1.2. Market potential
A great share of the energy consumption worldwide is used for production processes. In European countries, 28%
of the total energy consumption is used for industrial purposes [4], while roughly 2/3 of this is used for process heat.
As reported by the ecoheatcool study [5], 57% of process heat is demanded at temperatures below 400°C, which
solar collectors are technically capable of providing. Figure 1 depicts the distribution in temperature ranges needed
within a variety of industry sectors in Europe. Linear concentrating collectors can easily reach up to 400°C though,
while non-concentrating collectors can cover the demand at low temperatures (