TURKISH firm Solitem has secured a distribution deal with German engineering firm MAN Ferrostaal to resell its zero-emission solar cooling systems.
Solitem sought to scale up its commercial operations with the help of MAN Ferrostaal which bought a 20% stake in Solitem and has agreed to resell its technology.

Headquartered in Germany, the Solitem group develops and installs plants for solar cooling, heating and process steam generation as well as Combined Heat, Cooling and Power plants (CHCP) for large-scale applications.

Solitem's technology integrates parabolic trough solar panels used in solar thermal power plants with an absorption chiller system capable of using concentrated heat energy to cool down water.

Absorption chillers can find it hard to cope with the 200 degree heat produced by parabolic troughs and used to produce super-heated steam. However, Solitem has developed a double-effect absorption chiller that can operate between 150-200 degrees centigrade and use the energy to cool water to 6 degrees.

Solitem says its system can provide zero carbon cooling in daylight hours and can hold enough energy in hot water storage tanks to continue to provide cooling for a further 4-6 hours after the sun sets. As a result buildings only need to use backup power for their cooling systems for a few hours each day.

Solitem is relyinig on MAN Ferrostaal to provide the sales and installation resources it needs to market its high temperature solar technology globally.