PV-OUTLOOK A.D.2010-02

PV-OUTLOOK

A.D. 2010 v1.5

At the beginning of this year:

• Crisis is over, but prices go down

• Feed-in tariff subsidies are less, but demand is high

• Lack of finances for equipment suppliers

• The PV industry is already over subsidized

• The time to get to the grid parity is now!

PV-Outlook A.D. 2010 v1.5

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Global crisis out, grid parity in! The past year 2009 was really a hard one. Due to the global crisis it seemed a lot of real-estate load

generated money disappeared from the market like it was a soap bubble that has burst.

Manufacturing equipment suppliers experienced a

lack of finances, which troubled many of them. Even

the greatest Applied Materials reported their annual

turnover almost halved.

However these have been hard times for equipment

suppliers, but the sales of the photovoltaic modules

and systems didn’t diminish. Au contraire, it seems

that sales in Germany had a sudden development,

according to some opinions because customers knew

about subsidies are going to be decreased in 2010,

and many of them hurried to take the last opportunity

to get higher subsidies before the end of the year.

We could hear some voices of worry of the

eventual negative effect of the German

government is decreasing the subsidies,

while others say, no problem, we can sell

the excess of stock in other countries.

At this point, horribile dictu, I’d like to

support here a third kind of opinion, which

says the PV industry is already over

subsidized, and the time to get to the grid

parity is now.

We already have great technologies, wonderful products satisfying year by year more exigent

standards, and fat profits that may allow generous investing in R&D.

On May 19, 2009 Mr. Rick Schuett, Sol’s President and CEO presented his message “Grid parity

now!” to the Alternative Energy and Building Efficiency Conference in Boston, MA. Mr. Schuett’s

message promoted the idea that solar powered outdoor lighting has achieved grid parity in many

applications. Sol’s solar powered light systems are installed at a cost less than grid-tied lights, which

are burdened by costly trenching, wiring, and permitting.

Grid parity exists when renewable energy systems are deployed at or below the cost of

conventionally powered ones.

However most PV installations have 10 to 20 year payback periods and solar powered electricity

generation is not forecast to achieve grid parity with fossil fuel systems until well after 2015, but

Sol’s example clearly demonstrated grid parity is already achievable if we get out of old paradigms

and we find a new viewpoint in PV applications. The way how to apply PV commodities determine

how economically viable our PV systems will be. It is need for a purposeful thinking based on the

intention to get Photovoltaic systems be really competitive.


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We shall not compare PV as an alternative to the energy we buy via power generation and

distribution systems that have been built in the early 1960’s. The tariffs we used to compare the

costs of PV generated energy must be the day time peak tariffs, which coincide with the peaks of the

generated PV power. We have to rethink the way we measure and the way we use the PV

commodities, and eventually we will discover grid parity is not anymore a dream, but it is a solid

reality now.


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Table of contents

PV-OUTLOOK A.D. 2010 V1.5 1

GLOBAL CRISIS OUT, GRID PARITY IN! 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

MARKET ANALYSIS AND FORECAST 7

THE DEMAND SIDE OF THE MARKET 7

DEMAND FOR CLEAN ENERGY 7

FINANCIAL INCENTIVES FOR PHOTOVOLTAICS 10

MECHANISMS 10

NATIONAL INCENTIVES 12

ELECTRICITY PRICES IN OECD COUNTRIES 13

ELECTRICITY PRICES IN NON-OECD COUNTRIES 15

THE SUPPLY OF PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES 17

PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES MANUFACTURING 17

PV Modules Manufacturing Capacity 17

PV Modules Production 18

PV Module Production per Main Regions of the World 19

TOP PRODUCER COUNTRIES 20

CHINA 21

GERMANY 25

UNITED STATES 30

JAPAN 30

MALAYSIA 31

INDIA 31

KOREA 32

PHILIPPINES 32

TOP 20 PV MODULE MANUFACTURERS IN 2009 33

SHARP 35

SUNTECH POWER 36

FIRST SOLAR 37

SUNPOWER 39

YINGLI SOLAR 39

Q-CELLS GROUP 40

SCHOTT SOLAR 41

NANOSOLAR 41

SOLARFUN 41

SANYO ELECTRIC 42

TRINA SOLAR ENERGY 42

KYOCERA 42

CANADIAN SOLAR (CSI) 43


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SOLAR WORLD 43

NINGBO SOLAR ELECTRIC POWER / SUN EARTH 43

MOSER BAER PHOTOVOLTAIC 43

BOSCH SOLAR ENERGY (ERSOL SOLAR) 44

CHINA SUNERGY 44

CONERGY 44

BAODING TIANWEI YINGLI 44

CRYSTALLINE SILICON SOLAR MODULES 46

194 CRYSTALLINE MODULE MANUFACTURERS 48

THIN FILM SOLAR MODULES 51

100 THIN FILM PV MODULE MANUFACTURERS 52

THIN-FILM TECHNOLOGY ABOUT TO MAKE ITS BREAKTHROUGH 54

THIN FILM EQUIPMENT 60

PV MANUFACTURING EQUIPMENT SUPPLIERS 62

Crystalline Silicon Technologies: 63

Thin Film Technologies: 63

APPLIED MATERIALS 65

CENTROTHERM 66

SCHMID 67

OERLIKON SOLAR 67

ULVAC 68

GT SOLAR 69

MEYER BURGER 70

ROTH & RAU 71

JINGYUOTONG VACUUM EQUIPMENT 72

NPC 72

MANZ 72

SPIRE SOLAR 73

LARGEST PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER STATIONS IN THE WORLD 74

ANNEX - COUNTRY DATA CARDS 75

ALGERIA 75

ARGENTINA 77

AUSTRALIA 79

AUSTRIA 83

BELGIUM (FLANDERS) 90

BRAZIL 92

BULGARIA 94

CHINA 96

CANADA, ONTARIO 98

CZECH REPUBLIC 103

DENMARK 105

ESTONIA 109


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FINLAND 111

FRANCE 113

GERMANY 116

GREECE 129

HUNGARY 132

INDIA 134

IRELAND 136

ISRAEL 138

ITALY 140

JAPAN 146

KENYA 148

KOREA, SOUTH 150

LATVIA 156

LITHUANIA 158

LUXEMBOURG 160

MACEDONIA 162

NETHERLANDS 164

PHILIPPINES 166

PORTUGAL 168

SLOVENIA 170

SOUTH AFRICA 173

SPAIN 175

SWITZERLAND 178

TAIWAN 183

THAILAND 185

UGANDA 187


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Market analysis and forecast

The Demand Side of the Market There is unprecedented interest in renewable energy, particularly solar and wind energy, which

provide electricity without giving rise to any carbon dioxide emission.

Harnessing these for electricity depends on the cost and efficiency of the technology, which is

constantly improving, thus reducing costs per peak kilowatt.

Utilizing electricity from solar and wind in a grid requires some back-up generating capacity due to

their intermittent nature. Policy settings to support renewables are also generally required, and

some 50 countries have these.

Utilizing solar and wind-generated electricity in a stand-alone system requires corresponding battery

or other storage capacity.

Technology to utilize the forces of nature for doing work to supply human needs is as old as the first

sailing ship. But attention swung away from renewable sources as the industrial revolution

progressed on the basis of the concentrated energy locked up in fossil fuels. This was compounded

by the increasing use of reticulated electricity based on fossil fuels and the importance of portable

high-density energy sources for transport - the era of oil.

As electricity demand escalated, with supply depending largely on fossil fuels plus some hydro power

and then nuclear energy, concerns arose about carbon dioxide emissions contributing to possible

global warming. Attention again turned to the huge sources of energy surging around us in nature -

sun, wind, and seas in particular. There was never any doubt about the magnitude of these; the

challenge was always in harnessing them.

Today we are well advanced in meeting that challenge. Wind turbines have developed greatly in

recent decades, solar photovoltaic technology is much more efficient, and there are improved

prospects of harnessing tides and waves. Solar thermal technologies in particular (with some heat

storage) have great potential in sunny climates. With government encouragement to utilize wind

and solar technologies, their costs have come down and are now in the same league as the increased

costs of fossil fuel technologies due to likely carbon emission charges on electricity generation from

them.

Demand for clean energy

There is a fundamental attractiveness about harnessing such forces in an age which is very conscious

of the environmental effects of burning fossil fuels and sustainability is an ethical norm. So today the

focus is on both the adequacy of energy supply long-term, and also the environmental implications

of particular sources. In that regard the near certainty of costs being imposed on carbon dioxide

emissions in developed countries at least has profoundly changed the economic outlook of clean

energy sources.


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A market-determined carbon price will create incentives for energy sources that are cleaner than

current fossil fuel sources without distinguishing among different technologies. This puts the onus

on the generating utility to employ technologies which efficiently supply power to the consumer at a

competitive price.

Sun, wind, waves, rivers, tides and the heat from radioactive decay in the earth's mantle as well as

biomass are all abundant and ongoing, hence the term "renewables". Only one, the power of falling

water in rivers, has been significantly tapped for electricity for many years, though utilization of wind

is increasing rapidly and it is now acknowledged as a mainstream energy source. Solar energy's main

human application has been in agriculture and forestry, via photosynthesis, and increasingly it is

harnessed for heat. Electricity remains a niche application for solar. Biomass (e.g. sugar cane

residue) is burned where it can be utilized. The others are little used as yet.

Turning to the use of abundant renewable energy sources other than large-scale hydro for

electricity, there are challenges in actually harnessing them. Apart from solar photovoltaic (PV)

systems which produce electricity directly, the question is how to make them turn dynamos to

generate the electricity. If it is heat which is harnessed, this is via a steam generating system.

If the fundamental opportunity of these renewables is their abundance and relatively widespread

occurrence, the fundamental challenge, especially for electricity supply, is applying them to meet

demand given their variable and diffuse nature*. This means either that there must be reliable

duplicate sources of electricity beyond the normal system reserve, or some means of electricity

storage. Policies which favor renewables over other sources may also be required. Such policies,


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now in place in about 50 countries, include priority dispatch for electricity from renewable sources

and special feed-in tariffs, quota obligations and energy tax exemptions.

This load curve diagram shows that much of the electricity demand is in fact for continuous 24/7

supply (base-load), while some is for a lesser amount of predictable supply for about three quarters

of the day, and less still for variable peak demand up to half of the time. Some of the overnight

demand is for domestic hot water systems on cheap tariff. With overnight charging of electric

vehicles it is easy to see how the base-load proportion would grow, increasing the scope for nuclear

and other plants which produce it. [Source: Vencorp]

Most electricity demand is for continuous, reliable supply that has traditionally been provided by

base-load electricity generation. Some is for shorter-term (e.g. peak-load) requirements on a broadly

predictable basis. Hence if renewable sources are linked to a grid, the question of back-up capacity

arises, for a stand-alone system energy storage is the main issue. Apart from pumped-storage hydro

systems (see below), no such means exist at present, at least on any large scale.

However, a distinct advantage of solar and to some extent other renewable systems is that they are

distributed and may be near the points of demand, thereby reducing power transmission losses if

traditional generating plants are distant. Of course, this same feature sometimes counts against

wind in that the best sites for harnessing it are sometimes remote from population, and the main


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back-up for lack of wind in one place is wind blowing hard in another, hence requiring a wide

network with flexible operation.

Financial incentives for photovoltaics

Financial incentives for photovoltaics are incentives offered to electricity consumers to install and

operate solar-electric generating systems, also known as photovoltaics (PV). A government may

offer incentives in order to encourage the PV industry to achieve the economies of scale needed to

compete where the cost of PV-generated electricity is above the cost from the existing grid. Such

policies are implemented to promote national or territorial energy independence, high tech job

creation and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions which may cause global warming.

When, in a given country or territory, the cost of solar electricity falls to meet the rising cost of grid

electricity, then 'grid parity' is reached, and in principle incentives are no longer needed. In some

places, the price of electricity varies as a function of time and day (due to demand variations). In

places where high demand (and high electricity prices) coincides with high sunshine (usually hot

places with air conditioning) then grid parity is reached before the cost solar electricity meets the

average price of grid electricity.

Mechanisms

Four incentive mechanisms are used (often in combination):

• Investment subsidies: the authorities refund part of the cost of installation of the system.

• Feed-in Tariffs/net metering: the electricity utility buys PV electricity from the producer

under a multiyear contract at a guaranteed rate.

• Renewable Energy Certificates ("RECs")

With investment subsidies, the financial burden falls upon the taxpayer, while with feed-in tariffs the

extra cost is distributed across the utilities' customer bases. While the investment subsidy may be

simpler to administer, the main argument in favor of feed-in tariffs is the encouragement of quality.

Investment subsidies are paid out as a function of the nameplate capacity of the installed system

and are independent of its actual power yield over time, so reward overstatement of power, and

tolerate poor durability and maintenance.

With feed-in tariffs, the initial financial burden falls upon the consumer. Feed-in tariffs reward the

number of kilowatt-hours produced over a long period of time, but because the rate is set by the

authorities may result in perceived overpayment of the owner of the PV installation. The price paid

per kWh under a feed-in tariff exceeds the price of grid electricity. "Net metering" refers to the case

where the price paid by the utility is the same as the price charged, often achieved by having the

electricity meter spin backwards as electricity produced by the PV installation in excess of the

amount being used by the owner of the installation is fed back into the grid.

Where price setting by supply and demand is preferred, RECs can be used. In this mechanism, a

renewable energy production or consumption target is set, and the consumer or producer is obliged

to purchase renewable energy from whoever provides it the most competitively. The producer is

paid via an REC. In principle this system delivers the cheapest renewable energy, since the lowest


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bidder will win. However uncertainties about the future value of energy produced are a brake on

investment in capacity, and the higher risk increases the cost of capital borrowed.

Smart meters allow the retail price to vary as a function of time ("time of use pricing"). When

demand is high the retail price is high and vice versa. With time-of-use pricing , when peak demand

coincides with hot sunny days, the cost of solar electricity is closer to the price of grid electricity, and

grid parity will be reached earlier than if one single price were used for grid electricity.

The Japanese government through its Ministry of International Trade and Industry ran a successful

program of subsidies from 1994 to 2003. By the end of 2004, Japan led the world in installed PV

capacity with over 1.1 GW.

In 2004, the German government introduced the first large-scale feed-in tariff system, under a law

known as the 'EEG' (see below) which resulted in explosive growth of PV installations in Germany. At

the outset the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) was over 3x the retail price or 8x the industrial price. The principle

behind the German system is a 20 year flat rate contract. The value of new contracts is programmed

to decrease each year, in order to encourage the industry to pass on lower costs to the end users.

In October 2008, Spain, Italy, Greece and France introduced feed-in tariffs. None have replicated the

programmed decrease of FIT in new contracts though, making the German incentive less attractive

compared to other countries. The French FIT offers a uniquely high premium for building integrated

systems.

France - Tarif d’Achat Photovoltaïque (2009)

Installation Type Feed-in-tariff Continental France Overseas Departments Remark Roof & ground-

mounted 0.3 Euro / kWh 0.4 Euro / kWh 1. Duration: 20 years BIPV 0.55 Euro / kWh 0.55 Euro / kWh

Focus on BIPV

National Target: 160MW by 2010 / 450MW by 2015 Tax credit for income tax payer: 50%

reimbursement on equipment cost

In 2006 California approved the 'California Solar Initiative', offering a choice of investment subsidies

or FIT for small and medium systems and a FIT for large systems. The small-system FIT of $0.39 per

kWh (far less than EU countries) expires in just 5 years, and the residential investment incentive is

overwhelmed by a newly required time-of-use tariff, with a net cost increase to new systems. All

California incentives are scheduled to decrease in the future depending as a function of the amount

of PV capacity installed.

At the end of 2006, the Ontario Power Authority (Canada) began its Standard Offer Program

(http://www.powerauthority.on.ca/sop/), the first in North America for small renewable projects

(10MW or less). This guarantees a fixed price of $0.42 CDN per kWh for PV and $0.11 CDN per kWh

for other sources (i.e., wind, biomass, hydro) over a period of twenty years. Unlike net metering, all

the electricity produced is sold to the OPA at the SOP rate. The generator then purchases any

needed electricity at the current prevailing rate (e.g., $0.055 per kWh). The difference should cover

all the costs of installation and operation over the life of the contract.


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The price per Kilowatt hour (kWh) or kWp of the FIT or investment subsidies is only one of three

factors that stimulate the installation of PV. The other two factors are insolation (the more sunshine,

the less capital is needed for a given power output) and administrative ease of obtaining permits and

contracts (Southern European countries are reputedly complex). For example Greece, at the end of

2008, had 3GWp of permit requests unprocessed and halted new applications.

National incentives

The most significant incentives programs are listed at the end of this study, along with country

specific data. Please click on any of the below links to access the Country specific data card.

Algeria Argentina Australia

Belgium (Flanders) Brazil Bulgaria

China Canada, Ontario Czech Republic

Denmark Estonia Finland

France Germany Greece

Hungary India Ireland

Israel Italy Japan

Korea, South Latvia Lithuania

Luxembourg Macedonia Netherlands

Philippines Portugal Slovenia

South Africa Spain Switzerland

Taiwan Thailand Uganda


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Electricity Prices in OECD Countries


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Electricity Prices in non-OECD Countries


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The Supply of Photovoltaic Modules The present study focuses on the photovoltaic modules, however in order to be usable, a

photovoltaic system has to contain also a balance of system (BoS), e.g. support structure, cabling,

inverters, batteries, monitoring unit etc.

Photovoltaic Modules Manufacturing

The below figures are mainly based on own analysis and thorough study of press releases and other

publications of PV industry participants. Although some sources cite capacities of up to 38MWp for

2010, here we can see a little moderation of the growth rate compared to the past years. The

scarcity of the available cash, and the decrease of the incentives in Germany, one of the main

markets, may show their effects for a little while. Also the abundance of the China’s supply may

make some investors to rethink their investment policies. While some corporations owning efficient

technologies are going to expand their facilities at a higher order of magnitude. Gigawatt size

production capacities will be not uncommon in the near future.

PV Modules Manufacturing Capacity

Capacity 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

TF share 9.00% 8.39% 9.64% 14.76% 21.10% 26.12% 30.54% 35.21% 38.55% 41.66%

TF 149 279 526 1,355 3,125 5,494 8,307 11,749 15,936 20,325

c-Si 1,502 3,050 4,937 7,827 11,681 15,537 18,896 21,617 25,407 28,462

Total 1,650 3,329 5,463 9,182 14,805 21,031 27,202 33,365 41,342 48,786

It is interesting to observe the market share of the thin film technologies keeps increasing, ant it is to

achieve over 30% of the total PV manufacturing capacity installed in 2010.

0.00%

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I am doing my own market research since almost four years, and I am wondering about the very low

figure others dared to forecast in the past years. The real figures revealed after some time always

surpassed the most optimistic predictions. I can be enough self confident about my figures of three

years ago came pretty close to the real life achievements. The results of the year 2009 are not yet

audited as of today; hence some of large corporations will present their Annual Reports of 2009 not

earlier, then March 2010. (By the time I am writing this report it is only middle of February 2010). On

the following pages I will reveal lists with data of 294 companies that are said to produce and sell PV

modules; therefore if there would be any discrepancy of data, my figures can be corrected if needing

to do so. Just let me remark, I was amazed of an affirmative question found on a web site selling

market reports at not so low prices. The affirmative question was: “Did you know that there are 255

photovoltaic manufacturing companies?”. My answer to give them also in a questioning form is:

“Did you know that some of the market reports represent the data of only 255 companies, solely

because Excel spreadsheet can handle only 255 rows of data for a diagram?”. The present report

actually processed the data of 294 companies.

PV Modules Production

Production 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

TF share 10.00% 12.41% 11.81% 13.31% 16.89% 23.36% 27.72% 33.00% 36.39% 40.11%

TF 125 213 325 728 1,550 3,536 5,527 8,848 11,986 15,874

c-Si 1,125 1,505 2,428 4,740 7,626 11,601 14,412 17,960 20,949 23,704

Total 1,250 1,718 2,753 5,468 9,176 15,138 19,939 26,807 32,935 39,578

Very soon the market share of the thin film PV modules is going to reach and exceed 30% of the total

produced photovoltaic modules.

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PV Module Production per Main Regions of the World

Asia and Pacific countries are leading the world production. China is rising vertiginously, having

tripled its output in only three years, and keeping increasing its production at an incredible speed.

The governmental support, the lack of unnecessary administrative barriers, and the vigor of the

Chinese economy along with the industriousness of the Chinese people have shown great results.

Japan, the former world leader from before 2005, presented ambitious plans.

India, Korea (South) and Philippines are the next leaders in the APAC region. Philippines attracted

major industry players as First Solar due to the country’s low specific costs, and availability of a good

labor culture, workers having the experience of the Integrated Circuits mass manufacturing of the

past decades.

The most of EMEA region’s production comes from Germany. Germany quadrupled its production

during the past three years.

America also quadrupled its production in the past three years, which is also a remarkable result.

Capacity 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

APAC 1,928 3,383 5,590 8,947 12,932 17,026 20,268 25,657 30,150

EMEA 1,092 1,652 2,786 3,827 4,973 6,208 7,963 9,371 10,792

AMER 309 428 806 2,031 3,127 3,968 5,134 6,314 7,844

WORLD 3,329 5,463 9,182 14,805 21,031 27,202 33,365 41,342 48,786

0

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PV Module Production per

Main Regions of the World

AMER EMEA APAC WORLD


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Top Producer Countries The table and the diagram below show the comparison between the top eight countries in the

competition of the photovoltaic manufacturing abilities.

However China is now on the top since 2005, the year when the former leader Japan lost its

subvention system of the industry, but Japan also started to revive, at least according to the

announced increases of production capacities for the next couple of years.

Country 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

China 751 1,885 3,211 5,129 6,864 8,604 9,716 11,190 12,753

Germany 444 832 1,544 2,266 3,189 4,122 5,141 6,019 6,940

United States 261 357 707 1,821 2,801 3,396 4,406 5,386 6,716

Japan 985 1,040 1,582 1,931 2,405 3,588 4,723 6,998 8,768

Malaysia

392 1,084 1,340 1,580 2,070 2,800

India 112 154 331 481 893 1,213 1,793 2,093 2,023

Korea 31 113 218 368 668 728 808 1,178 1,228

Philippines

75 108 414 574 1,000 1,000 1,200 1,200

R.O.W. 746 1,009 1,482 2,004 2,554 3,213 4,200 5,210 6,360

The figures representing the forecast of the production of India may need soon some massive

adjustments, if the Indian government’s recently announced solar PV program will succeed in

practice.

0

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2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

PV

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Top Eight Countries

China Germany United States

Japan Malaysia India

Korea Philippines R.O.W.


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China

The production of solar cells and the announcements of planned new production capacities in the

People’s Republic of China have sky-rocketed since 2001. Production rose from just 3 MW in 2001 to

1070 MW in 2007 and for 2008 the estimates vary between 2.3 and 2.9 GW. For 2009, capacity

increases to 8.9 GW have been announced, whereas the figure stands at 12.3 GW for 2010. In

parallel, China is aiming to build up its own polysilicon production capacity.

The numbers given for 2007 production capacity vary quite significantly from 1,225 to 4,550 and

8,900. The same is true for the 2010 figures: 29,050 to 84,500. However, despite the discrepancies, it

is clear that there is a strong drive for building up its own silicon feedstock supply industry. This

development has to be seen in the light of the PRC’s strategy to diversify its energy supply system

and overcome the existing energy shortage.

Why is this of particular interest? During the China Development Forum 2003, it was highlighted that

China’s primary energy demand will reach 2.3 billion toe in 2020 or 253% of the 2000 consumption if

business-as-usual (BAU) occurs. Under such a scenario the electricity demand would be 4,200 TWh

by 2020.

This development presents a reason to press for additional Government policies supporting the

introduction of energy efficiency measures and renewable energy sources. With the proposed

measures, fossil energy demand would still grow, though considerably slower than in the case of

BAU. The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China endorsed the Renewable

Energy Law on 28 February 2005. At the same time as the law was passed, the Chinese Government

set a target for renewable energy to contribute 10% of the country’s gross energy consumption by

2020, a huge increase from the current 1%. The Renewable Energy Law went into effect on 1 January

2006, but no specific rate was set for electricity from Photovoltaic installations.

The 2006 Report on the Development of the Photovoltaic Industry in China, by the National

Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and World

Bank (WB), estimates a market of 130 MW in 2010. The report states that the imbalance between

solar cell production and domestic market development impedes not only the sustainable

development of energy sources in China, but also the healthy development of the PV industry.

In the National Outlines for Medium and Long-term Planning for Scientific and Technological

Development (2006-2020), solar energy is listed as a priority theme. New and renewable energy

technologies: to develop low cost, large-scale renewable energy development and utilization

technologies, large-scale wind power generation equipment; to develop technology of Photovoltaic

cells with high cost-effect ratio and its utilization; to develop solar power generation technology and

study integration of solar powered buildings; to develop technologies of fuel cells, hydropower,

biomass energy, hydrogen energy, geothermal energy, ocean energy, biogas, etc.

Also the National Medium-and-Long Term Renewable Energy Development Plan has listed solar

Photovoltaic power generation as an important developing point. Within the National Basic

Research Program of China, the so-called 973 Program, there is an additional topic on “Basic

research of mass hydrogen production using solar energy”. With the support from national


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ministries and commissions, the top efficiency of China's current lab PV cell is 21%, commercialized

PV components and normal commercialized cells respectively have an efficiency of 14 – 15% and 10

– 13%. China has reduced the production cost of solar PV cells and the price of solar cells has

gradually declined from the 40 RMB/Wp (4.40 €/Wp) in 2000. In July 2009, the National Energy

Administration (NEA) has set a subsidized price for solar power at 1.09 RMB/kWh (0.112 €/kWh).

It should be noted, that so far this is for a single project in Gansu, Dunhuang and serves as a

reference. However, according to the Energy Research Institute under the National Development

and Reform Commission, this is not sufficient for Chinese companies to be profitable yet. At the

moment, the companies need between 1.3 and 1.5 RMB/kWh (0.134 and 0.155 €/kWh) to become

profitable. Therefore, the Institute is calling on the Government to adjust the prices to accelerate the

domestic market growth.

When the electricity generation cost with solar PV systems declines to some 1 RMB/kWh (0.103

€/kWh) in 2010/11, this will be within the cost price of routine power generation. In 21 July 2009 a

joint notice was release by the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Science and Technology and the

National Energy Administration announcing subsidies for PV demonstration projects in the following

two to three years through a programme called “Golden Sun”. The Government will subsidize 50% of

total investment in PV power generation systems and power transmission facilities in on-grid

projects, and 70% for independent projects, according to the notice. The available budget should

allow about 500 MW of PV installations.

A new plan to foster the development of “new energy” sources, including wind, solar and nuclear is

expected to be published by the end of this year. According to statements of senior Government

officials published in various Chinese media, investment in new energy under this Energy

Revitalization Plan will reach more than RMB 3 trillion (€ 309 billion) and investments in smart-grids

will exceed RMB 4 trillion (€ 436 billion) by the next decade.

The PRC’s continental solar power potential is estimated at 1,680 billion toe (equivalent to

19,536,000 TWh) per year. One percent of China’s continental area, with 15% transformation

efficiency, could supply 29,304 TWh of solar energy. That is 189% of the world-wide electricity

consumption in 2001. The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China endorsed

the Renewable Energy Law on 28 February 2005. Although the Renewable Energy Law went into

effect on 1 January 2006, the impact on Photovoltaic installations in China is however still limited,

due to the fact that no tariff has yet been set for PV. The main features of the Law are listed below:

Energy Authorities of the State Council are responsible for implementing and managing renewable

The Government budget establishes a renewable energy development fund to support R&D and

resource assessment;

The Government encourages and supports various types of grid-connected renewable energy power

generation;

Grid enterprises shall purchase the power produced with renewable energy within the coverage of

their power grid, and provide grid-connection service;

The grid-connection price of renewable energy power generation shall be determined by the price

authorities, and the excess shall be shared in the power selling price within the coverage of the grid;


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The Law became effective in January 2006.

During the China Renewable Energy Development Strategy Workshop 2005, Wang Sicheng, from the

National Development and Reform Commission's Energy Institute, presented the “Strategic Status of

Photovoltaics in China”. The national target for the accumulated capacity of PV systems set in the

Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2006 – 2010) was 500 MW in 2010. The predictions of the PV Market in

China for 2020 were rather optimistic. The accumulated installed capacity was given as 30 GW and

included 12 GW in the frame of the Chinese Large-Scale PV Development Plan, a project which was

scheduled to start in 2010. However, due to the fact that at that time this plan did not receive

official consideration the actual growth of PV installations was far below the required figures.

Therefore, the 2007 China Solar PV Report authored by the China Renewable Energy Industry

Association, Greenpeace China, European PV Industry Association, and WWF, reduced the market

predictions to 300 MW cumulative installed capacity in 2010. For 2020, two scenarios are given. The

low target scenario predicts 1.8 GW, in line with the old Government policy, whereas a high target of

10 GW would be possible if strong support mechanisms were to be introduced.

In May 2009, SEMI's PV Group published a White Paper entitled “China's Solar Future”. China faces a

rapidly increasing demand for energy, and the country is building a massive PV industry,

representing all facets of the supply chain, from polysilicon feedstock, ingots and wafers to cells and

modules. The report recommends an accelerated adoption of PV generated electric power in China

to reach global average level of PV power generation by 2014.

The main policy recommendations of the report are:

Establish clear targets for PV installation. Adjust current national targets and achieve global average

level by the year 2014, including adjustment of the 2010 target from 300 MW to 745 MW and the

2020 target from 1.8 GW to 28 GW.

Enact clear and easy-to-administer PV incentive policies that are suitable for China’s unique

situations, using both market and legal mechanisms to encourage private investment in PV. Maintain

the current rural electrification effort but priority should be given to grid-connected large scale

power plants and building integrated systems.

Immediately implement a Government financed direct investment subsidy model at central and local

levels, and effectively implement feed-in tariff programs stipulated in the Renewable Energy Law.

The White Paper also points out that despite the economic and social benefits of increasing solar

power demand, China’s lack of PV demand might threaten Government solar incentives in other

countries. Policy-makers in Europe, US and elsewhere may view China as the primary beneficiary of

domestic economic policies that encourage PV demand, while China itself is not contributing to

global fossil fuel reduction.

On 1 November 2006 a new law on energy-efficient construction, in order to promote the use of

solar power to supply hot water and generate electricity, took effect in the city of Shenzhen. Projects

which are unable to use solar power will require special permission from the Government otherwise

they cannot be put on the market. By 2010, the Shenzhen Construction Bureau expects that 50% of

the new buildings will install solar water heating systems and 20% of new buildings will use

Photovoltaic electricity generation systems.


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China’s RMB 4 trillion stimulus package included RMB 210 billion (€ 21.6 billion) for green energy

programs as announced in early March 2009. On 23 March 2009 the Chinese Ministry of Finance and

Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development [Mof 2009] announced a solar subsidy program

which immediately went into effect. It was suggested that 70% of the budget would be handled by

the Provincial Finance Ministries. For 2009 the subsidy will be 20 RMB/Wp (2.06 €/Wp) for BIPV and

15 RMB/Wp (1.46 €/Wp) for roof top applications. The document neither mentions a cap on

individual installations nor a cap for the total market. The subsidy will be paid as a 70% down

payment and 30% after the final acceptance of the project. Eligible are all systems >50kW which

have module efficiencies of >14% (polycrystalline modules), >16% (monocrystalline modules), or

>6% (thin-film). Applications for grants apparently have to be made from 15 May to 30 August.

However, public comments from an official of the National Development and Reform Commission

(NDR) indicate that issues like grid connection are not yet discussed sufficiently. One of the reasons

is that none of the Ministries which announced the subsidy has jurisdiction over the grid. In addition

to the solar subsidy program which was announced on 23 March 2009 by the Chinese Ministry of

Finance and Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Mof announced another support

program – the Golden Sun Program – for pilot cities to support the use of renewable energies in

buildings on 21 July 2009.

In April 2009, JLM Pacific Epoch reported that according to China Business News the Jiangsu Province

plans to release a new plan to promote solar power applications soon. According to the plan, Jiangsu

intends to reach building and rooftop installations of 10 MW in 2009; 50 MW including 40 MW of

rooftop projects in 2010; and 200 MW including 180 MW of rooftop projects in 2011. The plan also

mentions the possibility of establishing funds to provide project construction subsidies and risk

guarantees, an executive of Jiangsu's PV Industry Association stated. The plan stipulates further

allocations of quotas to local companies.

A number of large scale Photovoltaic projects, ranging up to 1 GW were announced in the course of

the last 18 months in China. How many of them will actually be realized to create a local market for

solar Photovoltaic electricity systems, still has to be seen. With all these measures a doubling or

even tripling of the market seems possible in 2009, as a starting point for the development of a GW

size market from 2012 on. China is now aiming for 2 GW total installed solar capacities in 2011. In

July 2009 the new Chinese energy stimulus plan revised the 2020 targets for installed solar capacity

to 20 GW).

[Credits to Arnulf Jager-Waldau - Photovoltaic Industry in China; Sep. 29, 2009]

China has said it will spend billions of dollars on renewable energy projects in the coming years, and

is one of the world's leaders in solar technology manufacturing (PE 12/09 p7). But those factors will

not necessarily translate into large-scale use of solar power, compared with other energy sources.

NEF's Chase says that, in view of China's ambitious targets for carbon-emissions cuts, the country is

more likely to spend heavily on other forms of power, such as wind, geothermal and biomass, which

can make a bigger environmental impact more cheaply. NEF forecasts Chinese capacity will expand

by 700 MW in 2010, compared with 50 MW or less added in 2009.


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"Solar power has nearly unlimited resource potential, which is why people get excited about it, but

in terms of carbon emissions saved per dollar spent, it is not generally the best option," she says.

The best chance for a rapid expansion of solar power in China would be if Chinese manufacturers'

export markets weakened to the point where the business could survive only through the creation of

domestic demand instead. Impressive results continue to emerge from Chinese firms with US

listings, such as Suntech, Trina Solar and Yingli Green, suggesting that situation will not arise in the

near term.

["Solar-power subsidies spur growth." Petroleum Economist. Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC.

2010. HighBeam Research. 16 Feb. 2010 <http://www.highbeam.com>.]

Germany

In 2007, Germany was the world’s largest solar PV market with 3.8 GWp of total installed PV power,

representing 49 percent of global market share.33 The German cluster accounted for 55 percent of

global solar electricity production and installed 1.1 GWp of new PV capacity in 2007 alone,

generating EUR 5.7 billion in revenues (33 percent of the world market), including EUR 2.5 billion in

exports. The cluster boasted more than 10,000 businesses35, including over 80 manufacturers of PV

components, over 60 PV equipment suppliers, and employed 42,000 people in 2007 (denoting

employment growth of over 30 percent since 2006). The growth of the cluster has been buttressed

by a strong focus on innovation and technology, with over 60 research institutes in Germany

engaged in the development of PV technology. German investments in PV R&D amounted to

approximately EUR 176 million in 2007, and between 2004 and 2007, the cluster registered

over 250 patents. Due to an extensive incentive program provided by the German

government, the German PV cluster is concentrated in the former East-German states of

Saxony, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, and Berlin- Brandenburg. Over 90 percent of PV

manufacturers in Germany are located in this region. While many PV equipment and

machinery suppliers are spread further south into Bavaria, this is due to the well-established

heavy machinery and equipment cluster located in that region. As for PV research institutes,

there is a heavy concentration in both eastern Germany and Bavaria, so as to allow

proximity to both manufacturers and equipment suppliers.


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While the solar irradiation levels in Germany are well below many other regions and countries of the

world, the German PV cluster has developed successfully due to a number of key factors: (i)

supportive government policies and incentives; (ii) the availability of a skilled labor force and high

quality infrastructure; (iii) significant investment in R&D; (iv) the presence of highly developed

supporting industries; and (v) the depth and breadth of enabling industry associations.

(i) Government Policy and Incentives

The German government’s policies to encourage solar PV technology and electricity production date

back to the Electricity Feed-In Act of 1991 and 1000 Roofs Program of 1991-1995.43 The Act and

Program provided grid access to solar electricity producers for the first time as well as a refund

payment of approximately EUR 0.085 per kWh, and tested the grid compatibility of PV systems.

Between 1995 and 1999, the Government introduced further regional support programs and demo

plants for PV producers, working towards the initiation of the 100,000 Roofs Program in 1999, which

provided low-interest loans for 300 MWp of installed capacity.44 In 2000, Germany passed the

Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), requiring grid operators to pay a higher price to solar

electricity producers (EUR 0.51 per kWh) than to providers of traditional fossil fuel electricity.

Then in 2004, the Government amended the EEG to introduce a feed-in tariff (FIT) system whereby

solar electricity providers would be given a guaranteed price of between EUR 0.457-0.624 for a

period of 20 years.46 While the German government’s pre-2000 policies helped spur interest and

initial action in the solar PV sector, the introduction of the EEG in 2000 and subsequent amendment

in 2004 were key milestones that helped the German PV cluster takeoff. In addition to the 20 year

price guarantee provided under the 2004 amendment, an additional element of the feed-in policy

was an annual reduction of 5 percent in the 20 year rate. This incentivized early entry into the PV

sector as the rate PV electricity producers started at would be the rate they would keep for 20 years.

Moreover, the FIT was provided to commercial PV providers as well as individual households that

connected their solar panels to the grid. This encouraged widespread adoption of solar PV panels by

German homes—by 2008, nearly 400,000 households in Germany had installed solar panels. Apart

from the FIT, the German Government also provided tax credits for commercial PV providers,

including VAT exemption and a 20 year depreciation period for investments.

The Government’s policy framework aimed at making East Germany the hub for PV activity in

Germany and therefore most incentives were geared towards firms setting up in the former East

German states. For example, firms entering the East German cluster received investment incentives

of up to 50 percent of capital expenditure, and the KfW provided low interest loans for private and

commercial investors alike. By 2008, the federal Government had provided about $1.2 billion in

subsidies to firms in the East German solar cluster.

Notably, foreign firms and investors were welcomed and given incentives equivalent to German

firms. As a result, the East German PV cluster soon attracted some of the best international PV

companies, which stood to gain from the myriad incentives, positive externalities and know-how

afforded them by locating in East Germany.

Finally, in addition to the various investment incentives (such as low-interest loans and public

guarantees) provided to PV companies, the Government also offered an extensive scheme of


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operational incentives, such as recruitment and training support, wage subsidies, and incentives for

R&D.

(ii) Skilled Labor force and High-Quality Infrastructure

Another crucial enabling factor for the development of the German PV cluster was the plentiful

supply of skilled labor as well as high-quality infrastructure. Over 25 percent of the German

workforce had university or vocational college education, and 50 percent of workers were classified

as skilled craftsmen or technicians.

Furthermore, the historical presence of the microchip and semiconductor industries in East Germany

gave the region a highly-skilled and flexible labor force. Numerous universities developed solar

technology and offered a range of graduate level courses with a strong focus on PV and renewable

energies. On the infrastructure front, the German Unity Transport Projects were launched in 1991 to

close the infrastructure gap between East and West Germany.

The projects involved a total investment of EUR 38.5 billion and included the construction of 9

railway ventures, 7 motorways, and 1 waterway. Overall since 1990, over EUR 67 billion have been

publicly invested to rebuild East German infrastructure that was subpar at the time of reunification.

This huge investment in East German infrastructure led to a double advantage by 2007—not only

was the quality of infrastructure completely modernized and top-rate, but the property and rental

rates of the region were relatively low compared to West Germany and other cosmopolitan centers

of Europe. Hence, setting up in the East German cluster was a win-win situation for companies in

terms of costs as well as high-quality physical and technical infrastructure. Logistics centers were

also abundant, with Berlin-Brandenburg alone boasting 5 freight traffic centers and nearly 100 large

logistics companies.

Moreover, Germany had a 100 percent digitalized telecommunications network with 87,000 miles of

fiber optics and an ISDN density five times higher than in the US or UK. All in all, the availability of

highly-skilled and specialized workers, a good transportation system, and solid physical and technical

infrastructure at relatively low costs made East Germany an ideal setting for the growth of the PV

cluster.

(iii) Significant Investment in R&D

Under its High-Tech Cluster Strategy, the German federal government allocated significant resources

towards energy and environmental technologies in 2006-2009. The presence of world class research

institutes together with a concerted public and private sector effort to invest in PV technology, has

made Germany home to one of the richest PV R&D landscapes in the world. In 2007, the German PV

industry invested EUR 175.8 million in R&D.56 State-funded research has also been massive, given

the federal government’s commitment to invest EUR 6.5 billion in renewable energy research,

technology and innovation in this legislative period.

Germany is especially focused on new PV technology areas such as organic photovoltaics, and in

2007, the German Ministry of Education and Research committed to invest EUR 360 million to

support groundbreaking research on organic PV.


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As a result of this heavy emphasis on R&D, over 250 solar PV patents were registered in Germany

between 2004 and 2007.58 The close cooperation and collaboration between research institutes,

universities and PV manufacturers and equipment suppliers has helped make the adoption of new

PV technologies more cost effective and seamless. This has been a vital element in the German PV

cluster’s success to date.

(iv) Highly Developed Supporting Industries

The presence of highly developed supporting industries, especially in semiconductors, optics,

chemicals and glass, has also played a fundamental role in enabling the successful growth of the

German PV cluster. The East German states where the PV cluster is concentrated were already home

to the top semiconductor industry in Europe, as well as a vibrant optics industry with over 400

companies and 235,000 employees.

In addition, Germany is the global leader in logistics, and ranks among the top 3 globally in

information and communications technology (ICT). It is the European leader in the chemicals

industry (among the top 4 globally), and has an extensive glass sector with 330 companies and

50,000 employees.

Last but not least, Germany is a powerhouse in the machinery and equipment industry, harboring

6000 companies with 0.9 million employees, responsible for 28 percent of the world’s mechanical

engineering patents.

The depth and breadth of these supporting industries has provided the German PV cluster with a

rich source of highly specialized workers, a ready supply of machinery and equipment inputs, and

one of the best transport and ICT infrastructures in the world. The existence of these clusters

together with the large number of PV firms located in such a concentrated area, has also led to many

learning-by-doing externalities.

(v) Well Established Institutions for Collaboration

Industry associations have played an important role in coordinating the sharing and exchange of

information. There are multiple organizations at the sub-national, national, European and

international levels. For instance, the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) unites

members from the entire PV value chain and represents their interests at the national, international

and global level. EPIA is the world’s largest PV industry association representing about 80% of the

worldwide PV industry.

The German Energy Agency (DENA) is a child of the Federal Government and KfW, intended to serve

as a competence center for energy efficiency with almost 6,000 sales offices.61 Finally, the Federal

Solar Energy Association (BSW) unites over 650 members (producers, wholesalers, consultants, R&D

institutes) and serves as a forum between solar businesses and the German government.

While Germany’s PV cluster is slated to grow at a rate of 25-30 percent over the next decade, such

growth will depend on the confluence of certain crucial elements: (i) demand conditions for solar PV

within Germany and internationally; and (ii) the ability of the cluster to compete against rising PV

markets in China, Spain and the USA.


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(i) Demand Conditions in Germany and Abroad

Ensuring a growth rate of 25-30 percent for the German PV cluster in coming years will require

robust demand for solar PV within Germany and abroad. Domestic demand conditions are

promising. This is partly because of the German government’s goal to make the country a global

leader in renewable energy and environmental sustainability, through incentive programs and such.

But it is also due to the propensity of German consumers to purchase more fuel efficient cars and

electronics, and be more environmentally conscious.

Indeed, Germany’s commitment to environmental sustainability and renewable energy permeates

German consumers and society on a social, cultural and ethical level, over and above government

incentives. In terms of international demand, the European Union’s decision to increase the share of

power obtained from renewable energy sources by 20 percent and to cut carbon emissions by 20

percent by 2020, should help keep demand for solar PV buoyant throughout Europe.

In addition to its own market, Germany’s location at the heart of Europe provides companies located

in the East German cluster easy access to other growing PV markets in Spain, France and Italy.

Furthermore, with the rapid growth in India, China and other developing countries, the strain on

conventional power sources will only increase in coming years, making the move towards renewable

energies inevitable. Not only will solar PV play an important role as a clean energy proxy for

traditional sources of power, but it will also make it easier to provide electricity in rural and remote

areas which are far removed from the grid.

Germany’s reputation for providing the highest quality goods makes the “Made in Germany” label

on solar PV products attractive internationally. Against this mostly positive backdrop, there are also

some concerns regarding future demand conditions. In particular, once the German government

tapers off incentives such as the attractive FIT provided to solar PV users at present, will this lead to

a drop in PV production and demand? There are also concerns that the EU may introduce a system

of trading renewable energy obligations (similar to the UK’s system of Renewables Obligation

Certificates) among member states, which could cause Germany’s FIT mechanism to unravel.63

(ii) Competition from Growing PV Markets in Asia, Spain, and the USA

While the German PV cluster has enjoyed a preeminent position in the global market so far, the

cluster faces rising competition from growing PV markets in Asia (China, Taiwan, Korea), Europe and

the USA. As more and more companies enter, the industry is becoming less consolidated.

In fact, market share of the top 10 PV manufacturers fell from 80 percent in 2004 to 57 percent in

2007, and only two of the top ten companies are German. Moreover, as China, Spain and other

countries with much higher solar irradiance levels than Germany aggressively enter the PV sector,

the German cluster will confront stiffer competition than ever before.

The growth stories of China and Taiwan are particularly remarkable—China expanded PV production

capacity from 3 MW in 2001 to 1070 MW in 2007.65 As of 2007, 98 percent of Chinese and

Taiwanese PV production was exported.


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A flurry of activity late in 2009 bolstered Germany's photovoltaic (PV) solar-energy capacity after a

difficult year for the sector globally. But the role of the world's leading market as a demand driver is

set to diminish.

Project developers have been rushing to launch solar farm projects in Germany before power tariffs

for the sector were reduced by around 10% from this month. Carsten Koernig, head of BSW,

Germany's solar industry federation, said recently that new capacity may have reached as much as 3

gigawatts (GW) in 2009, double the amount added in 2008.

"The tariff reduction is not catastrophic for the German solar market, given modules are now so

cheap, but it does mean that if you had a project in the planning stage, it was worth paying a

premium to start it up before the end of the year," says Jenny Chase, head of the solar energy team

at New Energy Finance (NEF), a consultancy. NEF estimates that the amount of new capacity built in

Germany this year will be only slightly higher than 2009 at around 3.2 GW.

The German solar industry has been worried that the recently re-elected government of Angela

Merkel might seek to cut federal spending by making further substantial cuts in solar-sector

subsidies in mid-2010. It would be a tempting option, even with this month's tariff cut, given that the

price of solar modules has halved since 2008, making projects much cheaper to develop. Those

concerns seem to have been assuaged to some extent by indications from the government that it

would not make tariff cuts that would damage what it regards as an important part of the economy -

- Germany plays host to some of the world's leading solar-panel makers and project developers.

United States

The US market managed to add some 450 MW of PV capacities in 2009, less than some had hoped at

the start of the year when the apparently green-oriented administration of President Barak Obama

moved into the White House. Restricted financing and the time taken to put government incentives

into place dampened growth, although, here too, the low silicon price is expected to bolster the

market in coming months.

There was also some succor for the US market from the federal government's November

announcement that it would fast-track large-scale renewable energy projects in California, such as

Chevron's planned 500 MW solar facilities. If these projects can be started by the end of 2010 they

will be eligible for part of $15bn in stimulus funds set aside for green projects. This renewed

momentum could see fresh demand in the US rise to around 860 MW in 2010.

Japan

The reintroduction of subsidies and a new feed-in tariff introduced in November 2009 helped to

more than double solar sales in Japan in 2009, compared to the previous year. Japanese solar

photovoltaic sales reach 484 MW in 2009. According to the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association,

sales reached 483.96 MW in 2009, up from approximately 230 MW in 2008. Japanese PV solar cell

and module manufacturers also increased exports to the U.S., which were up 21% compared to the

previous year, reaching 203.17 MW in 2009.

Although the largest export market for Japanese producers, solar cell and module sales in Europe

actually fell by 4.3%, to 624.25 MW, total shipments reached 1.143 GW. Monocrystalline shipments


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of 576.5 MW topped the cell type technology categories. Multicrystalline cell shipments reached

419.4 MW, while a-Si thin-film shipments reached 120.3 MW in 2009.

Malaysia

While the PV market is Malaysia is miniscule, the PV industry in Malaysia is starting to gain

significance; this is largely fuelled by the presence of key international PV manufacturers in Malaysia,

namely First Solar Inc, Q-Cells AG, SunPower Corporations, and Tokuyama Corporation.

On the policy front, grid-connected PV systems have been receiving capital incentives from the

Government since 2006. The capital incentives will end by 2010. By 2011, the Government is

planning to implement a new RE policy which will further drive the PV industry development.

While the country is preparing for the implementation of the new RE policy, soft infrastructure is

continuously taking shape. These include capacity enhancement for local PV service providers,

quality control scheme, and awareness program for general public and commercial sectors.

It is foreseeable that renewable energies in Malaysia will take centre stage in the years to come as

country prepares to wean off fossil fuel towards fuel sources which are truly clean, renewable and

safe. This is a three-prong strategy which will address energy security, climate change mitigation and

creating a new economy in green technology.

India

Begun as far back as in the mid 70’s solar photovoltaics program of the Government of India is one

of the largest in the World. While the rest of the world has progressed tremendously in production

of basic silicon monocrystalline photoltaic cells, in India the major players are Central Electronics Ltd,

BHEL, REIL and the other manufacturers of SPV modules are in fact assemblers sourcing the cells and

carrying out assembly.

Electricity and social development go hand in hand. Rural areas of India are so far-flung that in some

cases it is decided not to lay down conventional electricity lines due to the small populace to be

served and high cost of laying lines.

Conventional generator sets are also not feasible due to recurring maintenance problems. The best

solution under the circumstances is solar photovoltaic based systems to generate power, run

irrigation pumping sets and home lighting and streetlights.

In addition to offering subsidy on these products government is also offering training on PV

technology, PV system designs and related fields.

Recently India’s government announced its National Solar Mission: an ambitious plan that aims to

achieve 20,000 megawatts of cumulative installed solar power by 2022. This mission includes a feed-

in tariff system comparable to incentives that boosted leading PV markets such as those of Germany,

Spain, and Italy. This, combined with the country’s remarkable solar irradiation, could lead to a quick

boom in the Indian PV market.

Cumulative installed solar power in India is 110 MW, and in 2008 only 3 MW were added. An

average year-on-year growth of 68% will be needed to reach the target of 20,000 MW by 2022, the

majority of this coming from grid-connected projects. This growth scenario would appear to be


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feasible within the context of the proposed incentives. Based on this target, India will change from a

production hub into one of the largest PV markets in the world. The angle of greatest interest

regarding the Solar Mission is not only that it will provide clean and safe (solar) electricity to millions

of people, but that it will also create tens of thousands of jobs at the same time.

Over the next three years, India’s PV market volume is forecast to grow to more than 600 MW in a

Business-As-Usual scenario and to 2250 MW in an accelerated growth scenario. The cost of solar

electricity generation is expected to fall significantly from INR 12 to INR 8 per kWh within a span of

10 years (2008 to 2017), while grid electricity prices are expected to rise to around 8 INR by 2015.

Based on these forecast developments, India has the potential to reach grid parity between 2017

and 2020.

Korea

In South Korea the government announced its intention to invest some 84.4 billion US dollars in

environmentally friendly technology like for example solar power in the next five years. It presented

a new funding program to achieve this objective. This program is designed to support smaller solar

plants of up to 200 kW while compensation for larger plants is to be reduced.

Philippines

With its past experience of the Integrated Circuits mass manufacturing Philippines attracted major

industry players as Sun Power and First Solar, other of its main attractive factor for investors being

the country’s low specific costs, and the local policies.


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TOP 20 PV Module Manufacturers in 2009

Production 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Sharp 528 719 960 1,460 1,600

Suntech Power 501 603 906 925 1,025

First Solar 159 412 904 1,047 1,147

Sunpower 100 437 850 1,070 1,310

Yingli Solar 146 282 550 600 800

Q-cells GROUP 123 183 460 575 1,065

Schott Solar 154 229 415 464 540

Nanosolar 10 100 400 450 640

Solarfun 30 230 400 500 600

Sanyo Electric 220 310 377 465 595

Trina Solar Energy 29 210 350 500 700

Kyocera 208 291 323 379 784

Canadian Solar (CSI) 40 103 300 450 560

Solar World 170 190 290 500 700

Ningbo Solar Electric Power / Sun Earth 100 175 280 350 400

Moser Baer Photovoltaic 41 120 260 372 730

Bosch Solar Energy (Ersol Solar) 55 143 210 260 378

China Sunergy 80 110 200 250 256

Conergy 50 200 250 400

Baoding Tianwei Yingli 150 150 180 400 560


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0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800

Baoding Tianwei Yingli

China Sunergy

Conergy

Bosch Solar Energy (Ersol Solar)

Moser Baer Photovoltaic

Ningbo Solar Electric Power / Sun Earth

Solar World

Canadian Solar (CSI)

Kyocera

Trina Solar Energy

Sanyo Electric

Nanosolar

Solarfun

Schott Solar

Q-cells GROUP

Yingli Solar

Sunpower

First Solar

Suntech Power

Sharp

Production [MWp/year]

Top 20 PV Module Manufacturers in 2009

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007


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Sharp

Sharp Corporation (TYO: 6753, Osaka Sec. Ex.: 6753, Nagoya Stk. Ex.: 6753, Fukuoka Stk. Ex.: 6753,

Sapporo Sec. Ex.: 6753, LuxSE: SRP) is a Japanese multinational corporation that designs and

manufactures electronic products. Headquartered in Abeno-ku, Osaka, Japan, Sharp employs more

than 54,144 people worldwide as of October 31, 2009. The company was founded in September

1912. It takes its name from one of its founder's first inventions, the Ever-Sharp mechanical pencil,

which was invented by Tokuji Hayakawa in 1915. Since then it has developed into one of the leading

electronics companies in the world. As a semiconductor maker, Sharp is among the Worldwide Top

20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders and among the Top 100 R&D Spenders in a list published by IEEE

Spectrum magazine. It gained public awareness in the United Kingdom when it sponsored

Manchester United F.C. from 1982 to 2000, which was a period of great success for the club.

They took a controlling stake in Pioneer Corporation in 2007. On 25 June 2009, they agreed to form a

joint venture with Pioneer on their optical business to be called "Pioneer Digital Design and

Manufacturing Corporation".

Sharp Solar produces thin film modules and mono and poly-crystalline silicon solar cells and for

some years has been the world's leading manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) modules. Sharp's solar

modules are used for many applications, from satellites to lighthouses, and industrial applications to

residential use. Sharp began researching solar cells in 1959 with mass production first beginning in

1963. Production capacity amounted to 324 MW in 2004.

Sharp Solar manufactures PV modules in many locations, including Llay near Wrexham, Wales and

Memphis, TN.

Sharp Solar History

1959: Started development of solar cells

1963: Began mass production of solar cells

1963: First to supply ocean buoy with solar

1966: Installed solar on lighthouse

1967: Began development of solar space applications

1976: "Ume" satellite successfully launched with solar cells on board

1980: Released first solar calculator

1981: Began operations at Shinjo Plant (now Katsuragi)

1988: Reached 11.5% cell conversion for amorphous silicon solar cells

1992: Reached 17.1% cell conversion for polycrystalline solar cells

1992: Achieved world's highest cell conversion efficiency of 22%

1994: Commercialization of residential solar power system (grid-connected)


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2000: Became global leader in solar cell manufacturing

2001: Obtained UL (U.S.) and TUV (EU) certification for PV modules

2002: Developed the industry's first string power conditioner

2003: Space PV module installed on Satellite Observatory "Free Flyer" (SFU)

2003: Began producing PV modules in the United States

2003: Began producing PV modules in Europe

2005: Developed solar cells that admit light and can be used as building materials for windows

2005: Began mass producing thin film solar cells

2006: Katsuragi plant expands its annual production capacity to 600 megawatts, the world's highest

at that time

2007: Expanded production capacity of PV modules to 200 megawatts in Europe

2008: Became first PV manufacturer in the world to achieve cumulative production of 2 GW

2008: Achieved industry's highest conversion efficiency for a polycrystalline PV module of 14.4%

2009: Launched thin film modules in the United States

Suntech Power

Suntech Power (NYSE: STP) is the one of the world's largest producer of crystalline silicon

photovoltaic (PV) modules. Suntech Power achieved an annual production capacity of 1GW in 2009.

As the center for the company's global operations, Suntech Headquarters, in Wuxi, China, features

the world's largest building integrated solar facade. With offices in every major solar market,

Suntech has delivered solar products to more than 80 countries around the world

Suntech Power has supplied or installed solar modules for numerous solar power plants and systems

around the world. Notable installations include:

Alamosa Power Plant (Colorado, USA)

Arizona State University (Arizona, USA)

Beijing National Stadium (Beijing, China)

Elecnor Power Plant (Trujillo, Spain)

Masdar City Solar Farm (Abu Dhabi, UAE)

Nellis Air Force Base (Nevada, USA)

Expo 2010 Shanghai (Shanghai, China)


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The company's Suntech Energy Solutions division completed Google's 1.6 MW solar installations in

June 2007.

Suntech Power joined with Israeli company Solarit Doral to build Israel's largest solar power station,

a 50kW rooftop project in the northern town of Katzrin, which was connected to the electricity grid

in December 2008.

Suntech Power has representative offices in China, Australia, the United States, Switzerland, Spain,

Italy, Germany, Japan, and Dubai, as well as production facilities in Suntech Power Wuxi, Luoyang,

Qinghai and Shanghai, with another under construction in Phoenix, Arizona.

Suntech America is based in San Francisco, California, and the company has plans to start a

production facility in Phoenix, Arizona in 2010. Suntech also has executives of their US operations in

top posts in American solar panel industry groups.

Last year the United States placed tariffs on Chinese solar panels. To bypass American legislation,

Suntech Power Holdings Co. plans to build a production facility in Goodyear, Arizona.

Suntech Power was recognized as the 2008 Frost & Sullivan Solar Energy Development Company of

the Year. Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Mary John commented on the recognition, "The

company's pioneering success in developing energy-efficient, cost-effective and customizable

building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems and crystalline PV cells, and modules for solar

energy conversion into electricity are highly commendable. It has gone beyond just meeting global

energy needs to anticipating them as well and highly satisfied customers testify that the BIPV

systems and other energy-efficient products are customized precisely to their needs."

The Andalay AC Solar PV Panel was awarded one on MSN’s most brilliant products of 2009 because

of innovations that advanced their ease of installation and use. Suntech Power is one of the main

manufacturers of components for the Andalay Solar Panel sold by Akeena Solar (AKNS).

First Solar

First Solar, Inc. is a publicly-held U.S. energy company in the solar sector. It manufactures

photovoltaic solar modules using a thin film semiconductor process based on CdTe, to produce

photovoltaic modules. It is the largest manufacturer of thin-film cells in the world and world's

second largest manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV)cells with production capacity of over 1 GW per

year by the end of 2009 The process uses different materials than most other solar cells, is more

economical, tolerant of a wide range of conditions, but less efficient at converting light to

electricityFirst Solar was founded as Solar Cells Incorporated by Harold McMaster and in 1999 was

purchased by True North Partners LLC, which rebranded the company as First Solar.

Glasstech Solar was founded by inventor/entrepreneur Harold McMaster in 1984. McMaster

envisioned the opportunity for low cost thin films made on a large scale. After trying amorphous

silicon, he shifted to CdTe at the urging of Jim Nolan and founded Solar Cells inc. (SCI) in 1990. In

February 1999, McMaster sold the company to True North Partners, an investment arm of the

Walton family, owners of Wal-Mart. John T. Walton joined the Board of the new company, and Mike

Ahearn of True North became the CEO of the newly minted First Solar. In its early years First Solar

suffered setbacks, and initial module efficiencies were modest, about 7%. Commercial product

became available in 2002. But production did not reach 25 MW until 2005. The company built an


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additional line in Perrysburg, Ohio, then four lines in Germany. In 2006 First Solar reached 75 MW of

annual production and announced a further 16 lines in Malaysia. As of Q3 2008, First Solar is

producing at nearly half a gigawatt annual rate and is among the largest PV module manufacturers in

the world. Research and development takes place at the Ohio facility, and headquarters are in

Tempe, Arizona.

First Solar LLC is one of the companies world-wide to produce CdTe-Thin-film modules. First Solar

has developed a solar module product platform that is manufactured using unique and proprietary

Vapor Transport Deposition (VTD) process. The VTD process optimizes the cost and production

through-put of thin-film PV modules. The process deposits semiconductor material while the glass

remains in motion, completing deposition of stable, non-soluble compound semiconductor

materials. First Solar is continuing to expand its CdTe thin-film production capacity massively. The

latest announcement was made in July 2009 to build a new factory in a joint venture with EdF

Nouvelles in France with at least 100 MW capacity [Fir2009]. The company has currently four

manufacturing plants in Perrysburg (U.S.A.), Frankfurt/Oder (Germany) and two in Kulim (Malaysia),

which will have a combined capacity of1.1 GW at the end of 2009. In 2008 the company

produced503 MW and currently sets the production cost benchmark with 0.86 $/Wp (0.62 €/Wp) in

the second quarter of 2009.

First Solar is continuing to expand its CdTe thin-film production capacity massively. The latest

announcement was made in July 2009 to build a new factory in a joint venture with EdF Nouvelles in

France with at least 100 MW capacity [Fir 2009]. The company has currently four manufacturing

plants in Perrysburg (U.S.A.), Frankfurt/Oder (Germany) and two in Kulim (Malaysia), which will have

a combined capacity of 1.1 GW at the end of 2009. In 2008 the company produced 503 MW and

currently sets the production cost benchmark with 0.86 $/Wp (0.62 €/Wp) in the second quarter of

2009.

The company sells its products to solar project developers, system integrators, and public utilities.

Sales have been primarily in Germany because of strong incentives for solar enacted in the German

Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) of 2000 (cp. Solar power in Germany). With the extension of

the Investment Tax Credit in the United States, sales in the U.S. are expected to increase, as

evidenced by First Solar's October 2008 partnership with SolarCity. In a five-year deal, First Solar has

agreed to supply 100 megawatts of solar modules to SolarCity, the largest residential installer in the

United States according to SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive.

First Solar has a backlog of long-term contracts totaling approximately $6.3 billion in sales.[15]

Among the 12 European project developers and system integrators, customers include Blitzstrom

GmbH, Colexon Energy AG (previously Reinecke + Pohl), Conergy AG, Gehrlicher Umweltschonende

Energiesysteme GmbH, Juwi Solar GmbH and Phoenix Solar AG. In 2007, each of these six accounted

for between 10% and 23% of sales. In 2007, new contracts were negotiated with EDF Energies

Nouvelles, Sechilienne-Sidec, Rio Energie, and Sun Edison. First Solar also expanded an existing

contract with Juwi.

The manufacturing cost per watt reached $1.23 in 2007 and $1.08 in 2008. On February 24, 2009,

the cost / watt broke the $1 barrier with 98 cents per watt. As of Q3 2009, their production cost had

fallen to $0.85/watt.[18] First Solar is contractually bound to reduce price per watt by 6.5% per year

and plans to be competitive on an unsubsidized basis with retail electricity by 2010


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Sunpower

SunPower Corporation designs and manufactures high-efficiency silicon solar cells, roof tiles and

solar panels based on a silicon all-back-contact solar cell invented at Stanford University. SunPower

Corporation is publicly traded on the NASDAQ as SPWRA and SPWRB. SunPower Corporation is a

component of the Dow Jones Oil and Gas Index DJUSEN.

SunPower was founded in 1988 by Richard Swanson and Robert Lorenzini to commercialize

proprietary high-efficiency silicon solar cell technology. The company went public in November

2005. The initial products, introduced in 1992, were high-concentration solar cells with an efficiency

of 26%. SunPower also manufactures a 22% efficient solar cell called Pegasus that is designed for

non concentrating applications.

SunPower has recently announced a number of projects around the world that utilize its patented

solar tracker technology. The company maintains a market-leading position in Spain with more than

61 megawatts installed or under construction; recently completed a 2.2-megawatt solar power plant

in Mungyeong, Korea; and the largest solar installation in the U.S., the 15-megawatt Nellis Solar

Power Plant in Nevada.

On October 6, 2008, Agilent Technologies Inc. and SunPower Corporation announced that a 1-

megawatt solar tracking system at Agilent's campus will start producing electricity in mid-October.

The system features a 3-acre (12,000 m2) parking lot canopy structure with nearly 3,500 SunPower

solar panels that track the sun throughout the day. The design of SunPower's tracking solar system

will generate up to 25 percent more energy for Agilent than a similarly sized flat, rooftop system, the

company said. As a result, Agilent's solar parking canopy is the largest solar energy generator in

Sonoma County, California.

SunPower donated the solar cells for the NASA/AeroVironment Pathfinder-Plus high-altitude UAV,

which then set an altitude record of 80,201 feet (24,445 m) for solar-powered and propeller-driven

aircraft.

SunPower conducts its main R&D activity in Sunnyvale, California and has its cell manufacturing

plant outside of Manila in the Philippines. Fab. No 1 has a nameplate capacity of 108 MW. Fab. No 2

was fully operational at the end of 2008 with a capacity of 306 MW. For 2009 a capacity increase to

574 MW is foreseen. According to their Annual Report 2008, the company started the construction

of a 1 GW solar cell factory in Malaysia. Production in 2008 was quoted with 237 MW.

SunPower has announced that it plans to compete with retail electric rates by reducing system cost

by 50% by 2012

Yingli Solar

Yingli (NYSE: YGE) also known as Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited, which holds the

brand Yingli Solar, is a solar energy company and one of the largest vertically integrated

manufacturers of photovoltaic solar modules. The company released an IPO on the New York Stock

Exchange on June 8, 2007.

Yingli Green Energy was founded by Mr. Liansheng Miao, the Company’s Chairman of the Board and

Chief Executive Officer. Headquartered in Baoding, China, Yingli Green Energy has been adopting a


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vertically integrated business model since 2004 and started with an initial annual capacity of 6 MW

in ingot, wafer and cell, and 50 MW in module. In July 2009, the annual production capacity of each

stage of the value chain reached 600MW. As a final step to make Yingli a completely vertically

integrated business model, the Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Fine Silicon Company

Limited, began the trial production of high quality solar-grade and electronic-grade polysilicon in

December 2009. Today, Yingli Green Energy has become a leading solar energy company, who holds

the brand Yingli Solar, and one of the world’s largest vertically integrated photovoltaic (“PV”)

manufacturers. The Company develops, manufactures and sells photovoltaic modules to a wide

range of markets, including Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, France, South Korea, China, and the

United States.

Yingli Green Energy has more than 6000 employees and more than 10 branch offices worldwide.

Yingli Green Energy is publicly listed on New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: YGE).

On Wednesday February 3, 2010, Yingli was announced as an official sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World

Cup. It is the first ever Chinese company to sponsor the FIFA World Cup. The company will actively

support FIFA's "Football for Hope" movement and "Green Goal" concept first by providing solar

panels for FIFA's "20 Centres for 2010" campaign.

Yingli's products include both the raw material and the end product, including polysilicon ingots,

wafers, photovoltaic cells, photovoltaic modules, and photovoltaic integrated systems.

Q-cells group

Established in 1999, Q-Cells is one of the world's largest manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) cells. Its

core business is the development, production and marketing of high-quality (mono- and multi-)

crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells.

Since commencing production in 2001, Q-Cells has grown rapidly and now employs more than 1000

people at its site in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Its cells are sometimes marked with

a small capital 'Q' near a corner.

Q-Cells has developed the performance of its cells as well as its technological production processes.

Q-Cells is also developing additional important technologies through partnerships for the

commercialization of these technologies.

The Q-Cells group includes, but is not limited to:

Calyxo (CdTe).

CSG Solar (CSG).

REC Group (polycrystalline silicon) 17.2% Stake was sold on 6. May 2009

Solaria Corporation (silicon).

Solibro, CIGS for BIPV and small industrial and commercial roofs.

Sontor (formerly Brilliant 234 GmbH), (CIGS)

Sovello (string ribbon), in partnership with Evergreen Solar.


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Sunfilm (micromorph thin-film silicon).

VHF Technologies / Flexcell (Flexible thin films).

Schott Solar

SCHOTT AG is a German manufacturer of high-quality industrial glass products, its main markets are

household appliances [100millionth glass-ceramic hob due 2009], pharmaceutical industries, solar

energy, electronics, optics as well as automotive. According to the 2008 Annual Report, Schott AG

employs 17,363 people in 42 countries.

Schott AG is well known by the photographic community for manufacturing the glass components of

Zeiss and Schneider Kreuznach lenses as well as B+W filters. They also publish the Schott Glass

Catalog, which is a standard reference for the properties of the many optical glasses produced by

them and other companies.

The company was founded in 1884 at Jena, Germany as Glastechnische Laboratorium Schott &

Genossen by Otto Schott, Ernst Abbe, Carl Zeiss and Roderich Zeiss. The company later changed its

name to Jenaer Glaswerk Schott & Genossen. After the Second World War, the company was forced

to relocate to Mainz in West Germany as Schott Glaswerke AG after the headquarters in Jena was

taken over by the East German government and became Jena Glaswerke VEB. After the German

reunification, Schott Glaswerke AG acquired Jena Glaswerke VEB to become a single company again.

In 2008 they announced plans to build a factory in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA to build receivers

for concentrated solar thermal power plants (CSP) and 64 MW of photovoltaic modules. They are

already making 15 MW of photovoltaics annually in Billerica, Massachusetts. Schott plans to produce

crystalline PV cells and modules with a total of 450 MW annually. In addition, the company will

produce thin-film PV wafers with a capacity of 100 MW

Nanosolar

Nanosolar developed a manufacturing technology in the process of which minute nano particles of

copper, indium, gallium, selenium and probably sulphur will be printed on sheeting material using

the roll-to-roll process. Using this innovative printing technology, the Americans want to bring down

costs to USD 0.30 up to USD 0.35 (€ 0.22 up to € 0.25) – which is about one third of the

manufacturing cost of First Solar, the leading company in the sector. Mr. Erik Oldekop, the

spokesman of Nanosolar said: “We are capable of coating large areas within very short cycle times”.

The factories have already been built and series production is about to take off. Nanosolar wants to

manufacture its cells in a 430 MW plant in San José, California. These will then be processed into

circuit modules at Luckenwalde near Berlin.

Solarfun

Solarfun was established in 2004 by the electricity meter manufacturer Lingyang Electronics. The

first production line was completed at the end of 2004 and commercial production started in

November 2005. The company went public in December 2006 and reported the completion of their

production capacity expansion to 360 MW in the second quarter of 2008. For 2009 a further 60 MW

expansion is planned. For 2008 total module shipments of 172.8 were reported by the company.


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Sanyo Electric

SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. (San'yō Denki Kabushiki-Kaisha) (TYO: 6764, NASDAQ: SANYY) is a major

electronics company and member of the Fortune 500 whose headquarters is located in Moriguchi,

Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo targets the middle of the market and has over 324 offices and plants

worldwide, together employing more than 11,000 employees.

On November 2, 2008, Sanyo and Panasonic announced that they have agreed on the main points of

a proposed buyout that would make Sanyo a subsidiary of Panasonic [2] and a formal announcement

of the acquisition was made on Sanyo's web site on December 19, 2008.[3]They became a subsidiary

of Panasonic on December 21, 2009.

Sanyo Energy opened its solar module assembly plant in Hungary and in Mexico in 2004, and in

2006 it produced solar modules worth $213 million. In 2007, Sanyo completed a new unit at its solar

module plant in Hungary that is to triple its annual capacity to 720,000 units in 2008.

Plans to expand production were based on rising demands for Sanyo Hungary products, whose

leading markets are Germany, Italy, Spain and the Scandinavian countries. The plant at Dorog,

outside Budapest, will be Sanyo Electric's largest facility that produces solar modules in the entire

world.

In late September 2008, Sanyo Electric Company, Ltd. announced its decision to build a

manufacturing plant for solar ingots and wafers (the building blocks for silicon solar cells) in Inagi,

Japan. The plant will begin operating in October 2009 and will reach its full production capacity of 70

megawatts (MW) of solar wafers per year by April 2010. . Sanyo and Nippon Oil have decided to

launch a joint company for the production and sale of thin-film solar panels, to be named Sanyo

Eneos Solar Co., Ltd . The new joint company will start production and sales at an initial scale of

80MW and gradually increase its production capacity. For this joint project, Sanyo will draw on its

solar cell technologies, based on the technology acquired through the development of the HIT Solar

Cell.

Trina Solar Energy

Trina Solar was founded in 1997 and went public in December 2006. The company has integrated

product lines, from ingots to wafers and modules. In December 2005 a 30 MW mono-crystalline

silicon wafer product line went into operation. According to the company the production capacity

was 350 MW for each of ingot, wafer, cell and modules at the end of 2008. For 2008 shipments of

201 MW were reported.

Kyocera

Kyocera Corporation (Kyōsera Kabushiki-Kaisha) is a multinational manufacturer based in Kyoto,

Japan. It was founded as Kyoto Ceramic Co., Ltd. (Kyōto Seramikku Kabushiki-Kaisha) in 1959 by

Kazuo Inamori and renamed in 1982. The company has diversified its founding technology in ceramic

materials through internal development as well as strategic mergers and acquisitions. It

manufactures industrial ceramics, solar power generating systems, telecommunications equipment,

office document imaging equipment, electronic components, semiconductor packages, cutting tools,

and components for medical and dental implant systems.


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Kyocera Corporation has announced a plan to increase its solar cell production to 650 megawatts

(MW) per year by March 31, 2012, more than doubling its 2008 output of 290 MW. The company

will reinforce its production bases in Japan, Mexico, Europe and China, investing about ¥50 billion

through March 31, 2012 as part of the expansion. Through this production enhancement, Kyocera

looks to meet increasing demand across the world for solar cells.

Canadian Solar (CSI)

Canadian Solar Inc. was founded in Canada in 2001 and was listed on NASDAQ in November 2006.

CSI has established six wholly-owned manufacturing subsidiaries in China, manufacturing ingot

/wafer (planned production in mid 2008), solar cells and solar modules. According to the company it

achieved 120-150 MW of ingot and wafer capacity and 270 MW of cell capacity in 2008. For 2008

the company reported shipments of 167.5 MW.

Solar World

SolarWorld is a German company dedicated to manufacture and market photovoltaic products

worldwide by integrating all components of the solar value chain, from feedstock (silicon) to module

production, from trade with solar panels to the promotion and construction of turn-key solar power

plants. The group controls the development of solar power technologies at all levels in-house.

SolarWorld AG is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Its subsidiaries are SolarWorld Innovations GmbH, Sunicon AG, Deutsche Solar AG, Deutsche Cell

GmbH, Solar Factory GmbH [3], SolarWorld Industries America,

Ningbo Solar Electric Power / Sun Earth

The company has been part of China PuTian Group since 2003. According to company information

Ningbo has imported solar cell and module producing and assembling lines from America and Japan.

According to the company, production capacity will be increased in 2009 from the current 200 MW

to 350 MW.

Moser Baer Photovoltaic

Established in 1983 in New Delhi, Moser Baer is one of India’s leading technology companies. Moser

Baer's flagship company, Moser Baer India Limited (MBIL) has successfully developed cutting edge

technologies to become the world’s second largest manufacturer of optical storage media.

Moser Baer Photo Voltaic Limited (MBPV) and PV Technologies India Limited (PVTIL) are subsidiaries

of MBIL and were launched between 2005 and 2007 with the primary objective of providing reliable

solar power as a competitive non-subsidized source of energy.

Moser Baer India Limited, the global technology company, is developing a one megawatt solar

project in Chandrapur, Maharashtra. It has been has been awarded an EPC contract to this effect by

Mahagenco, a Government of Maharashtra power generation company. The solar power plant was

awarded on the basis of a global tender, in which 20 global companies participated. The project will

be commissioned in consortium with SunEnergy GMBH, a specialized PV systems company based in

Germany. The Chandrapur solar farm is among the largest projects anywhere in the world using

amorphous silicon (thin film) photovoltaic technology.


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Bosch Solar Energy (Ersol Solar)

Bosch Solar Energy AG stands for the Solar Energy division of the Bosch Group and, together with its

subsidiaries, it is a leading provider of silicon-based photovoltaic products with a consistent focus on

product quality. From small-scale plants for single-family homes to finished large-scale photovoltaic

projects – Bosch Solar Energy offers high-quality solar cells and modules for photovoltaic power

generation. With its high-efficiency crystalline and thin-film products, Bosch Solar Energy focuses

very deliberately on the sustainable and environmentally friendly form of silicon-based solar power

generation.

China Sunergy

China Sunergy was established as CEEG Nanjing PV-Tech Co. (NJPV), a joint venture between the

Chinese Electrical Equipment Group in Jiangsu and the Australian Photovoltaic Research Centre in

2004. China Sunergy went public in May 2007. At the end of 2008, the Company had five selective

emitter (SE) cell lines, four HP lines, three capable of using multi-crystalline and mono-crystalline

wafers, and one normal P-type line for multi-crystalline cells with a total nameplate capacity of 320

MW. For 2008 a production of 111 MW was reported by the company.

Conergy

Conergy AG was founded in 1998 by the former chairman of the board Hans-Martin Rüter. With a

turnover of 706 Million Euros in 2007, and employing more than 2000 staff currently, Conergy is one

of the leading solar energy companies in Europe. It also has a company called Conergy Americas.

Since March 2005 Conergy AG has been registered at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange with the

abbreviation “CGY“ and the ISIN DE 00060 40025. Three months after its IPO, the company is now

listed on the TecDAX.

Conergy has been increasingly building a presence in foreign markets. By 2007 Conergy had

operations in subsidiaries in 25 countries on five continents. As well as expansion into the most

promising solar markets worldwide, Conergy pursued diversification of its product range to become

a "renewable energy agnostic" company manufacturing, supplying and developing renewable energy

technologies with proven commercial applications. Until its reorganization in 2008, Conergy

addressed the renewable energy market via three brands, which were intended to be clearly

delimited relative to each other. The Conergy group served solar wholesalers, installers, industrial or

private roof-owners and investors in solar power as required. In this way the respective customer

wishes can be tackled and implemented by specialist sales teams. Potential for growth is additionally

created by extension of the solar portfolio based on needs, for instance with large solar-thermic

plants and solar cooling systems.

Baoding Tianwei Yingli

Baoding TianWei SolarFilms Co. Ltd. was set up in 2008. It is a subsidiary of Baoding TianWei Group

Co., Ltd., a leading company in the China power transformer industry. In Phase I of the production,

the set up has a capacity of 50MW and should begin commercial operation in the second half of

2009. The company plans to reach a capacity of 500 MW in 2015.


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Crystalline Silicon Solar Modules Photovoltaics are the direct conversion of sunlight into electrical energy. The name derives from

photos (the Greek word for light) and volta (from Alessandro Volta, the pioneer of electrical

engineering). Photovoltaic (or solar) cells to capture sunlight and convert it into electrical energy

were first manufactured in the 1950’s. They are the heart of a photovoltaic system.

The market is currently dominated by silicon (Si) solar cells. Silicon is a semiconductor and displays

the properties of both metals and non-metals. The raw material from which

the silicon is manufactured is quartz sand. Due to the almost unlimited

reserves and its complete non-toxicity, silicon is a material well-suited to

photovoltaics. Only ultra-pure silicon is suitable as a basis for

manufacturing solar cells. Known as polycrystalline silicon, it is 99.99

percent pure.

This ultra-pure raw material is used in two forms: as crystalline (c-Si) and

amorphous silicon (a-Si). The two forms differ in their inner structure. In the

production of solar cells we distinguish between two manufacturing

processes.

In crystalline technology, a solar cell is made out of polycrystalline

technology in several production steps. The standard format is currently

156 by 156 millimeters. The individual solar cells are then connected

electrically to each other to form a solar module. The main advantage of

crystalline technology is its high level of efficiency. “Efficiency” refers to the

percentage of sunlight that can actually be converted into electrical energy.

At more than 17 percent and roughly 16 percent respectively, the efficiency

of monocrystalline solar cells and polycrystalline solar cells is significantly

higher than that of thin-film solar cells.

Monocrystalline solar cells are made from a single silicon crystal and are therefore

uniform in color, which ranges from dark blue to black.

Polycrystalline solar cells are also bluish in color, but of a lighter shade than

monocrystalline cells. They are made up of many silicon crystal grains of different

size and orientation. The resulting irregular crystal structure is unmistakable.

Both cell types work according to the same principle.


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194 Crystalline Module Manufacturers

Country CompanyCapa 2005

Prod 2005

Capa 2006

Prod 2006

Capa 2007

Prod 2007

Capa 2008

Prod 2008

Capa 2009

Prod 2009

Capa 2010

Prod 2010

Capa 2011

Prod 2011

Capa 2012

Prod 2012

Capa 2013

Prod 2013

Australia BP Solar 9 6.6 9 4.81 9 5 9 6 9 7 9 8 9 8 9 8 9 8Australia Origin 0.1 0 0.1 0 0.1 0.05 0.1 0.05 0.1 0.05 0.1 0.05 0.1 0.08 0.1 0.08 0.1 0.08

Austria Energetica Energietechnik GmbH 5 2 10 6 25 8 25 25 25 15 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25Austria Ertex Solar GmbH 2 0.5 3 2 3 2.5 3 2.8 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3Austria KIOTO Photovoltaics GmbH (RKG) 2 1.5 2 0.5 2 1.5 2 1.5 2 1.5 2 1.5 2 1.6 2 1.6 2 1.6Austria PVT-Austria 5 3.7 10 5 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10Austria SED Produktions GesmbH 2 0.2 2 0.2 2 0.2 2 0.2 2 0.2 2 0.2 2 1.6 2 1.6 2 1.6Austria SOLON Hilber Technologie 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

Belgium Droben 1.2 0.5 2 1.5 2 1.5 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2Belgium Energy Solutions 1.5 0.7 9.5 1.3 9.5 3 9.5 6 9.5 9 14 10 14 11.2 14 11.2 14 11.2Belgium Issol 1.3 0.3 2.5 1.5 2.5 2 2.5 2 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5Belgium Photovoltech 3 2.7 5 4.3 5.3 5.3 8 6.4 10 8 10 9 10 9 10 9 10 9

Canada Centennial Solar 3 1.1 3 0.4 3 0.4 3 1.3 3 2.5 3 2.5 3 2.5 3 2.5Canada Day4Energy 10 1.6 25 10 25 15 25 18 25 20 25 20 25 20 25 20Canada Siliken 50 0.5 50 20 50 40 50 45Canada Spheral Solar 0.8

China Baoding Tianwei Yingli 40 100 55.6 200 150 200 150 200 180 500 400 700 560 700 560 800 640China Beijing Hope Industry 50 35 50 38 100 80 100 80 100 80China BP Solar 8.6 5.8 32 11.1 32 20 32 25 32 30 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32China Canadian Solar (CSI) 50 15 100 40 270 103 570 300 570 450 700 560 700 560 800 640China Changzhou Eging 200 10 200 106 200 150 200 175 200 175 200 175 200 175China China Sunergy 32 30 192 60 192 80 320 110 320 200 320 250 320 256 400 300 500 400China Chint Solar ZheJiang (Astronergy) 1. 25 25 100 50 100 80 200 140 200 180 300 200 500 320China CSG PVTech Co.,Ltd. 25 10 75 40 75 60 100 80 100 80 100 80China ET Solar 25 25 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 100 80 100 80 100 80China FiveStarEnergy 8 4 10 8 10 8 10 9 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10China Huangming Solar 5 1 20 5 20 10 20 20 30 15 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30China Jiangyin Jetion Science and Tech. Co., Ltd. 10 25 50 25 50 30 50 40 100 80 100 80 100 80China Jiawei Solar Products 35 20 35 20 35 25 35 25 70 40 70 60China Jing Ao Solar 30 25 30 25 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30China Jinko Solar (Zhenziang Sun Valley) 10 6 50 40 150 100 150 150 200 170 200 180 300 220China Jumao Photonics 11 11 60 20 80 40 80 60 80 70 80 80 100 80 100 80 100 80China Kyocera 12 12 6 12 8 12 12 24 18 30 24 30 24 30 24 30 24China Linuo 2 2 10 6 15 10 15 12 15 12.5 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15China Millenium Electric 12 12 21 5 42 20 42 30 42 35 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42China Ningbo Solar Electric Power Co. Ltd. 75 25 75 40 100 100 250 175 350 280 450 350 550 400 650 550 750 650China Shanghai Boneng 20 12 30 20 30 25 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30China Shanghai Chaori Solar 40 10 75 40 100 70 100 80 100 90 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100China Shanghai Electric Solar Energy Co. 6 5 6 5 6 6 6 6 10 8 10 8 10 8 10 8China Shanghai Prim-Sola 15 8 15 8 15 10 15 12 15 14 15 14 15 14 15 14China Shanghai Pubsolar 6.25 4.86 8 6 8 7 8 7.5 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8China Shanghai Solar 80 10 150 16 200 25 200 50 200 100 200 150 200 160 200 160 200 160China Shanghai Topsolar Green Energy 20 15 100 25 100 30 100 50 100 75 100 80 100 80 100 80 100 80China Shanghai Zhouhao Solar Tech. Co., Ltd 20 10 20 15 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20China Shenzhen Jiawei 80 50 100 80 100 80 100 100 110 88 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110China Shenzhen Topray Solar 10 45 35 65 60 65 60 65 60 65 60 100 80 100 80 100 80China SMIC 0 0 5 3.5 5 4 5 4 5 4 5 4 5 4 5 4 5 4China Solar EnerTech Corp. 55China Solarfun 80 15 180 30 360 230 550 400 700 500 700 600 900 800 1200 1000China Sunlink 8 2 20 7 30 25 30 25 30 25 30 25 30 25 30 25 30 25China Sunrise Solartech Co., Ltd 30 15 30 20 30 30 40 32 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40China Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. 150 60 200 120 400 336 1000 498 1000 800 1000 800 1000 880 1200 1000 1200 1100China Sunworld Solar 54 14.6 108 54 108 80 108 90 108 100 108 100 108 100 108 100China Suzhou Shenglong 1.5 1 30 10 30 20 30 25 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30China Trina Solar Energy Co., Ltd. 30 8 59.8 27.4 140 29 350 210 600 350 900 500 900 700 1200 1000 1500 1200China Trony 6 4 10 5.8 10 8 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10China Universal Energy 15 1 15 5 15 10 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15China Wuxi Shangpin 50 30 100 60 100 80 100 90 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100China Xian REW 25 6 25 10 25 15 25 25 30 24 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30China Yingli Solar 50 40 100 50 150 146 400 282 600 550 800 600 1000 800 1200 1000 1500 1200China Yuhuan Sunshine 30 15 30 20 30 25 30 25 30 25 30 25China Yunnan Semiconductor 10 4 35 0 60 25 60 40 60 45 60 55 100 80 100 80 100 80China Zhejiang Shuqimeng Energy Tech. Co., Ltd. 25 20 35 25 75 30 100 60 100 80 100 80 100 80China Zhejiang Yuhui Solar Energy Source .,Ltd 10 5 20 5 20 10 50 20 135 100 375 300 375 325 375 350 20 20China Zytech 10 6 10 8 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10China Znshine Solar 15 10 15 12 60 12 60 30 60 40 60 40 60 50

Croatia Solar Cells 1.2 1.2 1.2 0.6 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2

Cyprus Enfoton Solar 14 5 14 11 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14Cyprus Kyocera 60 60 60 40 60 50 60 55 80 60 100 80 100 80 100 80Cyprus SolarTec AG 0.2 0.1 1 1 5 5 11 8 11 10 18 14.4 18 14.4 18 14.4 18 14.4

Denmark Gaia Solar 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.75 0.45 0.75 0.45 0.75 0.45 0.75 0.45 0.75 0.6 0.75 0.6 0.75 0.6

Egypt BIC 1 1 4 1.8 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3.2 4 3.2 4 3.2

France Photowatt 45 29 45 30 45 40 45 40 45 40 45 40 45 40 45 40 45 40France Tenesol 15 2.7 15 8 15 9 15 15 20 16 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20


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Germany Aleo AG 90 45 100 45 125 80 150 125 200 175 200 175 200 175 200 175Germany ASS Automotive Solar Systems GmbH 4 4.2 8 4.5 12 8 25 10 25 20 25 20 25 20 25 20 25 20Germany Bluenergy 2 0 20 5 20 10 20 20 40 30 50 40 100 80 100 80 100 80Germany Bosch Solar Energy AG (Ersol Solar AG) 60 55 220 133 320 180 320 200 320 250 320 280 320 300Germany Conergy 50 0 100 50 250 200 375 250 500 400 500 400 600 480Germany EverQ 30 15 90 60 100 50 150 100 300 250 400 320 500 400 600 480Germany GSS Gebäude-Solarsysteme GmbH 12 10 12 4 12 5 12 8 12 10 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12Germany Heckert-B.X.T. Solar GmbH 20 25 0 50 0 50 20 50 30 50 45 100 80 100 80 100 80Germany Prisolartech GmbH 10 5 10 8 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10Germany RWE Schott Solar 25 22 25 22 40 30 60 40 100 80 130 104 200 160 200 160 200 160Germany Schott Solar AG 3 3 25 25 100 74 205 138 335 295 335 300 335 300 500 400 500 420Germany Schüco International AG 2.5 0.7 2.5 1.4Germany SMD (Aleo Solar) 90 35 90 42 90 60 90 90 90 90 90 90 100 90 100 90 100 90Germany Solar Factory (for Solar World AG) 75 55 135 135 160 160 200 170 450 300 450 400 600 500 600 550Germany Solara 10 12 10 24 18 24 20 24 24 36 30 36 30 36 30 36 30Germany Solar-Fabrik AG 40 15 50 17 50 35 50 40 75 60 75 75 100 80 100 80 100 80Germany Solarion 0.01 0 0.01 0.01 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04Germany Solarnova 12 3 12 3.2 12 6 12 12 24 20 30 24 30 24 30 24 30 24Germany Solarwatt Solar Systeme GmbH 60 35.5 100 45.5 100 55 100 65 100 85 100 95 100 95 100 95 100 95Germany Sunovation GmbH 0.5 0.3 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5Germany Sunware GmbH & Co. KG Solartechnik 1.5 0.7 1.5 0.8 1.5 0.8 1.5 1 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5Germany Sunways 38 76 33 116 82 156 120 200 160 250 200 300 240Germany Systaic GmbH 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8Germany Webasto 5 1.5 5 1.5 5 1.5 5 5 10 8 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10Germany WulfmeierSolar GmbH 1 0.1 1 0.1 1 0.1 1 0.5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1Germany ZRE 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16

Greece Solar Cells Hellas 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

Hungary Korax Gépgyár Kft. 4 0.4 4 2 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4Hungary Sanyo Electric 50 55 25 55 50 105 90 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105

India Ammini Solar 1 0.6 1 0.6 1.5 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2India Bharat Electronics Ltd. 2.25 1 2.25 0.2 2.25 0.5 2.25 1.8 10 5 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10India Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. 3 1.5 3 1 3 1.5 7 3 10 5 10 10 50 30 150 100 250 180India Central Electronics Ltd. 3 2.4 10 5 10 7 10 8 10 9 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10India Emmvee Solar Systems Pvt. Ltd. 15 3 15 10 15 12 25 15 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25India KL Solar 6 2 10 4 10 6 10 8 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10India Kotak Urja 1.5 1.55 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3India Maharishi 2 2 10 5 10 7 10 10 17 15 20 16 20 16 20 16 20 16India Moser Baer Photovoltaic Ltd. 20 6 70 60 70 70 90 72 100 80 100 80 100 80India Photon Energy Systems Ltd. 10 2 10 3.5 15 8 15 8.8 15 11 15 11 15 12 15 12 15 12India Shurjo Energy 3 0.15 3 0.75 6 2 6 6 10 8 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10India Solar Semiconductor 50 15 50 25 50 40 50 45 100 80 100 80 100 80India Tata BP Solar 45 26 45 31.3 85 45 125 80 205 150 300 200 300 240 300 260 500 350India Titan Energy Systems Ltd 15 6 15 3 20 8 30 24 40 32 50 40 100 80 100 80 100 80India Udhaya Energy Photovoltaics Pvt., Ltd. 4 0.97 4 2 4 2.5 4 3 4 3.5 4 3.5 4 3.5 4 3.5India USL 7 5 7 4 15 7.6 15 8 15 10 15 10 15 12 15 12 15 12India Webel Solar 10 5 10 5.5 10 7.5 10 8 10 8.5 10 9 10 9 10 9 10 9India XL Telecom 6 0.5 6 6 6 6 6 6 10 8 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

Israel Millenium Electric 5 5 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10Israel Orionsolar Photovoltaics 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Italy Electro Solar 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5Italy Elettro Sannio 1.2 0.9 1.2 0.8 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3Italy EniPower (former Enitecnologie) 6 3.8 6 3 10 6 10 6 10 9 10 9 10 9 10 9 10 9Italy Helios Technology S.p.A. 8 8 10.5 8 30 8 30 16 60 30 60 35 60 40 60 45 60 50Italy Renergies Italia 1.1 0.17 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5Italy S.E. Project 15 8 30 21 50 30 50 35 50 40 50 45 100 80 100 80 100 80

Japan Fujipream 50 50 35 50 40 50 45 100 80 100 80 100 80Japan Hitachi 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5Japan KIS 10 5 10 7 10 8 10 9 10 7 10 8 10 8 10 8Japan Kyocera 172 38 172 48 172 130 202 171 240 180 500 180 500 520 800 600 800 640Japan Mitsubishi Electric 135 100 135 111 145 120 230 150 260 170 250 200 250 200 600 480 800 640Japan MSK / Suntech 200 75 200 36 200 160 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100Japan Sanyo Electric 95 21 95 65 185 150 225 200 315 252 405 300 405 350 500 550 600 550Japan Sharp 350 319 350 272 600 363 710 473 760 650 820 700 900 720 1000 800 1200 1000Japan Yocasol Inc. 60 50 70 60 90 80 120 100 150 120 180 150

Korea Hae Sung Solar 0.6 0.5 10 7.5 10 3 10 6 10 8 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10Korea Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. 10 10 10 70 25 330 100 330 150 330 200 500 300 500 400Korea KD Solar (Kyungdong) 20 30 25 90 25 60 60 100 80 150 100 200 150 250 200Korea S-Energy 20 3 50 10 80 30 100 60 120 80 150 100 200 120 200 160Korea Symphony Energy 30 3 50 8 100 30 100 30 150 80 150 100 150 120 250 150 250 200Korea Unison 3 1 18 10 18 12 18 14 18 16 18 16 18 16 18 16

Malaysia Qcells 300 120 300 120 500 400 750 600 1000 800Malaysia Sunpower Corp. 40 20 80 60 120 100 200 150

Mexico Kyocera 36 10 36 20 36 30 72 57.6 108 70 144 115 200 160 300 240 400 350Mexico Sanyo Electric 12 10 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20

Pakistan Akhter Group 15 1.5 20 8 20 12 20 16 20 18 20 18 20 18 20 18


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Philippines Sunpower Corp. 75 67.5 108 100 414 237 574 450 1000 650 1000 850 1200 1000 1200 1100

Portugal Shell Solar 80 59

Russia Saturn JSC 30 15 30 25 30 30 40 32 40 32 40 32 40 32Russia Solar Wind 8 3 12 7 12 9 12 10 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12Russia Telecom-STV 1.5 0.6 1.5 1 1.5 1 1.5 1 1.5 1 1.5 1.2 1.5 1.2 1.5 1.2

Slovenia Bisol d.o.o. 15 15 5 15 5 15 10 15 12 15 12 15 12 15 12

South Africa Tenesol 60 27 60 30 60 32 60 60 60 60 60 60 100 80 100 80 100 80

Spain Atersa 18 8 24 12 69 20 69 30 69 50 69 60 100 80 100 80 100 80Spain BP Solar 32 19 50 17.7 50 25 50 30 50 40 50 45 100 80 100 80 100 80Spain Gamesa 3 2 12 4 12 8 12 12 24 20 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24Spain Isofoton 90 39.8 130 61 130 90 130 100 130 110 130 120 130 120 130 120 130 120Spain Siliken 10 5 27 16 45 30 45 30 45 35 45 40 45 40 45 40 45 40Spain Solar Energia 2 2 15 15 45 40 45 40 45 40 45 40 45 40 45 40 45 40Spain Yohkon Energia S.A. 4 3 15 12 15 10 15 10 15 10 15 10 15 10

Sweden Arctic Solar (Alfasolar) 20 3 20 3.2 20 5 20 3.2 20 10 20 15 20 16 20 16 20 16Sweden GPV (Solarworld) 22 15.5 23 18 40 10 40 28 40 32 50 28 100 80 100 80 100 80Sweden PV Enterprise 20 2 40 10 40 28 40 32 40 36 40 36 40 36 40 36Sweden REC ScanModule AB 14 14 45 45 100 100 150 100 150 140 150 140 200 160 200 160 200 160

Switzerland Solterra 9 4.5 9 4.5 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9

Taiwan Tynisolar 20 6 35 25 35 30 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35

Thailand Ekarat Solar 4 0.5 4 3 4 3 25 4 25 15 25 20 25 20 50 30 50 35Thailand Solar Power Technology Co., Ltd. 10Thailand Solartron 30 9 30 10 30 20 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30

Uganda Racell Uganda 0 0 3 0.5 4 2 4 4 6 4.8 10 8 10 8 10 8 10 8

U.A.E. Microsol International 50 14 50 25 50 36 100 80 100 80 100 80

United Kingdom GB Sol 1 0.5 3.5 0.5 3.5 2 3.5 2 3.5 2.5 3.5 3 3.5 3 3.5 3 3.5 3United Kingdom Romag 4 12 12 8 12 8 12 8 12 9.6 12 9.6 12 9.6United Kingdom Sharp Manufacturing Company of U.K. 40 20 40 25 110 100 220 176 220 200 220 200 220 200 220 200 220 200

United States 1Soltech Inc. 5 3 20 10 40 30 60 40 80 60United States Advent Solar 25 2.7 25 25 - - - -United States Amonix 1United States BP Solar 35 22.6 38 26.7 38 27.7 38 30 38 30 38 30 38 30.4 38 30.4 38 30.4United States Emcore Photovoltaics 0.1 0.05 0.6 0.3 0.6 0.4 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.5United States Evergreen Solar 15 13 15 12 20 16.4 58.5 26.5 160 130 170 130 200 160 300 220 400 320United States GE 30 18 30 17 30 22 30 25 30 30United States Pyron Solar 0.2 0.2 10 4 10 8 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10United States Schott Solar (RWE Schott Solar) 14 12 14 13 14 10 15 11United States Sharp 60 40 60 50 60 55 60 60 60 60 60 60 100 80 100 80 100 80United States Shell Solar 50United States Solar Power Industries 3 0.1 3 0.1 3.5 3.5 50 25 100 60 100 80 100 80 100 80 100 80United States Solar World USA 50 20 90 35 100 30 250 120 250 200 350 300 350 280 400 320United States Sunpower Corp. 214 200 414 400 414 400 414 400 414 400 414 400United States Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. 30 1 30 20 60 40 90 60 120 100United States Unicor 25 20 75 30 75 50 75 60 75 70

U.S. Islands Hoku Solar (HOKU Scientific, Inc.) 15 7 30 20 30 25 30 27 30 27 30 27 30 27


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Thin Film Solar Modules In amorphous thin-film technology, gaseous silicon or silane (SiH4) is deposited in a thin layer on a

large glass plate, the subsequent module. The inner structure of the amorphous silicon used in this

technique heightens its ability to absorb sunlight, and is the reason why thin-film technology uses

only roughly one percent of the base material used in crystalline manufacturing processes.

Accordingly, these cells can be manufactured much more cost-effectively. However, at roughly six

percent, the efficiency of amorphous thin-film modules is currently still far below that of crystalline

solar modules.

Amorphous thin-film solar cells are uniform in color, which ranges from dark

red to black-brown. This is why the innovative micromorphous thin-film

technology (also known as tandem cell technology) is already being

frequently used. In this technology, two layers of silicon are deposited. Their

different structures mean that the two layers absorb different wavelengths

of sunlight. In this way, the entire light spectrum is used, and the efficiency

of the thin-film module increased to more than ten percent.

Micromorphous solar cells consist of a tandem of two layers of silicon – one

amorphous and one monocrystalline. Micromorphous solar cells suffer less

of the degradation than the amorphous thin film solar cells. Micromorphous

thin-film solar cells are of uniform black color. The dark coloring additionally

supports light absorption and is particularly in demand by customers who

place a special emphasis on aesthetics.

Silicon-based photovoltaic cells and modules have a service life of at least 20 years.


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Bulgaria SolarPro AD 6 2 18 8 18 12 18 14 18 16

Canada EPOD International Inc. 2 1.5 5 4.5 5 5 10 8 20 16 20 16 20 16 20 16

China Baoding TianWei SolarFilms Co., Ltd. 46.5 8 50 36 100 55 100 80 150 120

China Bluestar Terra Photovoltaic Co., Ltd 2.5 5

China China Solar Power (Holdings) Ltd. 32 10 32 28 64 40 128 80

China Chint Solar ZheJiang (Astronergy) 2. 60 10 180 110 180 120 240 180 300 240

China ENN Solar Energy Co., Ltd. 60 30 120 80 160 120 240 180 300 240

China Green Energy Technology Inc., Ltd. 15 5 15 12 30 18 30 24

China Harbin-Chronar Solar Energy Elec. Corp. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

China Parity Solar 24 6 36 12 48 36 72 48

China Shenzhen Topray Solar (TF) 6 3 6 3 6 5 6 5 100 80 100 80 100 80 100 90 100 90

China Soltech 5 5 10 1 15 10 15 10 15 10 15 10 15 12 15 12 15 12

China Sun Well Solar (China) 60 20 120 60 180 120 240 190

China Tianjin Jinneng Solar 1 2.5 2.2 2.5 2 2.5 2 2.5 2 2.5 2 2.5 2 2.5 2 2.5 2 2.5 2

China Tianjin Jinneng Solar 2 6 0.5 6 3.5 24 12.5 24 18 24 20 24 20 24 20

France EDF Energies Nouvelles / First Solar 100 20 100 60

France Free Energy Europe 1.2 0.5 1.2 0.5 1.2 0.6 1.2 0.6 1.2 0.6 1.2 0.6 1.2 0.96 1.2 0.96 1.2 0.96

France T-Solar / T-SEP 45 35 100 50 150 80 200 140

Germany Antec Solar Energy GmbH 10 8 10 4 10 4 10 8 20 15 30 25 30 25 30 25 30 25

Germany Avancis GmbH 20 0 20 10 20 15 100 35 100 80 100 80 200 160

Germany Bosch Solar Energy AG (Ersol) 40 0 40 10 40 30 80 60 160 128 160 128 200 160

Germany Brilliant 234 GmbH (Q-Cells) 20 4 25 20 50 25 50 40 100 80 100 80 200 120

Germany Calyxo (Q-Cells subsidiary) 25 4 25 15 25 20 100 75 100 85 150 138 200 160

Germany Concentrix 0.6 0.6 1 1 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

Germany CSG Solar AG 1.2 0.2 20 15 20 20 40 30 40 35 100 80 200 120 300 240

Germany First Solar GmbH 120 40 120 100 120 100 120 100 120 100 120 100 120 100

Germany Global Solar (Germany) 30 15 30 25 30 28 30 28 60 40 90 64

Germany Inventux Technologies AG 33 3 33 30 100 33 160 80 220 140 280 200

Germany Johanna Solar 30 30 15 30 25 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30

Germany Malibu GmbH & Co. KG 40 12 40 32 40 35 80 45 120 90

Germany Masdar PV GmbH (Ichterhausen) 65 3 65 30 130 60 195 100 260 150

Germany Odersun AG 1 0.5 4.5 4 9 6 18 9 18 14.4 36 30 72 40

Germany Scheuten 23 16 55 20 80 46 80 50 80 70 80 70 100 80 150 110 200 160

Germany Schott Solar AG 40 40 43 42 43 40 43 40 43 40 80 60 100 80 100 80 100 80

Germany Signet Solar GmbH 60 5 60 20 60 40 100 80 100 80 100 80

Germany SolarTec 1 1 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Germany Solibro GmbH 25 18 30 25 50 40 100 80 100 80 100 80

Germany Solon AG 90 56 120 84 130 110 210 180 210 180 130 110 130 110 130 110 130 110

Germany Sulfurcell Solartechnik GmbH 0.2 0.2 4 1 5 4 35 5 35 20 75 40 75 50 75 60

Germany SunFilm AG 85 60 85 65 145 100 145 125 145 130

Germany Würth Solar GmbH & Co. KG 2 1.5 14.8 1 14.8 14.8 14.8 14.8 14.8 14.8 14.8 14.8 14.8 14.8 14.8 14.8 14.8 14.8

Greece Heliodomi 0 0 5 3 10 8 10 8 16 8 16 12.8 16 12.8 16 12.8

Greece HelioSphera (Next Solar) 60 10 60 40 60 45 60 48 60 48

Hungary Heliogrid 6 6 1 6 1

India KSK Surya Photovoltaic Venture Pte. Ltd. 150 30 150 80 300 200

India Moser Baer Photovoltaic Ltd.TF 40 35 80 60 360 190 540 300 820 650 1020 800 500 400

India Titan Energy Systems Ltd (fab 2) 5 5 5 2 11 5 17 8 29 10 29 23.2 29 23.2 29 23.2

Italy Moncada Energy Group Srl 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40

Italy STMicroelectronics 160 80 320 200 480 320

Japan Clean Venture 21 3 1 12 1 15 1 40 34 65 40 80 50 100 80 150 120

Japan Fuji Electric Systems 3 0.05 12 3 26 18 40 30 40 40 100 80 150 100 150 100

Japan Honda Soltec Co., Ltd. 2.8 2.8 27.5 7 27.5 20 27.5 20 27.5 22 27.5 22 27.5 22 27.5 22

Japan Kaneka 23 20.8 30 27 55 50 80 60 100 80 120 96 120 200 350 300 480 400

Japan Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) A. 10 9 14 13 28 26 28 26 42 38 100 40 200 160 200 160 300 240

Japan Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) B. 40 34 100 60 100 80 200 90 300 240 600 350 600 400

Japan MSK asi 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Japan Sanyo/ENEOS 80 40 160 120 320 280 640 500

Japan Sharp (thin films) 15 8.2 15 10 37.5 10 160 50 640 500 800 600 1000 800 1200 1000

Japan Showa Shell Sekiyu 20 13 20 15 80 50 80 60 540 400 980 750 1420 1200

Malaysia First Solar Malaysia Sdn Bhd 392 167 784 657 1000 800 1000 900 1200 1000 1600 1400

Mexico Solar Torx 75 150 100 300 250 400 320 500 400 600 480

Netherlands Nuon 20 6 20 15 20 18 20 18 20 18 20 18

Portugal Solar Plus SA 5.5 4.5 5.5 5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5

Russia Nano Solar Technology Ltd. 120 60 120 80 240 140

Singapore Solar Morph Pte. Ltd. 20 5 40 20 60 40 60 48 100 80 100 80

South Africa Johanna Solar Technology GmbH 15 5 30 20 60 40 80 64 100 80 100 80 100 80

Spain Gadir Solar 40 10 40 32 40 32 80 40 80 60

Spain Genesis Solar Espana S.L. 40 10 40 30 80 45

Spain Gropo Unisolar SA 6 0.5 6 3 6 4 6 4 6 4


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Switzerland Pramac Swiss S.A. 30 12 30 20 30 24 80 40 80 60

Switzerland VHF-Technologies 0.05 0.01 0.06 0.03 2 0.75 2 1.5 2 1.5 2 1.5 2 1.6 2 1.6 2 1.6

Taiwan Auria Solar Co., Ltd. 60 30 60 40 60 50 120 80 350 200

Taiwan Chi Mei Energy Corp. 50 10 50 40 100 60 100 80 150 100

Taiwan Green Energy Technology Inc., Ltd. 40 10 50 30 50 40 50 40 100 45 150 100

Taiwan Kenmos Photovoltaic Co., Ltd. 30 10 60 30 90 60 120 90 180 120

Taiwan Sinonar 0 0 5 5 5 5 5 5 10 8 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

Taiwan Sun Well Solar Co., Ltd. 8.5 8.5 45 40 105 40 105 80 165 120 225 180

Thailand Bangkok Solar 6 3.42 24 6.8 48 20 50 40 50 44 50 45 65 50 80 60 80 70

U.A.E. Masdar PV (Taweelah) 130 20 130 100 260 150 390 220

United Kingdom ICP (former Intersolar Group) 0.93 3 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2.4 3 2.4 3 2.4

United States Abound Solar Inc (was AVA Solar) 65 27 130 80 200 160 200 170 200 180

United States Ascent Solar 1.5 0.5

United States DayStar Technologies Inc. 10 5 20 15 40 30 100 50 100 80 200 130 400 320

United States EPOD Solar Inc. (a-Si) 35 5 35 30 35 30 25 20 15 10

United States EPOD Solar Inc. (CIGS) (JV with DayStar) 65 10 65 55 45 35 25 15

United States EPV 2 0.6 2 1.1 10 5 10 10 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25

United States First Solar 25 21 75 60 90 119 147 145 147 147 147 147 147 147 147 147 147 147

United States Global Solar 1.5 0.15 4.2 2.5 10 3 20 5 40 25 40 30 100 80 160 120 220 180

United States HelioVolt Corp. 20 2 20 14 40 20 40 30 60 40 80 60

United States Innovalight Inc. 50 30 100 60 100 80 200 120 300 200

United States Konarka 20 10 40 20 60 40 100 80 200 120 300 220

United States Miasole 50 0 430 20 430 40 430 60 430 344 430 344 430 344

United States Nanosolar 100 10 200 100 430 400 600 450 800 640 1000 800 1400 1200

United States PowerFilm 1 0.5 10 1 10 3 10 6 10 9 10 9 10 9 10 9

United States PrimeStar Solar 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

United States Shell Solar CIS 1 0.7

United States Solar Integrated Technologies 3 0.1 3 2 3 2.8 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

United States Solopower 20

United States Solyndra 110 110 50 110 80 110 88 110 88 110 88

United States United Solar 25 22 60 28 118 48 178 113 200 160 300 240 720 320 1000 800 1280 1000


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Thin-film technology about to make its breakthrough

[Sascha Rentzing is a freelance writer. The following article appears courtesy of Messe Düsseldorf,

organizers of solarpeq 2010/glasstec 2010.]

The Centre for Research into Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW) is closing the gap

separating it from the world’s leading institutions in the race to market the most efficient thin-film

solar cell. Its copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIS) based cells achieved efficiencies of up to 19.6

percent in a pre-industrial production line. This means that the Stuttgart, Germany-based research

workers are hot on the trail of the U.S.-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory, scoring

efficiencies of up to 19.9 percent under the same conditions. Michael Powalla, head of the ZSW

photovoltaic (PV) section, proudly announced:

“We want to take the 20 percent hurdle next.”

This would take the CIS technology into the

efficiency ranges of available crystalline PV

equipment. Multicrystalline silicon cells, taking

the lion’s share of the market today, have

reached efficiency rates of 20.3 percent under

laboratory conditions. They are, therefore,

hardly more efficient than their slimmer

competitors.

A staff member of the Berlin-based Inventux company

inspects the surface of thin-film silicon module. (Photo

courtesy of Inventux)

But CIS technology is still lagging behind its potential when it comes to practical applications.

Industry-manufactured modules of this type of semiconductor turn a maximum of 12 percent of

sunlight into electricity. Multicrystalline modules manage up to 18.5 percent, while monocrystalline

units score conversion rates of up to 20 percent. So far, CIS panels cannot make up their efficiency

backlog by lower manufacturing costs. Production costs more than $2.85 (2 EUR) per watt of

electricity generated, this is the same as silicon modules, requiring much more semiconductor

material. CIS, therefore, is still miles away from achieving its major objective which is to generate

electricity at prices undercutting all other competitors.

Other thin-film technologies, however, cannot take up this challenge either. The experts say that

thin-film silicon modules, for instance, may score efficiency rates of over 15 percent, and they be

may be manufactured at less than $0.45 per watt of electricity. Once they actually achieve this, they

would put all other solar energy technology in the shade. But at present they merely manage to

score efficiencies of around 9 percent and they are about three times as expensive to make.

Double the Market Share by 2010

But CIS, thin-film silicon and related devices are just preparing for a major leap in development. In

the words of Arnulf Jaeger-Waldau, an energy specialist working for the European Commission, “At

present some 200 companies are making thin-film modules or they are working on them.” This

leads the European Photovoltaics Industry Association (EPIA) to expect that manufacturing

capacities for these technologies will double to more than 4 gigawatt by 2010-representing a market

share of nearly 20 percent. At the same time, new manufacturing technologies and advances in


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automation make for ever more efficient production. Mass production and technological progress

bring down costs and raise market chances. Many of these innovative production processes shall be

on demonstration at the solarpeq International Trade Fair for Solar Production Equipment in

Düsseldorf from 28 September to 1 October, 2010.

The successes achieved by First Solar, a U.S.-based manufacturer of cadmium telluride (CdTe)

modules have kept the confidence of thin-film firms up. Based on information made available by the

company, the Americans by now produce one

watt of electricity at about $0.93. There is no

other company achieving this. But the

disadvantage of these CdTe solar units is that

their maximum efficiency stands at only 11.1

percent at present. They will therefore need a

greater surface area in order to generate the

same amount of electricity as silicon cells

marketed at present. A part of the gain in lower

manufacturing costs will be eaten up by higher

installing charges.

Dirt brings down efficiency. Thin-film cell manufacturing,

therefore, requires clean room technologies. (Photo

courtesy of Oerlikon Solar)

But First Solar’s achievement is still considered to be a milestone on the way to making solar-

generated electricity competitive. Experts had expected this network grid parity for Germany for

2015 at the very earliest. From then on, solar energy would no longer be more expensive than

traditionally produced electricity coming out of a socket in the wall. As Holger Krawinkel, an energy

expert at Germany’s Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband e. V., noted, this most recent progress

brought grid parity into the foreseeable future: “First Solar modules may already generate electricity

at $0.28 to $0.35 per kilowatt hour,” the expert said. In Germany, electricity prices now stand at

about $0.28 per kilowatt hour.

First Solar Sets the Tune

First Solar set the benchmark as far as cost is concerned. Other thin-film module makers which will

be unable to rapidly follow suit or which do not bring down systems costs on account of higher

efficiencies, will be unable to keep their share of the market. Added to this, makers of traditional

crystalline technologies have continuously lowered their cost by increasing mass-manufacture and

technological improvement. Thin-film technology competitors, therefore, are very ambitious now. In

April 2009, Abound Solar from Fort Collins, Colo., launched its CdTe module production and the

company wants to bring down the price of one watt on its 35 megawatt (MW) line to $1. Pascal

Noronha, its founder and president of the board, said that costs of around $0.90 per watt at a

capacity of 200 MW are envisaged already for 2010.

Berlin-based Inventux also intends to score costs of below $1 rapidly. This firm has made so-called

micro-morphous silicon modules since late 2008. This technology represents a development based

on the thin-film panels made of ordinary amorphous silicon marketed at present. By depositing an


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additional absorber layer made of micro crystalline silicon on the amorphous layer, Inventux

managed to raise the electricity yield to 9 percent. This reduced cost perspective is to generate

efficiencies of scale by larger output quantities and additional improvements to generate higher

efficiency. “We want to reach ten percent of efficiency by 2010,” said Thorsten Ronge, Inventux

spokesperson. To bring this about, Inventux works on process optimization but the company also

benefits from innovation results of Oerlikon

Solar, its component suppliers, from which

Inventux buys its coating equipment. Jeannine

Sargent, chief executive officer of Oerlikon

Solar, promises that by the end of 2010

Oerlikon-made machinery shall be in a position

to manufacture these new tandem modules at

$0.70, halving present costs.

Careful intermediate storage procedures are required after

semiconductor coating. (Photo courtesy of Oerlikon Solar)

Applied Materials, a U.S.-based equipment builder, comes with similar plans. This company also

offers complete turnkey production lines for making modules out of thin-film silicon.

“We are optimistic that we can present solutions with manufacturing costs of below $1 very

shortly,” says Christopher Beitel, head of its thin-film division. The Americans will present their

product portfolio at solarpeq 2010 and the concurrently held glasstec, at which firms will also exhibit

solar applications. These products will also include Applied Materials’ SunFab thin-film line.

Nanosolar, another U.S.-based company, comes with even more ambitious plans. This firm

developed a manufacturing technology in the process of which minute nano particles of copper,

indium, gallium, selenium and probably sulphur will be printed on sheeting material using the roll-to-

roll process. Using this innovative printing technology, the Americans want to bring down costs to

$0.30 up to $0.35-about one third of the manufacturing cost of First Solar, the leading company in

the sector.

“We are capable of coating large areas within very short cycle times,” says Erik Oldekop, the

spokesperson of Nanosolar.

The factories have already been built and series production is about to take off. Nanosolar wants to

manufacture its cells in a 430 MW plant in San José, California. These will then be processed into

circuit modules at Luckenwalde near Berlin.

Crystalline Modules Shining with Efficiency

All signs are then switched to growth in the thin-film sector. But it’s quite open how many

manufacturers will reach their ambitious extension and manufacturing targets within the time

schedules quoted. Delays are quite frequent; it very often takes many years for a technology to be

transferred into series production. It calls for the development of appropriate industrial processes

for manufacturing and much money must be invested into research and testing. First Solar, for

instance, needed exactly ten years to commercialize its modules. CIS manufacturer Wuerth Solar


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worked for seven years on optimizing its technology on a pilot line, before being able of launching

series production in 2007.

Newcomers in the thin-film sector do not have much time to present their products for series

production. This is because their competitors from the crystalline sector are also spending great

efforts on developing new technologies:

efficiencies go up and costs are falling. It is

because of this that scientists are of the

opinion that also in future there will be no way

of bypassing conventional solar techniques. As

Stefan Glunz, head of the division of

development and research into the properties

of silicon solar cells of the Fraunhofer Institute

for Solar Energy Systems ISE at Freiburg,

Germany, puts it, “Crystalline silicon cells will

continue playing their dominant role.” A staff member of China’s Suntech Power company prepares

a wafer for cell processing. (Photo courtesy of Suntech Power)

This means that there is intense competition at the high end of the efficiency scales. Research

workers from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, managed 24.7 percent

efficiency under laboratory conditions using a monocrystalline cell, and industry is moving closer and

closer to this world record. For instance Suntech Power, a Chinese solar energy company, this

summer began offering a module generating seven percent more electricity than its most highly

performing panel before. The core elements of their new technology are what are called Pluto cells,

innovative elements that absorb more light at their frontal sections because of a specially treated

surface and thinner electric contacts. This brings up efficiency from 15.2 to 17.5 percent for

multicrystalline cells and from 17.2 to 19 percent for monocrystalline makes. Their manufacturing

process builds on German know how: in 2008 Suntech took over KSL Kuttler, a Black Forest

equipment manufacturer. The latter supplies equipment and automation sets for making Pluto cells.

Experts also view so-called back contact cells as offering great potential. Bus bars and contacts are

no longer to be found at the front but rather at the back side of solar cells, thus enlarging the solar-

active surface of these modules. U.S.-based Sunpower, a manufacturer of backside collectors,

already produces cells with efficiencies of more than 20 percent. Modules using these cells reach

efficiency levels of 19.6 percent and generate 315 watt of electricity. There is no stronger module.

Falling Silicon Prices

The drop in silicon prices is a boon for companies in this sector. Semiconductor demand has

increased so strongly over the past few years that manufacturers could hardly keep pace with their

output. In 2008 this brought spot market prices up to $400 a kilo. Now, silicon prices are dropping

significantly below that as the solar energy sector does not longer grow that rapidly because of the

crisis. According to iSupply, a market researcher, the price stood at only $75 in June this year and

there is a tendency for that price to drop even further.


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Manufacturers of thin-film modules will therefore face fierce battles to retain or conquer market

shares. To begin with, their technology may face difficulties where large outputs are to be generated

from a small surface area, because of fairly low efficiencies. Home owners in countries where solar

energy enjoys active promotion, such as Germany, will instead prefer putting crystalline silicon

panels on their roofs, because these simply generate more electricity per square meter of roof area

and also result in higher compensation for electricity fed into the grid. The latter will be more than

enough to offset the pricing disadvantage as compared to thin-film collectors. These, however, will

find short-term chances on large industrial and commercial roofs or in free-range areas offering

plenty of space and where there is less pressure on generating maximum output from a limited

surface. Also, and because of their flexibility and low weight, thin-film modules may be more easily

integrated into the walls or roofs of a

building when compared to electricity-

generating windows or façades. Thus

they do not only improve the energy

balance of a building but they also make

for more creative freedom of architects

and planners. Numerous creative

solutions for building-integrated PV

(BIPV) were already on demonstration at

the last glasstec trade fair held in

Düsseldorf in 2008.

After manufacturing, Suntech’s crystalline silicon modules are

taken into storage rooms. (Photo courtesy of Suntech Power)

CIS, CdTe and similar products will emerge to be more than niche products once their manufacturers

live up to their announcements and drastically reduce manufacturing cost within very short time

frames. When their slim electricity generators then close the gap separating them from efficiency

rates scored by the crystalline competition, they might even take over as the leading solar energy

technology. In theory, therefore, thin-film cells may bring about much, but companies

manufacturing them will first have to turn their ideas into capacities. Their plants just brought out

800 MW in 2008, of which 500 MW alone came from the lines of First Solar. According to

information provided by EPIA, conventional

PV cell manufacturers produced seven

times as much. Trade fairs, such as

solarpeq and glasstec 2010, will be pointers

to the way developments will go, because

there hardly is any other sector depending

to such a degree on the influence of

innovations to revolutionize manufacturing

technologies by reducing cost.

In California, solar power stations are being put up everywhere.

Here you can see 2 MW First Solar modules being installed on a

roof in Fontana. (Photo courtesy of First Solar)

Thin-film technologies have the potential to score similarly high efficiencies as crystalline silicon

modules. To bring this about, silicon panels will have to be offered at such favorable prices in the

long term as their slim-line competitors. But thin-film modules are still lagging behind crystalline

technologies. Efficiency is considerably lower and only CdTe modules have gained a clear advantage

on cost so far.

Efficiency and Cost Potential of Solar Modules

Monocrystal-

line silicon

(c-Si)

multicrystal-

line silicon

(mc-Si)

cadmium

telluride

(CdTe)

copper-

indium-

diselenide

(CIS and

CIGS)

amorphous

silicon

(a-Si)

Micro-

morphous

silicon

(a-Si/µc-Si)

Efficiency achieved by

industry

19.6% 18.5% 11.1% 12% 7% 9%

Efficiency achievable >20% 20% 18% 18% 10% 15%

Manufacturing cost per

watt

$2.84 $2.13-

$2.84

$0.95 $2.84 $1.42 $1.42

Expected costs as from 2020 <$0.71 <$0.71 <$0.43 <$0.43 <$0.43 <$0.43

Sources: EU PV Platform, author’s own research


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Thin Film Equipment

Installations 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

TF Equipment 526.46 247.28 828.64 1769.4 2369.5 2812.5 3442 4187 4389

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

MW

p/y

ea

r

TF Equipment

TF Equipment Linear (TF Equipment)


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2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 AMAT 0 MWp 0 MWp 60 MWp 145 MWp 565 MWp

OERLIKON 40 MWp 3 MWp 40 MWp 42 MWp 333 MWp

%AMAT 0.00% 0.00% 7.24% 8.19% 23.84%

%OERLIKON 7.60% 1.21% 4.83% 2.35% 14.05%

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

0 MWp

100 MWp

200 MWp

300 MWp

400 MWp

500 MWp

600 MWp

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Applied Materials vs. Oerlikon Market Share

AMAT OERLIKON %AMAT %OERLIKON


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PV Manufacturing Equipment Suppliers When we study the various manufacturing equipments, we have to differentiate the typical PV

module manufacturing technologies. It is not within the purpose of the present brief PV-outlook to

enter in the field of some special and exotic or unique technologies like carbon nanotube cells,

Nanosolar’s proprietary solar cell printing technology, micro concentrator cells on glass beads and so

on, but it is the scope of the present study to give some insight into the main commercially available

technologies that an average investor may consider to purchase and establish his own module

manufacturing facilities.

The main selection to make is to choose either crystalline of thin film technology. Crystalline

photovoltaic modules have the advantage of being able to achieve the highest rates of efficiency,

which in terms of the end user means more electric power can be produced on the available field

area. However thin film modules may occupy more space, but also can produce more energy under

low light conditions for the same rated power, and the cost per produced energy unit is typically

lower, then in the case of crystalline modules. Furthermore, thin film modules are of lighter weight,

which criterion becomes important in the case of roof-top and other building integrated

applications.

From the viewpoint of the module manufacturer, there may be eventually other selection factors

that come into play. From business viewpoint, crystalline modules are a good choice for the

“vertically integrated” manufacturers, those who keep under their own control the whole

production chain from high purity silicon production, ingot manufacturing, wafer production, cells,

and final assembly into modules. This is rare and it involves giant investment, due to the complexity

of the technologies involved. In practice, more often we find companies specialized in one of the

several levels of the manufacturing needed for the creation of the crystalline modules: high purity

silicon, ingots and wafers, cells and finally module assembly. Setting up a module assembly

production unit is relatively simple, but this is why there is a plenty of competitors on the market.

Some excel by their highly automated lines with utilization of the most productive robots; others

compete by utilizing low cost labor in certain developing countries, along with a good quality

control. The result for entering in this business is obvious: newcomer (and old players, too) has to

expect a very strong competition in terms of sales price (for the same quality), and also a strong

competition when purchasing the needed cells.

In the case of thin film technologies, the manufacturing process of the cells is much simpler:

substrate material (usually flat glass, or polymer foil) comes in, cell goes out. The encapsulation of

cells into modules may be similar to the crystalline module manufacturing, with exception of it is no

need to assemble and interconnect a multitude of cells, but all the thin film cells are created already

onto the substrate (piece of flat glass). Thin film cell manufacturing does involve lesser costs; raw

materials are available in abundance, and it does use less energy and less process steps than the

manufacturing of the crystalline cells.

Please see in the followings a summary of different crystalline silicon thin film technologies.


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Crystalline Silicon Technologies:

Monocrystalline: highest in efficiency at an average of 16% at the cell level. Top efficiency

performers are SunPower at >21% cell efficiency for its back contact technology and Sanyo with its

HIT cell. Manufacturing costs are on the order of $1.30/Wp to $1.45/Wp for the module. 70% of

manufacturing costs are the cell.

Polycrystalline: Lower efficiency than mono at an average of 14.8% at the cell level. The back

contact technology in development at Advent Solar has a higher efficiency goal. Kyocera is a top

performer in terms of efficiency. The advantage of poly (more correctly multicrystalline) is that it is

less expensive to manufacturer at $1.25/Wp to $1.35/Wp.

Ribbon Silicon: Basically a long ribbon is pulled from the melt and cut into cells, the advantage is

less kerf loss, higher yields and better use of silicon. However, this technology is the lowest in

efficiency of all crystalline technologies at an average of 13.5% at the cell level.

Thin Film Technologies:

Amorphous Silicon: Lowest in efficiency, preferred by some customers as it is low profile. Efficiency

averages 6.5% to 7%. Costs are in the $1.00/Wp range. Some a-Si manufactures are pursuing tandem

junction amorphous, some others micromorphous (tandem of microcrystalline and amorphous

junctions).

Cadmium Telluride: Lowest manufacturing costs (<$0.75/Wp), easiest to manufacturer, with

efficiency <10%. Average efficiencies are of 7% to 8.5%. In the past, the presence of cadmium made

the selling channel leery of this product. The booming market in Germany, and smart marketing on

the part of First Solar, enabled CdTe to gain market acceptance and share. Key manufacturing issues

to solve are back contact stability and control of uniformity over large areas.

Copper Indium Diselenide (CIS), Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide (CIGS): Highest potential for

higher efficiency, impressive lab record efficiencies (not easily transferable to production scale

manufacturing). One company, Wurth Solar in Germany, has achieved production scale; many start

ups, most following different research paths. Average efficiency is 9%. This technology is extremely

difficult to manufacturer. Some key issues remaining are standardization of equipment for growth of

the CIGS absorber layer, prevention of moisture ingress for flexible modules and columnar structure

uniformity.

Due to the present market tendencies of decreasing prices and oversupply on the market, the

possible winning technologies will eventually be those that will enable substantial cost reductions.

The following forecast figures have been published in a recent article of greentechmedia.com.


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[Source: http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/the-prospects-of-amorphous-silicon-down-

but-hardly-out]


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Applied Materials

Manufactures equipment for: ingots/wafers, c-Si cells, and thin films.

Estimate for 2009 PV sales: $1.15 billion

Name Applied Materials

Website http://www.appliedmaterials.com/products/solar_index_3.html?menuID=9_5

Country USA

City Santa Clara, CA

Comments Manufacturing solutions for glass, thin-film and crystalline Si

Currency USD

Market Cap in € millions € 10,401.00

P/E

Gross margin TTM 33.43%

Operating Margin TTM -0.70%

Revenues 5,873.73

Revenue growth -16.49%

Gross profit margin 42.35%

Operating profit margin 16.40%

Pre-tax profit margin 17.33%

Net margin 11.82%

Return on equity 0.10%

Return of assets 0.07%

Return on investment 0.09%

Current ratio 2.26

Quick ratio 1.59

Long term debt to Equity 0.03

Debt / Equity 0.03

Interest cover

Inventory turnover 2.36

Receivables turnover 4.72

Employees 14,824

Book value 5,454.45


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Centrotherm

Manufactures equipment for polysilicon, ingots/wafers, c-Si cells, and thin films.

Estimate for 2009 PV sales: $800 million

Name Centrothern Photovoltaics

Website www.centrotherm.de

Country Germany

City Blaubeuren

Comments Equipment for production of crystalline and thin-film modules

Currency EUR

Market Cap in € millions € 647.00

P/E 14.21


Operating Margin TTM 11.10%

Revenues 384.14

Revenue growth 130.08%




Net margin 9.00%




Current ratio 1.41

Quick ratio 1.33


Debt / Equity 0.00

Interest cover



Employees 992

Book value 318.39


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Schmid

Manufactures equipment for c-Si cells and thin films.


Oerlikon Solar

Manufactures equipment for thin films.


Name Oerlikon Solar

Website www.oerlikon.com/solar

Country Switzerland

City Pfaeffikon

Comments FAB end-to-end solution

Currency


P/E



Revenues 3,166.67

Revenue growth


Operating profit margin -0.78%

Pre-tax profit margin

Net margin -8.95%

Return on equity

Return of assets

Return on investment

Current ratio 1.57

Quick ratio 0.96


Debt / Equity 1.92

Interest cover -0.42

Inventory turnover

Receivables turnover

Employees

Book value


of 189

Ulvac

Manufactures equipment for thin films.


Name Ulvac Solar

Website www.ulvac-solar.com

Country Japan

City

Comments Full-scale turnkey thin-film and crystalline module production line

Currency

Market Cap in € millions

P/E

Gross margin TTM

Operating Margin TTM

Revenues

Revenue growth

Gross profit margin

Operating profit margin


Net margin

Return on equity

Return of assets


Current ratio

Quick ratio

Long term debt to Equity

Debt / Equity

Interest cover

Inventory turnover


Employees

Book value


of 189

GT Solar

Manufactures equipment for polysilicon, ingots/wafers and c-Si cells.


Name GT Solar

Website www.gtsolar.com

Country USA

City Merrimack, NH

Comments Manufacturing equipment for poly-Si, silane and wafers

Currency USD


P/E 8.80



Revenues 390.92





Net margin 16.26%




Current ratio 1.10

Quick ratio 0.92


Debt / Equity 0.00

Interest cover



Employees 332

Book value 59.18


of 189

Meyer Burger



Name Meyer Burger Technologies

Website www.meyerburger.ch

Country Switzerland

City Baar

Comments Manufacturing equipment for wafer cutting, automation & monitoring

Currency CHF


P/E 12.88



Revenues 697.03





Net margin 8.22%




Current ratio 1.39

Quick ratio 0.65


Debt / Equity 0.09

Interest cover



Employees 630

Book value 194.23


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Roth & Rau



Name Roth & Rau

Website www.roth-rau.de

Country Germany

City Hohenstein

Comments Anti-reflective coating equipment & turnkey solations for pv manufacturing

Currency EUR


P/E 12.31



Revenues 274.66





Net margin 8.38%




Current ratio 3.51

Quick ratio 3.06


Debt / Equity 0.02

Interest cover



Employees 606

Book value 204.36


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Jingyuotong Vacuum Equipment

Manufactures equipment for polysilicon, ingots/wafers and c-Si cells.


NPC



Manz

Manufactures equipment for c-Si cells, modules, and thin films.

Estimate for 2009 PV sales: € 3.7 million

Name Manz AG

Website www.manz-automation.com

Country Germany

City Reutlingen

Comments Systems: Wafer inspection, stack to carrier, screen printing, laser edge isolation, thin-film scribing, conveyor techniques. Plan co-operation with Roth & Rau

Currency EUR


P/E



Revenues 241.27





Net margin 8.45%




Current ratio 3.61

Quick ratio 3.03


Debt / Equity 0.10

Interest cover



Employees 1,513

Book value 181.65


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Spire Solar

Manufactures equipment for c-Si cells, modules, and thin films.

Name Spire Solar

Website www.spirecorp.com

Country USA

City Bedford, MA

Comments Produces turnkey lines for modules, cells and thin-film. With Spire Semiconductor subsidiary develops high efficiency cells with GaAs

Currency USD

Market Cap in € millions

P/E

Gross margin TTM 27%


Revenues 49.00

Revenue growth 85%

Gross profit margin 31%

Operating profit margin


Net margin 5.68%

Return on equity

Return of assets


Current ratio 1.13

Quick ratio 0.78


Debt / Equity 0.04

Interest cover -0.26

Inventory turnover


Employees

Book value


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Largest Photovoltaic Power Stations in the World

No. Country Location Power Photo

1 Spain Olmedilla (Castilla-La Mancha)

60MW

2 Germany Solarpark Straßkirchen 54MW

3 Germany Solarpark Lieberose

53MW

4 Spain Puertollano (Castila-La Mancha)

50MW

5 Portugal Moura photovoltaic power plant Moura (Alentejo)

46MW

6 Germany Solar park Kothen Kothen

45MW

7 Germany Solarpark Finsterwalde Finsterwalde

42MW

8 Belgium Katoen Natie PV power plant Antwerpen

40MW

9 Germany Solarpark Waldpolenz Brandis

40MW

10 Spain Trujillo (Caceres)

34.5MW


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Annex - Country Data Cards

Country

Algeria

Flag

Map

Geographic coordinates 28 00 N, 3 00 E

Area [sq km] 2,381,741

Population 34,178,188

GDP at purchasing power parity

[billion USD / year]

244.3

GDP at official exchange rate


134.8

GDP real growth rate (2009 est.) 3.40%

GDP per capita [USD / year] 7,100

Electricity production [TWh / year] 34.98

Electricity consumption 28.34

Electricity exports 273

Electricity imports 279

Electricity price for industry

[USD/kWh]


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Electricity price for households

Incentive type Abbreviated Programs

Legislation & Amendments

Cost Calculation Methodology Premium pricing based on the percentage of solar share in the plant output, compared to natural gas; a 10% share earns a 100% FIT and a 20% share can earn a 200% FIT.

Tariff Application Created in 2004 and applies to concentrated solar power; allows CSP plants to mix outputs with natural gas.

Duration

Tariff Rates Unclear. Appears to allow some negotiation of tariff--recent contract for CSP grants 5 cent/kWh based on 5% solar share.

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression

Application Process & Queuing

Program Financing

RE Generator Obligations

Utility/Grid Operator Obligations

Tariff Revision

Effects on GHG Emissions,

Employment, RE Industry

Stakeholder Reactions

Additional Incentives/Subsidies

Additional Notes Goal to cover 5% of electricity needs with RE by 2010 (or 2015?).

PV Modules manufacturing

capacity [MWp / year] (2009 est.)

PV Modules production [MWp /

year] (2009 est.)

Known installed cumulated PV

capacity [MWp]


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Country

Argentina

Flag

Map

Geographic coordinates 34 00 S, 64 00 W

Area [sq km] 2,780,400




558



301.3

GDP real growth rate (2009 est.) -2.50%




Electricity exports 2.628

Electricity imports 10.28


[USD/kWh]

0.049

Electricity price for households 0.023



Cost Calculation Methodology


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Tariff Application Unknown which RE sources it applies to.

Duration

Tariff Rates $5 per MWh (US dollars) granted to RE sources.

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes RE sources are approximately 8% of electricity consumption in 2005. RPS goal of 8% by 2016. Some capital subsidies and investment tax credits granted. Currently, 4 MW solar installed.




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]


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Country

Australia

Flag

Map

Geographic coordinates 27 00 S, 133 00 E

Area [sq km] 7,741,220




819



920




Electricity consumption 222




[USD/kWh]

0.061


Incentive type FiT

Legislation & Amendments Australia is a federation of states and territories. Each state has different laws regarding feed-in tariffs. The states have a range of policies from no feed-in tariffs to feed-in tariffs at more than double the normal consumer


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price of electricity. Some states are considering feed-in tariffs but have not yet enacted relevant legislation, or the legislation has not yet come into effect.

Cost Calculation Methodology Only a small proportion are Gross Feed-in tariffs (proposed NSW and ACT), most are on a net basis. In the Northern Territory at present only the Alice Springs Solar City is eligible for feed-in tariffs for solar PV.

Tariff Application

Duration

Tariff Rates

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

104.51

[Excerpts from “2008 Australian Photovoltaics Status Report” prepared by Dr Muriel Watt of IT

Power Australia in May 2009 for the Australian PV Association]

Installed PV power

A total of 22,02 MW of PV were installed in Australia in 2008, an 80% increase on 2007 levels. Of

this, nearly 69% was grid connected, taking the cumulative grid connected portion to nearly 30%, up

from 19% in 2007. Total installed capacity in Australia is now 104.51 MW.

Costs & prices

Typical module and system prices remained steady in 2008, although there was a greater spread of

prices, a noticeable drop in minimum prices and a move to bulk purchase arrangements. Module

prices averaged AUD 8 / Wp and small grid systems AUD 12 / Wp.

PV production

42 MW of cells were produced in Australia in 2008, from imported wafers, and 8 MW of modules.


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Budgets for PV

Government expenditure on PV research, development, demonstration and market incentives

totaled AUD 117,91 Million in 2008. Australian Government market incentive programs, primarily

the Solar Homes and Communities rebates and the Renewable Remote Power Generation Program,

accounted for 88% of expenditure.

Studies relating to externalities and hidden costs of conventional energy generation when

compared to renewable energy

The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering has undertaken a study of energy

sector externalities, titled “The Hidden Costs of Electricity”. It concludes that PV has a total

externality cost of AUD 5 /MWh, compared to AUD 42/MWh for black coal and AUD 1.50/ MWh for

wind, as illustrated in the Figure 12. It notes that the majority of PV externalities stem from

manufacturing emissions and that these vary by site of manufacture. However, it does note the need

for major balance of system requirements and perhaps network upgrades and storage if PV is to play

a major role in Australia’s future electricity supply.

Details from industry of planned increases in PV module production capacity

BP Solar has announced it will close its Australian PV cell and module lines in 2009, thus leaving

Australia with no local manufacture. Nevertheless, a number of companies, including Spark Solar,

Tindoz, Regency and PMC Solar, have indicated interest in local manufacture. The current tight

finance markets may delay plans, but it is hoped that at least one of these companies will be in a

position to commence production by 2010.

Target of 20% Renewable Electricity by 2020

The Australian Government has committed to increasing the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target

(MRET) from the current 9 500 GWh by 2010, to an expanded Renewable Energy Target (RET) of 45


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000 GWh by 2020. This is expected to increase the amount of renewable generation from current

levels of around 8% of total generation to 20% by 2020.

State Feed-in Tariffs

Prior to the introduction of feed-in tariffs, most electricity retailers in Australia offered net metering

for small renewable energy generators connected to electricity distribution feeders, although this

was often restricted to residential systems. Victoria, South Australia, Queensland have now

implemented net export FiTs, while the ACT has planned a gross FiT for introduction from 2009.

The WA government has announced its intention to introduce a FiT. Although it is still in the design

stages, it is expected to be a gross FiT of AUD 0,60/kWh for residential systems, which will be paid to

system owners for long enough to pay off a system after all other subsidies are taken into account.

They are examining options for extending the scheme to small businesses and commercial

operations.

The NSW government established a NSW Solar FiT Taskforce which is considering the design of a

NSW FiT. They have stated a preference for a FiT that is consistent with other jurisdictions.

There have been no significant steps towards a FiT in either Tasmania or the Northern Territory.

However, the Alice Springs (NT) Solar City is offering a gross FiT (capped at AUD 5/day) of AUD

0,45/kWh (household) and 0,32/kWh (commercial).


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Country

Austria

Flag

Map


Area [sq km] 83,871




323.1



374.4








[USD/kWh]

0.154


Incentive type FiT

Legislation & Amendments Green Electricity Act of 2002 (Federal Law Gazette I no. 149/2002 as amended by Federal Law Gazette. I No. 10/2007); Green Electricity Regulation of 2006 (by the Federal Minister of Economics and Labor;


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appears to apply to CHP & medium hydro) (RES-Legal).

Cost Calculation Methodology Based on "average production costs of cost-efficient plants that are up to date with the latest technological research" (RES-Legal).

Tariff Application

Duration Fixed FIT for 12 years.

Tariff Rates Size <5 kW 46 (65) 5-10 kW 40 (56) > 10 kW 30 (42) 2008 €ct (2009 $ct) per kWh for installations (Gipe)

Differentiation Differentiated by size, but do not appear to separate peak/off-peak (RES-Legal; Gipe tables).

Adjustment 12-year FITs for PV are guaranteed at fixed rate for first 10 years, then receive scaled-down amounts (75%, 50%) in the 11th and 12th years (RES-Legal). After 12 years, RE generators can only get the market rate of electricity (RES-Legal).

Degression Recalculated each year--does not appear to have an automatic degression (RES-Legal).

Application Process & Queuing Applications granted based on "first come, first served" with limited funding levels and rollover to the next year if they are not used up (RES-Legal). If funds are used up, project can be considered for the next year (RES-Legal).

Program Financing Ratepayers pay support fee and grid usage fee. Support provided based on voltage of grid connected to (7 levels); average consumers pay 42 €ct/kWh, energy-intensive industries pay 78% of that, and households pay 111% (Klein). 50% of PV FITs must be covered by Länder plant is located in (RES-Legal). Other costs covered by difference between price paid to RE generators and that charged to traders (RES-Legal).

RE Generator Obligations RE generators cover entire cost of connecting plant to grid (including physical connection and reinforcement if needed). Specific provisions are put in place by each Länder (RES-Legal). RE plants must be members of an "eco-balance" group (RES-Legal).

Utility/Grid Operator Obligations Clearing & Settlement Agency (CSA), a state-licensed private enterprise, is obligated to purchase electricity from RE generators and then resell it to electricity traders/suppliers at a legally-set price (RES-Legal).

Tariff Revision Annual reports from E-Control Ltd. (established by federal government) to the Ministry of Economics and Labour, but revision timeline is unclear (RES-Legal).



Estimated 1,768 tons (2000) & 2,312 (2001) of CO2 avoided through RE support (Eurelectric).

Stakeholder Reactions Unknown.

Additional Incentives/Subsidies As of 1998, Energy Ministry paid an additional bonus of 100% for 3 years of operation to wind/PV systems built before 1996 (Cerveny). Currently, investment subsidies are only provided for 10-20 MW hydro installations; contract is with the Ministry of Economics and Labour (RES-Legal).

Additional Notes None.




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp] (2008)(2008)

32.4


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[Excerpts from “National Survey Report of PV Power Applications in Austria 2008” Final Version 02

Prepared by R. Bründlinger, N. Glück, arsenal research, Giefinggasse 2, A-1210 Vienna, and H.

Fechner University of Applied Science Technikum Wien.]

Installed PV power

After a 2 years slump, the domestic PV market in 2008 more than doubled compared to 2007. In

2008, off-grid and grid connected PV systems with a total PV power of 4,7 MW have been installed,

which represents a 121% growth of the domestic market compared to the year before. Despite this

positive development, the domestic PV market is still far from its historical maximum of 6,5 MW

achieved in the year 2003.

The overall installed PV capacity in Austria reached 32,4 MW at the end of 2008. On grid applications

more and more dominate the market for PV, with grid-connected systems (GCS) accounting for more

than 89% of the total installed capacity at the end of 2008.

As during the previous years, the off-grid sector plays a minor role in the Austrian PV market. In 2008

only 0,13 MW were installed in this sector. In total estimated 3,4 MW off-grid systems for domestic

and non-domestic applications were installed at the end of 2008.

On a 10 years basis, an average market growth of 22% per year for all PV installations and 26% for

grid-connected installations can be reported.

Costs & prices

With the dominating German PV market in its direct neighborhood, PV prices in Austria are closely

linked to the prices which are achieved on the German market.

Compared to the previous years, module prices dropped considerably in 2008, following the

international trend. The average wholesale price in 2008 was 3,22 EUR/W, the average sales-price of

Austrian PV module producers was 3,11 EUR/W.

In 2008, turnkey prices for installed PV systems fell slightly compared to the previous years.

However, with only 5%, the reduction was still low, following the continued high demand of the

European PV market and the stringent supply of PV modules on the world market. Turnkey prices for

typical on-grid systems varied between 5 EUR/W and 5,8 EUR/W, depending on the used PV-

technology, size and type of the installation.

PV production

Despite the small home market, Austrian PV industry could again expand their business in 2008. The

most important products manufactured in Austria include PV inverters, PV modules and tracking

systems as well as back-sheet laminates for module encapsulation or PV Ribbon Wires.

Domestic PV module manufacturers again reported a significant growth of their output. The overall

PV module production in Austria in 2008 amounted to 65,4 MW (2007: 47,4 MW), which represents

an increase of 38% compared to the previous year.


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Austria’s PV inverter industry also reported an 80% increase of the production of inverters for grid-

connected applications. In 2008, PV inverters with a capacity of approximately 448 MW a.c. nominal

power (2007: 250 MW) were produced. More than 99% of the production was exported.

The world wide leading manufacturer of back sheet laminates used for encapsulation of solar cells

likewise reported ongoing growth of its PV business.

The world market leader of large scale two-axis tracking systems also reported an increase of the

production, which rose to 31 MW in 2008 (2007: 29 MW).

In 2008 the first companies started industrial scale production of solar cells, which marks the next

step in the development of Austrian PV industry.

Budgets for PV

The nationwide feed-in tariff system for electricity from RES introduced in the national Green

Electricity Act is financed by all consumers of electricity via supplements on the electricity price and

an obligatory purchase price for Green Electricity which has to be paid by electricity dealers. The

feed-in tariffs paid for PV in 2007 amounted to approximately 10,4 MEUR (2007: 9,5 MEUR).

Besides the feed-in support, also further short-term incentives in form of rebates for new PV

installations are provided on the national (National Fund for Climate and Energy) as well as

provincial level. The total funds spent for this purpose in 2008 were 14,6 MEUR.

There is no national R&D program dedicated to PV, however, two national programs “New Energy

2020” by the national Fund for Climate and Energy as well as “Buildings of Tomorrow Plus” by the

Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology were launched in 2008 and include PV with a focus

on PV building integration as a side issue. In the absence of a dedicated program, R&D is mainly

funded on a project base.

Public funding for PV related RTD can be estimated to 1,6 MEUR in 2007.

Applications for photovoltaics

As in most of the other IEA countries, Off-grid installations were the first economic alternative for PV

systems. Small autonomous systems provide electricity to technical systems or for domestic use in

Alpine areas or mountain huts far away from the grid. But not exclusively in remote areas, also on

urban sites PV is an option to supply infrastructure like traffic surveillance systems, communication

systems, parking meters and a variety of other applications.

With the introduction of favorable support schemes On-grid Distributed Systems have meanwhile

become a common place in public’s interest. In Austria this sector now stands for more than 89% of

the installed capacity.

With the support schemes limited to small, residential scale systems, Grid-Connected Centralized

Systems in form of PV Power plants play a minor role, so far approximately 1,8 MW are installed.

Total photovoltaic power installed

To highlight the development of the national PV market over the last 10 years, Figure 1 shows the

annually installed capacity from 1998 until 2008.


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In addition, Figure 2 indicates the total cumulative installed PV power for each sub-market on the 31

December of each year from 1998 onwards until 31 December 2008.


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Production of photovoltaic cells and modules

Despite the small home market, Austrian PV industry could again expand their production in 2008. In

total, Austrian module manufacturers could again considerably increase their output compared to

the previous year. The total module production in 2008 amounted to 65,4 MW. Compared to 47,4

MW in 2007 this figure represents a growth of more than 38% (see Figure 4).

Currently six Austrian companies are involved into the production of PV-modules namely:

Solon-Hilber Technologie, since 2005 a 100% subsidiary of German Solon AG, is manufacturing

framed laminates exclusively for the use on the “SOLON Mover” tracking systems. The cells

(crystalline silicon) are delivered by the German SOLON AG.

PVT AUSTRIA, which started the production in 2002, manufactures standard and tailor-made PV-

Modules. The single and multi-crystalline silicon cells are purchased from various manufacturers,

mainly Germany, Spain, the U.S. and Taiwan.

Energetica Energietechnik GmbH, located in Klagenfurt, Carinthia, is producing standard framed

laminates and glass-glass laminates based on single and multi crystalline silicon cells. The cells are

imported from various sources.

KIOTO Photovoltaics GmbH, formerly RKG-Photovoltaik GmbH, is affiliated to Europe’s largest

manufacturer of Solar Thermal Collectors, GREENoneTEC Solar Industries Ltd. The company is

manufacturing standard modules based on imported cells.

Ertex-Solar, affiliated to Ertl Glas AG, a large manufacturer of safety glass products, is producing

tailor made modules for BIPV, especially façade integration. The cells are imported from Germany.

SED, focuses on the production of PV-roof tiles and small size modules for special applications.


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Most of the modules produced include cells imported from various countries, such as Germany,

Spain, The U.S., Taiwan, China and others.

Virtually the whole production is exported, either directly or indirectly via distributors. According to

the Austrian PV industry, the main export markets in 2008 (according to nominations) are Germany,

Italy, Spain and Switzerland.

Market & deployment initiatives

When looking at the domestic market, the situation of PV in Austria remains unsatisfactory mainly

because of the complex, unstable and primarily insignificant frame conditions. The 2006 revision of

the main nationwide framework, the Green Electricity Act (GEA) currently in force does not provide

any substantial support for PV and further complicated the situation in comparison to the period

before. Moreover, also the 2008 revision of the Green Electricity Act, which is still (as of May 2009)

pending for approval by the European Commission and has not become effective yet is not expected

to provide significant improvement for PV development in Austria.

Short-term initiatives such as the rebate program of the national Fund for Climate and Energy

announced for 2009 will provide temporary incentives for the market. Nevertheless, due to the

limited time horizon of these measures, no substantial PV market development can be expected.

Hence the situation for PV in Austria will remain unclear also for the year to come.


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Country

Belgium (Flanders)

Flag

Map


Area [sq km] 30,528




381.4



461.5








[USD/kWh]

0.059




Cost Calculation Methodology Fixed FIT paid with a Public Service Obligation (Annex 2). Premium on top of market rate (Gipe). Purchase obligation for distributors & generators


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pay only cost of connection to nearest physical point of grid, maybe system charges for upgrades (Klein).

Tariff Application Applies to wind only.

Duration

Tariff Rates 4.1 USD-cents/kWh for wind in 2008 (Gipe). FIT is guaranteed for the entire lifetime for small PV projects (< 3kW) (Eurelectric); in 1997 there were 3 different kinds of rates--one for intermittant systems (wind & PV) and two for reliable RE systems, depending on whether they fed into the grid constantly or only during peak times (Cerveny).

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes Goals for all of Belgium to achieve 6% RE in electricity mix by 2010 and 13% by 2020. National govt controls transmission but states control RE policy--Walloon & Flanders provide grants & tax relief to RE projects (Cerveny).




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

71.191


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Country

Brazil

Flag

Map

Geographic coordinates 10 00 S, 55 00 W

Area [sq km] 8,514,877




2,024



1,482








[USD/kWh]






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Tariff Application Does not appear to apply to solar.

Duration

Tariff Rates Unknown.

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]


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Country

Bulgaria

Flag

Map


Area [sq km] 110,879




90.54



44.78








[USD/kWh]


Incentive type FiT




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Tariff Application

Duration Remuneration for 25 year contract, with possible next year changes set as minimally 95% of the previous year.

Tariff Rates <=5kWp 823 Leva/MWh (about EUR 0.421/kWh) >5kWp 755 Leva/MWh (about EUR 0.386/kWh)

Differentiation Differentiated by size.

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

1.407


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Country

China

Flag

Map


Area [sq km] 9,596,961

Population 1,338,612,968



8,767



4,758



Electricity production [TWh / year] 3,451

Electricity consumption 3,438




[USD/kWh]



Legislation & Amendments Backed by the Chinese government’s total stimulus package of RMB 4 trillion ($585bn), Chinese businesses are now among the top producers of electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels and energy efficient


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appliances, according to a report released last month by London-based The Climate Group. In March 2009, the China government introduced the "Solar Roofs Plan" for promoting the application of solar PV building. The Ministry of Finance in July re-introduced the "Golden Sun Project" with more specific details of the related policy.

Cost Calculation Methodology The policy provides that the grid-connected photovoltaic power generation project, the state will in principle by photovoltaic power generation system and its supporting transmission and distribution projects to give 50% of the total investment subsidies. The subsidy will rise to 70% for solar power systems in remote areas that are not currently connected to the grid. Projects with a minimum capacity of 500MW would be eligible for the related incentive.

Tariff Application

Duration

Tariff Rates

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes All such financial incentive schemes boosts most of the new development in China solar market, such as the new thin film solar plant of Anwell Technologies and Tianwei, as well as the contract signed by LDK solar to install up to 500 MW of capacity of PV stations over the next five years in Jiangsu Province of China. However, there still is no clarity on Feed-in-Tariffs for domestic installations within China.




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]


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Country

Canada, Ontario

Flag

Map

Geographic coordinates 60 00 N, 95 00 W

Area [sq km] 9,984,670




1,287



1,319








[USD/kWh]

0.059


Incentive type FiT

Legislation & Amendments RESOP in 2006 & FIT in 2009. Green Energy Act adopted by Bill 150 in May 2009 and allows Ontario's Minister of Energy & Infrastructure to require the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) to implement FIT program. Replaces


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the Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program (RESOP), which granted PV 42 CAN-cts/kWh for 20 years and 11 CAN-cts/kWh for other RE generators. RESOP was not technically a FIT because "it is not the intent ... to have Ontario electricity ratepayers support any and all [RE] projects, regardless of their value to the system" (RESOP).

Cost Calculation Methodology Cost-based plus reasonable rate of return (FAQ). All power produced is sold to the OPA. Generator then purchases back what is needed at prevailing rate (e.g., $0.055/kWh CDN). The difference should cover costs of installation and operation over the life of the contract (perhaps with some profit).

Tariff Application


Tariff Rates Solar Photovoltaic: $0.80/kWh CDN Wind, Hydro, Biomass: $0.11/kWh CDN

Differentiation Contract will probably require each project to include a certain amount of "provincial content," i.e. RE in an area already being developed by the Ministry (Draft FIT Rule, 7.2(f); FAQ). Adders of 1.5 CAN-cts/kWh for aboriginal projects & 1.0 CAN-cts/kWh for community projects (ground-mounted PV only); currently requires majority ownership but may allow fractional amount (proposed May 2009).

Adjustment Prices may be adjusted up annually based on CPI (Draft FIT Rules, 5.3); dispute over whether adjustment will be 20% of CPI or full CPI (Revisions Presentation). Peak/off-peak prices (135% and 90% of price schedule listed) are only available for non-intermittant RE (Mar. 2009 Price Schedule). Appears to allow applicants to withdraw if they are already in the queue when the price offered drops more than 5% (Draft FIT Rules, 8.2(b).

Degression No automatic degression except in the case of ground-mounted PV, the price of was originally scheduled to decrease by 9% for new contracts once 100 MW is contracted (Mar. 2009 Price Schedule). Revisions removed automatic degression (Revision Presentation).


Program Financing Pass-through to ratepayers. Economic Connection Test conducted every six months in each province in order to determine the costs to connect a project, which will be passed on to ratepayers (Draft FIT Rules, 4.3(d)).

RE Generator Obligations Provide resource data and evidence that it has the necessary access rights to property to OPA; does not appear that it will have to pay a fee for its connection to the grid (Draft FIT Rules, 2.1(a)(v)).

Utility/Grid Operator Obligations Must provide priority grid access to RE projects (Bill 150). OPA may be able to prioritize projects that are easier to connect to grid (Draft FIT Rules, 1.2). Appears to be a mandatory purchase obligation (id. at 4.6). OPA retains rights to "environmental attributes" from generation, i.e. RECs, although it must reimburse generators for cost of verification/registering (Draft Contract, June 2009).

Tariff Revision To be reviewed every 2 years, beginning 1 year after the launch of the program (Draft FIT Rules, 8.1).



Estimates that PV provides 600-1000 jobs and solar thermal provides another 180 (pre-FIT).

Stakeholder Reactions Stakeholders sought protection against inflation--led to examination of different methods of FIT adjustment; wanted BIPV to be included within roof-mounted PV (Revisions Presentation).

Additional Incentives/Subsidies RESOP has been supplanted by FIT; Home REFIT being implemented for residential projects under 10 kW (FAQ).

Additional Notes PV projects may not exceed 10 MW. Explicitly prohibits dividing larger


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projects into smaller components in order to achieve higher contract prices, allowing OPA to reject all contracts or provide the contract price that would have gone to a single project (Draft FIT Rules, 5.4(e)).




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

32.72

[Excerpts from “National Survey Report of PV Power Applications in Canada 2008 - Prepared by Josef

Ayoub ExCo from Canada & IEA Task 1 Representative In collaboration with Dr. Lisa Dignard-Bailey

CanmetENERGY Innovation and Energy Technology Sector Department of Natural Resources Canada

P.O. Box 4800, Varennes, Québec CANADA J3X 1S6 - May 2009]

Installed PV power

Canada’s total PV power installed capacity increased 27% in 2008 to 32.72 MW compared to 25.80

MW at the end of 2007.

The 2008 domestic PV module sales volume totaled 6.94 MW compared to 5.29 MW in 2007 – an

increase of 31% in the one-year period. The 2008 PV module export sales totaled 21.32 MW

compared to 7.33 MW in 2007 – about 190% increase from the previous year.

Total PV sales in Canada (domestic and export) in 2008 were at 28.26 MW a 125% increase over the

previous year.

The growth of the PV market in Canada has been averaging 26% annually since 1993, and about 36%

annually since 2000. In 2008, the largest module sales domestically occurred in the off-grid market

(both residential and non-residential) with about 66% of market share while the grid-connected has

seen its share of the market grow to 34% in 2008.

Costs & prices

Module prices (weighted average) have gradually declined from CAD 11.09 in 1999 to CAD 3.91 in

2008. This represents an average annual price reduction of slightly over 10% over the 9-year period.

PV production

There was a 53% increase in full-time, labor place equivalent employees engaged in PV activities in

the public and private sectors (R&D, manufacturing, distributors, dealers, retailers, system installers,

consultants and developers) in Canada in 2008. The largest increase reported has been in the

manufacturing sector (modules, BOS and silicon feedstock) at 58% above 2007.

Public budget for PV

Total public budgets in Canada showed a significant decrease of about 28% in 2008 over the

previous year. This is due to large in the completion of the demonstration funding program TEAM

that funded several high profile PV demonstrations over the last 10 years.


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Production and production capacity information for 2008

The Province of Ontario’s Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program is viewed by the Canadian PV

industry as a major step towards developing a competitive, strong Canadian solar industry. By the

end of 2008, the RESOP had exceeded its 10-year target in its first year of operation with about 1411

MW of contracts signed, but project implementation delays have led to only 1.2 MW being

connected to date.

Delays in connection queues in strategic areas of the province are being reviewed with intent to

address the backlog of applications for connection to secondary distribution feeders. The Ontario

Smart Grid Forum, managed by the Independent System Operator of Ontario, has made public its

recommendations on the benefits of a Smart Grid, including improved system reliability, increased

customer participation and environmental benefits such as improving the integration of smaller

generators embedded in the distribution system.

The Solar Buildings Research Network is generating opportunities for demonstrations of innovative

PV projects in Canada and is expanding the knowledge base to the benefits and added value of PV

technology in the buildings of the future. The collaborative R&D focus is providing in-depth analyses

to Canadian stakeholders on the optimization of low and net-zero energy homes for Canadian

climatic conditions and is helping to support innovation in the residential construction industry in

order to accelerate the adoption of low and net-zero energy solar homes. In addition the SBRN

partners are contributing to two Canadian teams from universities in the provinces of Alberta and

Ontario that will compete in the US Department of Energy sponsored Solar Decathlon competition

that will take place in Washington, DC, in the fall of 2009.

Private sector investments in the development and marketing of solar PV power systems in Canada

will continue to drive the domestic PV market for the foreseeable future. This is reflected by steady

growth in the installed base, as well as the significant private-sector investment in manufacturing

and in silicon feedstock production. The Canadian Solar Industries Association and Énergie Solaire

Québec have continued their promotional and marketing activities. CanSIA in particular has been

very active in 2008 in developing the foundation for significant changes in policies and programs that

will support the solar industry in the coming years.


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Country

Czech Republic

Flag

Map


Area [sq km] 78,867




256.7



189.7








[USD/kWh]

0.156




Cost Calculation Methodology Fixed or premium available--in order to be eligible, RE generator must provide contract with either grid operator or market participant/supplier.


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Payment is made by the grid operator with no provisions for pass-through. Tariffs degress each year but may be no less than 95% of the tariff valid at time of recalculation.

Tariff Application Applies to solar, wind, hydro, biomass, biogass, geothermal. Law passed in 2005 & price schedule set by Energy Regulatory Office in 2007.

Duration Contract duration is 20 years with yearly increase linked to inflation (within range 2 - 4 %).

Tariff Rates CCM is actual cost of generation, noting that risk is higher for the premium option. PV can receive the FIT for 20 years. As of 2008, the fixed rate was 13,460 CZK/MWh (73.5 $ct/kWh) and the premium rate was 12,650 CZK/MWh (69 $ct/kWh). As of 2010 feed-in tariffs are 12.25 CZK/kWh for <=30kWp and 12.15 for >30 kWp.

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression New contract prices are changed for 5 % yearly, due to unexpected rise of number of installations in 2009 new bill is proposed allowing 25 % change.


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes Up to 50% of eligible costs of RE installations (PV < 5 kW) may be state-subsidized (2007). EU provides ECO-ENERGY funding in the form of grants and soft loans for RE projects in member states. Income from RE generation is not taxable for taxable persons.




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

54.290


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Country

Denmark

Flag

Map


Area [sq km] 43,094




199.1



308.3








[USD/kWh]

0.096


Incentive type FiT

Legislation & Amendments Began in 1993. Electricity Supply Act of 2000 limits FITs to existing installations for a 10-year transition period, beginning in 2003, to TGCs (Sijm). Most recent law is the Act on Electricity Supply, No. 1115/2006


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(RES-Legal).

Cost Calculation Methodology Pre-2000 FITs were based on avoided cost for biomass and provided RE generators with a fixed percentage, about 85%, of the consumer price of energy in a distribution area for wind/PV (Sijm). However, since the payment was the same for different REs, this subsidized wind but not more expensive technologies (NREL).

Tariff Application

Duration Premium FIT for 10-20 years

Tariff Rates Market Price + Variable Bonus Capped Sum 60 ore/kWh for installations connected between 2004-2008

Differentiation No apparent differentiation except for by type of resource (RES-Legal).

Adjustment Does not appear to be any adjustment for inflation.

Degression Post-2000 FITs are fixed for existing wind for 10 years + a fixed subsidy for full load-hours; new windmills (2000-2003) receive a fixed FIT for 10 years; both will get TGCs per kWh; post-2003 will receive market price + TGC (Sijm). The status of this program is unclear.

Application Process & Queuing Unknown.

Program Financing Ratepayers pay a Public Service Obligation tariff on total electricity consumption to their supervising company, which passes it on to RE generators (reduced to 37-39% of the amount for energy-intensive industries) (Klein; RES-Legal). Government subsidy in the form of carbon tax refund, which reached € 87 million by 1998 and led to adoption of TGC program (Sijm).

RE Generator Obligations RE generators pay only cost of connection to nearest physical point of grid; may have to pay system charges for upgrades (Klein).

Utility/Grid Operator Obligations Puchase obligation (except for onshore wind). Supervising companies pay bonuses to RE generators (RES-Legal).

Tariff Revision Regularly revised by the Danish Energy Authority (DEA) (RES-Legal).



Unknown.

Stakeholder Reactions Unknown.

Additional Incentives/Subsidies In 1998, no license was required for private systems <25 MW; govt reimbursed RE systems for an energy/carbon tax on top of FIT (Cerveny).

Additional Notes TGC system is not currently in force (RES-Legal).



0.5


year] (2009 est.)

0.5


capacity [MWp]

3.265

[Excerpts from IEA-PVPS publication “National Survey Report of PV Power Applications in Denmark

2008” Prepared by Peter Ahm, PA Energy Ltd. Snovdrupvej 16, DK-8340 Malling, Denmark.]

Installed PV power

By the end of year 2008 Denmark (including Greenland) had about 3,3 MW installed, an increase of

almost 200 kW compared to 2007. The SOL 1000 project originally targeting 1 MW, but finally –


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following budget reductions – reaching about 600 kW was completed end of 2006, leaving Denmark

without any incentives for reducing the investment cost of PV systems. Grid-connected distributed

systems constitute at about 90 % the majority of PV systems in Denmark.

Costs & prices

The completed SOL 1000 project demonstrated a turn-key system price for “roof-tops” of around 34

DKK/W. However, high demand worldwide for PV modules during 2007 and 2008 has lead to limited

supply of modules and slightly increasing module prices, and system cost figures for 2008 vary

widely due inter alia to the time of contracting and the size of the actual plant. The individual PV

systems implemented during 2008 exhibit turn-key system (BIPV) prices in the range of 35 to 100

DKK per W installed.

PV production

During 2008 the producer of float-zone silicon Topsil continued its commercial activities to supply

international PV industry with high purity, low-cost silicon. Modules (brand: Sunpower) using this

feedstock have been tested at NREL in the USA exhibiting efficiencies > 20 %. In 2008 the inverter

developer and manufacturer Danfoss Solar Inverters also reported ongoing and increasing

commercial activities in the multi-million € range.

The module production (Gaia Solar) in 2008 is at about 500 kW, approximately the same as in 2007.

The main markets for Gaia Solar are Germany and Sweden. There is no production of PV batteries in

Denmark. The building industry is showing a limited, but growing interest in developing PV-building

integrated components and systems in particular in connection with highly industrialized building

processes.

Late 2008 Danish PV companies took the initiative to establish a national PV association named

Dansk Solcelleforening.

Public budgets for PV

In early 2008 the government confirmed its commitment to support renewables, and a new energy

plan “A Visionary Energy Policy” reaching up to 2025 was finally agreed by February 2008. Public

funding for R&D into energy is expected to be doubled from about 0,5 billion DKK in 2007 to 1 billion

by 2010. Over a 3-5 year period more than 150 mill DKK will be allocated to R&D in renewables;

however it is still too early to say to which extend PVs effectively can benefit from these initiatives.

In 2008 the Public Service Obligation (PSO) of the Danish transmission system operator, the so called

ForskEL program, funded about 15 mill DKK for applied research projects in PV’s, and the other

public programs funded about 6 mill DKK for PV R&D activities.

Government Policy & Programs

As mentioned above the Danish government’s new energy plan, “A Visionary Energy Policy” reaching

up to 2025, was finally agreed upon in early 2008. The energy plan focus on a fully liberalized energy

market supported by a framework, which underpins high consumer and environment protection,

energy efficiency, subdued development in energy prices and high security of supply both in the

short and long term. The energy plan further focus on the ongoing development of efficient energy

technologies both nationally and in the EU, and the government wish to strengthen the research

community and the development of new and promising energy solutions. The energy plan also

focuses on energy conservation and on increasing the penetration of renewables3 in the total


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energy supply to 30 % by 2025. The overall objective is not to let the gross energy consumption

increase and to decrease the use of fossil fuels by 15 %, this way continuing the trend of the last 25

years as illustrated below. Over the last 25 years Denmark’s economy has grown by 75 % with

almost constant gross energy consumption effectively de-coupling economic growth from growth in

energy consumption.

Photovoltaic technology (PV) is for the first time mentioned in the government’s energy plan

[Complex negotiations and a general election prevented the energy plan originally presented early

2007 to be politically accepted until February 28 2008; the February 28 agreement includes a special

provision of 100 mill. DKK for PV, wave power and other emerging RE technologies].

Early 2004 the Danish Energy Authority (EA) in collaboration with the electricity sector, the industry

and other key stakeholders finalized a national strategy on PV after a public hearing. Early 2006 a

national workshop reviewed the PV strategy and it was consequently revised during 2006 in terms of

an addendum to the original strategy. A more comprehensive revision of the PV strategy also

including deployment was initiated 2008 and is expected to be completed by mid 2009.

Efforts are ongoing to establish relative large scale deployment/demonstration programs, which

over a 7-8 year period can bridge the gap from the present need of an investment incentive of

approx. 30 % to 0 %. The need of an investment incentive is based on consumer polls indicating, that

many owners of residential houses can accept a pay-back time for a PV roof-top system of 20-25

years, but not higher.

However, despite a relative small need for public support to get the PV deployment moving, there

are no indications in the government’s energy plans, that this may happen. PV is not even

mentioned in the otherwise ambitious plans for RE deployment.

The national Danish PV strategy will be revised by mid 2009.


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Country

Estonia

Flag

Map


Area [sq km] 45,228




24.48



18.05








[USD/kWh]




Cost Calculation Methodology Fixed or premium available. For fixed FIT, grid operator appoints a supplier for the RE generator, so essentially negotiates bilateral contracts.


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Premium appears to be the same system and the grid operator pays the RE generator under both schemes. Costs are passed through equitably to ratepayers.

Tariff Application < 100 MW plants for PV, wind, geothermal, hydro, biomass, biogas

Duration

Tariff Rates CCM is actual cost of generation (including energy costs, operation, investment, etc.). Lasts 12 years from date of commissioning (when plant reaches 80% of its capacity). Fixed rate for all plants is 115 Senti/kWh (10.4 $ct/kWh). Premium rate for all plants is 84 Senti/kWh (7.6 $ct/kWh).

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

0.02


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Country

Finland

Flag

Map

Geographic coordinates 64 00 N, 26 00





183.1



242.3








[USD/kWh]

0.101




Cost Calculation Methodology Paid by grid operator. Adjusted monthly depending on the price of electricity. Passed on through ratepayer via surcharge.


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Tariff Application FIT only applies to electricity generated from Finnish peat in conventional and CHP plants.

Duration

Tariff Rates Based on production costs.

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes Companies, municipalities, and communities can receive up to 40% subsidy for PV investment projects. PV is not eligible for a "tax aid" system in which RE plants receive payment per kWh based on tax on electricity generation.




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

5.679


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Country

France

Flag

Map






2,113



2,635








[USD/kWh]

0.125


Incentive type FiT

Legislation & Amendments Inception in Loi n°2000-108 and Décret n°2000-1196; subsequently amended (RES-Legal; Gipe).

Cost Calculation Methodology "The amount of payment depends on the costs of investment and


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operation, which incur for the system operators and shall be compensated for by the distribution grid operators, who only purchase electricity. In addition, system operators may receive a premium, which depends on the amount of electricity fed in and thus rewards this contribution to the achievement of the national energy targets (Loi n°2000-108, Art. 10)" (RES-Legal).

Tariff Application

Duration Fixed FIT for 20 years (6 for Rhone Region)

Tariff Rates Base PV FIT 32.8 (44.8) BIPV (2008) 60.1 (82) Rhone-Alps Region (2009) 40 (54.6) Commercial Buildings (2009) 45 (61.4) Overseas Territories 43.7 (59.6) €ct ($ct) per kWh for installations in 2008/2009 (Gipe)

Differentiation For wind, fixed for 10 years and the following 5 are scaled based on average full-load hours per year of first decade. For PV, differentiated by type and location.

Adjustment Inflation adjustment of up to 60% of the CPI, but does not decrease (Gipe). Additionally, appears to adjust the FIT levels for new installations each year by a CPI adjustment and not just by degressing (Gipe).

Degression Reduces 2% annually (Gipe).

Application Process & Queuing RE generators must apply to prefect of state department for a certificate of eligibility before they can conclude a contract with grid operators (RES-Legal).

Program Financing Ratepayers pay a standard amount per kWh, set annually by the Ministry of Energy and included in their grid usage fees, into fonds du service public de la production d'electricite (public service fund) (RES-Legal). Companies using > 240 million kWh annually are exempt from surcharge if they arrange for their own electricity generation on-site (somewhat unclear) (RES-Legal). Fees are transferred to national financial institution (Caisse des depots) and then compensates distribution grid operators, subsidizes rural transmission and low income consumers, and pays administrative costs (RES-Legal).

RE Generator Obligations Intermediate step between paying only cost of connection and paying all costs of connection and upgrades (Klein). RE generators must apply to prefect (state's representative in a department) for a certificate of eligibility to receive the FIT; this may be conveyed to a third party (RES-Legal).

Utility/Grid Operator Obligations Grid operators have a purchase obligation and must conclude contracts with RE generators (RES-Legal). Grid operators are both national, i.e. EDF, and private (RES-Legal).

Tariff Revision Revised in 2006, 2009.



At least for wind, France's turbine manufacturing industry is small and specialized, so it frequently imports RE components (Szarka).

Stakeholder Reactions Fears of "wind rush" led to protects by community groups; however, the rush never emerged (Szarka). Lengthy permitting process and approval turnaround (Szarka). National regulator was concerned that rates were too high, providing windfall profits to developers and harming ratepayers (Szarka).

Additional Incentives/Subsidies PV may receive special FITs through a tender process (this may be an older system--Szarka) (RES-Legal). Residential customers can get 50% income tax credit on hardware for PV installation (only for systems < 3 kW), up to 8,000 € per person (16,000 for a couple) + 400 € per child (Gipe; RES-Legal). Reduced VAT of 5.5% for French mainland offered from 1999-2010


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for equipment, services, and delivery for RE installation (PV must be for building itself or is otherwise only eligible up to 3 kW) (RES-Legal). Goals of installing 160 MW PV by 2010, 500 MW by 2015, and 5400 by 2020 (Gipe).

Additional Notes Ministry of Energy is responsible for receiving reports and engaging in inspections, and may sanction contract violators by suspension or fine (RES-Legal).




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

91.155


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Country

Germany

Flag

Map






2,812



3,235

GDP real growth rate (2009 est.) -5%







[USD/kWh]

0.109


Incentive type FiT

Legislation & Amendments Began in 1990. Electricity Feed-in Act (StrEg; 1991); Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG; 2000 & amended in 2004, 2009).

Cost Calculation Methodology Fixed FIT based on electricity generation costs, including capital,


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consumption, and operating costs (EEG Progress Report 2007). Earlier FITs granted RE generators a fixed percentage of regional electricity prices, but this was superseded because it did not subsidize any RE except for the cheapest kinds (wind, biomass) (NREL).

Tariff Application

Duration Fixed FIT for 20 years

Tariff Rates Roof-mounted Size < 30 kW 43.01 (60.63) 30-100 kW 40.91 (57.67) > 100 kW 39.58 (55.79) > 1000 kW 33 (46.52) Free-Standing 31.94 (45.02) BIPV Bonus 5 (7) (removed in 2009[1]) Electricity Produced & Used in Bldg 25.01 (35.25) n/a €ct ($ct) per kWh for installations in 2009 (EEG Payment Provisions)

Differentiation Differentiated based on size, type of resource, type of installation.

Adjustment Locational: for wind, after the first 5 years the tariff is calculated against a "reference turbine" and its support is reduced for the next 15 years if its yield is > 150% of the reference yield. Additional premium for repowering of pre-1995 wind turbines.

Degression Freestanding facilities will degress by 10% starting in 2010 and 9% in 2011; roof systems < 100 kW will degress by 8% in 2010 and 9% in 2011, and > 100 kW will degress 10% in 2010 and 9% in 2011 (2009 EEG Payment Provisions). Capacity Trigger: degression increases or decreases by 1% if <1000MW or >1500MW (2009), <1100MW or >1700MW (2010), <1200MW or >1900MW (2011). New contracts will be lower in value in future years (decreasing by 8-11% per year). Digression will be accelerated or slowed down by one percentage point if the market grows faster or slower than about 15% per year.

Application Process & Queuing For Special Equalization Scheme (not general FIT), applications must be submitted by June 30 each year and adjusted fees will then take effect the following January 1 for approved projects (2008 Act).

Program Financing Power is passed from plant operator to grid operator to transmission system operator to utilities to final consumers; equitable division occurs among the TSOs (RES-Legal; 2008 Act). Final pass-through to ratepayers amounts to about 4% of average residential electricity costs and 13% of total electricity price increases, 2002-2006 (EEG Progress Report 2007). Burden is distributed differentially so as to allow energy-intensive, import-based industries--mainly iron/steel, other metals, chemicals, paper--to maintain competitiveness (id.). Industries with electricity cost as 15% of gross value and > 10 GWh electricity consumption, plus some railway operators, eligible for reduced share payment (id.).

RE Generator Obligations RE generators pay only cost of connection to nearest physical point of grid; may have to pay system charges for upgrades. Installations at or above 500 kW are required to measure and record capacity (EEG Progress Report 2007). Generators that produce both RE and fossil fuels are not eligible for FITs under the principle of exclusive use (id.). RE generators must report systems to the Federal Network Agency in order to be eligible for the FIT (RES-Legal).

Utility/Grid Operator Obligations Grid system operators are required to purchase RE and provide priority interconnection (EEG Progress Report 2007; 2008 Act). However, priority purchasing can be contractually waived by the RE generator (2008 Act, §8).

Tariff Revision Revised every 5 years (Gipe).


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As of 2006, the PV provisions of the EEG have reportedly contributed to 26,900 jobs and reduced CO2 by 1.516 million tons out of a 44 million ton reduction in the electricity sector (EEG Progress Report 2007). Overall, EEG created of 236,000 jobs, with a net creation of 67-78,000 jobs after accounting for jobs lost due to RE (id.).

Stakeholder Reactions 4 billion Euros in grid expansion necessary; Utilities actively attempted to block RE because they controlled transmission & purchase mandate displaced conventional generation; attempted to have EU court declare illegal as "state aid"; finally adopted when utility-scale offshore wind farms became feasible (Stenzel).

Additional Incentives/Subsidies RE generators that receive FITs are explicitly precluded from selling RECs based on the RE they produce (EEG Progress Report 2007). RE generators may be able to receive emissions credits under the CDM and JI mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol, but this goes against the intent of EEG (id.).

Additional Notes PV generation in kWh increased by about 400% between 2004 and 2006: from 0.6 billion kWh to 2.2 billion kWh (EEG Progress Report 2007). EEG was responsible for 13% of the price increases felt by residential households from 2002-2006 (id.). BMU must study ecological impacts of new RE development (id.). Total fees paid under EEG were €5.8 billion in 2006 (id.). Renewable electricity under the EEG cannot be sold more than once (RES-Legal).




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp] (2008)

5,351.

[Excerpts from “National Survey Report of PV Power Applications in Germany 2008 Version 2”

Prepared on behalf of BMU – German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and

Nuclear Safety, May 2009 by Dr. Lothar Wissing Forschungszentrum Jülich Projektträger Jülich, 52425

Jülich]

Installed PV power

New installed (power) [1] 1.500 MWp

Total installed power [1] ~ 5.300 MWp

Costs & prices

Turnkey Prices of Typical PV Applications (VAT excluded (19%) , net, prices rounded, prices at end of

2008)

1 – 2 kWp: 4.450 €/kWp (off-grid / grid connected)

2 – 5 kWp: 4.130 0 €/kWp (usually grid connected)

5 - 10 kWp: 3.910 €/kWp (usually grid connected)

10 -50 kWp: 3.650 €/kWp (usually grid connected)


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PV production

Production of cells [1] 1450 MWp

Production of wafers [2,9] 710 MWp

Production of feedstock silicon [2,9] 11.200 t

PV power generation [1] ~4.300 GWh

Budgets for PV

R&D budget for PV projects by BMU [5] 39,9 Mio. €

R&D budget for PV projects by BMBF [5] 19,5 Mio. €

Industrial R&D investments 190,0 Mio €


Off-grid applications

The off-grid sector includes domestic PV applications for the leisure such as electrical power for

weekend houses. Non domestic applications are implemented in the 'mobile' sector, such as cars

and caravans (sunroofs combined with ventilation), camping, boats, water pumping and electricity

supply for many traffic applications and tool sheds, which are increasing and difficult to distinguish in

the total number of PV systems installed in the off-grid sector.

Domestic off-grid PV systems are offered by specialized manufacturers, distributors and system-

houses as well as by numerous Do-it-yourself and electronic-stores. Differentiated statistics broken

down by applications are not available. Compared with 2007 there is a stable and slow increasing

request for stand alone systems. Estimate by BSW 8 of 28

(Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft – the German Solar Industry Federation) [1] indicate that end of

2008 around 40 MW were installed, 4,5 MW more than in 2007.

Grid-connected applications

The German funding strategy favors the installation of grid-connected PV power systems. Therefore,

grid-connected rooftop systems and large PV power plant are further on dominating the market.

BSW published in April 2008 the new installed capacity of around 1500 MW for grid-connected

systems. That means in total about 5,3 GWp installed capacity.

Promotion

Due to the relatively mature PV market in Germany technical orientated demonstration and large

field test activities are not in the centre of interest anymore. The proof that PV works in different

kind of applications is done. Therefore, the industry focuses their activities in process optimization to

reduce the production cost and to increase the quality of their products. Also recycling is becoming

more interesting.

Germany has a wide range of policy and promotional initiatives. First of all is the mentioned EEG

with the feed-in tariff. Additionally there are tax credits for investments in PV and loans by KfW for


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measures to reduce energy consumption and the application of renewable energies in buildings.

Some states award grants for PV plants.

A lot of journals offer information about PV, some only specific for PV, others under the theme

“Renewables”.

The internet provides several websites, dedicated to PV and renewable energies like:

http://www.bmu.de

http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/3860/

http://www.solarwirtschaft.de

http://www.photon.de/

http://www.solarserver.de

http://www.dgs-solar.org

http://www.solarcontact.de

http://www.solarfoerderung.de

http://www.sonnenertrag.de

http://www.eurosolar.de

http://www.top50-solar.de

http://www.sonnenertrag.de

http://www.bine.info

http://www.dena.de

http://www.german-renewable-energy.com

http://www.renewables-made-in-germany.com/en/photovoltaics/

http://www.renewablesb2b.com

BSW represents the German PV and solar thermal industry and supply a lot of market data

(http://www.solarwirtschaft.de). The Germany Trade & Invest has the task to acquire foreign

enterprises for investments in Germany. This organization supplies a lot of commercial information

and supports investors individually (http://www.gtai.com).

As the result of these long term initiatives, there is a broad awareness and acceptance for renewable

energy and PV by the public. In consequence, a constant demand exists for PV products.

Beside these promotion activities, PV industry is an important branch in the technology sector and

gains more and more attention in the public.


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PV implementation highlights, major projects, demonstration and field test programs

Until end of 2008, more than 500 large scale photovoltaic plants with more than 200 KWp are in

operation in Germany, 120 new large plants were put into service during the year. The installed

capacity of these large PV plants amounts to around 700 MWp.

The largest PV power plants based on thin film technology installed in 2008 are:

• Brandis 40 MWp

• Köthen 14,75 MWp

• Helmeringen 10 MWp

• Eckolstädt 8,5 MWp

• Trier 8,4 MWp

• Igling-Buchloe 5,8 MWp

• Wörrstadt 5,6 MWp

In October 2008 the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft opened the “Center for Organic Materials and

Electronic Devices Dresden“ (COMEDD). Its primary purpose is the development of economically

viable and production-oriented processes for organic semiconductor devices such as organic light-

emitting diodes and organic solar cells.

The Fraunhofer ISE inaugurated its new 600m² laboratory for silicon material research: the Silicon

Materials Technology and Evaluation Center (SIMTEC). The focus of the new center is on silicon

crystallization and wafer technology as well as crystalline silicon thin film technology.

TÜV Rheinland Group is constructing one of the world’s most modern test centers for solar modules

at its headquarters in Cologne. Around EUR 4 million will be invested in the new building and in

ultramodern technical equipment for monitoring safety, quality and energy efficiency in photovoltaic

modules and solar collectors. From summer 2009, over 40 experts will be working in the new test

centre, which, with 1,800 m², will be three times as large as the existing one.

INDUSTRY AND GROWTH

The German PV industry still experiences a period of solid growth. Despite the fact that some

investments are delayed, the range of companies dealing with PV is expanding along the whole value

chain. Especially the capacity of thin film production facilities is growing significantly taking

advantage of the global silicon supply shortage of recent years.

Silicon Wafer Technology

With Wacker, one of the world largest suppliers of silicon for the semiconductor and PV industry,

Joint Solar Silicon, PV Silicon and Scheuten SolarWorld Solizium now at least four companies are in

the silicon feedstock business in Germany. From 2009 on, a production capacity of more than 17 000

t equal to roughly 1 300 MW will be reached.

The total production capacity for wafers now amounts to around 2 000 MW. The main supplier of

silicon wafers is still Deutsche Solar AG in Freiberg. Besides this company there are another five to

six Germany based wafer manufacturers like PV Silicon at Erfurt or Ersol (formerly ASI) at Arnstadt.

Silicon ribbons are produced by Wacker Schott Solar (EFG-ribbon) in Alzenau and Sovello (formerly

EverQ - String-ribbon) in Thalheim.


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The cell production in Germany shows a steady growth. Currently, twelve companies are engaged.

Amongst these, Q-Cells in Thalheim is not only the biggest cell producer in Germany but also

worldwide. The production of modules grew again. There are now more than fifteen companies with

a production capacity of 1 MW and more listed. Amongst these, the biggest ones are Aleo Solar,

Solar Factory, Solarwatt, and Solon, all with a production of 100 MW and more.

Thin-Film Technologies

In addition to the silicon wafer activities, there is an increasing number of companies investing in

thin-film production lines. Eleven companies are operating or building production facilities for silicon

thin film modules with a total capacity of 500 to 600 MW. CIS technologies are used by twelve

companies resulting in a production capacity for 2009 of roughly 300 MW. CdTe modules are

currently fabricated by two companies. In total, the production of thin-film modules amounts

currently to roughly 290 MW a factor of 3 times more than 2007 and now 1/3 of the silicon wafer

module production. From 2009 on, thin-film technologies will have a production capacity of more

than 1 000 MW, half of the module production capacity of silicon wafer technologies.

Besides the above described manufacturing of feedstock, wafers, cells and modules, the fabrication

of concentrating PV (CPV) is entering the scene. In 2009, the production capacity will be around 30

MW.

Another important business in Germany is the inverter industry. Besides SMA Solar, the world-

leader producing around 1 000 MW alone, there are more than another 10 companies producing

state-of-the-art inverters. For 2008 a production of 1 600 MW was reported.

Production of feedstock, ingots and wafers

Production and production capacity information for the year for silicon feedstock, ingot and wafer

producers in 2008


Production and production capacity information for 2008 for each manufacturer



roduction and production capacity information for 2008 for each manufacturer

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roduction and production capacity information for 2008 for each manufacturer


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An excellent overview of German PV manufacturers is given by “Germany Trade & Invest”

http://www.gtai.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Downloads/Industries/Renewable_Energies/Photovolt

aics/1_En

(see an extracted table as follows on the next page)


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System prices

Turnkey Prices of Typical Applications

Turnkey Prices of Typical PV Applications (VAT excluded (19%) , net, prices rounded, prices at end of

2008)

1 – 2 kWp: 4.450 €/kWp (off-grid / grid connected)

2 – 5 kWp: 4.130 €/kWp (usually grid connected)

5 - 10 kWp: 3.910 €/kWp (usually grid connected)

10 -50 kWp: 3.650 €/kWp (usually grid connected)

Business value

New installed (power) 1,500 MWp

Total installed power ~ 5,300 MWp

Production of cells 1,450 MWp

Production of wafers 710 MWp

Production of feedstock silicon 11,200 t

PV power generation ~ 4,300 GWh

Turn-over PV industry ~ 7 bill. €

Export quota 46 %

Investment in production capacity 2,150 Mio. €

The market share of German enterprises in the whole industry value chain for the world market is

estimated by around 20 %.

Country information

1) Electricity prices: 0.19 – 0.26 €/kWh + basic fee for households. As an average 0.22 €/kWh is

adequate. For industrial supply, the prices are lower depending on consumption. The production

cost of conventional power plants are in the range of 5 – 8 €ct/KWh. Tendency to increasing prices in

2008. Strong influence by price level of oil and gas.

2) Typical household consumption: 4000 kW/yr.

3) Typical metering and tariff structure: The metering systems are installed in the household. The

measurement takes place once a year and a payment in a one or two month period with an invoiced

at the end of the year.

4) Average household income: 37,500 €/yr (gross, 2008) (for a married person, solely working, 2

children; (household income can vary by different private status).


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5) Typical mortgage interest rate: around 5 %/yr

6) Voltage: 230 V / 380 V

7) Electricity Structure: There are parallel structure of large enterprises (i.e. E-on, RWE, Vattenfall),

city owned companies and industrial producers for their own facilities. The grid belongs mostly to

the producers.

8) Price of diesel fuel: 1.10 – 1.30 €/l.

9) Typical values for PV system of household: 1- 5 kWp.


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Country

Greece

Flag

Map






339.2



338.3








[USD/kWh]

0.067


Incentive type FiT

Legislation & Amendments Began in 1994. Law 2244/94 defines autoproducers (net metering) and independent power producers (<50 MW); PPC monopoly must buy all IPP power under 10-year contracts; New Development Law 2601/98 subsidizes


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energy producers up to 40% or tax deduction up to 100%; tax deductions of 75% for individuals for installing RE since 1995. A more recent law is Law Nr. 3468/2006 (RES-Legal). New PV FIT law introduced 15 Jan 2009.

Cost Calculation Methodology "The criteria determining the amount of payment are the costs of construction and operation of a certain system type, i.e. investment costs, operational costs, costs of metering and capital" (RES-Legal).

Tariff Application

Duration Fixed FIT: 10 years for PV, 20 years for solar thermal, 25 years for small rooftop PV.

Tariff Rates Small Rooftop PV (< 10 kW) 55 (77.6) Size < 100 kW > 100 kW < 5 MW > 5 MW MainlandPV 45 (62.5) 40 (54.6) x x Mainland Solar Thermal x x 25 (34.1) 23 (31.4) Islands PV 50 (68.6) 45 (61.4) x x Islands Solar Thermal x x 27 (36.8) 25 (34.1) €ct ($ct) per kWh for installations in 2009 (Gipe; HELAPCO)

Differentiation Differentiated by peak/off-peak (nuances) and low, medium, and high voltage (Cerveny). Locational differentiation that incentivizes RE development on islands.

Adjustment Minister of Development adjusts FITS annually for inflation (based on 80% of previous year's CPI) (RES-Legal; HELAPCO).

Degression Newest version of FIT introduced in January 2009 and regression will begin in August 2010 (HELAPCO). Small PV systems (< 10 kW) will degress by 5% but it is unclear whether this starts in 2012 or occurs each year until revision in 2012 (HELAPCO residential). New contract prices to reduce 1% per month starting 2010.

Application Process & Queuing Application filed before August 2010 degression can lock in the higher FIT for 18 months to finalize installation (HELAPCO).

Program Financing All ratepayers support program equally (no burden reduction for electricity-intensive industries).

RE Generator Obligations RE generators cover entire cost of connecting plant to grid (including physical connection and reinforcement if needed). To be eligible, plant operators must apply for generation license from Minister of Development, whose approval is based on a report from the Regulative Authority for Energy (RES-Legal). PV systems < 150 kW do not require a license (RES-Legal).

Utility/Grid Operator Obligations Purchase obligation on behalf of grid operator: either the mainland body (DESMIE) or the separate island grid operators (RES-Legal).

Tariff Revision 700 MW cap by 2020 (Gipe).



Unknown.

Stakeholder Reactions Potentially positive public reception because Law 2773/1999 requires 2% annual fee from electricity sales to grid to go into local development projects (Klein). 3 GW worth of applications filed as of late 2008, but announced new version of program (GreenTech Media).

Additional Incentives/Subsidies Grants up to 40% of the cost or 100,000 € (except for rooftop program after 2009) (GreenTech Media). Tendering process for installations > 10 MW (Gipe). Small residential PV eligible for 20% tax deduction of no more than 700 €; only valid for mainland and residence must cover part of its hot water needs with RE, e.g., solar thermal (HELAPCO residential).

Additional Notes Special program with higher FIT but no tax rebates planned to drive 750MWp installations of BIPV. Investment subsidies: Tax rebates and grants (40%) are available.




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year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

18.500


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Country

Hungary

Flag

Map


Area [sq km] 93,028




186.3



124.2








[USD/kWh]




Cost Calculation Methodology RE plant operators have a claim starting at "commencement of commercial activity." Electricity traders obliged to enter into contracts with grid


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operators. Fixed payment differentiated by technology, time of day; adjusted annually for inflation.

Tariff Application Applies to PV, wind, geothermal, hydro, biomass, biogas.

Duration

Tariff Rates PV had a single standard tariff of 26.46 HUF/kWh (13.6 $ct/kWh) in 2008 and FIT cannot exceed payoff time of the systems.

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes Suppliers charge ratepayers and then compensate grid operators who pay RE plant operators. Can receive EU subsidies, and federal subsidies up to 25% with the possibility of additional loans, for RE installations on existing buildings.




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

0.450


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Country

India

Flag

Map


Area [sq km] 3,287,263

Population 1,156,897,766



3,548



1,243








[USD/kWh]

0.08




Cost Calculation Methodology Installations capped at 10 MW per state and 5 MW per developer (potentially unattractive to solar thermal). Considering expanding overall


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cap to 1 GW.

Tariff Application Applies to PV (unclear what else, if anything).

Duration

Tariff Rates 15 Rupees/kWh (30 $ct/kWh); in effect for first 500 MW of projects.

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes Goals of 20 GW by 2020, 100 GW by 2030, and 200 GW by 2050. Individual states have additional subsidies. The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) provides revolving fund to financing and leasing companies offering affordable credit for the purchase of PV systems in India. State Utilities are mandated to buy green energy via a Power Purchase Agreement from Solar Farms The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has launched a new scheme (Jan 2008) for installation of Solar Power Plants. For the producer, a Generation-based subsidy is available up to Rs. 12/kWh (€ 0.21/kWh) from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, in addition to the price paid by the State Utility for 10 years. The State Electricity Regulatory Commissions are setting up preferential tariffs for Solar Power Rajasthan - Rs. 15.6 (€ 0.27) per kWh (proposed) West Bengal - Rs. 12.5 (€ 0.22) per kWh (proposed) Punjab - Rs. 8.93 (€ 0.15) per kWh 80% accelerated depreciation Concessional duties on import of raw materials Excise duty exemption on certain devices.




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]


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Country

Ireland

Flag

Map


Area [sq km] 70,273




177.3



226.8








[USD/kWh]

0.16




Cost Calculation Methodology Contract is between the RE plant operator and the final supplier but the TSO, Eirgrid, pays the FIT.


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Tariff Application Wind, biomass, and hydro--not solar.

Duration Duration depends on PPA but < 15 years.

Tariff Rates Considers market price (adjusted to CPI), price of best new entrant price (adjusted annually), and initial costs of RE electricity. 5.7-7.2 €ct/kWh support.

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes Funded by tax paid by consumers to TSO.




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

0.400


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Country

Israel

Flag

Map


Area [sq km] 22,072




205.2



215.7








[USD/kWh]

0.078


Incentive type FiT

Legislation & Amendments Began in 2008.

Cost Calculation Methodology Based on cost of generation (estimated 0.50 NIS per kWh) plus a reasonable rate of return. Tariff is set with annual adjustments due to


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inflation until 2010, then drops 4% annually (Gipe).

Tariff Application


Tariff Rates < 15 kW (residential) 2.01 (51) < 50 kW (commercial) 2.01 (51) NIS ($ct) per kWh for installations in 2009 (Gipe)

Differentiation None.

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision Program is limited to 50 MW or 7 years (2008-2015), whichever comes first (Gipe).



Stakeholder Reactions Received over 2000 requests from residential customers interested in installing small PV in the first month after implementation.


Additional Notes 20% of the program must be composed of private individuals (Gipe).




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

[Excerpts from “National Survey Report of PV Power Applications in Israel 2007” Prepared by Dr.

Yona Siderer and Roxana Dann Ben Gurion National Solar Energy Center Blaustein Institutes for

Desert Researc, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 84990 Midreshet Ben Gurion, Israel,May 2008 ]

Installed PV power

We identified new PV installations totaling about 500 kW during 2007. Typical applications remain

the same, the majority not grid-connected: remote homes, agriculture, security and alarm systems,

communications and exterior lighting. The legislation permitting grid connection was not completed

in 2007, therefore even grid-connected projects are not reported as such.

Costs & prices

Typical module prices range from USD 8-12/kW installed, depending on type of application.

PV production

There is still no PV production taking place in Israel.

Budgets for PV

The Israel Ministry of National Infrastructures spent USD 100 000 on R&D in 2006.


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Country

Italy

Flag

Map






1,756



2,090








[USD/kWh]

0.28


Incentive type FiT

Legislation & Amendments Began in 1992. Ministerial Decree of 2005 (amended by Authority Decree 188/05 & Ministerial Decree of 2007); goal of 3000 MW by 2016 (Tilli et al.). Most recent amendments, specifically for PV, are Decreto 19.02.2007


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(Criteri e modalita' per incentivare la produzione di energia elettrica mediante conversione fotovoltaica della fonte solare, i.e. Ministerial Decree, DM 19/02/07) and Delibera n. 90/07 (Incentivazione della produzione di energia elettrica mediante impianti fotovoltaici, i.e. Resolution of the Authority for Energy and Gas, AEEG 90/07) (RES-Legal). Separate FITs for other RE sources, but one for PV is called the Conto Energia.

Cost Calculation Methodology Amount per kWh is based on the investment cost (RES-Legal), but GSE describes it as a premium on top of the market price of electricity (GSE Brochure); GSE's Nuovo Conto Energia page states that the premium is added to either the market price of electricity or the savings from net metering (via Google Translate). This makes Italian FITs among the highest offered for PV, if not the highest.

Tariff Application

Duration FIT for 20 years (premium or fixed somewhat unclear).

Tariff Rates Size 1-3 kW 3-20 kW > 20 kW & < 1 MW Non-Integrated 39.2 (55.3) 37.2 (52.5) 35.3 (49.8) Partially Integrated 43.1 (60.8) 41.2 (58.2) 39.2 (55.3) Integrated 48 (67.8) 45.1 (63.7) 43.1 (60.8) Solar Thermodynamic 22-28/kWh depending on non-RE fraction for 25 years, up to 15,000,000 m2 surface €ct ($ct) per kWh for installations in 2009 (GSE Brochure)

Differentiation Must be > 1 kW and < 1 MW and connected to the grid or an isolated rural grid (RES-Legal; GSE Brochure). If capacity was increased after Apr. 20, 2007, the new capacity only was eligible for the FIT (RES-Legal). Public buildings (schools, hospitals, municipalities < 5000 people, etc.) can get a 5% increase of the FIT (RES-Legal). Building-mounted plant bonus ("premium") up to 20% of the FIT if additional energy efficiency measures are implemented (RES-Legal).

Adjustment None applied.

Degression Full tariff for systems commissioned between Apr. 11, 2007 and Dec. 31, 2008 (RES-Legal). Payments will be degressed by 2% annually in 2009 & 2010 (RES-Legal).

Application Process & Queuing Cap of 1200 MW PV (RES-Legal). Grippo et al. (IFLR) say 63 MW installed as of Oct. 2008 but GSE reports 418 MW cumulative (338 MW in 2008 alone) (Tilli PPT). PV systems are not eligible for FIT if > 20% funded by public funds, i.e. federal, regional, local, EU (RES-Legal). 2003 law that RE plants (medium/large) should only require a "single permit" that streamlines national, regional, and local procedures and should provide 180-turnaround; implementation is unsatisfactory (Grippo et al., IFLR). Tariff is paid at the start of commercial operation (Grippo et al., IFLR). Application may only be filed after commissioning (GSE Brochure).

Program Financing All ratepayers support program equally (no burden reduction for electricity-intensive industries) based on "system costs" charge in bill (Klein; RES-Legal). System costs are placed in RE promotion fund maintained by Gestore Servizi Elettrici (GSE), a publicly-owned company with the Ministry of Economics and Finance as the sole shareholder, to pay for FITs (RES-Legal). "[R]emaining costs are covered by increases in the market price" (RES-Legal).

RE Generator Obligations RE generators cover entire cost of connecting plant to grid (including physical connection and reinforcement if needed) (Klein). Plant operator ("Plant operators are natural persons or legal entities, public buildings or the operators of plants on multi-family buildings and blocks of flats") must apply to Gestore Servizi Elettrici (GSE, the grid operator) within 60 days after commissioning (RES-Legal).


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Utility/Grid Operator Obligations Purchase obligation and prioritization (Klein; Grippo et al., IFLR). GSE purchases RE at subsidized price and then sells it for market price (Grippo).

Tariff Revision To be revised by administrative decree in 2010 (Tilli et al.; RES-Legal).



Estimation that RE will reduce CO2 emissions between 2008-2016 by 1.5 million tons, equivalent to € 167 million based on EU-ETS prices (Tilli et al.)

Stakeholder Reactions Investor concerns about lengthy authorization process, higher than European average for turnkey plants, lag time for connection (Lato & Tilli PPT).

Additional Incentives/Subsidies 2001 tender offered 75% subsidies for < 20 kW roof architectural systems (federal & regional govt funds) but only 23 MW installed between 2002-05 (Tilli et al.). PV < 20 kW are eligible for net metering (scambio sul posto) (RES-Legal). Other than FIT, PV < 1 MW may sell on free market or to GSE at a set price (RES-Legal). If PV plant sells to GSE (which supplies to market) (ritiro dedicato) it receives hourly market rate based on its service area (GSE Brochure); payment begins 10 days after contract--yearly and adjusted for inflation (RES-Legal). PV is eligible for VAT reduction (10%, not 20%) but cannot be combined with FITs (RES-Legal). Plants > 1MW may get TGCs (GSE Brochure); power producers and importers must submit TGCs to GSE each year (RES-Legal). Quota: 2002-03, 2% per 100 GWh; 2004-06, 2% + 0.35% each year; 2007-12, increases by 0.75% each year; 2012 revision (RES-Legal). Municipalities can grant property tax reduction for secondary residences that use RE (primary residences are not taxed) (RES-Legal).

Additional Notes GSE is the "implementing body" for RE programs and trades in the power exchange (IPEX) power acquired under both FIT and ritiro dedicato schemes (GSE Brochure). GSE may inspect RE plants and reclaim FITs if they do not comply with the law (RES-Legal). TERNA is Italy's national transmission system operator (GSE Brochure). By end of 2008, commissioned PV capacity was 20% fully-integrated, 53% partially-integrated, and 27% non-integrated (Lato & Tilli PPT).




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

338.100

[Excerpts from “National Survey Report of PV Power Applications in Italy 2008” Prepared by

Salvatore Castello e Anna De Lillo, ENEA Via Anguillarese, 301 00060 S.M. Galleria RM – www.enea.it

Salvatore Guastella, Fabrizio Paletta, ERSE S.p.A. Via Rubattino 54 – I 20134 Milano –

www.cesiricerca.it , May 2009]

The programme “Conto energia” promoting Programme is eventually ensuring a stable situation,

providing the basis for the expansion of PV market in Italy. Bureaucratic problems related to the

incentive mechanism have been overcome while the ones concerning plant construction and grid

connection seem to be enough smoothed. In this contest, during 2008 photovoltaic is becoming

more and more important as proofed by the following numbers and trends.


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Installed PV power

PV power installed in Italy during 2008 sums to about 338 MWp and then the cumulative installed

and operating power has reached 458 MWp, with an increase around 280 % as respect to the

previous year.

Costs & prices

The average system price decreased with a rate of 7%/year, reaching a lower value of 4,2 €/W for

large free standing applications while in the case of small rooftop the prices have recoded a wide

spread ranging from 4,5 €/W to 6,5 €/W. The average module prices has reached during this year

the lowest values of 2,2 €/W for large volume orders while for small orders prices typically range

from 3 €/W to 3,6 €/W.

PV production

The growth of the national PV industry has not been adequate to the installed capacity. By the end

of 2008, the production of photovoltaic modules, both single and multi crystal technologies,

amounted in fact to only 144 MW with an increase of 70 MW with respect to 2007. The situation is

worst in the case of cells and wafers: the cells are mainly imported and only about 30 MW have been

produced in Italy; although announced some initiatives, up to now all the wafers are bought from

international market.

Budgets for PV

Public and private budget for research and demonstration initiatives remain essentially flat with

respect to the previous years and very small with respect to the budget of about 80 M€ during 2008

allocated for promoting tariffs.


In Italy four sectors of PV power system applications are identified:

- Off-grid domestic systems: have reached a saturation value in the late nineties of 5.4 MWp;

- Off-grid non-domestic applications: slowly, but constantly increasing roughly reach 7.9 MWp;

- On-grid centralized systems: boosted in the nineties and now growing again, this sector is being

allowed to benefit feed-in tariffs; at the end of 2008 an amount of 150 MWp has been counted for

this application;

- On-grid distributed systems: growing up to 295 MWp as cumulative installed power; this sector is

dominating with a share of about 65% Italy’s cumulative installed power. These systems firstly

promoted by the Italian roof-top Program are continued to be supported by feed-in tariffs.


a) The manufacturers, that produce only modules, purchase cells on the international market. As a

consequence a total of 115 MW of cells have been imported. The other manufacturers that produce

cells and modules from wafer have imported 28,4 MW of wafers.

b) Taking into account that only 14% of the installed module have been produced by Italian

manufactures (corresponding to about 47,3 MW), the other 96,7 MW (144 – 47,3) of modules

produced in Italy have been exported from the country.


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Business value

An estimate of the value of PV business in Italy by the Gross Domestic Product approach is reported

hereunder.


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The last edition of the “conto energia” Program is ensuring a stable situation, providing the basis for

the expansion of PV market in Italy followed by an adequate growth of the national PV industry.

Counting on a market growth of 338 MW in 2008 and of about 400-500 MW in the following year,

Italian producers of crystalline cells and modules are planning to extend their capacities in the next

two years up to 400 MW/years and some initiatives have been announced to realize production lines

of polysilicon and thin films modules, as well as production of silicon ingots.

Moreover a recent government call (Industria 2015) foresees the financial support of industrial

projects, aimed at creating innovative process and products also for the photovoltaic sector.


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Country

Japan

Flag

Map






4,141



5,049



Electricity production [TWh / year] 1,058

Electricity consumption 1,007




[USD/kWh]

0.146



Legislation & Amendments The former incentive program run by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry was stopped in 2005.



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Tariff Application

Duration

Tariff Rates

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp] (2008)

2,144


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Country

Kenya

Flag

Map






63.52



30.21








[USD/kWh]




Cost Calculation Methodology Bill introduced in 2008. 15 years duration and up to 150 MW capacity in each category. Offers 9 US cents/kWh for wind farms < 50 MW.


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Tariff Application Wind, biomass, and hydro--not solar.

Duration

Tariff Rates Unclear.

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes Unknown.




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]


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Country

Korea, South

Flag

Map


Area [sq km] 99,720




1,343



800.3



Electricity production [TWh / year] 440





[USD/kWh]

0.075






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Tariff Application Applies to PV, wind, small hydro, and landfill gas, differentiated by size.

Duration Contract duration 15 years, constant remuneration.

Tariff Rates In 2005, provided approximately 77 cents/kWh for 15 years for PV > 3 kW and 45 cents/kWh for 20 years for PV > 3 kW after 2010 (with buyback or 70% rebate for installations < 3 kW) (Gipe). Situation as of Oct 11 2006. Systems >30 kWp: KRW677.38/kWh Systems <30 kWp: KRW711.25/kWh (ca $0.75, €0.60)

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes 1300 MW goal by 2012. Additional subsidies are available.




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

357.517

[Excerpts from “National Survey Report of PV Power Applications in Korea 2008”, Prepared by,

Kyung-Hoon Yoon, Photovoltaics Research Center, Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), 71-2,

Jang-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, Korea, e-mail : [email protected] and Donghwan Kim, Korea

university, Anam-dong, Sungbuk-gu, Seoul, Korea, e-mail : [email protected] May 2009]

Installed PV power

The cumulative installed power of PV system in Korea increased to 357.5 MW by the end of 2008.

Annual installed power in 2008 has reached 276.3 MW, which was more than 3,5 times higher than

the cumulative installed power by the end 2007. The share of grid-connected centralized system

jumped to 83% of the total cumulative installed power, and the grid-connected distributed system

accounts for 15% of the total cumulative installed power. On the other hand the share of off-grid

non-domestic and domestic system has continued to decrease to about 2% of total cumulative

installed power. In reality there was nearly no further installation of the off-grid systems since 2007.


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Costs & prices

The average PV module price of 3 260 KRW/W in 2008 was nearly 18% off compared to that in the

previous year. According to the type of the installed PV system, the price of grid-connected systems

varied from 6 662 KRW/W to 9 232 KRW/W. The price of the 3 kW rooftop system was 6 662

KRW/W in 2008, which is 20% lower than 8 400 KRW/W in 2007.

PV production

In 2008, the PV production took shaped from raw materials to all system components with a focus

on upstream sectors. One company started the production of polycrystalline silicon feedstock with

an annual capacity of 5 000 ton, and seven companies were involved in the silicon ingot and wafer

production. For solar cells, four companies including three new entrants produced 59 MW crystalline

silicon solar cells. Seven companies produced about 106 MW of crystalline silicon PV module with

total annual production capability of 300 MW. In addition, one company launched the production of

a-Si thin film PV modules. The production volume was 8.3 MW with a capacity of 20 MW.

Budgets for PV

In 2008 the total budget for PV was 272 369 million KRW which is two times more than that of 122

191 million KRW in 2007. The budget for R&D in 2008 tripled to 58 159 million KRW, and the budget

for market incentives was doubled to 214 210 million KRW respectively.


The year 2008 showed a big jump in the installation capacity. The majority was thank to the quite

favourable feed-in-tariff scheme. As of end 2008, the grid-connected centralized system accounted

for 83% of the total cumulative installed power, and the half of them are bigger than 1 MW. The

largest system size is 24 MW installed in Shinan county by Dongyang Construction Co. The grid-

connected distributed system amounted to 15% of the total cumulative installed power. These

systems are mainly installed under the feed-in-tariff scheme and the 100 000 roof-top program. On

the other hand the share of off-grid non-domestic and domestic system has continued to decrease

to about 2% of total cumulative installed power.

Production of feedstock, ingots and wafers

The Dongyang Chemical Co., (DCC) started the commercial production of polycrystalline silicon

feedstock in 2008, with an annual capacity of 5 000 tons. The basic procedure of polycrystalline

silicon production is as follows ; Raw material Feed (MG-Si) → Silane Production → TCS Purification

→ CVD Reactor → Polysilicon. The quality of silicon is to be purer than 9 nine. DCC will expand its

production capacity to 15 000 tons per year in 2009.

Woongjin Energy established through a joint venture with Woongjin Group and US- based Sunpower

produced 830 tones of single crystalline silicon ingot in 2008.

In wafer area, LG Siltron which has set up 10 MW pilot production line in 2006 using electronic-grade

ingot off-spec. produced 7 MW single crystalline silicon wafers in 2008.

In addition, several small size companies such as Rexor, Glosil, Neosemitech, etc. entered into silicon

ingot and wafer production in 2007, as can be seen in the following table.


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Production and production capacity information for the year for silicon feedstock, ingot and wafer

producers


In 2008, four companies including three new entrants produced 59 MW crystalline silicon solar cells

with an annual production capacity of 146 MW. The KPE is the largest producer followed by new

entrants Hyundai Heavy Industry, Millinet Solar and Shinsung Holdings. These companies are

expected to expand their production capacity in the coming two years, and new companies including

LG Electronics and Hanwha Chemical are also expected to start the production in 2009. The

technology will be largely based on single crystalline silicon.

Seven companies produced about 106 MW of crystalline silicon PV module with total annual

production capability of 300 MW. Due to PV cell supply shortage, the production was far below the

production capacity. Symphony Energy, S-Energy and Hyundai Heavy Industry were major PV

module manufacturers. For module production, much of single and multi-crystalline silicon PV cells

were imported from Japan and Germany. The S-Energy manufactured several types of conventional

modules with a peak output of 80 to 200 W and special BIPV modules for façade and atrium

applications. This company is a leading PV system integrator and installer. This company installed

large sized laminator for the manufacturing of large sized modules with the R&D program on roof-

integrated PV modules with construction material manufacturer. The Hyundai Heavy Industries and

Symphony Corp. were very active to export market development and made several supply contracts

with foreign customers in 2007. In order to export, some companies have obtained certificate from

foreign organization such as TUV.

In addition, the Korea Iron & Steel firstly put its a-Si thin film PV modules on the domestic market.

The production volume was 8.3 MW with a capacity of 20 MW. Alti Solar started the installation of a-

Si PV module production equipment and will produce its module in 2009.


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Total PV cell and module manufacturers together with production capacity information are

summarized in the table below.


Business value

The value of PV business in Korea was estimated to be 1 341 105 million KRW. This value was

calculated from the PV power installed to which PV module export was added and PV module import

was subtracted.


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Value of PV business

Highlights and prospects

During 2008, the annual installed capacity exceeded 276 MW which are nearly six times more than

that installed in 2007. This big jump was mainly due to the construction of a tremendous number of

large size PV plants under the feed-in-tariff scheme. In addition, the 100 000 roof-top programs also

played a certain role. It is expected that the Korean government will continue to support the PV R&D

and dissemination programs in order to promote the PV as one of Korea’s new growth driving

industry.

In accordance with global PV boom and the government’s strong drive policy, many companies have

already entered into the PV industry and more companies are preparing to enter into PV industry.

The Korean PV community is expecting the concrete and massive investment of large companies,

which especially have a good technological background in semiconductor and display industry.


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Country

Latvia

Flag

Map


Area [sq km] 64,589




32.4



24.2








[USD/kWh]




Cost Calculation Methodology Award of FIT eligibility entitles RE plant operator to sell at predetermined price to public trader. May be adjusted regulatorily, by tender, or


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according to natural gas prices.

Tariff Application Wind, biomass, biogas, and hydro--not solar.

Duration

Tariff Rates 10 years to unlimited duration. Pass-through to consumers.

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision









year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

0.006


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Country

Lithuania

Flag

Map


Area [sq km] 65,300




53.35



35.96








[USD/kWh]




Cost Calculation Methodology RE plant operator contracts with supplier (and may do it for price below FIT). Transmission grid operator must pay RE generator, or distribution


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grid operator if there's an intermediary step, and the supplier if they pay more than the statutory minimum price.

Tariff Application Applies to a maximum capacity of 1.4 GW solar. Also wind, biogas, biomass, hydro.

Duration

Tariff Rates No CCM or adaptation criteria set. Capacity cap may be adjusted year to year based on actual generation. Unlimited duration. 0.20-0.24 LTL/kWh payments (but solar prices not listed). Passed through to ratepayers.

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision









year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

0.055


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Country

Luxembourg

Flag

Map


Area [sq km] 2,586

Population 491,775



38.14



46.51








[USD/kWh]

0.123




Cost Calculation Methodology Contracts are between grid operator and RE plant and must be approved by regulatory authority. Cost is borne by grid operator and is not passed


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through.

Tariff Application Applies to PV under 1 MWp commissioned after 1/1/08. Also wind, biomass, biogas, hydro.

Duration

Tariff Rates Designed to provide for profitable operation; degresses but does not adjust. Guaranteed for 15 years from day of 1st feed. For PV (2008), 37 €ct (52 $ct) to 42 €ct (59 $ct) per kWh depending on installation size.

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes From 2008-12, PV projects < 30 kW can earn a state subsidy of 30% of cost of installation (up to 1,650 €). 40% subsidy may still be available for larger projects. Income from sale of electricity from 1-4 kW PV systems is tax-exempt as non-commercial.




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

24.414


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Country

Macedonia

Flag

Map


Area [sq km] 25,713




18.59



8.825








[USD/kWh]




Cost Calculation Methodology Purchase obligation and 20-year duration.


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Tariff Application Applies to PV, small hydro, wind, and biomass/biogas.

Duration

Tariff Rates For PV <50 kW, 46 €ct/kWh & for PV >50 kW, 41 €ct/kWh.

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]


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Country

Netherlands

Flag

Map


Area [sq km] 41,543




652.3



789.7








[USD/kWh]




Cost Calculation Methodology New scheme ("SDE") as of April 2009; financed by treasury with capped total budget (2/3 of long-term predicted electricity price).


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Tariff Application PV, wind (on & offshore), biomass.

Duration


Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes Goal of 70-90 MW PV, 2008-2011.




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

54.900


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Country

Philippines

Flag

Map






327.2



158.7








[USD/kWh]




Cost Calculation Methodology Unknown.


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Tariff Application Unknown.

Duration


Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes Passed 2008 Renewable Energy Act.




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]


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Country

Portugal

Flag

Map


Area [sq km] 92,090




232.2



219.8








[USD/kWh]

0.122




Cost Calculation Methodology Policies began in 1988; most recently revised in 2007 to add FITs for new technologies (like solar thermal). Differentiated due to day/night; adjusted


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for CO2 emissions avoided, inflation. Duration of 15 years OR 21 GWh/MW capacity for PV FITs.

Tariff Application PV, solar thermal, wind, biogas, hydro.

Duration

Tariff Rates Calculated based on complicated avoided costs formula. As of 2007, average FITs of 450 €/MWh for PV < 5kW, 317 €/MWh for PV > 5kW, 273 €/MWh for solar thermoelectric < 10 MW, 470 €/MWh for microgen PV < 5kW, 355 €/MWh for microgen PV > 5 kW.

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes Goal of 45% of electricity consumption from RE by 2010. Estimated 20,000 jobs and reduction of 11 Mt/year CO2.




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

67.975


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Country

Slovenia

Flag

Map


Area [sq km] 20,273




56.47



49.55








[USD/kWh]


Incentive type FiT

Legislation & Amendments Began in 1999. Law on Energy of 1999 defined "qualified producers" as RE or high-eff cogen (amended 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007); CO2 Emissions Tax of 1996 (amended 2002); National Energy Program of 2004; Decree on


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Prices & Premiums for Purchase of Electricity from Qualified Producers of 2002 (amended 2004, 2006). Newest version 2009 (Gipe; Feed-in-Cooperation, 7th Workshop).

Cost Calculation Methodology Fixed and premiums offered and set once a year administratively with consideration for inflation (Held). Solar PV is only eligible for fixed FITs (Held). Based on reference cost of electricity, including fuel, O&M, and investment minus revenues (Feed-in-Cooperation, 7th Workshop).

Tariff Application


Tariff Rates Size < 50 kW < 1MW 1-10 MW 10-125 MW On Buildings 35.826 (50.525) 32.282 (45.527) 25.621 (36.137) 21.571 (30.425) BIPV 42.058 (59.321) 37.983 (53.572) 30.352 (42.809) 25.782 (36.363) Ground-mounted 33.322 (46.998) 30.251 (42.658) 23.083 (32.550) 20.422 (28.798) Premium (optional if >5 MW) x x ??? €ct ($ct) per kWh for installations in 2009 (Feed-In-Cooperation, 7th Workshop)

Differentiation Night/day and high (Dec-Jan), middle (Mar-Apr, Oct-Nov), and low (May-Sept) seasons; 6 separate multipliers (Held--pre-2009).

Adjustment Uniform FITs apply for 5 years from the day the plant begins to deliver to the grid, and then reduce by 5%, and by 10% after 10 years (Held) (unclear for 2009). Variable costs (fuel and revenues) are updated annually (Feed-in-Cooperation, 7th Workshop).

Degression Degression of 6.4% per year for PV until 2013 (Feed-in-Cooperation, 7th Workshop).

Application Process & Queuing Unknown.

Program Financing Paid equally by ratepayers (Held). Governmentally-funded "soft" loans offered for companies, municipalities, etc. and can cover up to 90% of RE investment (but for every 10% subsidy the FIT is reduced by 5%); limited to 40,000 € for PV plants(?) (Held).

RE Generator Obligations Forecasting obligation but no penalty for deviations.

Utility/Grid Operator Obligations Purchase obligation for fixed tariff only--network operators required to purchase RE from QPs in 10-year purchase agreements (Held).

Tariff Revision O&M and investment costs are revised every 5 years (Feed-in-Cooperation, 7th Workshop).



Unknown.

Stakeholder Reactions Transmission operators are required to purchase energy by all QPs connected to their grid; but QPs may sell their energy independently for a premium (Held).


Additional Notes None.




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

2.145


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Country

South Africa

Flag

Map

Geographic coordinates 29 00 S, 24 00 E

Area [sq km] 1,219,090




488.6



277.4








[USD/kWh]

0.022


Incentive type FiT

Legislation & Amendments Began in 2009. Electricity Regulation Act of 2006 authorizes the National Energy Regulator (NERSA) to devise FIT regulations.

Cost Calculation Methodology Cost of generation plus reasonable rate of return (2009 Regulatory


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Guidelines); i.e. "levelized cost of electricity calculated for discount rate 12%" (?). However, 2009 Guidelines also note that ratepayers will subsidize avoided costs, so this is uncertain.

Tariff Application


Tariff Rates CSP 2.10 (25.9) Rand ($ct) per kWh (NERSA 2009 Regulations)

Differentiation Repowered or expanded existing plants may be eligible for FITs at least in part.

Adjustment FITs will be adjusted yearly for inflation, according to the CPI or a similar index (2009 Regulatory Guidelines).

Degression


Program Financing Pass-through to ratepayers.

RE Generator Obligations Must obtain license from NERSA. Must obey national standards, including the South African Grid Code & South African Distribution Code (2009 Regulatory Guidelines).

Utility/Grid Operator Obligations NERSA obligated Eskom, the major South African public utility, to purchase electricity from RE generators (unclear if Eskom will be the single buyer or if RE generators will be able to sell directly to consumers). 30% of new power generation must be bought from IPPs. Will be verifying RE generation for plants over 10 MW and random sampling for < 10 MW (2009 Regulatory Guidelines).

Tariff Revision To be reviewed every year for the first five years after implementation, and at the end of that period, every third year. May be able to cap the capacity subsidized per year (2009 Regulatory Guidelines).



Program has only just begun.

Stakeholder Reactions Stakeholders and officials were concerned about simplicity for the first few years of the program (2009 Regulatory Guidelines). Concerns about producer surplus, RET differentiation. Price chosen for wind (1.25 R/kWh compared to the 0.66 R/kWh proposed) indicates that regulator listened to RE generators (Polity article).


Additional Notes All electricity generators (IPPs) that are connected to the grid have to follow set criteria to receive a Generation License, meaning that South Africa was able to create a streamlined process for small RE generators (< 10 MW) (2009 Regulatory Guidelines). Regulator must publish yearly summary reports.




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]


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Country

Spain

Flag

Map






1,367



1,438








[USD/kWh]

0.125


Incentive type FiT

Legislation & Amendments Conservation of Energy Law 82/1980 guaranteed price of RE < 5 MW fed into grid. Royal Decree 2366/1994 obliged distributors to buy electricity sold by RE plants < 100 MW. Law of the Electricity Sector 54/97 provided


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"Special Regime" for RE, gave it guaranteed grid access, and provided premium for RE < 10 MW (80-90% AEP). Royal Decree on Special Regime (Regimen Especial), RD 2818/1998, allowed RE plants to choose between fixed & premium FITs (amended by RD 436/2004 to allow RE plants to sell directly to market and set rates based on AET, and by RD 661/2007 to place a cap and floor on support and tie it to CPI) (Gonzalez; etc.).

Cost Calculation Methodology If RE plant sells to distributor, it receives a fixed tariff; if it sells to the market, it receives the market price plus a premium with cap/floor (earlier versions tied to AET and revised annually); PV may only receive fixed FIT (Gonzalez). RE producers may opt to switch between fixed and premium FITs each year (Held). Older versions of the FIT provided RE generators with a payment based on a fixed percentage of electricity costs, but rising energy prices made the premium option more attractive and led to the cap/floor (NREL).

Tariff Application

Duration Fixed FIT for lifetime of project.

Tariff Rates Size < 0.1 MW 0.1-10 MW 10-50 MW PV (1st 25 years) 44.0381 41.75 22.9375 PV (after 25 years) 35.2305 33.4 18.3811 Solar Thermal (1st 25 years) 26.9375 Solar Thermal (after 25 years) 21.5498 2007 €ct (2009 $ct) per kWh for installations (NREL)

Differentiation Peak/off-peak altered based on time of day but only for biomass & hydro. However, Held says that RE under the fixed FIT can choose to distinguish tariffs based on peak or baseload times. 0.7 €ct/kWh premium for first 2 GW additional capacity for repowering pre-2001 wind power plants. Capacity caps of 371 MW for PV and 500 MW for solar thermal in 2008 (RES-Legal). Plants must be < 100 MW (RES-Legal).

Adjustment Tariff updated annually based on CPI minus 0.25% until end of 2012 (0.5% reduction afterwards) (Gonzalez). Cannot be changed by more than 2% annually since 2004 (Held). Reduced tariff each year after 25 for both PV and solar thermal installations (i.e. 22.4 €ct/kWh reduces to 18.4 for 10-50 MW) (Held).

Degression Tariff degresses when 75% of capacity cap is met (?) (Lucas PPT).

Application Process & Queuing Registration requires 2 steps. Preliminary registration: applicant submits documentation on trial operation, access contract with the grid operator, and local/regional permits to the State Secretariat for Energy; cancelled unless definite registration is applied for within 3 months after the RE generator receives notice of the completed preliminary registration (RES-Legal). Grid access requires bank guarantee (Lucas PPT). Definite registration: must apply to be added to the "Special Registry," maintained by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, and Trade; authority will decide within one month of application to Special Registry (RES-Legal). Date of document submission determines awarding of FIT under capacity cap, i.e. first come first served (RES-Legal). Capacity caps of 371 MW for PV and 500 MW for solar thermal (had to be registered by 9/29/08) (RES-Legal). Payment begins after commissioning (RES-Legal). Once systems begin to receive the FIT, they must report during the first quarter of each year on their output from the previous year (RES-Legal). Starting in Sept. 2008, PV systems may be audited, and PV must enter a pre-registration queue that determines whether the project is eligible under the cap based on first-come, first-serve (RES-Legal).

Program Financing Grid operators pay RE generators and then pass-through costs to ratepayers; each month the grid operator must balance income with expenses due to FITs, and if the result is negative the National Energy


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Committee (CNE) will make up the difference (RES-Legal). Anticipated annual increase of 0.6% in the average reference electricity tariff due to premiums (unclear) (REP 2005-2010, p.59).

RE Generator Obligations Plants > 10MW must report to grid operator anticipated electricity at least 30 hrs before day starts; can be corrected up to one hour before delivery. If actual electricity varies by more than 20% (PV, wind), RE generators must pay 10% of reference electricity price per kWh variance; RE generators cover entire cost of connecting plant to grid (including physical connection and reinforcement if needed).

Utility/Grid Operator Obligations Purchase obligation and prioritization for fixed FIT option only.

Tariff Revision Capacity Trigger (150 MW PV, 200 MW solar thermal). Support levels for new plants revised every 4 years since 2010, ensuring reasonable profitability, once 85% of capacity is achieved (Gonzalez).



Stakeholder Reactions Utilities were not in charge of transmission and so began to engage in both largescale and DG-scale RE deployment, as well as encouraging the govt to ratchet up the nation's goals. Gonzalez characterized the public support as very high, largely b/c ratepayers do not realize how much they're being charged. Government very supportive because of the possibility of increased employment (Gonzalez). Cap/floor added to prevent windfall profits to RE (Held).

Additional Incentives/Subsidies Tax reduction of 6% of investment costs available for RE with additional reductions for PV that is mounted on top of the building or used to meet at least part of building's energy needs (RES-Legal). The reduction will decrease to 4% in 2009 and 2% in 2010 before being discontinued in 2011 (RES-Legal). Subsidy is funded by the federal government (RES-Legal).

Additional Notes




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

3,404.762


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Country

Switzerland

Flag

Map


Area [sq km] 41,277




316.1



484.1








[USD/kWh]

0.096


Incentive type FiT

Legislation & Amendments Began in 1991. Revised with the March 2008 Swiss Electricity Supply Law.



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Tariff Application


Tariff Rates Size < 10 kW < 30 kW < 100 kW > 100 kW Ground-mounted 65 (60.4) 54 (50.2) 51 (47.4) 49 (45.6) Roof-mounted 75 (69.7) 65 (60.4) 62 (57.6) 60 (55.8) BIPV 90 (83.7) 74 (68.8) 67 (62.3) 62 (57.6) 2008 CHFct (2009 $ct) per kWh for installations (NREL)

Differentiation Applies reference yield to account for locational variations (similar to Germany's program) (NREL, Gipe).

Adjustment

Degression Degression of 8% per year starting in 2010 (Gipe).


Program Financing



Tariff Revision To be reviewed every 5 years.





Additional Notes




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]

47.900

[Excerpts from “National Survey Report of PV Power Applications in Switzerland 2008” Prepared by

Nova Energie GmbH Schachenallee 29 CH-5000 Aarau March - Sept 2009]

Switzerland PV installations boomed in 2008. In March 2008 the federal government announced the

new feed in tariff scheme to be set into force by Jan. 1. 2009.

Registration started by 1. May 2008 and with 48 hours the allotted amount of PV installation within

the legal framework was overbooked by 3 to 4 times.

Since projects holding a valid building and grid connection permit by April 30st 2008 where all

eligible for a Feed in Tariff contract starting 1.1.2009, the PV installation market almost doubled

compared to the previous year.

Swiss PV industry (mainly equipment manufacturer) benefit for the better time of the year from a

very strong global demand for new manufacturing capacity along the value chain as well as a global

increase in installed capacity by over 100%.


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Installed PV power

Installed PV Power increased by 80% compared to 2007 and more than quadrupled compared to

2006. Installed capacity per capita reached 6 Wp.

One driving force behind this increase where a lot of farmers with the largest roofs in the (PV) size of

30 up to more than 100 kWp

Costs & prices

Switzerland is fully depending on the European module market. Since the module price stayed tough

due to the strong demand from Spain also the system prices did not decrease considerably in the

first 3 quarters of 2008.

PV industry

Along the value chain: One manufacturer produces ingot and wafers for the global market (Swiss

Wafers AG, approx. 100 MW). There are several small companies with modul production in the

Megawatt scale.

BOS: Switzerland has a world top manufacturer of inverters (Sputnik engineering AG) and many

companies with products for cabling (Huber & Suhner AG), Connectors (Multi Contact AG) and

support structures resp. module framing (Solrif).

Manufacturing equipment: The leading companies for wire saws are both situated in Switzerland

(HCT, Meyer Burger). Oerlikon Solar successfully exported several production lines for its thin film

technology process. 3-S is a leading manufacturer of laminators and other equipment and more than

quadrupled its turnover compared to 2007.


In Switzerland, the majority of PV Installations are grid-connected plant, built mostly on the roofs of

buildings. Larger installations (> 50 kW) are usually flat-roof mounted on commercial buildings,

offices etc.

The smaller grid-connected PV Installations (Typically around 2-5 kW) can normally be found on the

roofs of single-family homes. Traditionally, off-grid installations for week-end chalets and alpine huts

are relatively small (< 1 kW).

PV implementation highlights, major projects, demonstration and field test programs

1. Due to the new regulations for new renewable electricity production plants, the Swiss PV market

boomed in 2008 to a record of newly installed capacity of more than 1.5Wp per capita.

2. The PV industry also increased their turnover by almost 50% to an estimated 1,450,000,000 Swiss

francs (mainly for exports).

3. The outlook is uncertain for the coming years, 2009 will be again better than 2008 but because of

the cap set by the Swiss parliament for the preferential feed in tariff scheme, there might be a

dramatic decrease in new installed capacity by 2010.

4. Due to the federal cap as mentioned above some cantons start to think about their own

preferential feed in tariff schemes.


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Notes on manufacturers:

No.1: Solterra SA produces a range of PV modules. Figures on production are not available.

No.2: SES, Société d Energie Solaire SA, based in Geneva, produces and sells the “SUNSLATES”,

“SUNWALL” and “SUNSHADE” lines – standardized building elements for roofing and facades- as well

as customer-specific modules. Figures on production are not available.

No.3: The 3S Swiss Sustainable Solutions company produces custom laminates up to sizes of 2 x 3.5

m using bought-in cells laminated onto glass. Also, appropriate roof and façade-mounting systems

are developed and sold.

No.4: VHF Technologies produces thin-film amorphous cells on plastic foil (polyimide) substrate

(Brand name “Flexcells”). Initial applications are in small electronics applications and various

products are commercially available, including a charger for portable phones that can be rolled up. A

pilot line for larger foil-modules is in operation, production figures are confidential. Large scale

production shall start in 2009.

Business value

The value of PV business has increased at least by 50% from 2007 to 2008. This is due to a very

competitive export industry of PC production equipment, inverters and other BOS components.

The total end financial value of PV plant installed is estimated at around CHF 100 Million. This is

estimated on the basis of PV power installed in 2008 and average turn-key prices.

As practically all cells and the greater part of PV modules in Switzerland are imported, the added

value figure is probably more interesting: This amounts to around CHF 40 to 45 million.

Highlights and prospects

With the introduction of a preferential Feed in Tariff FiT scheme in Switzerland starting January 2009

and the fact that installations commissioned after Jan. 1st 2006 until April 30st 2008 are also eligible


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for this and further on that installations holding a valid building permit for the PV installations by the

April 30st 2008 can be built with approx. 1 year Switzerland installed capacity has been almost

doubled within one year.

2009 will also be a good market for PV with the expectations that the market will grow another 50%.

Since the cap for the FiT has been reached within days and weeks after start of registration May 1st

2008 for all renewable technologies (wind, solar, biomass, hydro, geothermal) there will be a sharp

decline in installed capacity in 2010.

It depends on the Swiss parliament whether the FiT cap target will be revised early enough in order

to have at least for 2011 a recovery of the market.


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Country

Taiwan

Flag

Map


Area [sq km] 35,980




693.3



357.3



Electricity production [TWh / year] 225





[USD/kWh]

0.067




Cost Calculation Methodology Renewable Energy Development Act of 2009. Details not yet set, but expected to begin at the late 2009/early 2010. No capacity cap expected.


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Tariff Application Applies to solar and other types of RE, but not finalized.

Duration

Tariff Rates Pricing not yet finalized--solar companies want NT$8/kWh (24.2 cents USD) but government-owned Taiwan Power Co. only wants to pay NT$2/kWh (6 cents USD).

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes Developed to encourage domestic market since Taiwan has solar cell manufacturers that ship overseas (shipped about 900 MW in 2008). Goal of 10 GW RE in 20 years.




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]


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Country

Thailand

Flag

Map






535.8



266.4








[USD/kWh]

0.075


Incentive type FiT

Legislation & Amendments Officially began in 2006. Small, short-term pricing subsidies had been offered for RE from small & very small power producers (SPP & VSPP) since 1992, but the programs were not really FITs until 2006, because that was


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when they made RE generation economic (Ruangrong).

Cost Calculation Methodology Fixed adder on top of the normal purchase price of electricity received by SPPs from utilities (Ruangrong).

Tariff Application


Tariff Rates Solar (PV) Existing Adder 8 (23) Additional Adder for southern provinces 9.5 (28) Baht ($ct) per kWh for installations in 2009 (Gipe)

Differentiation Special adder provided for SPPs/VSPPs in 3 southernmost provinces (Yala, Pattani, Narathivath) to "alleviate investment risks" (Ruangrong).

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision Adjusted in 2007 because of lack of wind/solar participation; as of 2008, no wind/solar projects had been undertaken (Ruangrong).




Additional Incentives/Subsidies RPS enacted in 2004. Government money from Energy Conservation Fund will be provided to RE projects (Ruangrong).

Additional Notes "Adder Bidding" available for RE other than wind & solar (e.g. biomass), and awards 0.30 Baht/kWh via competitive bid, up to 300 MW capacity.




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]


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Country

Uganda

Flag

Map






42.18



15.66

GDP real growth rate (2009 est.) 4%







[USD/kWh]




Cost Calculation Methodology Separated by peak, off-peak, and shoulder.


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Tariff Application Applies to hydropower and cogeneration.

Duration Granted for 20 years.

Tariff Rates Higher for years 1-6 than for 7-20.

Differentiation

Adjustment

Degression


Program Financing



Tariff Revision





Additional Notes




year] (2009 est.)


capacity [MWp]


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PV-OUTLOOK A.D.2010-02

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