Solar Keymark

Solar Keymark - The Quality Label for Solar Thermal Products in Europe

The Keymark for solar thermal products will assist users to select quality solar collectors and systems. This "Solar Keymark" is the result of a voluntary certification scheme supported by the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation.

Website:

http://www.estif.org/solarkeymark/
http://www.thermomax.com/Downloads/Keymark%20Simulator.pdf  

Target:

The CEN certification mark - The Keymark - is a general voluntary mark, developed by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN). The clear and simple message of The Keymark is that the product complies with the European Standard(s) covering the product.
The Keymark for solar thermal products will assist users to select quality solar collectors and systems.

Product/service group:

Products covered by the Solar Keymark Certification scheme:

• Solar thermal collectors - as defined in EN12975-1 : Only "liquid heating solar collectors". Excluded are: Collectors "in which the thermal storage unit is an integral part of the collector", and "tracking concentrating solar collectors"
• Factory made solar thermal systems - as defined in EN12976-1: "Factory made solar heating systems are batch products with one trade name, sold as complete and ready to install kits, with fixed configuration.

Awarding Institution & criteria:

The basic elements in the certification scheme are:

• Certificates are delivered by Keymark empowered certification bodies
• Test reports are delivered by accredited test laboratories
• The products are delivered by Keymark licensed manufacturers fulfilling the requirements for factory production control

Control mechanisms:

The "Solar Keymark Test Institutes" are the institutes having declared to ESTIF that they have accreditation for testing according to the European standards for solar thermal systems :

• EN 12975-2: Solar thermal systems and components - Solar collectors - Part 2: Test methods
• EN 12976-2: Solar thermal systems and components - Factory made systems - Part 2: Test methods

Charges:

Certification costs for one collector/system:

• First year costs approx: € 2000-3000
• Annual costs following years approx: € 2000

Relevance on the market:

The Solar Keymark has been developed by the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF), with the support of the European Commission and was introduced by CEN earlier in year 2003.