PV industry wants a policy to help it grow
PARIS, France, 2004-06-23 (Refocus Weekly)
The solar PV industry in Europe wants an industrial PV policy that will create a sustainable market development for its product.
Continent-wide feed-in-tariff systems, with appropriate and clearly-defined
regulations, are needed to create sustainable market development, says the
European Photovoltaic Industry Association. The benefit is a high turnover
industry that serves demands for peak power in a future liberalized electricity
market and generates new instruments for the financing of photovoltaic projects
with the objective to attract private investors.
“As a local market is the necessary condition for a high tech production
industry to grow, it is not sufficient that the local industry will benefit,”
EPIA president Winfried Hoffmann explained at the European PV conference in
Paris. “To ensure cost-competitive conditions, it is recommended to introduce
level boundary conditions for the global photovoltaic market.”
An effective and efficient research policy must be established that is based on
“an appropriate budget which reflects the enormous technologies potential of
photovoltaic” and a guarantee of continuity in European programming, both at
the EU level and for national governments. The group wants coordination of
R&D actions between research and industry based on their common needs, in
particular support to demonstration and piloting of innovation in industrial
manufacturing.
Support for the implementation of UN Millennium development goals and creation
of a European platform for solar PV in developing countries would enhance the
use of solar electricity in developing countries, and it wants to promote the
use of PV into the construction sector (BIPV) by raising stakeholder awareness
and training, as well as developing photovoltaic components into building
products.
“These recommendations constitute an effective European industrial policy to
be applied at the European, national and regional levels, contributing in this
way to the achievement of the European Kyoto commitments and to make
technologies ready for sustainable development,” it explains.
Twenty-nine per cent of the 450 MW of PV installed in 2002 was economically
viable, while the balance of 320 MW depended on market support programs, says
Hoffmann. The best cost for PV will be competitive with utility peak power rates
by 2008, he predicts, and 2020 for the worst PV settings.
By 2010, 3,500 MW a year will be installed, 33,000 MW by 2020 and 300,000 MW by
2030. Of that, half will be on-grid, 70,000 MW will be off-grid industrial,
60,000 MW for rural electrification and 20,000 MW for consumer applications,
representing annual revenue of Euro 200 billion.
If there is a rapid Introduction of feed-in tariffs across the EU, Germany could
expand its 2002 PV market of 100 MW to 600 by 2010, while France moves from 1 to
100 MW, Britain from 1 to 50 MW, Italy from 3 to 200 MW, Spain from 5 to 200 MW
and Greece from 1 to 100 MW. In total, the EU could grow from 120 to 1,500 MW,
while Japan would grow from 200 to 1,200 MW during that time, says Hoffmann.
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