The rising concerns of climate change and global warming have made the current practices of industrial energy generation and consumption highly unsustainable. There is a growing awareness of the importance of renewable energy use in addressing climate change and establishing sustainable development. One of the renewable sources which have gained popularity over time is solar energy. Among the various solar technologies, one potential segment is solar thermal technology which involves solar thermal collectors. This technology mainly concentrates on providing industrial process heat across a wide range of temperature, and it's classified within the industry of Solar Heat for Industrial Process (SHIP). Though the SHIP technologies show strong technical feasibility, only few industries employ solar heat and there is a decreasing trend of adoption.  Hence, this research aims to understand the reasons for decreasing adoption by studying what and how are the factors affecting the adoption of solar thermal technology. This is done by performing a qualitative study across two industrial sectors food and chemical in the region of Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The obtained data by conducting semi-structured interviews are analysed using the Technological-Organization-Environment (TOE) theoretical framework.  The results from the study show that there are 9 important factors affecting the adoption of solar thermal technology that are categorized into technological factors (reliability, flexibility, financial attractiveness, and competitive alternatives), organizational factors (management support and resources) and environmental factors (regulatory environment, technology support provider and competitive pressure). Apart from the technological factors of lack of reliability and financial attractiveness, the organizational factors of lack of resources and the environmental factor of low incentives in MENA region, the aspect of cheap competitive alternatives especially in the MENA region, is causing the decrease in adoption within the food and chemical industry.

Energy is the core component for all industries. Most of the energy demand is met by fossil fuels, which is one of the main reasons for the high level of carbon emissions from industries. To decrease emissions or even become carbon neutral by 2050, many companies have made sustainability goals to implement renewablesin their production processes. Industries consume 74% of the energy in the form of heat, of which 30% of energy is consumed in low-temperature applications. Substituting fossil fuels in low-temperature applications with renewable energy sources such as solar-thermal technology (STT) can significantly reduce emissions. This study explores how can focus on sustainability by companies facilitate the diffusion of STT in low-temperature applications in brewery and mining industries. The study comprises a comprehensive literature review on sustainable development, drivers, and barriers of STT. The theoretical framework of the studyis based on diffusion of innovation by Rogers (2003). Empirical data is collected using semi-structured interviews to gain insights from multi-national companies about their focus on sustainability, transition towards renewable energy sources in meeting heat demand and aspects considered by companies. The study results show that companies focusing on sustainability goals are incorporating new renewable energy technologies such as STT in their processes. Companies are also making heat purchase agreements and are collaborating with neighbouring companies to incorporate STT. This form of integration of new solutions can increase the adoption rate of STT. Further, it is found that brewery companies have a better scope of implementing STT compared to mining companies.

Solar thermal technology is a rapidly evolving technology that still has a smaller market share than other green technologies. Therefore, this study aims to recognize barriers and drivers for the use of solar thermal technologies in the industrial sector. A literature review summarized the existing literature problems concerning drivers and barriers for the use of solar thermal technology in the industrial sector. To establish drivers and barriers to the use of solar thermal technology in the industrial sector and to supplement the literature review, a cross-sectional analysis was carried out in this study. Case studies have been performed in India, where two companies have undergone pilot testing of solar thermal systems in their manufacturing processes, and one has an option to incorporate solar thermal systems. Purposeful sampling was used to select the companies for the interviews, while convenience sampling and the snowball sampling were used to pick interview participants, further in this research six interviews was conducted from 4 different companies in the industrial sector. The findings were presented with thematic analysis. Drivers and Barriers have been divided into themes. Namely, Drivers include futuristic technology and Barriers include high costs, infrastructure requirements, more efficient and cheaper alternatives and lack of institutional support. Futuristic technology theme explains why this technology is beneficial for industrial adoption in the Indian market. High-cost theme explains why this technology is expensive over other renewable sources. Infrastructure requirements theme explains installation barriers influencing the adoption of solar thermal systems in the industrial process. Efficient and cheaper alternatives theme explains competitors influencing the adoption of solar thermal energy in the industrial sector. Lack of institutional support theme explains government and multinational companies that are influencing the adoption of solar thermal energy in the industrial sector. Aspects covered by the theme, high costs were most frequently mentioned among the respondents, suggesting that barriers play a significant role in implementing solar thermal systems. In contrast, aspects covered by the themes lack institutional support, infrastructure requirements, and more efficient and cheaper alternatives have not been addressed in the literature. Finally, the study concluded that the adoption of solar thermal energy in the Industrial Sector faces various barriers and drivers that must be investigated before the implementation.

This study aimed at evaluating and demonstrating the feasibility of using Concentrated Solar Thermal technology combined with biomass energy technology as a hybrid renewable energy system to supply the process heat requirements in small scale industries in Sri Lanka. Particularly, the focus was to apply the concept to the expanding hotel industry, for covering the thermal energy demand of a medium scale hotel. Solar modules utilize the rooftop area of the building to a valuable application. Linear Fresnel type of solar concentrator is selected considering the requirement of the application and the simplicity of fabrication and installation compared to other technologies. Subsequently, a wood-fired boiler is deployed as the steam generator as well as the balancing power source to recover the effects due to the seasonal variations in solar energy. Bioenergy, so far being the largest primary energy supply in the country, has a good potential for further growth in industrial applications like small hotels.  When a hotel with about 200-guests capacity and annual average occupancy of 65% is considered, the total annual CO2 saving is accounted as 207 tons compared with an entirely fossil fuel (diesel) fired boiler system. The annual operational cost saving is around $ 40,000 and the simple payback period is within 3-4 years. The proposed hybrid system can generate additional 26 employment opportunities in the proximity of the site location area.   This solar-biomass hybrid concept mitigates the weaknesses associated with these renewable technologies when employed separately. The system has been designed in such a way that the total heat demand of hot water and process steam supply is managed by renewable energy alone. It is thus a self-sustainable, non-conventional, renewable energy system. This concept can be stretched to other critical medium temperature applications like for example absorption refrigeration. The system is applicable to many other industries in the country where space requirement is available, solar irradiance is rich and a solid biomass supply is assured.