What is geothermal energy?
Geothermal energy means CLEAN, RENEWABLE and SUSTAINABLE energy. Geothermal energy is the second largest source of heat after the sun; it is all the natural energy found within the earth. The principle of a geothermal heat pump is to transfer energy to and from the earth. During the cold seasons, the natural heat of the earth is conveyed inside the probes through glycol fluid; an indoor unit (heat pump), electrically powered, will maintain the temperature of the fluid suitable for heating the house. In the warm seasons, the reverse will occur, the housing unit will cool and the resulting heat will be conveyed towards the earth.
In countries such as Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom and France, an interesting market of geothermal probes, pumps and collectors has been consolidated today, which in past years had particular penetration only in the Scandinavian markets.
Also in Italy, especially in the regions near the Alps and in the foothills, the spread of geothermal systems has been recording interesting increases in recent years.
A water-to-water geothermal collector can be divided into three basic parts:
