Today the Solar Keymark is broadly accepted and recognised even beyond European borders.

Brussels, 21 October 2013. Ten years ago, on 20 October 2003, the first ever Solar Keymark certificate was issued. Ten years later, the Solar Keymark is a success story, with around 2000 certificates for collectors and systems held by companies from 40 countries.

The Solar Keymark was conceived ten years ago as a voluntary third-party certification mark for solar thermal products, demonstrating to end-users that a product conforms to the relevant European standards and fulfils additional requirements. Today the Solar Keymark is broadly accepted and recognised even beyond European borders. Currently, there are around 2 000 certified solar thermal products from over 700 companies in 40 countries, 27 European and 13 from the rest of the world.

The Solar Keymark scheme was developed by the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF) and CEN (European Committee for Standardisation) in close co-operation with leading European test labs and with the support of the European Commission. It was seen as a means to facilitate the medium and long term growth of the European market; certifying solar thermal products of high quality.

Today the Solar Keymark certification applies to factory made systems according to EN 12976 and custom build systems according to EN 12977; and also more especially to solar hot water stores according to EN 12977-3 and solar combistores according to EN 12977-4.

"The introduction of the Solar Keymark label has changed the solar thermal industry significantly" said Robin Welling, ESTIF President. He added:"Not only can manufacturers see trade barriers come down to help better promote the use of their products, but consumers can also notice the benefits of this certification making it easy to choose a high quality product that has been fully tested according to the relevant standards."

"The Solar Keymark is the quality label for solar thermal products and is widely spread across the European market and beyond. With the current harmonisation between the European and international collector standards, further opportunities for worldwide recognition exist", stressed Harald Drück, Chairman of the Solar Keymark Network.

More information: www.solarkeymark.org

ESTIF, the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation

ESTIF actively promotes the use of solar thermal technology for renewable heating and cooling in Europe. With around 80 members from 17 European countries, ESTIF represents the whole value chain in today's solar thermal market: from manufacturers, service providers, and national associations to research institutes.

Solar Keymark Network

The Solar Keymark Network is the operative framework around the Solar Keymark. It consists of Solar Keymark operators (certification bodies, test labs and inspectors) and industry representatives. The aim of the network is to maintain and continuously improve the Solar Keymark scheme's rules and procedures, as well as to serve as an information hub.