Solar thermal energy, the use of a natural resource in technical education The annual solar energy irradiated onto the continents is 1.08x1018 kWh. This corresponds to about 5,000 times the global demand for primary energy. It is obvious to use this solar energy technically. Solar thermal energy plays a special role in the use of solar energy. Applications in this field date back to pre-Christian times when burning mirrors or concave mirrors were used to focus light rays. In addition to solar domestic hot water and heating water, the use of solar heat in large-scale energy generation processes and process engineering is becoming increasingly important today. The use of solar energy through solar thermal systems involves both practical aspects and extensive theoretical basics. Therefore, in our didactic concept for the area of solar thermal energy, we distinguish between the learning fields listed on the right.
