Solarmer Energy Reaches World Record 8.13% OPV Efficiency

Solarmer Energy Inc. has reached 8.13% efficiency for its organic photovoltaic (OPV) cell - a new world record, the company says. The results have been certified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Solarmer, a developer of polymer-based OPV technology, notes that it has now broken this efficiency record for the fourth consecutive time, all in last two years. The company adds that this technology has the potential to drive energy production cost to $0.12-$0.15/kWh.

SOURCE: Solarmer Energy Inc.

10 Million Solar Roofs Bill Clears Senate Energy Committee

The U.S. Senate's Energy Committee has approved, by a vote of 13-10, the Ten Million Solar Roofs legislation - a bill by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that is designed to encourage the installation over 10 years of 10 million solar systems in the U.S. Sanders introduced the legislation in February.

The measure would authorize $250 million for competitive grants in 2012 and additional funding through 2021. Along with existing incentives, the program could meet and exceed the goal of installing 10 million solar systems over a 10-year period, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

The legislation would help finance the installation of up to 40,000 MW of new solar energy. In the process, the cost of generating solar power would fall, and the U.S. would become the world's leading market for electricity generated from the sun, according to Sanders.

After the measure cleared committee, Sanders asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to include it in energy and climate change legislation he is expected to bring before the full Senate this summer.

SOURCE: Office Of Sen. Bernie Sanders

Renewables Made up 50% of the New Power Installed in the USA

A new study by the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21), a UN-backed organization, found that in 2009, half of new power generation capacity built in the U.S. was in the form of renewable energy.

And we're not alone.  In Europe, renewables accounted for 60 percent of new power generation capacity in 2009, and globally, renewables now comprise 25 percent of power capacity and delivered 18 percent of the world's electricity in 2009.

China has made the greatest strides by adding 37 GW of renewable energy and leads the world in the manufacturing of both solar panels and wind turbines.

Though these numbers are exciting, renewables still only account for a small fraction of total electricity produced in the U.S.  We have a long way to go, but at least we're heading in the right direction.

Source:  ecogeek

Kenyan Women Light Up Villages with Solar Power

Let there be light. And thanks to the efforts of rural women in one of the most remote corners of the Kenyan republic, lights turn on as night falls at the end of a sunny day.

Tucked away in the remote villages of Olando and Got Kaliech in rural Kenya, residents in this poor outpost in south-western Kenya today have light after darkness falls.  The light is thanks to Phoebe Jondiko, Joyce Matunga and Phoebe Akinyi, the three solar “women engineers” who have literally switched on the lights in the two villages with a view to lighting up more villages in the remote Gwassi Division in Suba District.

Blessed with year-round sunshine, Kenya is quickly waking up to the realization that it can successfully tap into one of the vast natural resources on the planet – the sun. Solar energy has for a long time remained largely untapped in Kenya due to a combination of factors with the single biggest obstacle being the hugely expensive solar kits.

But with the Kenyan government desperately looking for new avenues through which it can turn Kenya’s energy greener, this year it lowered the importation taxes levied on solar energy kits so as to encourage corporations and individuals to use solar to power domestic and industrial operations.

Solar Energy Empowers Rural Women

Victor Ndiege is the project manager of Green Forest Social Investment Trust (GFSIT), a Kisumu-based non-governmental organization (NGO) that is geared towards empowering women in rural areas through the provision of renewable power, easing domestic chores, especially when night falls and helping village women come up with income generating activities.

According to research conducted by GFSIT, village women spend between Kenya Shillings (Kes) 850 and 1,200 [approximately US $10 to $15] every month on lighting alone. The women, notes Ndiege, use various sources such as paraffin and firewood to light up their homes after dark and to cook food.

“This has negative effects on the environment as they have to cut down trees for firewood, while paraffin poses health risks to the women and their families on inhalation of the harmful fumes from paraffin lamps,” said Ndiege. “In that case, we identified solar energy as the most affordable alternative energy source that we could use in the villages. We partnered with the Barefoot College in India, which trains semi-illiterate rural women to fabricate, install and maintain solar lighting systems in the villages.”

Ndiege said that the women acquired vital solar engineering skills that they are currently applying in the remote villages of Olando and Got Kaliech. Under the Village Solar Committees (VSCs) program, village folks will contribute between Kes 500 and 800 [approximately US $7 to 10] in monthly subscriptions from each household to keep the program running.

“The village women have also started income generating activities that include a posho mill that is powered by solar energy to generate some income for the women groups and a small workshop where local youth can gain skills and eke out a living while supporting the village solar program as well,” explained Ndiege. 

According to Ndiege, the GFSIT is importing a new batch of solar kits from India to be installed in other villages within Gwassi Division. This is largely to take advantage of the reduced importation taxes levied on solar kits by the Kenyan government as well as a means through which more rural villages can now switch on to solar energy.

Lighting Africa

Phoebe Jondiko, one of the women involved with the program, said that the solar project is a welcome relief for the rural folks in her village because its remote location and hilly terrain make it difficult to access energy from the national grid system under the Kenyan government-led initiative dubbed rural electrification program (REP).

Currently, only 20 percent of Kenyan households are connected to the national grid. Patrick Nyoike, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy, said it is virtually impossible to connect every Kenyan household to the national grid system by 2030 due to the huge capital investments needed. This is in spite the fact that the Rural Electrification Authority (REA), the government agency mandated to connect rural areas to the national grid, has so far pumped more than $552 million over the last four decades into the program.

Said Nyoike: “National power grid connections require huge capital investments with the scattered nature of rural settlements that require off grid stations making this unattainable in the near future.”

According to Zachary Ayieko, the CEO of REA, solar energy offers a huge power potential for the nation since solar energy in Kenya could potentially generate up to three times the current daily national grid requirements. Because of this the REA has entered into a partnership with the International Finance Corporation to spearhead a new initiative called “Lighting Africa.”

Ayieko said that this ambitious project is currently running on a pilot basis in Kenya and Ghana, with a view to lighting up more than 2.5 million households in the next two years and an estimated 250 million households across Africa.

 Though the initial costs of a solar kit are higher as compared to kerosene lamps, the overall cost of the solar kits is lower because there are no operational costs attached to them.

“Prices range between $10 and $93 for the solar kits depending on their capacity as compared to the monthly average of $10 spent by each household on kerosene,” said Arthur Itote, the project manager at the Lighting Africa Private Enterprise Partnership for Africa (LAPEPA).

In order to make the solar kits readily available and affordable to the rural poor, LAPEPA is working on starting a microfinance business model that will allow poor village folks make small payments over time until they have fully paid off the kits.

Joyce Matunga says that the solar energy kits can also be used to power irrigation pumps. This, she said, would be a big step forward as the farm produce would then generate income for poor households and the ripple effects across the villages will be poverty alleviation as a long-term benefit.

The Barefoot College is located in Tilona, India and is the brainchild of Indian-based social-entrepreneur Bunker Roy. This is the first time the college is partnering with a Kenyan-based community organization. The college has so far trained more than 100 semi-illiterate rural women and electrified more than 5,500 households in about 72 remote villages in 15 third-world countries.

And while Kenya is racing to adopt green energy technologies to power its booming economy into a middle-income economy in less than 20 years’ time, solar energy will play a pivotal role in Kenya’s green energy policy. This has been exemplified not only in the solar energy lighting program in rural Kenya, but in the new data center coming up in Nairobi.

With Kenya being the regional ICT hub, the Kenya Data Networks (KDN), a Nairobi-based internet service provider, has plans to build the first ever solar powered data center in Nairobi.  The data center will be the only one of its kind in Africa. Building cost estimates are around Kes 600 million [US$ 7.5 million].

According to CEO Kai Wulff, KDN is also planning to use solar energy to power most of its digital villages spread in remote parts of the country under the Green Solar Power initiative. Wulff said that the initiative will be a two-pronged project that will take technology closer to the village folks through the provision of fast and cheap internet connections, while at the same time, providing cheap power to power the rural ICT centers.

Source:  Renewable Energy World
Denis Gathanju is a freelance journalist based in Africa.

New UK FIT Spurring PV Market Growth

Cornwall, the region in the far southwestern corner of England that is associated for many with images of cream teas, fishing boats and childhood seaside holidays, now appears set to lead the UK into new territory: solar farming. According to Ray Noble of the Renewable Energy Association, more than 40 planning applications are about to be submitted for ground-mounted PV systems up to 5 MW in size in this county alone. And the new feed-in tariff – introduced in April this year – will ensure that they generate not only power, but a steady stream of income.

And it’s not just in Cornwall that potential sites are being investigated, but right across southern England, much of which enjoys insolation levels at least as good as those in northern Germany.

With the UK’s new feed-in tariff (FIT) carefully designed to provide gentle, long-term (25 years) support largely to rooftop PV, it is perhaps curious that the opportunity to develop solar farms might be being seized on so readily. As one industry expert said recently: “This interest in large systems is not what the government intended!” Meanwhile of course, the changes in Germany’s feed-in rates make new ground-mounted solar power plants there much less attractive – and perhaps mean there will be a lot of expertise, and investors, looking for new pastures. Those pastures could be in the UK.

At Solarplaza’s “UK PV Conference,” which took place in London in late June, more than half of the participants were potential investors, developers or manufacturers looking to enter – or at any rate explore – the UK market. The message they received from the UK solar veterans was that there is plenty of room; the market has so much scope for growth that, as one speaker put it, “we need all the help we can get” in achieving it.

The FIT in the UK was primarily introduced to stimulate microgeneration and is capped at 5 MW (wind power of 5 MW and above, for instance, is still stimulated by a quota system, the Renewable Obligation). The FIT for PV is designed so that – where power is produced and used on-site – there are three benefits. First, the consumer saves money on the electric power they would have purchased. Second, they receive the generation tariff, paid whether the power is used on-site or exported to the grid. Third, they receive an export bonus set at 3 pence [US $0.0X] per kWh (with an opt-out clause in case system owners wish to negotiate a better rate with a power company). The rooftop rates are higher than those for ground-mounted systems, ranging from 41.3 pence per kWh [US $ 0.62 or 49.8 eurocents] for retrofit systems of 4 kWp or less, down to 29.3 pence per kWh [US $0.44 or 35.3 eurocents] for rooftop systems between 100 kWp and 5 MWp, whether retrofitted or on new build (this is also the rate for ground-mounted systems).

The FIT was designed to provide return on investment in the 5-8% range, which is generally expected to give payback periods of about 12 years. According to Jeremy Leggett, the FIT was not supposed to offer sufficient incentive for utilities and developers to become seriously involved. While the UK has a commitment to produce 15% of its total energy (not just electricity) from renewable sources by 2020, the target is for 700,000 households to have some kind of electricity producing microgeneration installed by 2020, expected mostly to be solar. Policymakers expect all the FIT-eligible technologies combined to supply no more than 2% of UK electricity by 2020 – but this is neither a target nor a cap, and the government has indicated they would welcome a higher proportion.  (By way of calculation, installation of 700,000 3 kWp systems would be total rooftop capacity of 2100 MWp by 2020 – and the most recent UK building code for zero carbon homes requires all houses to generate 10-20% of their electricity on site.)

Yet industry experts think PV penetration levels could grow further, faster, than government targets. The European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) estimated the market will grow to 20–40 MW in 2010, and 80–100 MW in 2011. Noble – who runs the Renewable Energy Association’s ‘Solar Power’ organization -- thinks that by 2012 the market will be in the range of 200–750 MWp.  And if that pace continued at a steady rate, by 2020 the market would reach more than 4000 MWp or 4 GW.

Money is No Object

With interest rates low and investor’s favourable outlook for solar, it’s likely that UK solar could prove highly attractive to pension fund investors and others looking for a long term, assured income – even if banks are still shy of financing. Several of the conference speakers agreed that finding investors for solar in the UK would not be a problem – as Solar Century’s Jeremy Leggett put it, there are “investors crawling out of Eurostar” (the high-speed train that connects Great Britain with continental Europe).

Leggett has calculated that – in certain circumstances – return on investment (ROI) on large ground-mounted systems could be over 16%. In fact, the Guardian recently reported that the proposed 2 MW facility at Cornwall’s Benbole Farm – which would be the first utility-scale solar farm in the UK – could have a yearly turnover of £700,000 [US $ 1 million] within seven years. According to the business plan, by year 25 of its operation the farm will have generated a total revenue of £13 million [US $19.6 million].  

In order to mobilize much of the potential investment, however, appropriate financial vehicles will be needed that enable institutional investors to invest on a sufficiently large scale, such as in multiple commercial rooftop packages and schemes.

While the financial community is apparently waiting to pour cash into UK solar, there are the usual, and some unusual, hurdles to cross.

Transmission, Permitting and Certification Causing Delays

As always, there are issues of transmission and distribution. The distribution network operators (DNOs) “need to be brought on side,“ said Noble – but mostly it’s a matter of overcoming their lack of familiarity with the PV generation and inverter technologies.  In his experience objections are usually quickly overcome with the right information.

In addition to transmission hurdles, there are permitting and planning challenges. In line with new planning legislation introduced by the previous (Labour) government, planning permission is no longer required for the siting of PV on rooftops (other than on so-called listed buildings – those of special historic or architectural interest). Noble says the planning situation for solar farms can be straightforward too – especially if a flat site is chosen, not overlooked from nearby hills, and preferably a brownfield site (i.e land that has previously been used for non-agricultural purposes).

And one tricky issue, which everyone agrees needs rapid streamlining, is the process for certification of products to receive the FIT in the UK market. The Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) was designed to ensure that only high quality products enter the UK market, and only certified installers can operate, in order to protect the reputation of PV (and other renewable/microgeneration technologies). However, the MCS – essential for PV installations of up to 50 kWp, which will otherwise not qualify to receive the FIT – is causing headaches for various reasons. One is the sheer number of certifying bodies (and the wide-ranging fees and speeds at which they reportedly act). Another is the backlog created because so many manufacturers had not yet applied to have their products licensed for the UK market and are now seeking to do so. A further issue is whether the UK certification process is in fact contravening European legislation by acting as a market barrier, and whether products certified in other European member states should automatically be approved in the UK. Bodies such as the National Energy Foundation agree that clarification is needed, and say it is on its way.

Leggett warns against complacency, saying lobbying efforts must be continued to ensure that once the FIT has “bedded down,” current policymakers (a new government has come into power since the introduction of the FIT) continue to support it. Meanwhile, it seems the UK is finally serious about PV, and the PV industry is serious about the UK.

Source:  Renewable Energy World

Italy Solar Market to Shine Despite FIT Cuts

Reuters) – Italy, Europe’s No. 3 solar market, will not lose its appeal to investors despite a cut in production incentives and is likely to add about 1,000 megawatt of capacity a year in 2010-2013, the industry body head said.

Italy will slash feed-in tariffs for solar power market in 2011-2013 to bring the incentives in line with falling costs of photovoltaic (PV) systems which turn sunlight into power, starting with major cuts next year.

This year, Italy is set to add 800 MW to 1,000 MW of new PV capacity helped by the existing incentive scheme, among the most generous in Europe, Gert Gremes, chairman of Italy’s PV association GIFI, told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Feed-in tariffs, which guarantee operators steady returns for every kilowatt hour of produced power for 20 years in Italy, will be slashed by up to about 30 percent in 2011 and by 6 percent a year in 2012 and 2013. A 3,000 MW limit will be placed on capacity to be covered by incentives over 3 years.

“I think in 2011 we can repeat a year like 2010, or even have a slight growth … A gigawatt (1,000 MW) a year is very realistic in 2012 and 2013,” Gremes said. “You’ll see that a 3 gigawatt (cap) will be filled easily in three years,” he said.

Investors and solar panels manufacturers have been concerned that the cut in incentives would slow down growth of the Italian PV market which has boomed since 2007 when the old incentive scheme was launched.

“I believe that with the new tariffs Italy will remain a country where an investment in a photovoltaic plant is among, if not the most interesting (in Europe). I think investors will go ahead with building plants,” Gremes said.

Under the new incentive scheme, the internal rate of return (IRR) keenly watched by investors, would remain attractive, Gremes said but declined to give estimates.

Italy has not given an official forecast of PV capacity growth under the new incentive scheme which sets a 8,000 MW goal for 2020. Italy’s total installed PV capacity stood at 1,137 MW, according to data from the state energy management agency GSE.

Gremes confirmed GIFI’s long-term goal of reaching 15,000 MW capacity in 2020 but said reaching such objective would depend on further government support plans.

Article by Svetlana Kovalyova, edited by James Jukwey, appearing courtesy Reuters.

Hybrid Solar Collectors Produce Both Electricity and Hot Water

Solar panels suffer from one problem: the hotter they get, the less efficient they are. For something that sits out in the sun all the time, that can be a drawback. Simply put, a hotter solar collector will produce less electricity than one that is cooler. A photovoltaic (PV) panel loses about 0.5% efficiency for each degree Kelvin (or Centigrade) of temperature.

To deal with this, Solimpeks, a solar panel manufacturer in Turkey, is making hybrid solar panels that produce both electricity and hot water. With these hybrid panels, however, there is a double benefit. Not only is there the extra production of hot water with the same panels, but the removal of heat from the PV panels also increases their efficiency in generating electricity. Like an internal combustion engine that needs to be kept cooled in order to function, the hybrid solar panels use the hot water system as a radiator to help cool the photovoltaic panels.

Conecting these panels is likely to be somewhat more involved, since both electrical and plumbing connections need to be made. But the benefits offered by hybrid panels can definitely make it worthwhile.

Source:  ecogeek.org

Solar energy creates more jobs per megawatt than any other electrical resource

A coalition of groups – including Vote Solar, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Solar Alliance, the Apollo Alliance, and the Alliance for Clean Energy New York – urged state legislators to pass the Solar Industry Development and Jobs Act and make New York a leader in the nation’s growing solar economy.

All New Yorkers should get behind this bill. By supporting the development of enough solar to power about one million homes by 2025, this legislation would drive significant economic opportunity in the state while adding less than the price of one postage stamp to New Yorkers’ monthly energy bills.

Here are some of the report highlights;

* Job Creation: 22,198 direct and induced green jobs. Experts say that solar creates more jobs per megawatt than any other electricity resource. These are high quality local employment opportunities across a broad range of education requirements, salary levels and fields.

* Economic Output: $20 billion dollars. This includes wages, salaries and revenues that can be reinvested into the state economy, creating a significant new economic engine for green jobs in New York.

* Average Residential Electric Bill Impact: $0.39 per month. Through the smart policy framework included in the Solar Jobs Act, New York can build a new solar market with minimal cost added to New Yorkers’ electricity bills.

Source:  Green Job Spider Blog

BioSolar's bio-based Backsheet improves PV Module Output

BioSolar, Inc. (OTCBB: BSRC), developer of a breakthrough technology to produce bio-based materials from renewable plant sources that reduce the cost of photovoltaic (PV) solar modules, reports that rigorous testing by an independent authority reveals that BioBacksheet can actually improve the power output of solar panels by dissipating heat faster.

The efficiency of a PV module is determined by the percentage of the incoming solar radiation that is converted to electricity within the solar panel. The efficiency of popular silicon solar cells decreases dramatically as the temperature of the module increases. According to tests performed in June by ThermTest, Inc, a leading independent authority in thermo physical measurements and instrumentation, BioBacksheet’s measured thermal conductivity was 70 percent higher than the current petroleum based backsheets.

The higher thermal conductivity of the materials used to make the BioBacksheet allows the heat that builds up from solar exposure to be more effectively dissipated into the surrounding air. Thus the higher thermal conductivity contributes to a lower operating temperature within the PV module, directly leading to higher energy efficiency and improved power output for PV modules incorporating a BioBacksheet.

“We were pleasantly surprised by this finding. We designed the BioBacksheet with the goal of being green, lower cost and higher durability. But now, BioBacksheet has a much more valuable feature – improved power output. We are working closely with one of our partners to optimize the integration of BioBacksheet with their panels to improve efficiency and lower cost. We have just attended the InterSolar 2010 Conference and met with a number of panel manufacturers. The interest in BioBacksheet was very high and confirmed for our team that we truly have a breakthrough product,” said Dr. David Lee, Chief Executive Officer of BioSolar.

Source:   Renewable Energy Sources

PV Module Market Reaches $7.1 Billion

Solar PV module shipments increased for the fifth consecutive quarter in the second quarter of 2010 (Q1 2010) to 3.7 GW, generating $7.1 billion in revenues, according to IMS Research's latest quarterly report on the solar cell and module market.

The first half of this year saw high demand from major PV markets, particularly Germany where proposed feed-in-tariff cuts drove demand to new levels, the company says. Solar module shipments are forecast to increase once again in the third quarter to reach 4.3 GW.

"In contrast to the first half of 2009, when declining module prices and poor economic conditions stalled the market, current market conditions have led to huge a huge surge, with PV module shipments in Q1 2010 increasing by over 60 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year," comments Sam Wilkinson, research analyst at IMS Research.

"PV module suppliers are undoubtedly enjoying this surge in demand and results have improved significantly," he continues. "We predict that average gross margins will reach over 30 percent this quarter."

First Solar, which currently enjoys some of the highest gross margins of PV module manufacturers, remained the largest supplier in Q1 2010. However, its share of module shipments decreased for the fifth consecutive quarter, and the gap between it and its crystalline competitors closed further, a trend that is likely to continue throughout this year, according to the report.

Although IMS Research predicts that total PV module shipments will grow by 60% in 2010, shipments of cadmium telluride (CdTe) modules (dominated by First Solar) are forecast to increase by just 20% due to limited capacity increases for the technology until 2011; these results will mean that CdTe’s share of shipments will decrease from nearly 11% in 2009 to just over 8% in 2010.

In contrast, the five largest Chinese module manufacturers (Suntech, Trina, Yingli, Canadian Solar and Solarfun), all suppliers of crystalline technology, continued to increase their command of the market and their combined share of global shipments reached 28% in the first quarter.

SOURCE: IMS Research

SolarTech Releases Study Of Public Solar PV Estimation Tools

SolarTech, a nonprofit solar collaborative, has released a new report on publicly available solar financial calculators. This report is part of SolarTech's efforts to drive down financial transaction costs for solar PV with a comprehensive survey.

Financial calculators often do not agree on the electrical production and financial payback claims of PV systems, SolarTech says. "When customers receive conflicting quotes from different project sponsors, this causes confusion in the buying process," notes Todd Grenich, managing partner at Grenich Capital LLC and SolarTech's Finance Committee Chair. "The industry needs tools and methods that are predictable and build customer confidence in what is still a nascent, growing industry."

The study was sponsored by SolarTech Finance Committee in partnership with the Gary J. Sbona Honors Program at San Jose State University (SJSU) School of Business, and a California Energy Commission PIER Grant. SolarTech engaged the accounting and finance department at SJSU to study the various financial calculators available in the public domain.

A team of three students in the Sbona Honors Program agreed to conduct a survey and analysis as part of their senior class project requirement. After considerable research, including interviews with industry experts, the leading contender was NREL's Solar Advisor Model, SolarTech says. The Clean Power Estimator, RETScreen and the NCSC Solar PV Financial Calculator were close seconds.

SOURCE: SolarTech

Suntech Opens New Office in France

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (a manufacturer of multi-crystalline solar cells and ranked #2 in module sales so far in 2010) has opened a representative office in Montbonnot (Isere), France.

According to Suntech, this office will allow the company to better serve its local partners throughout the region's growing solar market. Since Suntech established its presence in France in 2008, the French solar market has become one of Suntech's top three markets in Europe.

The new office features a solar product training center for distributors and installers, as well as hands-on installation training offerings. The office will be home to a technical customer support team with local industry experience, and is expected to grow in tandem with local market demand.

SOURCE: Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd.

2010 to 2012 - Will See Major Changes in European PV Marketplace

The period from 2010 to 2012 is shaping up to be one of significant transformation for the European photovoltaic industry as it confronts regulatory incentive revisions, expanding market development opportunities and scaling competition from better financed and more robust power players, according to a new report from IHS Emerging Energy Research.

Europe PV markets are forecasted to add as much as 15.5 GW from 2010 to 2012 at an average of 5 GW per year. In the longer term, the PV sector in Europe is expected to maintain its growth trajectory from an expected 6.3 GW in 2010 toward 101 GW of installed capacity by 2025.

"In domino-like fashion, Europe's governments are revising their feed-in-tariff (FIT) schemes and permitting procedures in 2010 to keep pace with PV's rapid technology and cost advances," states IHS Research Director Reese Tisdale, one of the study's authors. "Feed-in tariffs have been instrumental in getting the European PV sector off the ground to date. These schemes are evolving rapidly in their designs to shape both the size and content of the market going forward."

Considered the epicenter of the global PV industry, the German PV market faces significant changes in the coming months due to proposed revisions to FITs expected to be enacted by the end of 2010, the report adds. As a result, German PV development is surging ahead of the proposed tariff reductions.

While Germany is among the most cost-competitive markets in Europe, reduced FIT rates will force players to further reduce system costs. Other markets, such as Italy, Spain and the Czech Republic, are poised to follow suit with expansive tariff revisions planned for this year.

Despite tariff revisions, Germany will continue to dominate global PV build-out, and continued development in Italy, France and Belgium also will be pivotal in driving the industry forward through scale, technology improvements and deeper experience for developers, Tisdale says.

"Europe is no longer a one-market PV industry," Tisdale explains. "With development focused almost entirely on Germany several years ago, the European PV market has now diversified to five or six active countries – ultimately, to stabilize the market and dampen risk."

Scaling PV activity in European markets outside of Germany has propelled a new group of utilities and power players into the industry forefront. Leading utilities and renewable players Electricite de France and Enel are at the forefront of large-scale PV deployment, particularly in France and Italy, leveraging their renewables success and experience to position them for broader international competition.

As competition increases in the downstream development segment, a growing number of international suppliers are challenging the more entrenched European companies for market share. Leading this charge has been the rising presence of lower-cost Asian manufacturers.

Furthermore, the recent oversupply of the global PV module market, technology and manufacturing improvements, and economies of scale has led to a dramatic reduction in solar PV system costs in 2009 and 2010. Adding to this positive cost trend, the increased positions of larger industrial players such as Siemens, ABB and GE are expected to have an additional impact on the PV sector, according to the report.

"Over the past 24 months, the makeup of the PV market has shifted dramatically with the growing presence of Asian suppliers squeezing traditional European suppliers," notes Tisdale. "At the heart of this change are Chinese companies - led by Suntech, Yingli, Trina, SolarFun and Canadian Solar - who are gaining market share through low-cost modules."

Through the first quarter this year, eight of Europe's top 15 module suppliers in Europe are Asia-based - highlighting a shift toward a more global supply chain from the more entrenched German suppliers that have been so successful in the past, according to the study.

SOURCE: IHS

It's Possible to Convert Waste CO2 into Diesel Fuel Using Concentrated Solar Energy

Several industry, academic and government organizations have formed an alliance to commercialize technologies that will utilize concentrated solar energy to convert waste CO2 into diesel fuel.

The alliance team members include Sandia National Laboratories, Renewable Energy Institute International, Pacific Renewable Fuels, Pratt Whitney Rocketdyne (a United Technologies Division), Quanta Services, Desert Research Institute and Clean Energy Systems. In addition, commercial partners have signed on to advance work on the first round of commercial plants.

The project team has received a first phase of funding from the National Energy Technology Laboratory to demonstrate these technologies.

A solar reforming technology platform will be colocated next to industrial facilities that have waste CO2 streams such as coal power plants, natural gas processing facilities, ethanol plants, cement production facilities and other stationary sources of CO2, the alliance explains.

A solar reforming system is currently being demonstrated in Sacramento, Calif., and demonstrations will continue both at Sandia's facilities in New Mexico and at a power plant project site in Bakersfield, Calif. Planning for the first round of commercial plants is under way at several locations in the U.S. The project team anticipates that deployment of the first commercial plants can begin in 2013.

SOURCE: Renewable Energy Institute International

Britain's Churches Can Raise $51 Million / Year through Solar Power

 Churches and other religious buildings in Britain can earn £34 million ($51 million) annually through solar panel installations, a study by British Gas’s Green Streets program reveals.

The buildings can bring in £29 million pounds every year through Britain’s feed-in tariff scheme and can save nearly £5 million in energy expenses, since they rely only on solar energy for their electricity needs.

Aside from the economic benefits they bring, photovoltaic installations on religious buildings can also reduce 42,000 metric tons of carbon emissions per year, which is equal to the carbon produced by more than 600 transatlantic flights.

“These potential savings are great news for Britain’s religious buildings and their congregations, and give them the opportunity to lead their communities in tackling climate change and helping Britain move towards a low-carbon society,” said Phil Bentley, managing director of British Gas.

Churches and other religious buildings have been badly hit by the recession. The Times reported that one-fourth of all 44 dioceses in Britain are experiencing deficits, thus spending their reserves to pay for stipends and pensions, while a similar number of dioceses are left with liquid reserves to last them a month or less.

For instance, the Church of England spends £1 billion annually for clergy salaries and pensions as well as for building maintenance – an amount barely covered by donations from parishes.

Therefore, the money-making potential of solar energy systems serves as a welcome solution to the religious buildings’ financial problems.

Mr. Bentley noted that religious buildings are particularly well suited for solar installations because the structures tend to have large roofs that face south, making them receptive to direct sunlight during most of the day.

British Gas is already involved in several solar panel installations on religious buildings across the country.

The utility launched the Green Streets program in January 2008 to help local British communities become more sustainable. British Gas allocated £2 million for microgeneration and energy efficiency measures to help 14 communities across the country to save and generate clean energy.

These communities were selected from almost 100 applicants to take part in the program. The participants are all competing until January 2011 to win up to £100,000 which they can invest in a local environmental project of their choice.

If the Green Streets program were implemented across Britain, it would help save £6 billion in energy expenses and eliminate 35 million metric tons of carbon emissions, British Gas estimated. This is approximately the equivalent to the emissions of four coal-fired power plants and one-third of Britain’s carbon emission reduction goal by 2020.

First Solar Complete NextLight Acquisition

First Solar Inc. has completed the acquisition of NextLight Renewable Power LLC, a solar development firm formed by the inaugural fund of private equity firm Energy Capital Partners.

With the NextLight acquisition, First Solar now has power purchase agreements for 2.2 GW of utility-scale solar projects in North America. According to the company, the transaction represents another strategic step in First Solar's expansion in the U.S. utility-scale power market, which began in 2007 with the acquisition of Turner Renewable Energy and continued with the acquisitions of solar project pipelines from OptiSolar in 2009 and Edison Mission Group in 2010.

NextLight’s team of project developers and other staff have joined First Solar. The first project developed by NextLight that is expected to start construction by First Solar is the 290 MW Agua Caliente Solar Project in Yuma County, Ariz. The California Public Utilities Commission on June 3 approved the project's power purchase agreement with Pacific Gas and Electric Company, and the appeal period expired without challenge on July 7. Construction is expected to start this year.

SOURCE: First Solar

Who is Bruce Sohn? Answer: President of First Solar

Bruce Sohn joined First Solar in March 2007 as President. Mr. Sohn was formerly a senior executive at Intel Corporation and has served on First Solar’s Board of Directors since 2003. During his 24 years at Intel, Mr. Sohn played a leadership role in developing and manufacturing leading-edge semiconductor technology. He served as an integral part of the start-up team at five Fabs, was program manager for Intel’s conversion to 300mm wafers and managed Intel’s two largest Fabs.

Mr. Sohn is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a certified Jonah and has been a guest lecturer at several universities including MIT and Stanford. As First Solar’s President, Mr. Sohn is responsible for technology development, manufacturing, expansion, quality, sales, EHS, supply chain, MIS and worldwide human resources.

In today's SolarPV.TV report from the Solar Future Conference organised by Solarplaza in Munich we present an interview with Bruce Sohn, President at First Solar who speaks about the company's roadmap by 2013 and beyond.

Specifically, Bruce Sohn talks about First Solar's plans to remain in the forefront of the solar industry in terms of production, sales and cost leadership - specifically, First Solar's  mission to reduce module production cost to $0.65 to $0.70/Wp in the next 4 to 5 years.

Source:  Solar Plaza      To view the video interview - click here.

AQT Partners with Solar Enertech and HelioPower to drive CIGS Solar Cell depoloymnet

Developer of copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) thin-film solar cells, Applied Quantum Technology (AQT), has formed partnerships with Solar Enertech and HelioPower to drive the delivery and deployment of its products into commercial projects.

The US-based company said the partnerships will accelerate fulfillment of the growing number of orders for its capital-efficient alternative to traditional solar cells.

Solar Enertech, a large-scale producer of photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules, is working closely with AQT as a module manufacturing partner for AQT’s CIGS cells and will assist with product certification and qualification beginning in the second half of this year.

Solar Enertech’s research and development team will join efforts with AQT to complete the final process of turning CIGS cells into modules.

Leo Young, CEO of Solar Enertech, said, ‘[The partnership] is in line with our value added strategy to the non-silicon segment and leverages our creative technology team.’

AQT and HelioPower will jointly address initial customer installations in order to provide a smooth market entry for AQT’s products through their partnership.

HelioPower, a US-based solar power design and installation firm, has engineered over 1,000 solar power solutions for residential, commercial, community and utility-scale partners since 2001.

‘Reliability, flexibility and economic viability are the cornerstones of our business model,’ said Ty Jagerson, executive vice president, commercial sales, HelioPower. ‘We see AQT’s products as a natural addition to our solar portfolio.’

Last month, AQT formed a partnership with Intevac, a high-productivity manufacturing equipment provider, in which Intevac will provide AQT with its production-proven manufacturing equipment for its current and future production needs.

‘We will leverage the existing PV ecosystem to rapidly deliver solar solutions to market,’ said Michael Bartholomeusz, CEO of AQT. ‘Leverage is perhaps the most effective force multiplier in this space and will go a long way towards helping us to collectively attain grid parity.’

Founded in 2007, AQT deploys a proprietary process on proven manufacturing platforms to produce high-performance, low-cost CIGS thin-film solar cells.

1.2 GW Solar Panel Factory to be built in Siberia

A Russian company is hiring several German firms to build a 1.2-gigawatt solar factory complex in southwestern Siberia.

Silarus, a subsidiary of the chemical company Titan, has hired the Schmid Group, Schmid Silicon Technology and EPC Engineering Consulting to build the factory, reported Photovoltaics World. Silarus signed the agreements with the German companies at a raw materials conference in Moscow last month.

The complex reportedly would have a plant capable of producing 10,000 metric tons of polysilicon per year. It would also have production lines for wafer, cells and panels. The overall project would cost about €1.6 billion ($2.4 billion).

The project is likely to be built in phases. Few companies in the world have the gigawatt capacity. First Solar in the United States and Suntech Power in China are among them.

Russia hasn't been a hot bed for solar manufacturing, but it seems to have that ambition. It's home to Nitol Solar, a polysilicon producer.

Earlier this year, a Russian investment firm, Renova Group, said it was teaming up with the Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies to build a 120-megawatt factory to make solar panels in central Russia (Chuvashia).

The joint venture, called Nano Solar Technology (NST), has ordered equipment from Oerlikon Solar in Switzerland, and plans to start installing it in 2010. The equipment would enable NST to produce solar panels that rely on amorphous silicon and microcrystalline silicon to convert sunlight into electricity.

Yingli Solar's Production Capacity Reaches 1 GW / Year

Yingli Green Energy yesterday announced the initial production from its latest 400 MW capacity expansions. The new solar PV manufacturing lines include a 300 MW PANDA monocrystalline silicon based production capacity at the Company's Baoding headquarters, and a 100 MW multicrystalline silicon based production capacity in Haikou, Hainan Province.

"We are excited about the initial production of our newly added 400 MW manufacturing lines. These significant milestones were achieved within one year, demonstrating our accumulated expertise in capacity expansion," commented Mr. Liansheng Miao, Chairman and CEO of Yingli Green Energy. "We expect these latest production lines to reach full capacity by the end of this quarter, which will bring our total nameplate capacity to 1 GW. Our success can be attributed to the strong demand for our high performance products, especially our recently introduced Yingli Solar Panda Module™. The expected output of these new lines this year has been fully booked by our customers. We believe our expanded product portfolio and increased capacity will further solidify our industry leadership worldwide."

"Given the higher cell efficiency of the Yingli Solar Panda Module™, we expect to help our customers further reduce their balance-of-system cost. We also plan to continue to invest in high efficiency cell research and development in order to deliver the best technology and products possible to all of our customers with a focus on the reduction of the total cost of KW hour generation," Mr. Miao concluded.

Source:   solarbuzz

The US Commits $2 Billion to Solar - China Commits $17 Billion

A lot was made of President Obama's decision to provide $2 billion to 2 US Solar Companies -- but this pales in significance when compared with China's decision to commit $17 billion in loan guarantees to 3 Chinese Solar Companies - so don't be surprised as Chinese companies continually increase market share, and US and European companies lose out.   Here are the details:

July 9 (Bloomberg) -- China may double the world’s capacity for making solar panels by loaning Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. 36 billion yuan ($5.3 billion) to expand production, a Bloomberg New Energy Finance analyst said.

The funds from the state-run China Development Bank Corp. follow an agreement to lend as much as 50 billion yuan to Suntech Power Holdings Co. in April. Some 30 billion yuan was also loaned to Trina Solar Ltd. by the bank in the same month, according to New Energy Finance. The three New York-traded companies are China’s biggest solar firms by market value.

“The loans are enough to increase the world’s solar wafer and cell capacity by 100 percent,” said Jenny Chase, head of solar-energy analysis for New Energy Finance in London. “It will allow the Chinese companies to deliver unprecedented economies of scale.”

The money will allow China to strengthen its position as the world’s largest maker of solar panels used to generate electricity from the sun’s rays. Yingli and its Chinese competitors shipped 43 percent of the world’s solar panels last year, according to the London-based research group owned by Bloomberg LP.

Yingli will use the funds to finance both domestic development and boost its overseas business, the Baoding-based company said in a statement on its website. The company didn’t provide further details or disclose terms of the loan.

China Development Bank also extended an eight-year loan of $70 million to Yingli in December 2008 to fund expansion. The company said in a separate statement it has started production on a solar panel factory able to make 400 megawatts of generation capacity a year.

Capacity Expansion

Yingli expects its newest production lines to reach full capacity by the end of the third quarter, raising its total output capacity to 1 gigawatt. The China Development Bank loan may be enough to raise Yingli’s production capacity to as much as 5 gigawatts, Chase said.

The 50 billion yuan loan agreement with Suntech may be used to help expand output capacity, said spokesman Rory Macpherson.

“The strategic agreement signifies China Development Bank’s confidence in the ongoing growth of Suntech and the solar industry,” he said. “The use of the funds was not specified though could potentially be used for capacity expansion.”

Authors Note:  An important caveat in the Chinese solar company loan deals is that these are agreements, but the actual money has not yet been loaned.

Source:   Bloomberg Businessweek

First Solar to Acquire NextLight to expand Utility Systems Group

First Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR) today announced it has formed a utility systems business group to address the large-scale photovoltaic (PV) system solutions market. Jens Meyerhoff, 45, has been named president of the group. Mr. Meyerhoff has served as First Solar's chief financial officer since 2006.

"With the pending completion of First Solar's acquisition of NextLight, this part of our global business represents the next leg of growth for our industry and First Solar," said Rob Gillette, First Solar CEO. "Jens brings significant financial, operations and market expertise to the utility systems business in order to provide our customers with a full PV system solution to their renewable energy needs. He will ensure an integrated, portfolio-based approach to project economics--from site selection and project development through to transmission access, power purchase agreement and project asset sale."

First Solar will have power purchase agreements for 2.2 gigawatts of utility-scale solar projects in North America when the NextLight acquisition closes, which is expected in the current quarter. In the near term, the systems business supports utility customers' achievement of renewable generation requirements at the lowest cost and shortest lead time to generation, while continuing to drive solar PV economics to levels comparable with fossil-fuel generation, enabling broader adoption of solar PV technology. To date, First Solar has built or has under construction 189 megawatts of utility systems projects in North America.

Source:  First Solar

Germans Implement Feed in Tariff Cuts Retroactive to July 1, 2010

The German Parliament and federal states have reached an agreement on the country's planned cuts to solar project funding. Under the terms of the compromise, the subsidies will be cut in two separate phases, according to a report from EuPD Research.

The feed-in-tariff reductions will remain at their agreed-upon levels. Retroactive to July 1, the cuts will be set at 13% for rooftop systems, 12% for open-space systems and 8% for surfaces designated for land-use change. The three tariffs will be decreased by an additional three percentage points on Oct. 1.

The German Bundestag and Bundesrat are expected to agree to the compromise this week, EuPD Research says. Meanwhile, planned elimination of subsidies for farmland projects in July will go forward as planned.

SOURCE: EuPD Research

Americans Willing To Pay More for Solar

A new survey conducted by Applied Materials, Inc. reveals that two-thirds of Americans believe solar technology should play a greater role in meeting the country's energy needs. In addition, three-quarters of Americans feel that increasing renewable energy and decreasing U.S. dependence on foreign oil are the country's top energy priorities.

According to the survey, 67 percent of Americans would be willing to pay more for their monthly utility bill if their utility company increased its use of renewable energy and 49 percent of consumers polled would be willing to pay $5 or more each month for an increased amount of renewable energy—a 14 percent increase from the results of Applied Materials’ 2009 survey.

“Americans are becoming more aware of the need for responsible energy solutions, like solar power, and increasingly want their government to drive policy and investment aimed at finding alternative ways to power our homes and economy,” said Dr. Charles Gay, president of Applied Solar, a division of Applied Materials. “With the right energy legislation in place, the U.S. could reap the benefits of one of the biggest economic job engines of this century – the clean energy revolution.”

Source:  Renewable Energy World

Italy Surpasses US in Solar PV

 by:  Paul Gipe (Renewable Energy World)

In a dramatic display of the power feed-in tariffs have in driving markets, Italy installed more solar photovoltaics (PV) in 2009 than the entire U.S. Moreover, within the first quarter of 2010, Italy's total installed solar PV capacity was expected to exceed that of the US.

The proposed revision to the feed-in tariff program (conto energia), currently waiting approval, reduces the tariffs and sets a new target of 3,000 MW for the three-year period from 2011 to 2013.

Italy installed 720 megawatts (MW) of solar PV in 2009, nearly all of that on rooftops. In contrast, the U.S. installed 435 MW during the same period, according to a draft report by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC).

Italy introduced a system of feed-in tariffs for solar PV in February, 2007 after concluding that the previous program of Tradable Green Certificates was not delivering the results desired.

By the end of 2007, Italy had installed five times more solar PV than in the previous year. Despite numerous bureaucratic roadblocks, the solar industry took off in 2008 and installed nearly 350 MW, then a record-breaking number. Solar PV installations have been doubling since then and are expected to reach 1,500 MW in 2010.

Italy is three-fourths the size of California, with which it is often compared because of their similarly-sized economies. Italy has a population of 60 million, to California's 40 million. The population of the U.S. is five times that of Italy.

Italy is now the world's second largest annual market for solar PV, after Germany.

IREC estimates that there was 1,250 MW of total installed solar PV capacity in the U.S. at the end of 2009. Currently, the U.S. is installing 40-50 MW per month, and Italy 125 MW per month. At this pace, Italy surpassed the U.S. in total installed PV capacity before the end of the first quarter, likely by the end of February 2010.

Italy is installing more capacity--250 MW--every two months than California is installing per year.

By the end of 2010, Italy will have a total installed capacity of more than 2,500 MW. This is two and one-half times more capacity than is expected in California, and one and one-half times more than is expected in the U.S.

Italy's 2007 decree also set a solar PV target of 1,200 MW. They reached their target earlier this year.

Unlike Spain, the government has no plans to cut the program dramatically. The proposed revision to the feed-in tariff program (conto energia), currently waiting approval, reduces the tariffs and sets a new target of 3,000 MW for the three-year period from 2011 to 2013. The revisions are expected to be approved sometime this summer. The proposal cuts the tariffs 18% in three equal steps of 6% during each of the first three quarters in 2011.

According to Gruppo Imprese Fotovoltaiche Italiane (GIFI), 93% of all solar PV in Italy is installed on rooftops in distributed applications. Data from Gestore dei Servizi Energetici indicates that about one-fourth of all Italian solar PV installations are less than 20 kilowatts (kW) in size, or about 300 MW.

Read the full article here.

Obama gives $2 Billion to Solar Energy Companies

US President Barack Obama announced on Saturday the awarding of nearly two billion dollars to two solar energy companies that have agreed to build new power plants in the United States, creating thousands of new jobs.

US President Barack Obama (R) tours a solar energy centre in Arcadia, Florida in 2009. Obama has announced the awarding of nearly $2 bln to two solar energy companies that have agreed to build new power plants in the US, creating thousands of new jobs.

"We're going to keep fighting to advance our recovery," Obama said in his weekly radio address. "And we're going to keep competing aggressively to make sure the jobs and industries of the future are taking root right here in America."

One of the companies, Abengoa Solar, has agreed to build one of the largest solar plants in the world in Arizona, which will create about 1,600 construction jobs. When completed, this plant will provide enough clean energy to power 70,000 homes.

The other company, Abound Solar Manufacturing, is building two new plants, one in Colorado and one in Indiana.

These projects will create more than 2,000 construction jobs, and over 1,500 permanent jobs as the plants produce millions of solar panels each year, according to White House officials.

"So that's some of what we're doing," Obama said. "But the truth is, steps like these won't replace all the jobs we've lost overnight. I know folks are struggling."

The president warned that it would "take months, even years, to dig our way out" of the most recent economic recession.

The announcement came as the US government reported the US unemployment rate fell to 9.5 percent last month as more than half a million people abandoned the job hunt, fueling doubts about the economic recovery.

The Labor Department reported on Friday a net loss of 125,000 jobs last month.

The biggest cause for concern had been the weakness of the private sector, which created a modest 83,000 jobs in June, well up from May's revised total of 33,000.

Faced with an uncertain outlook and poor access to credit, US firms have been reluctant to rehire workers.

Source:  AlterNet

US Solar Industry on Track to Install 10 Gigawatts of Solar Annually by 2015

Rhone Resch, President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), has recently released the following statement after announcing an industry-wide goal of installing 10 gigawatts of solar capacity annually by 2015. Resch made the announcement during a presentation at the 35th IEEE Photovoltaics Specialist Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii:

“Over the last few months, we have seen disaster after disaster caused by the fossil fuel industries and Americans are calling for a new direction for our energy future. And in communities across America, people are asking for an energy source that is clean, reliable, safe and creates economic opportunity. That energy source is solar.

“Even during the recession, the solar industry grew by 37 percent in 2009 and created 17,000 new American jobs. We are confident that we can reach 10 gigawatts of new installations annually by 2015, which will power two million households with clean, safe solar energy and support 440,000 domestic jobs. As the U.S. rapidly becomes the largest solar market in the world, the solar industry will help usher in a new era of clean, reliable power that will be the backbone of America’s economy.

“The leaders of the solar industry have set this target to show Americans that solar can and will become the nation’s largest source of new electricity generation by 2013. We are already cost competitive with fossil fuels, and by 2015 we expect solar energy to be the lowest cost source of retail electricity in all fifty states. But to reach our goal, we need to ensure that effective policy mechanisms are in place to give consumers the choice to go solar – a choice more than 90 percent of Americans support.

“The solar energy industry – invented and commercialized in the U.S. – is the solution for our country’s addiction to fossil fuels. It’s time we get this country moving in the right direction." 

Source:  Renewable Energy sources

Europe Will be Powered by Saharan Sun in Five Years

The super-sized solar projects being built in the Sahara desert will start generating and providing Europe with clean energy within the next five years, according to the European energy commissioner.  This is much sooner, than the initial 10-year time frame given to the project.

The EU and many European companies are helping to fund a large scheme of solar projects in Northern Africa called Desertec in hopes of using that energy to meet a target of having 20 percent of its energy come from renewables by 2020.  The first phase of projects will have a capacity in the hundreds of megawatts, while over the next 20 to 40 years, the capacity will reach hundreds of gigawatts.

The electricity will be transmitted to Europe with new inter-connector cables being constructed under the Mediterranean Sea, but will also service African nations.

Source:   Reuters, EcoGeek

Solar PV Installation to hit 17 GW in 2011, Research says

Global solar photovoltaic (PV) installations are forecast to reach 13GW by the end of this year and 17GW by 2011 on production growth and declining prices, a research paper shows.

The Goldman Sachs Global Clean Energy team bases its installation forecast on supply forecast of 20GW and 28GW in 2010 and 2011 respectively, and a downside risk in 2012 of 18-22GW.
Supply is likely to come from lower cost producers such as thin-film makers and Chinese crystalline module makers, the research paper says.

“We think demand may arise where government mandates for increased renewable energy remain strong, finance is readily available, and where domestic and utility scale demand are expected to rise,” it says.

Germany “should remain the largest and most important solar market globally for the next two years.”
PV installation in Germany is predicted at 6.5GW and 7.5GW in 2010 and 2011 respectively. The German market’s feed-in-tariff (FIT) will likely be cut given the lower trend in ASPs by 15% and 12% in the second-half of 2010 and full year 2011 respectively, for European module prices.

The research also believes that both Chinese crystalline module makers and thin-film makers will continue to gain market share due to their 30% lower cost advantage over European and Japanese manufacturers.

“This should encourage more installations so as to optimise production capacity and return on capital,” the paper says.
 

“We expect the ASPs of Chinese solar modules to fall by 27% and 15% in 2010 and 2011, in line with other regional players.”

Current cost reduction targets also suggest that cost parity between solar energy and conventional energy is within reach between 2012 and 2014, depending on the market.

Italy Solar Tariff Cuts Not as Bad as Feared

The latest important European solar market to debut a plan for solar feed-in tariff cuts is Italy, and Italy's plan is different in important respects from other notable feed-in tariff decline policies.

Italy is proposing a cumulative feed-in tariff decline of 18% in 2011, but the FIT decline will be spread out across four-month periods, with 6% FIT declines in each one. Italy has been expected to implement a feed-in tariff decline at the beginning of 2011, and so, the fact that it's now moving ahead is no surprise to solar. The reduction in solar module pricing has dictated a cut in Italy's FIT scheme. There is little doubt that all the solar companies are racing to make Italy a huge market once Germany's FITs decline. Italy is already the second largest market in Europe.

The initial reaction to the Street about the Italian proposal was that even though the 18% decline in solar FITs was significant, it was less than the 25% decline that some expected Italy would propose. Italy has among the most favorable feed-in tariffs and much more sunlight than a market like Germany, and at the same time has been under the cloud of European sovereign debt pressure.

Earlier this year, in a conference call hosted by Credit Suisse, Italian solar company Kerself indicated that it expected FIT cuts of 15% to 28%.

Of course, it's important to remember that at this stage the Italian government is merely proposing the plan for an 18% feed-in tariff cut spread throughout the year. It's a long road to implementing the policy. Take Germany, where FIT reductions that have been debated throughout 2010 are supposed to go into effect in a week, and yet, the German upper and lower houses of parliament still have not come to agreement on the plan.

Source:   The Street