarded in the following cases:

1° installation on a single family home with a date of receipt of the application for planning permission that is prior to 1 May 2010;

installation on a single family home whose date of receipt of the application for planning permission is later than 30 April 2010 but whose thermal solar system was not taken into account in the calculation of the EW level (level of primary energy consumption);

2° installation considered as an individual one and placed on a building whose date of receipt of the application for planning permission is prior to 1 May 2010;

In the case of collective installations dedicated to supplying several housing units, the collective installation is considered to be equivalent to as many individual installations as there are housing units served. As an individual installation should include, at least, 2 m2 of optical surface, the maximum number of equivalent individual installations cannot exceed half the number of square feet of installed solar optical sensor;

3° installation on a building not used for housing one or more households and not referred to in the preceding points.

The total amount of the subsidy paid by individual installation cannot exceed € 6,000, or 50% of the amount of the invoice excluding VAT or the part of the amount of the invoice excluding VAT which relates to the installation concerned.

2. The amount of the subsidy is a lump sum of € 1,500 for an individual installation equipped with solar collectors having an optical surface ranging from 2 m2 to 4 m2 and an additional amount of € 200 per square feet of additional optical solar collector.

This amount is awarded for an installation on a single family home in compliance with the following conditions:

- the date of receipt of the application for planning permission is later than 30 April 2010;

- the EW levels and the K level (overall thermal insulation) of the building are:

1. For installation on a single-family house where the date of receipt of the application for planning permission is later than 30 April 2010 and earlier than 1 September 2011:

a) If the solar water heater is included in the final PEB statement, the EW level of the single family home should be inferior or equal to 70 and the overall K level of this house should be inferior or equal to 35;

b) If the solar water heater is not included in the final PEB statement, the EW level of the single family home should be inferior or equal to 80 and the overall K level of this house should be inferior or equal to 35;

2. For installation on a single-family house where the date of receipt of the application for planning permission is later than 31 August 2011:

a) If the solar water heater is included in the final PEB statement, the EW level of the single family home should be inferior or equal to 60 and the overall K level of this house should be inferior or equal to 35;

b) If the solar water heater is not included in the final PEB statement, the EW level of the single family home should be inferior or equal to 65 and the overall K level of this house should be inferior or equal to 35.

The total amount of the subsidy granted by individual installation cannot exceed neither € 5,000, nor 50% of the amount of the invoice excluding VAT or the part of the amount of the invoice excluding VAT which relates to the installation concerned.

3. The amount of the subsidy is a lump sum of € 500 for an installation considered as individual. In the case of collective installations dedicated to supplying several housing units, the collective installation is considered to be equivalent to as many individual installations as there are housing units served. As an individual installation should include, at least, 2 m2 of optical surface, the maximum number of equivalent individual installations cannot exceed half the number of square feet of installed solar optical sensor.

The following conditions must be met in this case:

- the date of receipt of the application for planning permission is later than 30 April 2010;

- the EW levels and the K level of the building are:

1. For installation on a building where the date of receipt of the application for planning permission is later than 30 April 2010 and earlier than 1 September 2011:

a) If the solar water heater is included in the final PEB statement, the EW level of the housing unit should be inferior or equal to 60 and the overall K level of this house should be inferior or equal to 35;

b) If the solar water heater is not included in the final PEB statement, the EW level of the housing unit should be inferior or equal to 70 and the overall K level of this house should be inferior or equal to 35;

2. For installation on a building where the date of receipt of the application for planning permission is later than 31 August 2011:

a) If the solar water heater is included in the final PEB statement, the EW level of the housing unit should be inferior or equal to 60 and the overall K level of this building should be inferior or equal to 35;

b) If the solar water heater is not included in the final PEB statement, the EW level of the housing unit should be inferior or equal to 65 and the overall K level of this building should be inferior or equal to 35.

4. The amount of the subsidy is a flat amount of € 1.500 for an installation considered as an individual one.

This subsidy is taxable.

Payment of the subsidy

The subsidy is paid to the applicant or the contractor provided, in the latter case, the contractor has clearly specified in his offer the total cost of his estimate, available subsidies included, with stress on the amount of the subsidies which could be awarded to his client thanks to him.

Eligible basis

Conditions of grant

* Resorting to a Qualiwall certified installer for solar thermal systems as defined by the AGW of 27.06.2013 setting up a certification system for installers of energy production systems from renewable sources and professionals working on energy efficiency or resorting to an NRQual certified company for thermal solar systems (SOL).

* The present support can be granted in conjunction with any other support provided the total amount of the support received does not exceed 75% of the investment.

* The installation of the solar water-heater should be made in Wallonia.

* Are eligible legal persons (companies), with the exception of legal persons eligible for the UREBA programme or the exceptional UREBA programme.

In the case of individual installations (single-family dwellings), neither the individual nor the building contractor (natural person) can apply for the subsidy. Only the building contractor or the installer may submit the application.

* The solar water-heater should meet the following conditions:

1° the sensor must meet the requirements of the relevant European standard. The sensors should have undergone the tests provided for in the NE-12975 standard, according to the requirements of the Solar Keymark label or of any other system whose equivalence is acknowledged by the SPW Territoire, Logement, Patrimoine, Energie.

2° for individual installations, the design of the facility should allow a minimum solar fraction of 60% (ratio of energy supplied by the solar part of the installation of hot water and the total energy supply of the installation of hot water. The Minister in charge of Energy may increase the level of the solar fraction.

3° the system must reach a minimum level of overall performance. This minimum level is determined by compliance with the conditions relating to the orientation of the sensor and the counting system equipping the installation.

A solar water heating system is deemed to achieve the overall performance minimum level if:

a) the sensor is oriented from south to east or west;

b) the installation includes the following counting items:

- a gravimetric flowmeter and 2 needle thermometers allowing an instant visual monitoring of the functioning of the installation. For a long-term display, its transparent part will be of glass or made of a material specially designed for this purpose. It is possible to replace this device by a display screen showing, by default, after initialization, the two round-trip temperatures of the solar circuit and the flow measured by a volumetric flow meter or with vortex effect;

- an energy counting system. This system and its integrated or remote electronics uses at least the temperature sensor placed at the exit of the solar collector and a temperature sensor placed at the exit of the exchanger of the solar circuit of the boiler. The counting system should display the energy collected from the solar system since commissioning. The counting system should take into account the type and concentration of antifreeze. The energy counting system should include a volumetric flow meter or with vortex effect;

- a domestic hot water meter on the domestic circuit. This meter will be placed at the entrance of the cold domestic water supply of the boiler exchanger before transplanting to the thermostat mixer tap remaining compulsory;

- the temperature sensor located in the lower part of the boiler and used to operate the solar differential regulation should ideally be placed in the heat transfer fluid or, if it is not technically possible, as close as possible to the coldest heat transfer fluid and in all cases in the lower part of the accumulator.

Application procedure

1) The applicant or his contractor introduces his application to the SPW Territoire, Logement, Patrimoine, Energie, within a 4-month period following the final PEB statement for the cases mentioned at section 2 points 2) and 3) and within a 4-month period following the date of the invoice in the case mentioned at section 2 points 1) and 4), with the following pieces of information:

1) the application form, duly filled in;

2) the complete technical report;

3) the invoices relating to the purchase and the installation, as well as the proofs of payment;

4) when needed, a copy of the town planning permits;

5) a copy of the final EPB declaration, where needed;

6) when needed, the form, duly filled in, certifying the transfer of the subsidy by the applicant to the contractor.

The technical report referred to at point 2) includes the standardised formula describing the solar water-heater equipment, a picture taken before installation in the case of an existing building and a picture of the implemented installation.

The award of the subsidy is also subject to the provision of the following elements :

1° a copy of the Qualiwall certificate stating that the installer is certified for the installation of solar thermal systems;

2° a statement of compliance of the installation issued by the certified installer on the basis of a template from the SPW Territoire, Logement, Patrimoine, Energie;

3° a copy of the standard offer for thermal solar installations published on the website of the SPW Territoire, Logement, Patrimoine, Energie, completed and signed by the recipient and the installer.

Installations completed by an NRQual Sol labeled company are deemed to meet the conditions mentioned above.

To this end, the labeled installer provides the labeling body, at any time, and upon request, with the documents referred to above, for each installation achieved.

2) In the case of a collective installation, the applicant or his contractor can introduce to the SPW Territoire, Logement, Patrimoine, Energie before the beginning of the work an application file comprising:

1° the application form duly filled up;

2° the technical report including the standard form describing the installation of the solar water-heater duly filled up;

3° a copy of the town planning permits, when needed; a copy of the audit justifying the size according to the needs should be provided for installations other than those intended to supply several individual housing units but also for nursing homes and residential services;

4° when needed, the form, duly filled in, certifying the transfer of the subsidy by the applicant to the contractor.

In the month following receipt of the application for subsidy, the SPW Territoire, Logement, Patrimoine, Energie sends an acknowledgement of receipt to the applicant which states whether the application file is complete or not. If the file is declared incomplete, the applicant has a period of 1 month commencing on the date of despatch of the acknowledgement by the SPW Territoire, Logement, Patrimoine, Energie to provide the missing elements. If, at the end of this period, the applicant has provided the SPW Territoire, Logement, Patrimoine, Energie with the requested information, a second acknowledgement of receipt is sent to inform the applicant of the completeness of his record. However, if after this period the applicant has not provided the requested information, the application is deemed never to have been introduced. The refusal or the promise of granting the subsidy shall be notified within 2 months after sending the acknowledgement of the completeness of the application.

The award decision has a 4-year validity beginning on the date of the notification. Where, at the end of this period, the applicant has not introduced his application for a subsidy, in compliance with the provisions hereunder, the promise of grant is deemed never to have been notified.

To benefit from the subsidy once the installation has been carried out, the applicant or the contractor of a collective installation, submits to the SPW Territoire, Logement, Patrimoine, Energie an application file including:

1° the invoices related to the purchase and the installation as well as the proofs of payment;

2° a copy of the town planning permits, when needed;

3° a copy of the final EPB declaration, where needed;

4° a picture taken before installation in the case of an existing building and a picture of the implemented installation;

5° a copy of the decision to award the subsidy.

Contacts

Forms

Legal framework

European Regulation