Sustainable Energy Successees

   

Solar Heating at the Bellevue Hotel in the Czech Republic

The Bellevue Hotel in Jetrichovice, the Czech Republic, used an oil-fuelled boiler, with electricity as a backup, to heat water. The hotel had a swimming pool, but was not able to heat the water in the pool. This limited the hotel guests' interest in using the pool.
    At the beginning of 1995, the owner of the hotel contacted the firm Ekomont, through the advisory centre of Ceska Energetika in the nearby town of Decin, in order to search for alternative ways of providing the hotel with energy.

This led to the installation of a supplementary solar-energy system to heat water in the hotel building, including that in the swimming pool.
    The solar system consists of 61 collectors with a total absorbing surface of 105.6 m². These collectors are remarkable for their high solar absorption capacity and low back-radiation of warmth. The whole system is on the roof of the building. Both the solar panels and the construction were provided by the Thermo-Solar firm in Ziar nad Hronom.

Thermo-Solar One of the largest producers of solar heating equipment in Central Europe is Thermo-Solar in Ziar nad Hronom, Slovakia. With more than 15 years experience, the company is producing solar collectors that are equal to Western European products in efficiency, but lower in price.     Unfortunately, the company is not without environmental problems: it is part of the Ziar nad Hronom aluminium factory which is one of the biggest polluters in Slovakia. The aluminium smelter also has a huge electricity consumption that has been one of the arguments for construction of the nuclear power plant Mochovce in Slovakia. Until recently, the Thermo-Solar products used more aluminium than other, similar products.

The system offers several benefits. It operates entirely automatically, and therefore does not require extra staff time or training. It is also ecologically benign and economical. It saves energy and reduces water-heating costs by 60 - 90%. The solar system heats a capacity of approximately 8,000 litres of water daily and the success of the system has led to an enlargement of the hotel, with a new summer terrace next to the pool.

The cost of the solar installation approximately 55,560 USD, which was paid by the hotel.
    It is difficult to calculate precise energy savings, because the installed equipment does not include a monitoring system, and because the solar panels are used in combination with the conventional heating system. Besides, the hotel's energy consumption has increased due to the larger number of hotel guests drawn by the heated swimming pool.