The core of the Soltherm Europe Initiative is being built in the framework of a project in the Altener Program which runs from January 2002 to October 2004. Its members (the organizations in the right hand column) were committed to three main objectives:

1) To contribute substantially to the White Paper goals on solar thermal energy (including the EU Campaign for Take-off) and to the short-term goal to realise 15 million m2 of solar thermal collector area by 2004.

2) To become central platform for all parties contributing to the realisation of the Campaign for Take-Off target for solar thermal applications.

3) To create information exchange and education structures and a EU-wide network for the exchange of experience and know-how.

Activities have so far resulted in:

• A European Market analysis Report with in-depth analysis of the market in the countries with the most developed markets as well as over Europe.
• System and installer guidelines: guidelines for system quality, qualification schemes for sales and installation companies, common working guidelines for the complete information, sales and installation process
• System tools: a library with the best of the tools used by others in campaigns and market actions - complete with description of when and how to use them.
• Campaign Guidelines that share the lessons learned throughout Europe by national and regional market development campaigns
• National implementation plans: Implementation of guidelines & tools on the national level with Industry and Facilitating Partners
• Information/sales campaigns: Organization of new campaigns, implementation of guidelines & tools in existing campaigns in the participating countries
• International dissemination: Enhancing the impact of the Soltherm Europe Initiative by expansion with new partners and transfer of knowledge.
• Evaluation, project monitoring: Evaluation of developed guidelines and tools based on the results of the information/sales campaigns. Monitoring of project impact.

And finally, once all components have been executed in the coming years, the Altener program will achieve:

• SOLTHERM has been designed to catalyse the realisation of 15 million m2 of solar collectors by 2004, to increase the market volume to around 7 million m2 per year, and thus to effectuate the Campaign for Take-Off's goals for solar thermal energy. This means a major step in the market development of thermal solar energy in Europe.
• An area of 15 million m2 of solar collectors means yearly fossil fuel savings of about 3 to 4 MToe, reducing the EU's dependency on fossil energy supply. The associated CO2 emission reduction amounts to about 10 Mtonne per year, which represents about 4 % of the CO2 reduction targets for the European Union.
• Based on the estimation in the White Paper (about 10,000 people employed to produce 1 million m2 per year), the employment associated with the projected market volume of 7 million m2 will amount to about 50,000 people.
• The project will result in an effective European network for all stakeholders in market expansion of thermal solar energy, in which experiences, initiatives and ideas can be exchanged and strategies discussed.
• European standards for solar heating products, certification, solar contracting, GSR and other market support measures will be actively promoted and applied.