TIGI Solar, a provider of renewable heat generation and storage solutions and services based in Israel, and Solid Solar Energy Systems, a solar energy company based in Austria, are partnering on a project to build and operate a large-scale system for generating and storing heat for a large industrial plant in California. TIGI Solid Heat Supply signed a $5 million sale-leaseback transaction with Key Equipment Finance and TIGI and Solid Solar Energy Systems will operate the solar plant.

The alliance between TIGI and Solid Solar Energy Systems will enable the companies to provide heat-as-a-service with no up-front investment from the plant, minimizing the use of natural gas. The system consists of a 4,000 square meter solar thermal collector array, advanced thermal storage, and control and cloud services to reduce Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions from the plant. TIGI’s solar thermal collectors use transparent insulation on the sun-facing side, allowing the collectors to let in solar irradiation while simultaneously minimizing heat energy losses.

The project is being supported by the California Solar Initiative program (CSI), with an incentive for the transition to green energy and reduction of harmful greenhouse gasses. Additional support comes from a federal tax incentive via the new Inflation Reduction Act.

Heat represents approximately 50% of the world’s end-use energy and is generated almost completely by the burning of fossil fuels. It is responsible for 55% of global energy-related emissions. According to the European Commission, renewables could supply almost 80% of heating and cooling by 2050. The main options for decarbonizing heat are renewable solar thermal heat and efficient electrification of heat with heat pumps.

“The world is fighting one of its worst-ever energy crises,” Zvika Klier, CEO of TIGI Solar, said. “The Russia-Ukraine conflict and surging gas prices have sparked a heightened focus on heat production, prompting key players to decide on abandoning natural gas in favor of renewable energy sources. We are confident that our solutions, offered as heat-as-a-service, marks the way forward for the transition of heat energy and meets the needs of our customers by beating the high costs of fossil fuels and minimizing CO2 emissions. We are pleased to partner with Solid and KEF to provide heat-as-a-service for this large industrial factory in the U.S., which in turn can be duplicated across their different sites globally.”

“KEF is pleased to be financing and working with TIGI and SOLID,” Jamie Feltes, an account manager at Key Equipment Finance, said. “The fully optional system allows KEF to continue to provide an innovative solution to produce renewable heat. We expect renewables to expand dramatically in the thermal sector and align with today’s notable growth globally in renewable power sector investments. This collaboration provides KEF with significant opportunity in the new and exciting domain of heat-as-a-service solutions, where we foresee continued, widespread growth.”

“Industry is starting to move towards sustainable energy sources and recognizing that heat is representing a major obstacle,” Christian Holter, chief business development officer at Solid Solar Energy Systems, said. “We are pleased to have partnered with TIGI and KEF for this project. This is the time for large renewable heat systems, and the partnership that we have created can be perfectly aligned to deliver on additional projects.”