FINAL Annual Report 2018-Web 2019-05-24 PDF
FINAL Annual Report 2018-Web 2019-05-24 PDF
FINAL Annual Report 2018-Web 2019-05-24 PDF
ANNUAL REPORT
2018
2
COVER PHOTO:
Located in the Green City of Ben Guerir, it covers the electrical needs of the
Green Energy Park platform laboratories. It covers an area of approximately
1,5 ha.
KEY POINTS
• Installed in self-consumption configuration to cover the R&D platform
needs in terms of electricity;
• Composed of many types of technologies (crystalline, thin film, CPV, fixed
static structures, trackers);
• Total area 1,5 ha;
• 25 solar string inverters with different capacities are used and distributed
for each sub-system;
• Test of photovoltaic technologies at module level to identify the
degradation mechanisms occurring on the different components of the
PV modules in real conditions;
• Test of photovoltaic technologies at string level to characterize their
behavior in terms of power ratio and degradation mechanisms on the
different component of PV plants in real local conditions.
The Green Energy Park is the unique model of its kind in Africa, which allows,
on the one hand, the creation of synergies and the mutualization of
infrastructures of several Moroccan research institutions in order to create
a critical mass and achieve excellence; and on the other hand, the acquisition
of knowledge and know-how by the various partner universities as well as
Moroccan industries.
A multitude of advanced equipment and high technology lets it cover the entire
value chain of research and helps to make Morocco a leading country in the
field of solar energy.
CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE
The Photovoltaic Power Systems Technology Collaboration Programme, the IEA PVPS TCP, under the auspices of the
International Energy Agency, is pleased to provide its 2018 annual report to you. This report provides you with the
latest results from our global collaborative work as well as developments in PV research and technology, applications
and markets in our growing number of member countries and organizations worldwide.
2018 has confirmed the strong development of the global photovoltaic (PV) market of previous years and the
continuous increase in competitiveness of solar photovoltaic power systems whereby PV is rapidly entering the
energy world in many of our member countries. Achieving levelized costs of electricity from PV as low as under
2 USDcents/kWh, establishing Gigawatt (GW) scale markets in an increasing number of countries around the world
and a continuous evolution of the market framework set the scene for our global collaborative efforts.
Similar to 2017, our market analysis for 2018 estimates close to 100 GW installed worldwide, raising the cumulative
installed capacity to above 500 GW respectively half a Terawatt (TW). China, India, the USA and Japan represented
the largest markets in 2018, accounting for more than 70 % of the additional installed capacity in these four
countries alone. 32 countries had at least 1 GW of cumulative PV systems capacity at the end of 2018 and
10 countries installed at least 1 GW in 2018. Meanwhile, in 29 countries, PV contributes with 2 % or more to
the annual electricity supply. In 2018, PV has contributed to roughly 2,5 % of the world’s electricity generation.
These dynamic market developments, progress in PV technology and industry and a rapidly changing overall
framework form the basis for the activities of the IEA PVPS Programme. In 2018, the IEA PVPS TCP started
implementing its new strategy for the term 2018 – 2023, focussing on the integration of PV in the energy system
as a whole. Indeed, as PV is increasingly becoming a part of the energy system, integration at all levels becomes
a key strategic matter. Keeping our overall mission to foster global cooperation and working on both technical
and non-technical issues, IEA PVPS widens its scope, both in content and in cooperation with other organizations.
Our key collaborative projects are related to environmental assessment of PV, reliability and performance
investigations, cost reduction, grid and building integration, best practice in various applications, as well as the rapid
deployment of photovoltaics. Anticipating future needs, IEA PVPS also addresses recent policy and market issues, new
business models, sustainable policy frameworks, as well as technical and market related integration of photovoltaics
in the electricity and energy system at large. During 2018, IEA PVPS started working on its new collaborative project
Task 17 on PV and Transport, thereby marking the trend of PV entering an even broader range of applications.
As PV matures with a growing number of stakeholders and organizations, providing well targeted, high-quality
information about relevant developments in the photovoltaic sector, as well as policy advice to our key stakeholders,
remain our highest priorities. Due to the increasing recognition of photovoltaics as an important future energy
technology, the interest in the work performed within IEA PVPS is constantly expanding and the outreach of our
efforts becomes more and more relevant. Besides fostering an increased cooperation within the IEA technology
network, stronger ties are being built with organizations such as IRENA and the IEC, as well as with the utility sector.
Interest and outreach for new membership within IEA PVPS continued in 2018. With Morocco becoming a PVPS
member in 2018, IEA PVPS confirms its global expansion across all five continents. At the end of 2018, IEA PVPS had
32 members and is one of the largest IEA technology collaboration programmes (TCPs). Exploration for membership
continues with India, New Zealand, Singapore and ECREEE (ECOWAS Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and
Energy Efficiency). IEA PVPS maintains its coverage of the majority of countries active in development, production
and installation of photovoltaic power systems. 85 % of the global installed PV capacity is in IEA PVPS member
countries.
The detailed results of the different PVPS projects are presented in the Task reports of this annual report and all
publications can be found at the PVPS website (www.iea-pvps.org). Learn about the current status of photovoltaics
in all PVPS member countries described within the country section of this annual report.
Our work would not be possible without a committed community of experts and colleagues. I therefore wish to thank
all Executive Committee members, Colleagues in the PVPS Management Board, Operating Agents and Task Experts,
for their ongoing and dedicated efforts for a unique and truly global cooperation!
Stefan Nowak
Chairman
4
TABLE OF CONTENTS 5
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chairman’s Message 3
Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme 7
TASK STATUS REPORTS
Task 1 – Strategic PV Analysis & Outreach 9
Task 12 – PV Sustainability 13
Task 13 – Performance, Operation and Reliability of PV Systems 17
Task 14 – Solar PV in a Future 100 % RES Based Power System 23
Task 15 – Enabling Framework for the Acceleration of BIPV 28
Task 16 – Solar Resource for High Penetration and Large Scale Applications 34
Task 17 – PV and Transport 40
PHOTOVOLTAIC STATUS AND PROSPECTS IN PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES AND ORGANISATIONS
AUSTRALIA 42
AUSTRIA 44
BELGIUM 47
CANADA 49
CHILE 51
CHINA 54
COPPER ALLIANCE 58
DENMARK 59
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 61
FINLAND 63
FRANCE 64
GERMANY 68
ISRAEL 72
ITALY 75
JAPAN 78
KOREA 84
MALAYSIA 87
MOROCCO 89
THE NETHERLANDS 91
NORWAY 93
PORTUGAL 95
SOLARPOWER EUROPE 98
SOUTH AFRICA 100
SPAIN 103
SWEDEN 106
SWITZERLAND 109
THAILAND 113
TURKEY 115
UNITED STATES 119
COMPLETED TASKS 122
ANNEXES
A – IEA-PVPS Executive Committee Members 124
B – IEA-PVPS Operating Agents 127
6
PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER SYSTEMS PROGRAMME 7
Disclaimer: The IEA PVPS TCP is organised under the auspices of the International Energy Agency (IEA) but is functionally and legally autonomous. Views, findings and
publications of the IEA PVPS TCP do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the IEA Secretariat or its individual member countries.
8 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
52nd IEA PVPS Executive Committee Meeting, Marrakech, Morocco, November 2018.
Outreach
• Task 1 compiles the agreed PV information in the PVPS countries by all countries participating in the IEA PVPS Programme, and
and more broadly, disseminates PVPS information and analyses to additional information provided by a network of market and industry
the target audiences and stakeholders. experts. The Trends report presents a broader view of the current status
• Task 1 contributes to the cooperation with other organizations and trends relating to the development of PV globally. The report aims
and stakeholders. at providing the most accurate information on the evolution of the PV
market, the industry value chain, with a clear focus on support policies
Task 1 is organized into four Subtasks; covering all aspects, new and and the business environment. In recent years, the Trends report team
legacy of the activities. has developed an in-depth analysis of the drivers and factors behind
PV market development and analyses the complete global PV market
SUBTASK 1.1: Market, Policies and Industrial Data and Analysis and industry.
Task 1 aims at following the evolution of the PV development,
analyzing its drivers and supporting policies. It aims at advising the The report is prepared by a small editorial group within Task 1 and is
PVPS stakeholders about the most important developments in the funded by the IEA PVPS Programme. Copies are distributed by post by
programme countries and globally. It focuses on facts, accurate Task 1 participants to their identified national target audiences, are
numbers and verifiable information in order to give the best provided at selected conferences and meetings and can be downloaded
possible image of the diversity of PV support schemes in regulatory from the website. Since 1995, twenty-three issues of Trends have been
environment around the globe. published. They are all available on the IEA PVPS website.
Fig. 3 – Joint IEA PVPS Task 1 & Task 14 Experts Meeting, Kuching, Malaysia, Fig. 4 - Speakers of SNEC Special Forum, “PV WE CLASS 14-One Step Away from
April 2018. PV Parity Era & Diversity of Distributed PV”, co-hosted with China PV Society,
May 2018.
on the policy evolutions currently ongoing in several countries, SUBTASK 1.3: Communication Activities
highlighting the technical, economic and regulatory challenges Task 1 aims at communicating about the main findings of the IEA PVPS
associated to the development of PV for prosumers. programme through the most adequate communication channels. In
that respect, five main type of communication actions are conducted
SUBTASK 1.2: Think Tank Activities throughout the year.
Task 1 aims at serving as the PVPS programme’ s Think Tank, while
providing the Executive Committee and dedicated PVPS tasks with Events: Task 1 organizes or participates in events during energy
ideas and suggestions on how to improve the research content of the or PV-related conferences and fairs. Workshops are organized on
PVPS programme. In that respect, Task 1 has identified from 2013 to various subjects, sometimes in cooperation with other IEA PVPS Tasks
2018 several subjects that led to specific activities. or external stakeholders. In 2018, the following workshops were
• PV for Transport: the electrification of transport is one of the key organized in several locations around the world:
elements to decarbonize that sector. The connections between • Kuching, Malaysia: During 3rd ISES Conference in Malaysia, several
PV and electric vehicles are numerous: from embedded PV cells IEA PVPS Task 1 representatives were invited as guest speakers.
in cars, bus, trucks, trains or planes to the use of e-mobility as an • Shanghai, China: Co-hosted with the China PV Society, Task 1
accelerator of PV development, all these subjects will be part of held a workshop, inviting local experts and the Solar Impulse
our research activities in the coming months and years. team (see Figure 4).
• New Business Models for PV Development: With the • Waikoloa, Hawaii, USA: During the 7th WCPEC World Conference,
emergence of a PV market driven in some countries by the IEA PVPS Task 1, together with IEA PVPS Task 12, organized a
sole competitiveness of PV, the question of emerging business one-day workshop composed of three sessions. In addition to
models receives continuous interest. Again in 2018, Task 1’s work industry subjects, the workshop focused on past scenarios for
was focused on studying emerging models through dedicated PV development on all continents and lessons learned for the
workshops and conferences. future forecasts.
• PV and Utilities: electric utilities, producing, distributing and • Munich, Germany: The IEA PVPS PV and Utilities Workshop was
selling electricity to final customers have been identified as organized during the Intersolar Conference with European utilities
crucial actors for a large-scale development of PV. In that respect, in order to exchange insights on business models for PV managed
Task 1 organized several workshops where utilities and PV experts by utilities.
exchanged information and visions about the role of utilities. The • Brussels, Belgium: A workshop during the 35th EU-PVSEC on
last one took place in Munich, Germany. IEA PVPS will continue PV market development, costs and new applications for
to provide a platform where these actors can meet and exchange competitive PV was presented in Brussels.
information. • In addition, IEA PVPS was partner in several events in 2018.
• Solar Fuels: for the first time in 2018, Task 1 focused on the Task 1 speakers represented the programme in several conferences
opportunities to produce solar fuels with PV and convert, store in various places.
and transport such fuels. This research will continue to highlight
the combined potential of solar PV and fuels to accelerate the Webinars: to increase its visibility, Task 1 speakers participated in
energy transition. webinars organized by Leonardo Energy on PV markets, policies and
• Recommendations and Analysis: PV’s fast development on all industry development.
continents requires from regulators and authorities to perfectly
understand the key features of the PV technology development. Publications: Task 1 publications have been described above. These
IEA PVPS will provide a set of recommendations in various fields, aim at providing the most accurate level of information regarding
to disseminate the vast experience acquired by its experts over PV development.
the last several years.
Website and Social Networks: Task 1 manages the IEA PVPS
programme’s website www.iea-pvps.org. IEA PVPS is also present on
Twitter and LinkedIn.
TASK STATUS REPORTS - TASK 1 11
PVPower Newsletter: Three issues appeared in 2018, with the ambition SUBTASK 1.3: Communication Activities
to provide accurate and complete information about the IEA PVPS Task 1 will continue its communication activities in 2019. First by
programme, at least twice a year. communicating about the publications and events organized within
Task 1 and second, by contributing to disseminating the information
IEA PVPS in the Media about publications and events of the entire IEA PVPS programme.
New publications are disseminated by press releases to around
500 contacts from media and national PV associations. This contact list SUBTASK 1.4: Cooperation Activities
is expanded with more media from Asian, African and Latin American Task 1 will continue to cooperate with adequate stakeholders in
countries in a progressive way. Translations of press releases are done 2019. It will reinforce the link with IEA in particular and enhance its
by some countries to expand the visibility. cooperation with IRENA, ISA, REN21, ISES and other organizations.
Regarding the cooperation among other IEA Technology Collaboration
Subtask 1.4: Cooperation Activities Programmes (IEA TCPs), a special focus could be put on subjects such
In order to gather adequate information and to disseminate the results as heating & cooling in buildings and clean mobility.
of research within Task 1, cooperation with external stakeholders
remains a cornerstone of the PVPS programme. INDUSTRY INVOLVEMENT
This cooperation takes places with: Task 1 activities continue to rely on close co-operation with
• The IEA itself, for market data and system costs and prices; government agencies, PV industries, electricity utilities and other
• Other IEA Technology Collaboration Programmes; parties, both for collection and analysis of quality information and
• Stakeholders outside the IEA network, such as IRENA, ISES, for dissemination of PVPS information to stakeholders and target
REN21, etc. audiences. This is achieved through the networks developed in each
country by the Task 1 participants.
SUMMARY OF TASK 1 ACTIVITIES AND DELIVERABLES
PLANNED FOR 2019 MEETING SCHEDULE (2018 AND PLANNED 2019)
Task 1 activities will continue to focus on development of quality The 50th Task 1 Experts Meeting was held in Kuching, Malaysia,
information products and effective communication mechanisms in April 2018.
in support of the PVPS strategy. Furthermore, Task 1 will continue The 51st Task 1 Experts Meeting was held in Brussels, Belgium,
to analyze PV support policies and provide adequate and accurate in September 2018.
information to policy makers and other stakeholders. In addition to The 52nd Task 1 Experts Meeting is foreseen in Montreux,
the recurrent market and industry analysis, Task 1 will continue to Switzerland, in April 2019.
study the evolution of business models, the role of utilities and policies The 53rd Task 1 Experts Meeting is foreseen in Xian, China,
enabling PV as a key component of the energy transition. in November 2019.
12 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
T A S K 1 P A R T I C I P A N T S I N 2 01 8 A N D T H E I R O R G A N I Z A T I O N S
In many cases the following participants were supported by one or more experts from their respective countries:
COUNTRY OR SPONSOR
PARTICIPANT ORGANIZATION
MEMBER
Australia Warwick Johnston SUNWIZ
Austria Hubert Fechner University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien
Belgium Gregory Neubourg APERe
Canada Christopher Baldus-Jeursen NRCAN/RNCAN
Chile Guillermo Jiménez Estévez University of Chile
China Lyu Fang Electrical Engineering Institute, Chinese Academy of Science
Copper Alliance Angelo Baggini ECD
Denmark Peter Ahm PA Energy AS
European Commission, Directorate General
European Commission Arnulf Jaeger-Waldau
for Energy
Jero Ahola
Finland Lappeenranta University of Technology
Christian Breyer
France Tristan Carrere ADEME
Germany Georg Altenhöfer-Pflaum Forschungszentrum Jülich
Honi Kabalo PUA
Israel
Yael Harman Ministry Of Energy
Francesca Tilli GSE SpA
Luisa Calleri Elletricita Futura
Italy
Andrea Zaghi
RSE SpA
Goisuè Maugeri
Osamu Ikki
RTS Corporation
Japan Izumi Kaizuka
Masanori Ishimura NEDO
Korea Chinho Park Yeungnam University
Malaysia Wei Nee Chen SEDA
Mexico
Morocco Ahmed Benlarabbi IRESEN
Norway Øystein Holm Multiconsult
Portugal Pedro Paes EDP
SolarPower Europe SolarPowerEurope
South Africa Kittessa Roro CSIR
Spain José Donoso UNEF
Sweden Johan Lindahl Swedish Solar Association
Switzerland Lionel Perret PLANAIR
Pathamaporn Poonkasem
Thailand Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency
Thidarat Sawai
The Netherlands Otto Bernsen Agentschap NL
Turkey Kemal Gani Bayraktar Gunder
David Feldman NREL
USA
Christopher Anderson DoE
TASK STATUS REPORTS - TASK 12 13
TASK 12 - PV SUSTAINABILITY
INTRODUCTION
The deployment of photovoltaic (PV) systems has followed an
exponential growth pattern over the last years. In order to support the
decarbonization of the global energy system towards the middle of
the century, that growth is bound to continue over the next decades,
eventually leading to multiple Terawatts of installed PV capacity. 2018
marks the second year with approximately 100 GWp of new deployed
PV capacity, bringing the cumulative installed capacity globally closer
to the Terawatt which might be in range by end of this decade.
deployment of PV technologies and thus assisting the collective SUBTASK 2: Life Cycle Assessment
action of PV companies in this area. Developing human health risk Task 12 brings together an authoritative group of experts in the area
assessment frameworks for PV systems when it comes to EHS aspects of the life-cycle assessment (LCA) of photovoltaic systems, who have
is an important work product, serving this objective in the current published a large number of articles in high-impact journals and
work plan. presented at international conferences. One of the flagship activities
under this subtask was the leadership of European Commission Pilot
The fourth objective is accomplished by presentations to broad Phase Environmental Footprint Category Rule for PV Electricity.
audiences, peer review articles, reports and fact sheets, and assisting This project was successfully concluded in November 2018, with
industry associations and the media in the dissemination of the the presentation and acknowledgment of the developed “Product
information. Environmental Footprint Category Rules for Photovoltaic
Modules used in Photovoltaic Power Systems for Electricity
Task 12 has been subdivided into three topical subtasks reflecting the Generation” (Version 1.0, published 9.11.2018, validity: 31.12.2020).
first three objectives stated above. The fourth objective, dissemination The acknowledgement was given by all EU Member States, the
of information, is contained as an activity within each of the three European Commission and involved societal and scientific stakeholders
subtasks: recycling, life cycle assessment and safety in the PV industry. and the developed rules are now being applied in the ongoing
preparatory work for potential eco-design, eco-labeling, green public
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF IEA-PVP’S TASK 12 procurement and energy labelling measures for PV modules, systems
SUBTASK 1: Recycling of Manufacturing Waste and Spent and inverters.
Modules
Life cycle management in photovoltaics has become an integral Task 12 experts participated in developing two international PV
part of the solar value chain, and an active area of research for sustainability standards. The first, was completed at the end of 2017,
Task 12. Regulators around the world are evaluating the introduction resulting in the publication of a new ANSI standard: NSF 457 –
of voluntary or mandatory frameworks for starting regionalized Sustainability Leadership Standard for PV Modules (see link
learning curves for end-of-life management and recycling of PV within https://blog.ansi.org/2018/02/solar-photovoltaic-sustainability-
system components. With its long history on bringing the issue (and leadership-ansi/#gref). This standard establishes criteria and thresholds
opportunities) of PV module recycling to the fore, the Task 12 group for determining leadership in sustainable performance that is meant
continues to foster scientific and societal exchange on the topic. The to identify the top third of the market. Availability of this standard will
publication of the report “End-of-Life Management: PV Modules” allow large purchasers to more easily incorporate sustainability criteria
in collaboration with the International Renewable Energy Agency, has in their purchasing requests. 2018 saw the opening of the process
been downloaded well over 100,000 times, providing the first ever to extend this leadership standard to cover inverters as well, hence
global waste projection for PV modules and marking a major milestone providing a sustainability metric for the most important components
achievement of this subtask. Building on this seminal report, Task 12 of a PV System.
followed in 2018 with a report analyzing the trends in PV recycling
technology development from private and public perspectives The planned update of Life Cycle Inventory data for the supply chains
(End-of-Life Management of Photovoltaic Panels: Trends of c-Si PV technologies, which was originally foreseen for 2018, has
in PV Module Recycling Technologies, T12-10:2018). been postponed to 2019 in an attempt to utilize new and potentially
more up-to-date data sources from the regulatory agencies in the
As an example of an integration of subtask 1 and 2, Task 12 experts IEA PVPS signatory countries as well as through utilization of market
have also begun to evaluate environmental benefits and impacts of intelligence data.
module recycling through two reports published in 2018. The first
collected data on energy and material flows through several current SUBTASK 3: Safety
recycling facilities used for WEEE compliance in Europe, creating a life With the publication of the first part of the Human Health Risk
cycle inventory for these recycling systems servicing waste crystalline Assessment Methods for Photovoltaics (Human Health Risk
silicon modules (Life Cycle Inventory of Current Photovoltaic Assessment Methods for Photovoltaics - Part 1: Fire Risks,
Module Recycling Processes in Europe, T12-12:2017). These LCI T12:14-2018), Task 12 extended the library of health and safety
data for c-Si module recycling along with published data from First related reports this year. The report comprehensively addresses
Solar on cadmium telluride module recycling then formed the basis of stakeholder concerns, which have been expressed regarding the
a life cycle assessment on each approach (Life Cycle Assessment of potential exposure to hazardous materials resulting from fires
Current Photovoltaic Module Recycling, T12-13:2018). involving PV modules. By reviewing the existing and established
health risk assessment frameworks in relation to fire emissions, and
Additional work items under this subtask which are planned for leveraging recent empirical data on emissions from modules exposed
completion in 2019 include the assessment of re-use potential for to fire, the report presents the results of a case study, portraying how
PV system components, the development of an end-of-life decision to apply these risk assessment framework in the context of PV systems
support tool as well as an update to the global waste projection, – including estimation of mass emission rates from fire testing,
including Balance of System components.
TASK STATUS REPORTS - TASK 12 15
Gaussian plume dispersion modelling, fate and transport analysis to soil Stolz P, Frischknecht R, Wambach K, Sinha P, Heath G. 2018. Life Cycle
and groundwater and the evaluation of potential emissions of Lead, Assessment of Current Photovoltaic Module Recycling, IEA PVPS
Cadmium and Selenium resulting from c-Si, CdTe and CIS PV modules. Task 12, International Energy Agency Power Systems Programme,
Report IEA PVPS Task 12. #T12-13:2018. ISBN 978-3-906042-69-5.
This series of reports will be completed in 2019 with a report on http://iea-pvps.org/index.php?id=461
leaching to rainwater from broken modules that remain in the field
(Part 2) as well as on leaching in module disposal scenarios (Part 3). K. Komoto, J.-S. Lee, J. Zhang, D. Ravikumar, P. Sinha, A. Wade, G.
Heath, 2018, End-of-Life Management of Photovoltaic Panels: Trends
ACTIVITIES IN 2018 in PV Module Recycling Technologies, IEA PVPS Task 12, International
2018 was characterized by the start of several multi-year projects Energy Agency Power Systems Programme, Report IEA-PVPS
which are foreseen in the work plan – bringing in new experts and T12-10:2018. http://www.iea-pvps.org/index.php?id=459
contributors from PVPS countries.
Namikawa S, Kinsey G, Heath GA, Wade A, Sinha P, Komoto K.
The successful recruitment of experts for participation in the Task 2017. Photovoltaics and Firefighters’ Operations: Best Practices in
12 expert group from countries not previously involved in Task 12 – Selected Countries. International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power
Sweden, Belgium – and the identification of new or additional experts Systems (IEA PVPS) Task 12. Report IEA-PVPS T12-09:2017. ISBN
from existing member countries – Germany, France, Netherlands, 978-3-906042-60-2. http://www.iea-pvps.org/index.php?id=449.
China – yet again demonstrates the growing importance of the topic
of PV sustainability in the context of the global energy transition and IRENA and IEA-PVPS (2016), End-of-Life Management: Solar
the development of regulatory frameworks for the terawatt age, and Photovoltaic Panels. International Renewable Energy Agency and
brings new, expanded energy to the Task 12 team. International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems. ISBN
978-3-906042-36-7. IEA-PVPS Report Number: T12-06:2016.
Following the Task 12 meeting in Spring 2018 in Brussels, hosted by http://iea-pvps.org/index.php?id=381.
SolarPower Europe, Australia hosted the Autumn Task 12 meeting in
Sydney in November 2018. Methodology Guidelines on Life Cycle Assessment of Photovoltaic
Electricity, 3rd edition, IEA PVPS Task 12, International Energy
Governance, Dissemination and Next Meetings Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme. Report IEA-PVPS
Membership: T12-06:2016, ISBN 978-3-906042-38-1.
Total membership stands now at 13 countries and 1 industry
association, with ~20 active experts. Belgium, Sweden and Germany Methodological guidelines on Net Energy Analysis of Photovoltaic
have joined most recently. Electricity, IEA-PVPS Task 12, Report T12-07:2016, ISBN
Next meetings: 978-3-906042-39-8.
Next to continuation of the regular cadence of expert meetings – the
Spring meeting being hosted by Sweden in Eskilstuna in June 2019, Life cycle assessment of future photovoltaic electricity production
and China has invited Task 12 for a joint Task meeting adjacent to the from residential-scale systems operated in Europe, Subtask 2.0
Asia PVSEC in Xiang in Autumn. “LCA”, IEA-PVPS Task 12, Report IEA-PVPS T12-05:2015. ISBN
978-3-906042-30-5.
PUBLICATIONS
Sinha, Parikhit, Garvin Heath, Andreas Wade, and Keiichi Komoto. 2018. Methodology Guidelines on Life Cycle Assessment of Photovoltaic
Human Health Risk Assessment Methods for PV, Part 1: Fire Risks. Electricity, 2nd edition, IEA PVPS Task 12, International Energy Agency
International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme. Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme. Report T12-03:2011. ISBN:
IEA PVPS Task 12. Report #T12-14:2018. ISBN 978-3-906042-78-7. 978-3-90642-01-5
http://www.iea-pvps.org/index.php?id=496
Life Cycle Inventories and Life Cycle Assessment of Photovoltaic
Stolz, Philippe, Rolf Frischknecht, Garvin Heath, Keiichi Komoto, Jordan Systems, International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems
Macknick, Parikhit Sinha, and Andreas Wade. 2017. Water Footprint of Programme. Task 12, Report T12-02:2011. ISBN: 978-3-906042-00-8.
European Rooftop Photovoltaic Electricity based on Regionalised Life
Cycle Inventories. International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Methodology Guidelines on Life Cycle Assessment of Photovoltaic
Systems Programme. IEA PVPS Task 12. Report #T12-11:2017. ISBN Electricity,1st edition, IEA PVPS Task 12, International Energy Agency
978-3-906042-62-6. http://iea-pvps.org/index.php?id=462. Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme. Report T12-01:2009.
Wambach K, Heath G, Libby C. 2018. Life Cycle Inventory of Current In addition to the collectively published IEA reports, task 12 members
Photovoltaic Module Recycling Processes in Europe. IEA-PVPS Task 12 published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and presented at
Report T12-12:2017. ISBN 978-3-906042-67-1. http://iea-pvps.org/ international conferences. A few important papers in 2016 from Task
index.php?id=460 12 members include:
16 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
P Pérez-López, B Gschwind, P Blanc, R Frischknecht, P Stolz, Y Durand, Arthur Keller, Enrica Leccisi, Pierluigi Mancarell, Nicola Pearsall, Adam
G Heath, L Ménard, I Blanc. 2016. ENVI-PV: an interactive Web Client Siegel, Wim Sinke, Philippe Stolz. 2016. Energy Return on Energy
for multi-criteria life cycle assessment of photovoltaic systems Invested (ERoEI) for photovoltaic solar systems in regions of moderate
worldwide. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications insolation: A comprehensive response. Energy Policy 102: 377-384.
(Special Issue), DOI: 10.1002/pip.2841. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2016.12.042
doi/10.1002/pip.2841/full
For more information, contact the Task 12 Operating Agent:
Raguei M, Sgouris Sgouridis, David Murphy, Vasilis Fthenakis, Garvin Heath, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), USA
Rolf Frischknecht, Christian Breyer, Ugo Bardi, Charles Barnhart, And Deputy Operating Agent:
Alastair Buckley, Michael Carbajales-Dale, Denes Csala, Mariska de Andreas Wade (SolarPower Europe), Brussels, Belgium
Wild-Scholten, Garvin Heath, Arnulf Jæger-Waldau, Christopher Jones,
Satoru Shimada NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation)
Japan
Keiichi Komoto Mizuho Information & Research Institute, Inc. (MHIR)
Marco Raugei ESCi (Escola Superior de Comerc Internacional) and Oxford Brookes University
Spain
Vacant CIEMAT (Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas)
OVERALL OBJECTIVES
The general setting of Task 13 provides a common platform to
summarize and report on technical aspects affecting the quality,
performance, and reliability of PV systems in a wide variety of
environments and applications. By working together across national
boundaries, Task 13 can take full advantage of research and
experience from each member country and combine and integrate this
knowledge into valuable summaries of best practices and methods for
ensuring PV systems perform at their optimum. Specifically, Task 13
Fig. 1 - Task 13 Expert Meeting at ISFH, Hamelin, Germany, 10-12 October, 2018 aims to:
(Photo: ISFH). • Gather the most up-to-date information from each member
country on a variety of technical issues related to PV performance
INTRODUCTION and reliability. This will include summaries of different practices
Within the framework of PVPS, Task 13 aims at supporting market from each country, experiences with a variety of PV technologies
actors to improve the operation, the reliability and the quality of PV and system designs.
components and systems. Operational data of PV systems in different • Gather measured data from PV systems from around the world.
climate zones compiled within the project will allow conclusions on This data will be used to test and compare data analysis methods
the reliability and on yield estimations. Furthermore, the qualification for PV degradation, operation & monitoring (O&M), performance
and lifetime characteristics of PV components and systems shall be and yield estimation, etc.
analysed, and technological trends identified. • Communicate to our stakeholders in a number of impactful ways
including reports, workshops, webinars, and web content.
Together with Task 1, Task 13 will continue to be needed for the
predictable future of PV, and is of critical importance to the health of APPROACH
the PV industry. The reliability of PV plants and modules has been, and Various branches of the PV industry and the finance sector will be
will continue to be an issue for investors and users. The PV industry addressed by the national participants in their respective countries
continues to undergo rapid changes, both in magnitude with a using existing business contacts. Given the broad, international
near-doubling of global capacity every 3-4 years, and new technology project consortium, cooperation will include markets such as Europe,
uses (e.g. changing cell thicknesses, PERC technology uptake, bifacial Asia-Pacific, and the USA.
cells) and new deployment locations and methods, such as floating • The industry has a continued high interest in information
PV and agricultural PV. on performance and reliability of PV modules and systems.
In addition, financial models and their underlying technical
The impact of these combined effects is that the reliability and assumptions have gained increased interest in the PV industry,
performance of PV modules and systems requires further study to with reliability and performance being key parameters used as
ensure that PV continues to be a good investment, as past performance input in such models.
of similar technologies is not guaranteed to be a complete/reliable • Companies, which have the respective data of reliability and
predictor of future performance of new installations. performance at their disposal, however, tend to be reluctant
to share this information. This is particularly true, if detailed
Performance and reliability of PV modules and systems is a topic numbers in question allow for financial insights.
that is attracting more attention every day from various stakeholders. • Here, legal contracts that restrict partners to secrecy on financial
In recent times it also comes in combination with the terms of quality details often prohibits data sharing, even if project partners are
and sustainability. Task 13 has so far managed to create the right highly motivated to share data in general terms.
18 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
Task 13 is subdivided into three topical Subtasks reflecting the Subtask 1.2 will focus on bifacial PV performance, characterization,
three objectives stated above. The fourth Subtask, dissemination and modeling. This Subtask will collect field data from international
of information, utilizes the output of the three subtasks and outdoor bifacial experiments and summarize their results. This
disseminates the tailored deliverables produced in the three subtasks. is foreseen to help illustrate the relationship between bifacial
performance gains and fundamental module and system design
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF IEA PVPS TASK 13 parameters such as ground albedo, height, GCR, tilt, azimuth, system
SUBTASK 1: New Module Concepts and System Designs size, etc. In addition, the Subtask will review recent standards
PV technologies are changing rapidly as new materials and designs are developed for bifacial PV modules and systems as well as methods for
entering the market. These changes affect the performance, reliability, simulating bifacial PV performance (e.g., view-factor vs. ray-tracing
and lifetime characteristics of modules and systems. Such information approaches).
about new technology is of great importance for investors,
manufacturers, plant owners, and EPCs. These stakeholders are keenly Subtask 1.3 will focus on new PV system designs that integrate new
interested in gaining more information about such technological components (e.g., battery storage, DC/DC optimizers, etc.) and systems
innovations. But new technologies also present challenges to current that are installed in new environments such as agricultural PV (a-PV),
practices and standards. floating PV, etc. (Figure 2). There is a need to collect and summarize
international efforts at developing a standard methodology
Subtask 1’s objectives are to gather and share information about new for measuring and modeling the performance of such systems.
PV module and system design concepts that enhance the value of PV Contributors will describe methods being used in different countries
by increasing either the efficiency/yield/lifetime or by increasing the to characterize the performance of these complex systems.
flexibility or value of the electricity generated. This Subtask will focus
on four specific activities. ST1.1 will investigate new module concepts,
designs, and materials. Specific innovations related to new functional
materials and module designs will be reviewed and presented
in a report and as part of a workshop. Subtask 1.2 will focus on
quantitative studies of bifacial PV performance from fielded systems
around the world and will also investigate new bifacial PV module
and system designs. Subtask 1.3 will focus on how to characterize
the performance of innovative parts in PV systems where the current
methods cannot be applied (e.g., PV with integrated energy storage).
Subtask 1.4 will focus on the service life prediction of PV modules. It
will assemble data and models for service life predictions, as well as
explore methods used to accelerate the ageing of PV modules.
For PV modules the principal areas of technological development are
in the use of new materials and new methods for cell interconnection.
Subtask 1.1 will explore work in this area being done around the Fig. 2 - Demonstration floating PV system in China (Photo: taken at GCL Future
world. Researchers are investigating a number of new encapsulants Energy Exhibition Hall, Suzhou, China, J. Stein, SANDIA).
to replace EVA in order to extend the module lifetime. Some of these
new materials include polyolefines, thermoplastics, and combined Subtask 1.4 will provide a scientifically validated background and
encapsulant-backsheets. Researchers are working to create materials review of various service life models for PV modules and systems
with selective permeability, optical properties, while being fire exposed to different climatic conditions (temperature, humidity, UV,
resistant. New methods for cell interconnections include shingled etc.) and operating conditions (e.g., voltage and current levels). In
designs using electrically conductive adhesives, lead-free solder, addition, this Subtask will develop best practice recommendations for
multi-wire, MWT cells with conductive back sheets, etc. Designs that accelerated lifetime testing for PV modules. This information will help
result in lower internal stress from thermal cycling or wind loading support the development of a service life prediction rating for
(e.g., back contacted cells) may lead to longer module lifetimes and PV modules and systems.
thus lower LCOE. Also, designs that include alternate cell stringing
patterns or embedded power electronics to reduce the effects of SUBTASK 2: Performance of Photovoltaic Systems
partial shading will be examined. In addition, efforts at building Subtask 2’s objectives are to study the uncertainty related to the
lightweight modules without glass, or using very thin glass-glass main parameters affecting yield assessment and long-term yield
modules are also of interest. prediction (Figure 3). This will in turn have an impact on the LCOE
and on the business model selected. As availability has an important
impact on yield and failure avoidance hence early fault detection and
fault avoidance through predictive monitoring will be studied. Based
on real case studies the effectiveness of predictive monitoring in
TASK STATUS REPORTS - TASK 13 19
avoiding failures will be analyzed. Finally, the possibility to integrate the The idea is to continue the previous work reported in “Uncertainties
approaches in monitoring platforms, data loggers and inverters will be in PV System Yield Predictions and Assessments” and translate the
assessed and the possible impact on O&M strategies evaluated. findings into real examples of the influence of various parameters
on yield assessments. The first step is to identify PV plants and data
Large impact on the energy yield certainly comes from the different needed to be able to perform independent yield assessments. The
climate related parameters. Investigations on all technology related results will be used to carry out a benchmarking exercise and to see
influencing factors are planned to reduce uncertainties of energy yield in which aspects yield assessments can be improved. The studied real
predictions in different climates. From operational data of PV plants and cases will be analysed also from an economic viewpoint by looking
based on local experience, it is evident that also soiling and snow losses at indicators such as P90/P50, internal rate of return (IRR), etc.
do play a major role in affecting energy yield outcome and thus, the
operational expenses (OPEX) of a project. The activity’s focus is also on increasing the knowledge at the
international level on the use of artificial intelligence to reduce
Potential energy yield losses of PV plants in high and moderate risk the time to detect failures and to prevent failures based on real
zones (as derived from satellite derived global risk maps) will be field data. There was a discussion focused on definitions needed
estimated in the activity and an outlook into the future is given with link to classify algorithms and methods related to fault avoidance and
to Subtask 3 in terms of what economic impact will soiling and snow to early fault detection. To this extent, the state-of-the-art was
have. Finally, all the degradation factors will be taken into account to collected through a survey filled in by the international partners.
analyse performance loss rates on large amount of high quality and low
quality data to shed light on the impact data quality to the evaluation of As a final objective, the activity focuses on the assessment of
operational data. This analysis will include the data collected in the past Performance Loss Rates (PLR) on a large amount of PV plants
and provided in the Task 13 PV Performance Database. by looking at high quality data (meteorological and production
data coming from “research” PV plants, with high time resolution,
eventually with IV curves) and low quality data (data coming from
PV plants with limited information available, eventually absence
of meteo data and low time resolution). As a first step, various
methodologies have been collected as state of the art. Data
included in the Task 2/Task 13 PV Performance Database was used
to run preliminary analysis for system degradation in different
climates. Data from several other countries will be made available
for benchmarking activities to define the uncertainty related to
the calculation of PLR and also gain insight on the accuracy of the
calculated values.
Fig.4 - Three Technical Reports published by Task 13 in 2018 and available at: http://www.iea-pvps.org/index.php?id=483.
substitution cost, and further translated into economic loss. These of PV power plants in the field. Procedures for plant monitoring and
parameters need to be defined and their values shall be determined by supervision, methods of performance analysis as well as procedures
collecting and analysing real case studies. The collected data shall be for preventative and corrective maintenance measures will be
stored in a database. evaluated and assessed in terms of economic impact in different
climates and countries.
Most of the risks can be mitigated with appropriate O&M measures.
These O&M measures will be introduced in Subtask 3.3. For the Subtask 3.3 will provide recommendations for the assessment and
most important measures, the cost range shall be collected and mitigation of revenue losses due to soiling. This Subtask will focus on
implemented in the subsequent cost-benefit analysis of the O&M when is the best time to clean – that might depend on what kind of
measures. The theoretical approach to estimate the effectiveness of quantity one wants to optimize: is it the energy yield or the revenue?
the mitigation measures shall be compared with several real case Depending on per-site constraints, such as local labour costs, local
studies. feed-in-tariffs, water availability and local weather forecast, this
question might be answered by a suitable socio-economic model.
Subtask 3.2 will provide good practice on methods for portable From this rating, best practice guidelines on O&M procedures will be
devices to qualify PV power plants. This Subtask will collect and developed for specific countries in order to optimize energy production
share, along with other participants’ data, data from PV power plant and revenues and to reduce technical and economic risks during the
inspections per country, which were collected by mobile test devices. important operation & maintenance phase.
A list of existing sources of literature/market research for mobile test
devices will be compiled. SUBTASK 4: Dissemination
This Subtask is focussed on the information dissemination of all
The mobile measurement devices and inspection methods in the field deliverables produced in Task 13. The range of activities in this Task
(I-V curve data, dark I-V data, EL images, IR images, UV FL images, includes expert workshops, conference presentations, technical reports
and spectroscopic methods) will be discussed and assessed regarding and international webinars.
different quality levels and involved costs.
The following Technical Reports were published in 2018:
Subtask 3.2 will evaluate uncertainties of mobile devices for [1] Report IEA-PVPS T13-010:2018. ISBN 978-3-906042-53-4
characterizing modules in PV power plants and comparison to Review on Infrared and Electroluminescence Imaging for PV Field
laboratory methods. Thereby the uncertainty, the required calibration Applications
procedures and the strengths & weaknesses of the field measurements Ulrike Jahn, Magnus Herz, Marc Köntges, David Parlevliet, Marco
will be derived. Paggi, Ioannis Tsanakas, Joshua S. Stein, Karl A. Berger, Samuli
Ranta, Roger H. French, Mauricio Richter, Tadanori Tanahashi
Subtask 3.2 will develop recommendations and guidelines for best For download at: http://iea-pvps.org/index.php?id=480
practices to qualify PV power plants using mobile devices. These [2] Report IEA-PVPS T13-11:2018. ISBN 978-3-906042-52-7
guidelines will provide harmonized methods to handle warranty claim Photovoltaic Module Energy Yield Measurements: Existing
issues for different target audiences. For aerial inspection methods, the Approaches and Best Practice
legal framework conditions in different countries will be considered. Gabi Friesen, Werner Herrmann, Giorgio Belluardo, Bert Herteleer
For download at: http://iea-pvps.org/index.php?id=493
Subtask 3.3 will give contributions and experiences on O&M [3] Report IEA-PVPS T13-12:2018. ISBN 978-3-906042-51-0
procedures in different countries and climates. The existing O&M Uncertainties in PV System Yield Predictions and Assessments
guidelines on national and international level will be summarized Christian Reise, Björn Müller, David Moser, Giorgio Belluardo,
highlighting the similarities and differences. We will evaluate how an Philip Ingenhoven
effective operation and maintenance concept will affect the quality For download at: http://iea-pvps.org/index.php?id=477
TASK STATUS REPORTS - TASK 13 21
The Expert Workshops took place at the following events in 2018: All publications and Task 13 presentations from the expert workshops
• Swiss PV Conference, Bern, 19-20 April, 2018 held in 2018 are publicly available for download at the workshops
• Intersolar Europe Conference, Munich, 19 June, 2018 section on the IEA PVPS website: http://www.iea-pvps.org/index.
• EU PVSEC 2018, Brussels, 24-28 September, 2018 php?id=464.
• Workshop “UV Fluorescence Measurements for Damage
Assessment of PV Modules”, ISFH, Hamelin, Germany, 12 October, MEETING SCHEDULE (2018 AND PLANNED 2019)
2018 (Figure 5) The 18th PVPS Task 13 intermediate Experts’ Meeting took place
• IEC TC82 PV Plenary Meeting, Busan, Korea, 15-18 October, 2018 in Hawaii, USA, 10 June 2018.
• 3rd International Workshop on the Sustainable Actions for “Year The 19th PVPS Task 13 intermediate Experts’ Meeting took place
by Year Aging” under Reliability Investigations in Photovoltaic in Munich, Germany, 19 June 2018.
Modules - SAYURI-PV 2018, Tsukuba (Ibaraki), Japan, 30-31 The 20th PVPS Task 13 Experts’ Meeting was hosted by ISFH and
October, 2018 took place in Hamelin, Germany, 10-12 October 2018.
• SUPSI Industry Day 2018, Canobbio, Switzerland, 09 November, The 21st PVPS Task 13 Experts’ Meeting will take place in Utrecht,
2018 The Netherlands, 2-4 April 2019.
• 2018 Asia-Pacific Solar Research Conference, University NSW, The 22nd PVPS Task 13 Experts’ Meeting will take place in
Sydney, Australia, 04-06 December, 2018. Santiago, Chile, 22-25 October 2019.
Fig. 5 - 60 participants from Europe, the US, Asia and Australia at PVPS Task 13
Workshop on UV Fluorescence Measurements for Damage Assessment of PV
Modules at the Institute for Solar Energy Research (ISFH), Hamelin, Germany,
12 October, 2018.
22 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
T A B L E 1 - T A S K 1 3 P A R T I C I P A N T S I N 2 01 8 A N D T H E I R O R G A N I Z A T I O N S
Fig. 2 – IEA PVPS Task 14 and IEA WIND Task 25 Experts at their Joint Meeting at KTH, Stockholm, Sweden, October 2018 (Photo: IEA PVPS Task 14).
Within a dedicated Subtask, appropriate control strategies and Fig. 3 – IEA PVPS Task 14 Organization in Phase 3 2018-2022.
communication technologies to integrate a high number of distributed
PV in smart electricity networks are being analyzed and eventually
formulating smart PV grid recommendations for different kinds of a best practice for performing integrated Solar PV and Wind
infrastructures. grid integration studies. The report has been approved by the
Executive Committees of both TCPs and will be published as an
PROGRESS AND ACHIEVEMENTS IEA PVPS Report in 2019.
Besides the conclusion of the activities of the second phase which • Related to the Interactions between Distribution Network and
ended in mid-2018, the main strategic activity in 2018 was related to Transmission Network, which is of relevance for Solar PV and is
the final detailing of the work programme for the Phase 3 of Task 14 typically connected to the distribution systems, a dedicated report
and the securing of the resources required for its implementation. on “International Activities - Interactions between Distribution
Following the official endorsement of the work programme for the Network and Transmission Network” was published. This report
next phase in April 2018, Task 14’s work will be strongly dedicated presents current practices of TSO/DSO cooperation through
to preparing the technical base for Solar PV in a future 100 % RES a collection of international R&D projects, with a focus on
based power system. This reshaping of the main objectives also results advanced TSO/DSO cooperation procedures. 19 international R&D
in a new organizational structure, which will focus on integrating projects from the United States, Europe, and Japan are identified
distribution and transmission aspects, operational planning and and their objectives, key findings, and recommendations are
management of power grids with 100 % RES based supply. collected and summarized. In detail the status and development
of TSO/DSO cooperation depends on many impact factors, for
In parallel to the strategic work on the upcoming Phase 3, Task 14 example on the addressed grid operation challenges, the applied
activities in 2018 also continued at the technical level with a focus on communication technologies and standards, the addressed
Solar and Wind studies and TSO/DSO cooperation aspects: voltage levels and DER types (e.g. residential, commercial,
• As part of the long-term collaboration between IEA-PVPS Task 14 utility-scale PV), and especially the national/ regional regulatory
and IEA-WIND Task 25 (“Design and Operation of Power Systems framework and requirements and overarching policy objectives.
with Large Amounts of Wind Power”) a first joint report has been Overall, a major part of the identified R&D projects is ongoing and
prepared by experts from both TCPs. The “Expert Group Report on still a significant research and development demand is identified
Recommended Practice for Wind/PV Integration Studies” presents for an advanced TSO/DSO cooperation.
TASK STATUS REPORTS - TASK 14 25
Fig. 4 – Provision of ancillary services for the transmission grid in the past (left) and for future smart grid applications (right)
(source: Project SysDL2.0).
Fig. 5 - Wind/PV integration study components; flow chart showing a recommended route with iteration
loops and possible routes when not all components are studied (Source: IEA Wind and IEA PVPS Expert Group
Report 16.2 Recommended Practises for Wind and PV Integration Studies).
Complementing its technical work, Task 14 continued contributing to Task 14 Workshop presentations are publicly available for download
conference sessions with the following well received events in Asia and from the Workshops section of the IEA PVPS website.
Europe:
• In April 2018, Task 14 contributed to the “International Solar SUMMARY OF TASK 14 ACTIVITIES PLANNED FOR 2019
Energy Symposium” 2018, organized by SEDA, Malaysia in
Kuching, Malaysia. As part of the “Deep Dive Workshop” on INDUSTRY INVOLVEMENT
“Integrating Large Scale Distributed Solar PV Systems to the As from the beginning, industry has been directly involved in the
Grid” the presentation from Task 14 highlighted the importance development of the concept and Workplan for Task 14. In addition, a
of appropriate Grid Codes for the sustainable grid integration of number of PV industry and utility representatives also participate in
Solar PV at high penetration levels. the Task 14 group.
• In October 2018, Task 14 together with IEA WIND Annex 25
organized a joint session on Solar PV and Wind integration Based on the results achieved so far within the Task 14, further
experiences at the 2018 Wind Integration Workshop (WIW2018), activities towards integrating industry are constantly being organized,
Stockholm, Sweden. In a series of presentations from experts of such as special workshops for intensive knowledge exchange. The
both TCPs, latest results and country case studies were presented, utility interest in Task 14 work is also highlighted by the broad
highlighting the importance of an integrated view on RES attendance of utility representatives at the recent events organized
integration to the electricity system by Task 14.
26 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
Furthermore, the workshops also form the basis to present national • Country Highlights and Trends on Solar and Wind Integration –
activities related to the grid integration of Solar PV, together with Country experts from - USA (B.-M. Hodge, NREL), Japan
other relevant international projects which address research and (Y. Ueda, Tokyo University of Science), Denmark (A. Orths/
demonstration of Solar PV and variable RES. P. Borre Eriksen – Energinet dk, Denmark),- Portugal (A.
Estanqueiro – LNEG, Portugal)
PUBLICATIONS AND DELIVERABLES • Coordination between Distribution Network and Transmission
The products of work performed in Task 14 are designed for use by Network Operation – Relevance for Solar and Wind Integration,
experts from the electricity and smart grid sector, specialists for IEA-PVPS Task 14
photovoltaic systems and inverters, equipment manufacturers and
other specialists concerned with interconnection of distributed energy Presentations of all Task 14 events organised so far are publicly
resources. available for download from the Archive section of the IEA PVPS
website: http://www.iea-pvps.org/index.php?id=9.
In 2018 Task 14 produced two official reports:
• Report T14-11 2018 “International Activities – Interactions The successful series of utility workshops related to high PV
between Distribution Network and Transmission Network” was penetration scenarios in electricity grids will be continued in 2019, to
published in October 2018. involve industry, network utilities and other experts in the field of PV
• Report IEA-PVPS T14-10:2018 “Expert Group Report on integration in the Task 14 work. These events will be announced on the
Recommended Practice for Wind/PV Integration Studies” was IEA PVPS website.
approved by the IEA-PVPS ExCo in October 2018 and will be
published in February 2019. Presentations of all Task 14 events which have been organised thus far
are publicly available for download from the Workshops section of the
Besides PVPS related dissemination activities, Task 14 experts IEA PVPS website: http://www.iea-pvps.org/index.php?id=212
contributed to several national and international events and brought
in the experience from the Task 14 work. Highlights include: MEETING SCHEDULE (2018 AND PLANNED 2019)
• 7th World conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, Hawaii, The 17th Experts’ Meeting was held in Kuching, Malaysia, 8-9 April
USA (WCPEC-7), 10-15 June 2018 2018, hosted by SEDA in the range of the ISES2018 conference. In
• Self-consumption of electricity produced from PV systems addition, a joint session with Task 1 as well as a special Deep Dive
in apartment Buildings - Comparison of the situation in Workshop were organized in conjunction with the Task 14 meeting.
Australia, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, The 18th Experts’ Meeting was held in Stockholm, Austria,
Switzerland and the USA, A. J. Waldau, C. Mayr, et.al. 14-15 October 2018, hosted by the Swedish Energy Agency and the
• Swiss PVPS dissemination event, Bern, Switzerland, Sept 7, 2018 KTH. On 15 October, a joint workshop with the expert group from the
• IEA PVPS Task 14, From High Penetration in Electricity Grids to IEA-WIND Task 25 was organized to share experiences, visions and
Solar PV as major source in the 100 % RES Power System, discuss plans for future collaboration.
R. Bründlinger (OA) The 19th Experts’ Meeting is planned to be held on El Hierro Island,
• Task presentations from Swiss Task 14 experts Spain, hosted by University Las Lagunas and the Government of
• Solar Integration Workshop, Stockholm, 16-17 October 2018: El Hierro, 24-25 March 2019.
• “Implementation of the European Network Code on
Requirements for Generators on the European National The 20th Experts’ Meeting is planned to be held in Xian, China,
Level – Current Status – Trends and Challenges“, presented November 2019.
by R. Bründlinger (AIT)
• “Secure Energy Information Network in Germany
– Demonstration of Solar -, Storage- and E-Mobility
Application”, presented by G. Heilscher (HS ULM)
• Wind Integration Workshop, Stockholm,: Joint session of IEA
Wind Task 25 & IEA PVPS Task 14: “Highlights and trends from
international collaboration on solar and wind integration”,
17-19 October 2018
• Introduction: Summary of Wind and Solar Integration
Study Results – IEA WIND Task 25 and IEA PVPS Task 14
Collaboration
TASK STATUS REPORTS - TASK 14 27
T A B L E 1 – L I S T O F T A S K 1 4 P A R T I C I P A N T S 2 01 8 ( I N C L U D I N G O B S E R V E R )
Iain McGill
Australia University of NSW
Navid Haghdadi
Wang Yibo
China Chinese Academy of Science
Yang Zilong
Gunter Arnold
Martin Braun
Fraunhofer IWES
Germany Bernhard Ernst
Markus Kraiczy
Akmal Rahimi
Malaysia SEDA
Koh Keng Sen
Thomas Reindl
Singapore (observer) SERIS
Yanqin Zhan
28 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
INTRODUCTION
The built environment is responsible for up to 24 % of greenhouse
emissions and accounts for 40 % of the world’s total primary energy
use. The numbers are increasing each year, due to the rising numbers
in the world’s population, as well as improved standards of living,
and will confront us with energy shortage in the future and negative
climate changes already in the present. There is ample evidence that
the current energy system is not sustainable and that we have to shift
to a system based on renewable sources, such as the sun.
Current BIPV technology has a very small market, but huge potential.
To fully grasp this potential, a transition in the built environment Fig. 1 - IEA PVPS Task 15 Experts visit to the Environmental Energy Innovation
has to be realized, in which regulatory barriers, economic barriers, Building (BIPV installed in 2012), Tokyo. Japan.
environmental barriers, technical barriers and communicational
barriers have to be broken down.
OBJECTIVE APPROACH
Task 15’s objective is to create an enabling framework to accelerate To reach the objective, an approach based on five Subtasks has
the penetration of BIPV products in the global market of renewables, been developed, focused on growth from prototypes to large-scale
resulting in an equal playing field for BIPV products, BAPV products producible and applicable products. The Subtasks with their target
and regular building envelope components, respecting mandatory audiences are:
issues, aesthetic issues, reliability and financial issues. • BIPV project database - Designers and architects;
• Economic transition towards sound business models -
The main thresholds on the track of BIPV roll out cover the knowledge Business developers / project managers;
transfer between BIPV stakeholders (from building designers to • International harmonization of regulations - BIPV product
product manufacturers), a missing link in business approach, an manufacturers / installers;
unequal playing field regarding regulatory issues and environmental • BIPV environmental assessment issues - Policy makers,
assessment, as well as a transfer gap between product and application building environmental assessors;
and are reflected in the key developments of Task 15. • Applied research and development for the implementation of
BIPV– Researchers, BIPV product developers;
Task 15 contributes to the ambition of realizing zero energy buildings
and built environments. The scope of Task 15 covers both new and In this approach the most important process and policy thresholds are
existing buildings, different PV technologies, different applications, as identified and breached. In 2019, the first phase of this Task will be
well as scale difference from one-family dwellings to large-scale BIPV analysed and completed, and based on input from the PVPS Executive
application in offices and utility buildings. Committee and Task 15 experts the continuation in a second phase
is being investigated and will be discussed during a Task definition
workshop in June 2019, Montreal, Canada.
TASK STATUS REPORTS - TASK 15 29
Fig. 2 – IEA PVPS Task 15 Experts visit to the Taisei Corporation Technology Fig. 3 – IEA PVPS Task 15 Experts at the Task 15 Meeting in Vienna, Austria,
Center ZEB Demonstration Building (BIPV installed in 2014), Tokyo, Japan. June 2018.
ACTIVITIES OF IEA PVPS TASK 15 IN 2018 Subtask B is led by Sweden with experts from seven other countries
SUBTASK A: BIPV Project Database active in Task 15, covering the BIPV manufacturing industry,
This Subtask’s aim is to create awareness through an information consultants and researchers.
portal for BIPV application in building projects, led by the Netherlands.
To realize this aim, ‘story telling’ is developed, based on successful Several decisions were made in 2018:
BIPV projects which are replicable. Subtask contact persons from 1. Activity B.3 will deliver a guide for BIPV business model
all countries have been requested to send in 10 BIPV projects that development.
are representative for their country and suitable for international 2. Responsibilities for different chapters and business models in the
comparison and dissemination. Fourteen countries have responded B.3 report were divided among the experts in the STB team.
at the moment of writing, and in total, over 145 projects have been 3. Activity B.3 and B.4 are combined due to limited time and funding
received so far. for STB experts.
4. Monthly plenary teleconferences for STB participants continued.
Out of these projects a selection is made by the country representatives
for a total of 25 projects that have been analyzed in detail. Subtask B is further sub-divided into the following four activities:
A questionnaire to analyze these projects was developed and used as a B.1 - Analysis of Status Quo
guideline for in-depth project interviews. Based on a selection of existing projects that are representative BIPV
solutions/applications, Subtask experts have performed a detailed
The focus in the case studies is the ability to interview the main actors analysis and description of values and motives behind the projects,
in the process of introducing and applying BIPV in the project. The of the stakeholders that are economically involved, and of the
goal is to learn from their motivation and decision making with the overarching Business Model that prevails for establishing the financial
purpose to make interesting cases available for other decision makers. viability of the solution.
Most in depth interviews were completed before the Task Experts’
Meeting in Vienna (June 2018). Based on this information, additional B.2 - Analysis of Boundary Conditions
project material was requested and received. In the Task Experts’ Subtask experts have analysed the current and forecasted evolution of
Meeting in Copenhagen (November 2018), the draft book was the boundary conditions determining the financial attractiveness of
presented and discussed in the Task 15 experts meeting plenary and BIPV solutions in this activity. These include the nature and importance
in the editing board (Netherlands, Denmark, Italy and Switzerland). of policy support, financial instruments, measures prevailing in terms
After the meeting, the draft version of the book was sent around for of self-consumption, etc. This activity is of particular importance as
reviewing by each country. Also a copyright form was produced and PV – and BIPV – are transitioning from a subsidized, policy driven
sent around to cover copyright issues on image use. deployment to a competitive based deployment.
The final publication of the book is expected in June 2019. Parallel The activity will focus on how this expected transition affects the
to the development of the book, all information of the BIPV projects deployment of BIPV solutions in particular.
investigated is posted on an interactive database developed by Task • Report B.1/B.2 was published in April 2018, title: Inventory on
15 members and hosted by Italy, based on the same questionnaire as Existing Business Models, Opportunities and Issues for BIPV.
used for the book. • The report and its results were presented at a webinar in
September 2018.
SUBTASK B: Transition towards Sound BIPV Business Models
This Subtask’s aim is to make an in-depth analysis and understanding B.3 - Development of New Business Models
of the true total economic value of BIPV applications, and derive This is the Subtask’s core activity. It will in particular perform an
innovative Business Models that best exploit the full embedded value in-depth analysis on the definition of the true economic value of BIPV.
of BIPV. It will analyze how new business models can be derived to fully exploit
30 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
Fig. 4 – IEA PVPS Task 15 Experts at the Task 15 Meeting in Copenhagen, Fig. 5 – IEA PVPS Task 15 Experts visit the skateboard arena “Wonderland”
Denmark, November 2018. (BIPV installed in 2018), in Christiania, Copenhagen, Denmark, November 2018.
the values of BIPV and the possible need for new ad hoc financial Part 2: Building integrated photovoltaic systems. The international
instruments. input from Subtask C participants, particularly the information
summarised in the draft C2 report, has substantially supported the
Task 15 then formulates key recommendations to policy makers, work on PT 63092.
financial operators and BIPV stakeholders to best support the
emergence of innovative business models supporting existing or new Subtask C activities and status:
BIPV applications. C.0 International definitions of “BIPV” – final report available on the
• The B.3 report, expected to be published during spring 2019, IEA PVPS website.
will be a guide for all stakeholders interested in BIPV business C.1 Analysis of user needs for BIPV & BIPV functions – final report
models. The basis for business model development is the entitled “Compilation and Analysis of User Needs for BIPV and its
value of BIPV and this has a separate chapter in the report. Functions” has been balloted by the PVPS Executive Committee
• Key recommendations are already delivered in the first report and is ready for distribution.
with B.1 and B.2, can be complemented. C.2 BIPV technical requirements overview – draft report entitled
• A workshop using business model canvas was held in “Analysis of requirements, specifications and regulation of BIPV”
connection to the Task 15 meeting in Uppsala, Sweden, has been distributed to Task 15 participants for review.
September 2017. The workshop methodology and results C.3 Multifunctional BIPV evaluation – Two questionnaires formulated
have been used and developed further during 2018. and distributed; first responses received.
• The B.3 report includes guiding business model canvas C.4 Suggest topics for exchange between different standardization
examples for three categories of business models; residential activities on international level – report structure is being
buildings with project based business models, commercial reviewed and content is in preparation.
buildings with product based business models and
commercial buildings with service based business models. The next planned steps within Subtask C are:
• Complete reports on activity C.2, taking review results into
SUBTASK C: International Framework of BIPV Specifications account.
The aim of this subtask is to develop an international framework • Continue to provide input to IEC 63092.
for BIPV specifications and policy recommendations. This subtask is • Analyse experience with implementation of EN 50583 and
divided in 4 activities, of which the current status is indicated below. submit this as a short C.3 report
With the subtask leader able to attend all three meetings and chair • Classify and identify potential for multifunctional BIPV
ten conference calls during 2018, progress within this subtask has evaluation; submit C.4 report with this content.
accelerated significantly. About 15 – 20 persons from 12 countries • Elaborate proposal for a new Subtask on ““Pre-normative
have regularly participated as authors or reviewers to the various international research on BIPV characterisation methods”
reports that Subtask C prepared this year. Most current participants within a second phase of Task 15.
have indicated interest in continuing their co-operation in a second
phase of Task 15 within the proposed Subtask E on ““Pre-normative SUBTASK D: Environmental Aspects of BIPV
international research on BIPV characterisation methods”, which has This Subtask’s aim is to develop an international framework for the
been outlined in a one-page sketch. methodology of LCA of BIPV based on a number of case studies, in
close collaboration with IEA PVPS Task 12.
Interaction between Subtask C participants and IEC PT 63092 members
continues to be intensive, as preparation of the IEC standard 63092 13 persons from eight countries (Austria, Switzerland, Sweden,
continued throughout the year, with face-to-face meetings being held Denmark, Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Italy) are active in this
in conjunction with the IEA-PVPS Task 15 meetings in Tokyo, Vienna Subtask, led by France.
and Copenhagen. PT 63092 is entitled “Photovoltaics in buildings”
and consists of Part 1: Building integrated photovoltaic modules and
TASK STATUS REPORTS - TASK 15 31
The state of the art report (report D.1) is completed but still under
correction. The objective of the revision is to simplify the report in
order to ensure exhaustibility of the state of the art as well as a clear
identification of the parameters strongly influencing performances of
the BIPV in collaboration with IEA PVPS Task 12. In order to reflect the Fig 6 – BIPV installation at the Copenhagen International School, Copenhagen,
double role of the BIPV in the building, results are presented following Denmark. BIPV developed by Anders Smith and realized in 2017.
three “functional units”: the unit of one “product” BIPV”, one square
meter of replaced surface (roof or façade) with and without BIPV,
and one square meter of building during its whole life with and Further steps: The diversity of profiles of participants involved in Task
without BIPV. 15 requires more time to ensure convergence of views and a proper
consideration of each position. The methodology report D.2 will be
Two case studies have been finalized, corresponding to different type based on properly integrated outcomes from the case studies.
of buildings:
These important aspects were discussed at the Task 15 experts meeting
in November 2018 in Copenhagen and it confirms the work plan made
LOCATION SWEDEN SPAIN during the Task 15 experts meeting in June 2018 in Vienna:
1. Gathering all methodology proposals from all participants.
Multi-family 2. Selecting from these methodological inputs all key
residential, with Residential parameters and assumptions that have to be tested.
TYPE OF USE
preschool and shops building 3. Identifying and assessing as many case studies as possible in
at bottom floor order to ensure a proper testing of all parameters in very different
situations.
INSTALLATION 4. Based on these results we will propose a methodology for
Façade Roof
OF BIPV environmental assessment of BIPV.
of the participants is thus defined on the basis of the answers obtained Particular attention will be paid to the specific validation needs of
and working groups constituted. Then, a dedicated list of participants the BIPV models (inputs and outputs), depending on the integration
involved for each activity is carried out, updated after each progress (level of details) solutions selected. This work also focuses on the
meeting. strengths and weaknesses of all these software to define the necessary
and expected improvements. A new and improved tool specifically
Subtask E - Activities and Status: developed for BIPV applications is expected for the end of this
Subtask.
E.1 - Inventory of Existing Test Sites
SEAC (NL) initially led this action, in order to carry out a mapping of Selection of Outreach Events – 2018
institutes involved in the field of research and development of BIPV • 5 February 2018, BIPV outreach event, Tokyo, Japan.
components, and was finalized by Technikum Wien. A second version of • 15 June 2018, BIPV outreach event, Vienna, Austria.
the E.1 report is finished and ready for publication. • 12 September 2018, Leonardo webinar on BIPV business
models
E.2 - Comparison Fields and Reliability Tests • 25 September 2018, EU-PVSEC parallel session and poster
This action is led by OFI and TECHNIKUM WIEN, and brings together the presentation, Brussel, Belgium.
work implemented within the framework of the E.1 action by carrying • 4 November 2018, BIPV outreach event, Cyprus.
out important updates, notably by identifying the institutes and • 22 November 2018, BIPV outreach event, Copenhagen,
laboratories specifically involved in BIPV applications. A round-robin Denmark.
test activity has been conducted and presented at the EU PVSEC 2018.
This activity is initiated between different laboratories involved in the SUMMARY OF TASK 15 ACTIVITIES PLANNED FOR 2019
assessment of BIPV facade components. This work aims to identify the The activities planned for the Subtasks are the following:
climatic sensitivity and aging of these BIPV components. A final report • Finalizing lay-out of the BIPV database book, resulting in 2/3
is expected in 2019. projects per country in a final version of the book.
• Finalizing Task 15 BIPV online database.
E.3 - Installation and Maintenance Issues • Finalizing report B.3.
This action is led by CSTB and focuses on the definition of a data • Finalizing reports C.2 - C.4.
collection solution to identify issues encountered by BIPV solutions, • Actively providing input from Subtask C to the IEC
during installation and/or during maintenance. The objective is to standardization PT 63092.
identify in each contributing country the feedback on PV installations • Finalizing report on D.1 - D.3.
integrated into buildings. A main questionnaire in numerical form is • Finalizing report E.2.2 – E.5.
carried out with prior validation of the active contributors of the STE. • Elaborating the Workplan for a proposed second phase of
Then, a national manager is identified in each country to distribute Task 15.
this questionnaire. All data collected are centralized to identify
returns by country and thus are able to define the classes of issues PUBLICATIONS AND DELIVERABLES
encountered according to BIPV solution. The comparison of these • Report B.1/B.2, “Inventory on Existing Business Models,
returns will establish a critical scale of BIPV solutions and identify Opportunities, and Issues for BIPV”.
the quality criteria to support the BIPV and recommend methods for • Report C.0, “International definitions of “BIPV””.
implementation and maintenance. • Report C.1, “Compilation and Analysis of User Needs for BIPV
and its Functions”.
E.4 - Diversity of Product • Report E.1, v.2, “Inventory of Existing BIPV Research and
This action is led by OFI and TECHNIKUM WIEN, and presents an Development Facilities”.
investigation on the innovative components under development
within the framework of the BIPV international market and to make MEETING SCHEDULE (2018 AND PLANNED 2019)
an inventory (shape, color, materials). This overview of the diversity of The 7th Task 15 Experts Meeting was held in Tokyo, Japan, 5-8
BIPV products available or in the process of being deployed will help to February 2018.
define the scientifically key steps for validating these new components The 8th Task 15 Experts Meeting was held in Vienna, Austria, 13-16
for BIPV applications according to the needs of the market and June 2018.
international standards. The first version of the report is distributed to The 9th Task 15 Experts Meeting was held in Copenhagen, Denmark,
Task 15 experts and will be finalized in 2019. 20-22 November 2018.
The 10th Task 15 Experts Meeting will be held in Montreal, Canada,
E.5 - BIPV Design and Simulation 4-7 June 2019.
This action is led by POLIMI, and proposes to make a state of the art The Task definition workshop for T15.2 will be held in Montreal,
of the present software solutions and to suggest a classification on Canada, 7 June 2019.
their capacity to answer the specific application of BIPV components.
TASK STATUS REPORTS - TASK 15 33
INTRODUCTION
Solar resource Tasks have a long tradition in IEA Technology Task 16’s scope of work will concentrate on meteorological and
Collaboration Programs (TCP). The first Task dealing with resource climatological topics needed to plan and run PV, solar thermal,
aspects was IEA Solar Heating and Cooling (SHC) Task 4, which started concentrating solar power stations and buildings. As in the previous
in 1977. The Task on this topic, IEA SHC TCP’s Task 46 “Solar Resource Task IEA SHC solar resource assessment and forecasting are the main
Assessment and Forecasting” ended in December 2016. The latest solar focus.
resource Task, “Task 16”, was started in the IEA PVPS TCP in mid-2017.
However, IEA PVPS Task 16’s work is more focused on user viewpoints
IEA PVPS Task 16 supports different stakeholders from research, and on topics, which can only be handled with help of international
instrument manufacturers as well as private data providers and cooperation, which is aside the international exchange of knowledge
utilities by providing access to comprehensive international studies the major use of such a Task.
and experiences with solar resources and forecasts. The target
audience of the Task includes developers, planners, investors, banks, To handle this scope the work programme is organized into three main
builders, direct marketers and maintenance companies of PV, solar technical Subtasks (Subtasks 1 – 3) and one dissemination Subtask
thermal and concentrating solar power installation and operation. The (Subtask 4):
Task also targets universities, which are involved in the education of • Subtask 1: Evaluation of Current and Emerging Resource
solar specialists and the solar research community. In addition, utilities, Assessment Methodologies.
distribution (DSO) and transmission system operators (TSO) • Subtask 2: Enhanced Data & Bankable Products
are substantial user groups. • Subtask 3: Evaluation of Current and Emerging Solar Forecasting
Fechniques
IEA PVPS Task 16 is a joint Task with the IEA SolarPACES TCP (Task V). • Subtask 4: Dissemination and Outreach
It also maintains collaboration with the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling
(SHC) TCP – the TCP of the preceding solar resource and forecast Tasks. Whereas Subtasks 1 and 3 are mainly focused on ongoing scientific
Meteotest leads IEA PVPS Task 16 as the Operating Agent, with support work, Subtasks 2 and 4 are mostly focused on user aspects and
of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE). Manuel Silva of University dissemination.
of Sevilla, Spain leads the IEA SolarPACES Task V.
APPROACH
OBJECTIVES On one hand, the Task 16 work programme addresses on one side
The main goals of Task 16 are to lower barriers and costs of grid scientific meteorological and climatological issues on high penetration
integration of PV and lowering planning and investment costs for and large scale PV in electricity networks, on the other hand, it also
PV by enhancing the quality of the forecasts and the resources includes a strong focus on user needs and for the first time, a special
assessments. dissemination Subtask. Dissemination and user interaction is foreseen
in many different ways from workshops and webinars to papers and
To reach this main goal the Task has the following objectives: reports.
• Lowering uncertainty of satellite retrievals and Numerical Weather
Prediction (NWP) models for solar resource assessments and The project requires the involvement of key players in solar resource
nowcasting. assessment and forecasting at the scientific level (universities and
• Define best practices for data fusion of ground, satellite and NWP research institutions) and at the commercial level (companies). In the
data (re-analysis) to produce improved datasets, e.g. time series or former Task IEA SHC 46 this involvement was achieved. Now, all major
Typical Meteorological Year (TMY). partners are extending their work in the IEA PVPS Task 16 and many
• Develop enhanced analysis of long-term inter-annual variability newcomers are interested in participating.
and trends in the solar resource.
• Develop and compare methods for: The Workplan is also focused on work that can only be done
• Estimating the spectral and angular distributions of solar by international collaboration, such as definition and organization
radiation (clear and all-sky conditions) of benchmarks, definition of common uncertainty and variability
• Describing the spatial and temporal variabilities of the solar measures. E.g. the measure P10/90 years, which is often used today,
resource lacks a commonly accepted definition until now.
• Modelling point to area forecasts
• Probabilistic and variability forecasting
• Contribute to or setup international benchmark for data sets and
for forecast evaluation.
TASK STATUS REPORTS - TASK 16 35
TABLE 1 – TASK 16’s SUBTASKS AND ACTIVITIES TABLE 2 – SCOPE OF THE SUBTASKS
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF IEA PVPS TASK 16 • The classifications “secondary standard”, “first class” and “second
IEA PVPS Task 16 is among the biggest Tasks in PVPS TCP concerning class” are well accepted by users, but the nomenclature as such is
number of participants (57) and countries (20). Additionally, financial confusing for newcomers. That’s why the new instrument classes
resources are not adequate in many countries. Both issues make are “A”,”B”, “C”.
operating the Task a challenging topic. Missing resources and • Per class A, B, C, there is an addition: either “spectrally flat” or
confirmation led also to re-organization and changes of activity “fast response”.
and Subtask leads during 2018. Until the end of 2018, the Task 16 • The term “spectrally flat” is introduced to make clear that an
Workplan could be kept as initially planned – aside from Activity 1.4, instrument is provided with a black absorber (with or without
which was postponed due to missing resources and lead. diffusor) that does not need post processing of data to achieve
good results under different sky conditions. Excluded from the
In 2018, two Expert meetings (Paris, France and Rapperswil, spectrally flat group, are instruments such as rotating shadow
Switzerland (Figure 1)), two workshops and a webinar have been bands or photo diode based instruments with a limited spectral
organized as foreseen by the Workplan. No reports have been due yet. range that use or need corrections with airmass or cloud coverage.
Scientific work has started in most fields. Therefore, this report consists • For class A pyranometers, there is a new requirement for individual
of one highlight per Subtask, showing preliminary work done, as well testing and reporting of temperature response and directional
as an abstract of the workshops organized by Task 16. response.
SUBTASK 1: Evaluation of Current and Emerging Resource The work on this topic of two other groups was presented and
Assessment Methodologies discussed. The first was the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites
Update of ISO 9060:2018 Standard on Radiometer Classification (CEOS), of which Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) is part. It assesses also
“land products” – the area closest to solar data. The other group is IEA
Standardisation is also in Task 16 an important topic – mainly in the PVPS Task 13 – presented by Fraunhofer ISE, which published reports
field of instruments. on bankability during the last Task period.
Task 16’s participants contributed to the update of the ISO 9060 The workshop didn’t lead to concrete results, but showed, that further
standard on radiometer classification (https://www.iso.org/obp/ work on basis of the work done by preceding solar Tasks and EU
ui/#iso:std:iso:9060:ed-1:v1:en). The ballot of the update was project MESoR is needed.
approved and the standard has been published in November 2018. The
new version includes silicon based pyranometers or any technology SUBTASK 2: Enhanced Data & Bankable Products
that reaches the limits from the classification. Also, correction Quality Control of Global Solar Radiation Data with
functions are allowed as a basis for the classification. The spectral error Satellite-based Products
is used for classification based on the subordinate spectra for AM1.5 Historically, ground data were used to correct and check satellite data.
and AM5 as described in Jessen et al. 2018 and Wilbert et al, 2017. Today the methods for satellite based products are stable and quality
high enough to do validation also vice versa.
The main changes include:
• Instruments such as SP Lite, rotating shadow bands and other JRC published a paper about quality control of ground data with help
irradiance instruments, that didn’t have a class, can be classified of satellite products (Urraca et al., 2017).
with the new ISO 9060.
TASK STATUS REPORTS - TASK 16 37
Several quality control (QC) procedures are available to detect errors net load forecasts, especially for low levels of aggregation. Finally,
in ground records of solar radiation, mainly range tests, model they show that increasing the share of PV power in the net load
comparison and graphical analysis, but most of them are ineffective in actually increases the sharpness and reliability of PIs for aggregations
detecting common problems that generate errors within the physical of 30 and 210 customers, most likely due to the added benefit of the
and statistical acceptance ranges. Herein, we present a novel QC smoothing effect.
method to detect small deviations from the real irradiance profile.
The proposed method compares ground records with estimates from This shows that PV production and uncertainty are well foreseeable –
three independent radiation products, mainly satellite-based datasets, at least for aggregated installations.
and flags periods of consecutive days where the daily deviation of
the three products differs from the historical values for that time of
the year and region. The confidence intervals of historical values are
obtained using robust statistics and errors are subsequently detected
with a window function that goes along the whole time series. The
method is supplemented with a graphical analysis tool to ease the
detection of false alarms. The proposed QC was validated in a dataset
of 313 ground stations. Faulty records were detected in 31 stations,
even though the dataset had passed the Baseline Surface Radiation
Network (BSRN) range tests. The graphical analysis tool facilitated
the identification of the most likely causes of these errors, which
were classified into operational errors (snow over the sensor, soiling,
shading, time shifts, large errors) and equipment errors (miscalibration
and sensor replacements), and it also eased the detection of false
alarms (16 stations). These results prove that our QC method can
overcome the limitations of existing QC tests by detecting common
errors that create small deviations in the records and by providing a Fig. 2 - Probabilistic forecasts of PV power based on dynamic Gaussian process
graphical analysis tool that facilitates and accelerates the inspection during a day in spring. The prediction intervals with nominal coverage level of
of flagged values. 80 % are depicted using the shaded colours. The effect of aggregation becomes
clear, in particular in terms of the width.
SUBTASK 3: Evaluation of Current and Emerging Solar
Forecasting Techniques Workshop on Solar Forecast Requirements & Value for Grid
Probabilistic Forecasting of Solar Power, Electricity Consumption Applications
and Net Load: Investigating the Effect of Seasons, Aggregation R. Perez of SUNY, together with the Task 16 Operating Agent,
and Penetration on Prediction Intervals organised a workshop on “Solar Forecast Requirements & Value for
Probabilistic forecasting is one of the upcoming hot topics of Grid Applications” as a side event of Intersolar 2018 Conference
forecasting and different groups are working on this. Below is an (Munich, June 21, 2018). About 35 people attended the workshop.
example of the work done by the University of Uppsala, Sweden.
The paper of van der Meer et al. (2018) presents a study into the The forecast providers, Clean Power Research’ Skip Dise, and
effect of aggregation of customers and an increasing share of Fraunhofer ISE’s Elke Lorenz, presented applications of their
photovoltaic (PV) power in the net load on prediction intervals operational solar forecast products, discussed their accuracy,
(PIs) of probabilistic forecasting methods applied to distribution geographic applicability from single plants to regional and national
grid customers during winter and spring. These seasons are shown markets, and the influence of current pricing & regulations on value;
to represent challenging cases due to the increased variability of e.g., the self-consumption market optimization can greatly benefit
electricity consumption during winter and the increased variability financially from accurate forecasts with current regulations.
in PV power production during spring.
Both stressed the importance of model blending in deterministic
They employed a dynamic Gaussian process (GP) and quantile accuracy and the importance of probabilistic forecasts; e.g., for
regression (QR) to produce probabilistic forecasts on data from congestion planning. Examples of grid congestion management
300 de-identified customers in the metropolitan area of Sydney, and intraday market spikes traceable to forecast uncertainty were
Australia. In case of the dynamic GP, they also optimize the training presented.
window width and show that it produces sharp and reliable PIs with
a training set of up to three weeks. In case of aggregation, the results On the grid operator front, Eammon Lannoye (EPRI) and Michael
indicate that the aggregation of a modest number of PV systems Osmann (EnergiNet) placed the solar power forecasts in a TSO time
improves both the sharpness and the reliability of PIs due to the horizon perspective, with time horizons extending from multiple
smoothing effect, and that this positive effect propagates into the years (production modeling) to one year (fuel hedging) to seasonal
38 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
(maintenance) to days (market scheduling) up to near real-time. applications in solar energy systems.” Solar Energy. doi: https://doi.
PV power forecast only pertains to the short operational horizons org/10.1016/j.solener.2018.03.043.
(< days), although PV deployment forecasts (not weather related)
obviously influence multi-year horizons. Examples of comprehensive Remund, J., Blanc, P., & Richard, P., 2018. IEA PVPS TASK 16 and IEA
deterministic forecast evaluation and operational grid balancing with SolarPACES V: State of the project. 35th EU PVSEC, 24 - 28 September
50 % wind and 5 % PV in Denmark were presented. 2018, Brussels, Belgium.
Michael Osmann of energinet.dk showed, that the future has already Urraca, R., Gracia-Amillo, A. M., Huld, T., Martinez-de-Pison, F. J.,
arrived in Denmark. Situations with very high shares (> 100 %) of Trentmann, J., Lindfors, A. V., Sanz-Garcia, A. (2017). Quality control of
renewables happen regularly – with 44 % average wind power and global solar radiation data with satellite-based products. Solar Energy,
3 % average PV power. A mix of pragmatic handling, pro-active 158 (August), 49–62. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2017.09.032
measures and good international grid connections helps to tackle the
issues linked to the variability. van der Meer, D. W., Munkhammar, J., & Widén, J. (2018). Probabilistic
forecasting of solar power, electricity consumption and net load:
The gap between the needs of the grid operators and the possibilities Investigating the effect of seasons, aggregation and penetration
of forecast providers gets smaller. Stronger collaboration between on prediction intervals. Solar Energy, 171, 397–413. https://doi.
them is one key point. org/10.1016/j.solener.2018.06.103
SUBTASK 4: Dissemination and Outreach Wilbert, Stefan, Wilko Jessen, Christian Gueymard, Jesús Polo, Zeqiang
The Task 16 has been presented at the following occasions: Bian, Anton Driesse, Aron Habte, Aitor Marzo, Peter Armstrong, Frank
• Workshop on uncertainty, part of the 2nd Task 16 Experts Meeting, Vignola, and Lourdes Ramírez, 2017. “Proposal and Evaluation of
Paris, France, March 2018 Subordinate Standard Solar Irradiance Spectra with a Focus on Air Mass
• IEA PVPS Executive Committee Meeting, Kuching, Malaysia, April Effects.” Solar World Congress. doi: doi:10.18086/swc.2017.21.06
2018
• 5th ICEM, Shanghai, China, May 2018 (Dave Renné) PLANS FOR 2019
• ISES Webinar on the State of Task 16, May 2018 Task 16 will continue its work in 2019. A benchmark of sky cams will
• Workshop, parallel to Intersolar / EES, Munich, Germany, June be organized in Plataforma Solar de Almeria. One report (as a chapter
2018 of the final report) on “Advanced Measurands for Solar Resource
• EURO Operations Research Conference, Sevilla, Spain, July 2018 Assessment” is planned for summer 2019.
• Solar 2018 (ASES), Boulder CO, USA, August 2018
• EU PVSEC 2018, Brussels, Belgium, September 2018 (Remund et al, Four workshops are planned:
2018) • Workshop on “Best Practices for Automatic and Expert Based
• SolarPACES 2018, Casablanca, Morocco, October 2018 Quality Control Procedures and Gap filling Method”; planned June
• IEA PVPS presentation for Belgium partners, October 2018 2019 at ICEM 2019 Conference. Lead: P. Blanc, Mines Paristech,
• IEA PVPS presentation at IEA Networking Event Switzerland, France.
Neuchatel, Switzerland, October 2018 • Workshop on “Re-analysis Benchmarking”; planned September 2019
• IEA PVPS Executive Committee Meeting, Marrakech, Morocco, at EUPVSEC 2019, Marseille France. Lead: open
November 2018 • Workshop on “Probabilistic Forecasting”; planned September 2019
at EU PVSEC 2019, Marseille, France. Lead: S. Cros, Reuniwatt,
GOVERNANCE AND NEXT MEETINGS France.
Membership • Workshop on “Benchmarking of Site Adaptation Methods”; planned
Total membership stands now at 20 countries with 57 active November 2019 at SWC 2019, Santiago, Chile. Lead: Jesus Polo,
participating organizations. Some delays in confirmation and funding CIEMAT, Spain.
and other circumstances have limited progress on certain topics; thus,
some changes were required in the Task 16 Workplan during 2018. MEETING SCHEDULE (2018 AND PLANNED 2019)
The 2nd Task 16 Experts Meeting took place at Mines Paristech in
Publications Paris, France, March 7 – 9, 2018.
The following list includes only the references of this report. As part The 3rd Task 16 Experts Meeting took place at SPF/HSR in Rapperswil,
of the scientific work many additional papers have been published. Switzerland, September 17 – 19, 2018.
The 4th Task 16 Experts Meeting shall be organized by the University
Jessen, Wilko, Stefan Wilbert, Christian A. Gueymard, Jesús Polo, of Utrecht and held in Utrecht, the Netherlands, April 2-4, 2019.
Zeqiang Bian, Anton Driesse, Aron Habte, Aitor Marzo, Peter R. The 5th Task 16 Experts Meeting shall be organized by Pontificia
Armstrong, Frank Vignola, and Lourdes Ramírez, 2018. “Proposal Universidad Católica de Chile and held in Santiago de Chile, Chile
and evaluation of subordinate standard solar irradiance spectra for November 11-12, 2019.
TASK STATUS REPORTS - TASK 16 39
OVERALL OBJECTIVES
The main goal of Task 17 is to deploy PV in the transport sector, which
will contribute to reducing CO2 emissions of transport and enhancing
PV market expansions. To reach this goal, Task 17 has the following
objectives:
• Clarify expected/possible benefits and requirements for
PV-powered vehicles;
• Identify barriers and solutions to satisfy the requirements;
• Propose directions for deployment of PV equipped charging
stations;
• Estimate the potential contribution of PV in transport;
• Realize above in the market; contribute to accelerating
communication and activities going ahead within stakeholders
such as the PV industry and transport industry.
Task 17’s results will contribute to clarify the potential of utilization Fig. 1 – IEA PVPS experts at the Task 17 Kick-off Meeting in Burgdorf, Switzerland,
of PV in transport and to propose how to proceed toward realizing the 12 October 2018.
concepts.
Task 17’s scope includes PV-powered vehicles such as PLDVs (passenger Task 17 has started to investigate the current status of PV-powered
light duty vehicles), LCVs (light commercial vehicles) and other vehicles including PLDVs, LCV and other types of vehicles, to review
transport and PV applications for electric systems and infrastructures academic papers, technical presentation, and public announcements.
such as charging infrastructures, with PV and batteries, as well as The amount of technical information on PV-powered vehicles is
other power management systems. increasing rapidly in recent years.
Task 17 consists of following four Subtasks under the Workplan, from Furthermore, Task 17 has been discussing a procedure to make clear
October 2018 to September 2021. the expected/possible benefit and requirement for PV and other
• Subtask 1: Benefits and Requirements for PV-powered Vehicles components. It is important to conduct a case study to identify
• Subtask 2: PV-powered Applications for Electric Systems and the energy balance between the PV power generation and vehicle
Infrastructures energy requirement under the actual data of solar radiation and the
• Subtask 3: Potential Contribution of PV in Transport driving patterns representing actual driving conditions which include
• Subtask 4: Dissemination driving range, time based driving pattern, time in the shade and
solar radiation for the vehicle. Data of actual driving patterns will be
SUMMARY OF TASK 17 ACTIVITIES FOR 2018 surveyed.
Task 17 was approved at the 50th IEA PVPS ExCo meeting in December
2017. Physical meetings and other communications in the first half of Task 17 has changed Activity 1.4’s title to “PV-powered Commercial
2018, led to Task 17’s kick-off of concrete actions in October 2018. Vehicles” because of the focus on LCVs in this activity. Regarding
other applications such as trucks, buses, trains, ships, etc., they will be
SUBTASK 1: Benefits and Requirements for PV-powered Vehicles developed when the project will be proposed.
In order to deploy PV-powered vehicles, Subtask 1 will clarify
expected/possible benefits and requirements for utilizing PV-powered SUBTASK 2: PV-powered Applications for Electric Systems and
vehicles for driving and auxiliary power. Targeted PV-powered vehicles Infrastructures
are passenger cars (PHVs and EVs) and commercial vehicles currently, For promoting electrification of vehicles, not only charging electricity
and other vehicles (buses, trains, ships, airplanes, etc.) may be included by itself on board, but also charging renewable electricity at the
in the future. environmental friendly infrastructure, e.g. PV-powered charging
stations, will be feasible. Subtask 2 will discuss energy systems to
Subtask 1 consists of following activities: design PV-powered infrastructures for EVs charge.
• Activity 1.1: Overview and Recognition of Current Status of
PV-powered Vehicles Task 17 has been developing detailed action plans, which include
• Activity 1.2: Requirements, Barriers and Solutions for PV and overviewing the current status and identifying requirements, barriers
Vehicles and solutions for PV-powered infrastructure for EV charging.
• Activity 1.3: Possible Contributions and Benefits
• Activity 1.4: Other Possible PV-powered Vehicles -> PV-powered
Commercial Vehicles
TASK STATUS REPORTS - TASK 17 41
SUBTASK 3: Potential Contribution of PV in Transport Task 17 held a joint workshop with IEA HEV on ‘PV and Transport’ in
For reducing CO2 emissions from transport, changing energy sources Burgdorf, Switzerland on 12 October 2018. 24 people participated
from conventional to renewable energy, especially PV which have a in the workshop and discussed Task 17 activities, as well as potential
good track record in supplying electricity by utility-scale, should be collaboration between IEA PVPS Task 17 and IEA HEV.
accelerated. Also, new social models through innovations in ‘PV and
Transport’ are expected. In paralle,l with Subtask 1 and Subtask 2, ACTIVITIES PLANNED FOR 2019
Subtask 3 will develop a roadmap for deployment of PV-powered Task 17 will continue to develop detailed activities aimed
vehicles and applications. at accomplishing the PV and Transport’s objectives and will
start taking actions for technical reports. Dissemination
Task 17 has been developing detailed action plans, which will include activities at the international conferences and communication
following contents: with stakeholders will be organized, as well.
• R&D scenario of PV-powered vehicles and applications;
• Deployment scenario of PV-powered vehicles and applications; MEETING SCHEDULE (2018 AND PLANNED 2019)
• Possible contribution to energy and environmental issues; A Task 17 preparatory meeting was held in Al Haag, the Netherlands,
• Social and business models. 1 June 2018.
The 1st Task 17 Experts’ Meeting (Kick-off Meeting) was held in
SUBTASK 4: Dissemination Burgdorf, Switzerland, 12 October 2018.
A considerable amount of new knowledge is expected to be developed The Task 17 Regional (Asia and Pacific) Meeting was held in
within Task 17. It is important that this knowledge is disseminated to Kawasaki, Japan, 5 March 2019.
the general public and end users in a timely manner. Subtask 4 will The 2nd Task 17 Experts’ Meeting will be held in Munich, Germany,
focus on information dissemination procedures that effectively release 13-14 May 2019.
key findings to stakeholders such as PV industry, transport industry The 3rd Task 17 Experts’ Meeting will be held in fall 2019 (TBD).
such as the automobile industry, battery industry, and energy service
providers. DISSEMINATIOIN ACTIVITY SCHEDULE IN 2019
IEA PVPS Task 17 Technical session at the InterSolar Europe 2019 in
Task 17 supported the Solar Mobility Forum at SQUARE in Brussels, Munich Germany, 14 May 2019.
Belgium on 25 September 2018, which was organised as a side event IEA PVPS International Workshop at the 46th IEEE-PVSC in Chicago,
of 34th EU-PVSEC. Task 17 members from Japan and the Netherlands USA: June 2019.
contributed and made presentations respectively, entitled “Realizing
PV-Powered Mobility,” “PVPS Task 17: PV and Transport” and “Solutions EXPECTED DELIVERABLES
for a Fully Integrated Solar Electric Car Roof.” September 2020 Analysis by Case Study of Energy Balance for
PLDV and LCV
September 2021 Requirements for PV and Other Components
AUSTRALIA
PHOTOVOLTAIC TECHNOLOGY STATUS AND PROSPECTS
RENATE EGAN, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES
WARWICK JOHNSTON, SUNWIZ
3 000
2 000
1 000
0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018*
Fig. 3 - Wicks Winery Estate, Woodside, South Australia. Sold and Installed by Venergy Australia (Photo: Matt Wilkins, Venergy Australia).
AUSTRIA
PHOTOVOLTAIC TEHCNOLOGY STATUS AND PROSPECTS
HUBERT FECHNER, TPPV – TECHNOLOGIEPLATTFORM PHOTOVOLTAIK ÖSTERREICH
Besides the above-mentioned funding, some provinces provide PV The research organisations and industrial companies are participating
support budgets as well, amongst them very specific support e.g. only in various national and European projects as well as in different IEA
for municipal buildings or for tracked PV systems. PVPS Programme’s Tasks. The national Energy Research Programme
by the Austrian Climate and Energy Fund, as well as the “City of
The mean system price for private systems slowly went further down Tomorrow” programme by the Ministry of Transport, Innovation and
to 1,645 EUR/kWp (excluding VAT) for a 5 kW system. Technology, cover quite broad research items on energy technologies,
including PV.
In 2018, support schemes for battery storage systems in combination
with PV systems were offered by several provinces. This scheme is The total expenditures of the public sector for energy research in
dedicated for small, mainly private systems, the support schemes Austria was about 139 MEUR in 2017; out of that, about 21,4 MEUR
are very different, typically ranging up to storage capacities of up to was dedicated to Renewable Energy with a share of 7,1 MEUR for
a maximum of 10 kWh. Up to now, these initiatives led to about photovoltaics, which is a decrease of about 1/3 compared to the
4 000 storage systems until the end of 2017. In 2018, a federal subsidy years before.
system for battery storage systems in combination with PV systems
was introduced. The total budget was 6 MEUR (500 EUR per kWh of Within IEA PVPS Austria is leading the Task 14 on “Solar PV in a Future
storage capacity, max, 40 % of investment cost). This budget was 100 % RES Based Power System”, as well as actively participating in
by far not sufficient to fulfil the requests; finally, only 11% of the Task 1, 12, 13, 15 and 16.
applications could obtain the support.
The national RTD in Photovoltaics is focusing on materials research,
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT system integration as well as more and more also on building
In May 2018, Austria officially joined the “Mission Innovation” network integration, where integration is seen not only from architectural
aiming at more research and the energy and climate sector. Austria aspects but from systemic aspects including the local electricity
will participate in Challenges 1 on Smart Grids, 7 on Affordable generation for mobility.
Heating and Cooling of Buildings, and the newly established Challenge
8 on Renewable and Clean Hydrogen. In all three Mission Innovation On the European level, the on-going initiative to increase the
challenges, where Austria will participate, there is a clear link to PV coherence of European PV RTD programming (SOLAR-ERA.NET) is
innovations. So far, the intended duplication of the national energy actively supported by the Austrian Ministry of Transport, Innovation
research budget has not materialized. and Technology.
improving the general conditions for photovoltaic and storage system In 2017, a revision of the Austrian ELWOG-law (electricity economy
in Austria and on securing suitable framework conditions for stable and organisation law) has opened the possibility for multifamily
growth and investment security. Benefiting from its strong public houses to jointly use and distribute PV electricity. The enlargement
relations experience, “PV Austria” builds networks, disseminates key of these self-consumption possibilities to neighbourhoods is under
information on the PV industry to the broader public, and organizes discussion. However, up to the end of 2018, only a few projects had
press conferences and workshops. By the end of 2018, the association been established.
counted 220 companies and persons involved in the PV and storage
industry as its members. The Austrian PV industry is strengthening its efforts to compete on
the global market, mainly throught close collaboration with the public
The 16th annual national photovoltaic conference took place in Krems, research sector, in order to boost the innovation in specific niches of
in 2018, once again as a two-day event that was organised by the the PV market.
Technology Platform Photovoltaic and supported by the Ministry
of Transport, Innovation and Technology. This strategic conference Storage Systems will enable increased energy autonomy and
has been established as THE annual come together of the innovative might become a main driver in the sector, currently mainly driven
Austrian PV community, bringing together about 200 PV stakeholders by private consumers; hydrogen solutions are to be discussed with
in industry, research and administration. electricity production by renewables where photovoltaic will again
have a crucial role.
Many specific conferences and workshops were organised by the
association “PV Austria”. Renewable energy fairs and congresses are Electric cars are subsidised in Austria since March 2017, with up to
more and more focussing on PV. 5 000 EUR. About 21 000 fully electric cars are registered in Austria at
the end of 2018; a further strong growing E-vehicle sector might have
Larger PV power plants, ranging from some 10 kWp to a few MW a significant influence on PV development, moreover since the decision
systems have been successfully installed by the utilities as well as by for getting subsidy depends on proof of using 100 % electricity from
municipalities as “citizen´s solar power plants”; Several ways to finance renewable energy (e.g. supply-contract with a 100 % green electricity
these systems are in place, from crowdfunding models to “sale and provider).
lease back” models. As previous projects have shown, the demand is
very high for PV systems. Usually it only takes some hours until a new PV research and development will be further concentrated on
power plant is sold out. international projects and networks, following the dynamic expertise
and learning process of the worldwide PV development progress.
FUTURE OUTLOOK Mainly within IEA PVPS Task 14 on “Solar PV in a Future 100 % RES
Initiatives for local energy communities where PV together with Based Power System”, commenced in 2010 and led by Austria, is a
storage, heat pumps, electric-vehicles and other technologies are in focal point of the international research activities in the topic of smart
the center of a new energy system, offer a wide spectrum for new electricity systems. However, the national energy research programmes
activities. Many of the 95 existing Climate and Energy model regions, are also dedicated to PV issues, with many larger projects just in
coordinated by the Austrian climate and energy fund, are about to operation.
create first initiatives in this context.
Smart city projects are supported by the Ministry of Transport,
Furthermore, PV is seen as an important cornerstone in a new Innovation and Technology, as well as by the Austrian Climate and
digital energy world. The clear tendency of private consumers to Energy fund. Within the broad range of city relevant research, PV plays
achieve a high degree of energy autonomy supports this process. more and more a role as a significant and visible sign of a sustainable
PV in combination with storage systems, where both technologies energy future in urban areas, frequently also in combination with
have shown significant cost digression in recent years, offers new the use of electric vehicles. As an example, PV roof gardens have the
opportunities. Along with these trends, discussions about the further potential to improve the city-micro climate, can create convenient
role and the further financing of the public grid are emerging. living areas on roofs, will store rainwater etc., besides their main
purpose which is renewable energy generation.
“Photovoltaic Integration” with the meaning of aesthetic architectural
integration as well as integration from the system point of view Several renewable energy education courses and trainings are already
into the local energy system needs to stay in the focus of further PV implemented, some new are currently under development. All of
deployment. Meanwhile, the much lower cost of PV-systems and the them include PV as an essential part of the future energy strategy.
ambition to optimise systems for self-consumption purposes might The importance of proper education for installers and planners of PV
open new opportunities for the private sector, as well as for small and systems will increase depending on the market situation; the training
medium enterprises and for the industry. is already available and can be extended easily. At several universities,
Bachelor and Master courses in Renewable Energy, Energy Efficient
Building Technologies with Solar, and specifically, PV systems, as single
core elements are offered.
BELGIUM 47
BELGIUM
PHOTOVOLTAIC TECHNOLOGY STATUS AND PROSPECTS
BENJAMIN WILKIN, APERE ASBL, BRUSSELS
GENERAL FRAMEWORK of installations for the whole year 2017). In 2018, the market regulator
Belgium reached a cumulative installed PV capacity of approximatively of Wallonia (CWaPE) defined a new grid fee that should be applied to
4,25 GWp of at the end of December 2018, according to the latest prosumers (≤ 10 kW) in 2020.
figures from the three regional regulators.
For large systems in Wallonia, 2018 was the second-best year ever
The country added around 367 MWp in 2018, a strong growth (behind 2013) with 332 new large systems (+56 MW). This growth
compared to 2017 (296 MW) and the best year since 2012. The Belgian mainly took place during the first half of the year, as the support
PV park is still characterized by a large share of small systems, with scheme was diminished by 25 %, on average, for large systems
one-tenth of households owning a PV system. The total installed installed after 30 June 2018.
capacity reached 374 Wp per inhabitant in 2018.
In terms of installed capacity, Wallonia installed about 133 MWp
In Flanders, the market for small systems (< 10 kWp) was slightly in 2018, going up to 1,14 GWp. The installation of small systems
smaller than in 2017 (-4 %). (< 10 kW) represents 79 % of the installed capacity. The large plants
(> 250 kW) and the commercial segment (10-250 kW) represent
In 2018, the market for large systems (> 10 kW) was more dynamic respectively 5 % and 16 % of the total installed capacity.
(+26 MW, or + 72 %). These systems are not subject to a net-metering
or prosumer fee, but they benefit from a self-consumption scheme Brussels is the last region where green certificates support remains
and from an additional green certificate (GC) support scheme to operational for small PV systems (< 10 kW), and its installation
ensure that investors have an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) around market has remained stable since 2016. It guarantees a seven-year
5 % considering a time period of 15 years. The level of support is payback time for the PV installations. It was planned to end the
recalculated every 6 months. net-metering system for small PV systems (< 5 kVA) in July 2018, but
the implementation was postponed to mid-2020.
In terms of installed capacity, Flanders installed about 218 MWp in
2018 (213 MWp in 2017), going beyond 3 GWp of cumulative installed In terms of installed capacity, 2018 is the second-best year after 2013,
power capacity. The installation of small systems (< 10 kW) represents and about 16 MWp where installed, reaching a cumulative capacity
59 % of the installed capacity. The large plants (> 250 kW) and the of 83 MWp. The installation of small systems (< 10 kW) represents
commercial segments (10-250 kW) represent respectively 22 % and 15 % of the installed capacity. The large plants (> 250 kW) and the
19 % of the total installed capacity. commercial segments (10-250 kW) represent respectively 56 % and
30 % of the total installed capacity.
In Wallonia, the Qualiwatt support plan for small systems (≤ 10 kW)
introduced in 2014 was ended after the 30 June 2018. This means that NATIONAL PROGRAM
there is no more support scheme other than net-metering for these The Belgian National Renewable Energy Action Plan has set a target
systems from 1 July 2018. Consequently, there was a huge demand of 1,34 GWp installed in 2020 in order to reach the national target of
for new installations before this date with around 8 700 PV systems 13 % renewables in 2020, set by the European directive. This objective
installed within 6 months (this approximately represents the number had already been reached in 2011.
PV in Belgium
Cumulative Installed PV capacity (MWp)
1 000 4 000
Annual Installed PV capacity (MWp)
750 3 000
500 2 000
1067
559 726
250 1 000
428 367
266 297
202
20 86 112 121
0 0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018*
Fig. 1 – Belgium’s Annual Installed PV Capacity and Cumulative Installed PV Capacity (MWp).
48 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
Fig. 2 - PV Project at School: Ecole St. Anne in Brussels, realized through crowdfunding from school and parents. Installation in 2018.
In Brussels, these objectives mean reaching 107 MWp at the end of TABLE 1 – BELGIUM’S ANNUAL GROWTH OF
2020 through the installation of 24 MWp within two years (12 MWp/ INSTALLED PV AND CUMULATIVE INSTALLED PV (MWP)
year). After 2020, the annual growth should be by 10 MW/year to
reach the 2030 target. ANNUAL CUMULATIVE
YEAR
GROWTH (MWP) (MWP)
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
2007 20,1 24
R&D efforts are concentrated on highly efficient crystalline silicon
solar cells, thin film (including perovskite) and organic solar cells (for 2008 85,7 110
example by IMEC, AGC, etc.). More and more research is also done on 2009 559,3 669
Smart PV modules that would embed additional functionalities as 2010 428,3 1 097
micro-inverters (mainly IMEC Research Center), on smart grids that
2011 1 067,0 2 164
include decentralized production in their models (EnergyVille) and on
recycling (PVSEMA and SOLARCYCLE projects). 2012 726,5 2 890
2013 265,5 3 156
Looking at new market design, the Walloon Government has initiated 2014 112,0 3 268
the first steps in drafting a decree about the new local renewable
2015 120,9 3 389
electricity market (including solar PV generation), in the framework of
the “Collective virtual self-consumption market”. This regulation would 2016 201,7 3 591
be effective in 2021 at the earliest and is planned to be effective in 2017 296,8 3 888
both medium and low-voltage grids. 2018* 367,2 4 255
CANADA 49
CANADA
PHOTOVOLTAIC TECHNOLOGY STATUS AND PROSPECTS
CHRISTOPHER BALDUS-JEURSEN, YVES POISSANT, MARYLENE ROY (CANMETENERGY, NATURAL RESOURCES CANADA
PATRICK BATEMAN CANADIAN SOLAR INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION (CANSIA)
GENERAL FRAMEWORK
The report was prepared by CanmetENERGY in Varennes and the Programme (RESOP) and the Large Renewable Procurement program
Canadian Solar Industries Association (CanSIA). CanmetENERGY- (LRP). However, a recent discontinuation of all PV support in Ontario
Varennes is a research centre part of Natural Resources Canada, creates an uncertainty for future renewable energy projects in this
and is specialized in renewable energy integration, energy efficiency province. As a result, Ontario is transitioning from a FIT system to
in buildings, improvement of industrial processes, and renewable a net metering program. In 2017, approximately 84 % of Ontario’s
energy project assessment. CanSIA is a national trade association PV capacity was connected to the distribution grid (embedded
that represents the solar industry throughout Canada and works to generation), whereas the remaining 16 % consisted of transmission-
promote the expansion of solar technologies. connected utility-scale arrays. It is expected that in 2018, most of
Ontario’s capacity growth occurred on the distribution side.
As part of its commitments under the Paris Agreement, the
Government of Canada, in collaboration with provinces and territories, Québec: 2018 marked the beginning of large-scale deployment for
has developed the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and solar PV in this province as the cumulative number of grid-connected
Climate Change (PCF). Released in December 2016, the PCF has set residential prosumers increased from 150 in 2017 to 694 in 2018. This
ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets of 30 % below 2005 growth can be partly linked to a significant decrease in installation
levels by 2030 [1]. While Canada is a global leader in the generation of costs and the ever increasing variable rate of electricity which means
clean electricity with 80 % of our electricity coming from non-emitting residential systems 6 kW and above can now be installed below the
sources, Canada has committed to a target of 90 % by 2030. The grid parity price of 2,66 CAD per Watt. In addition, Québec city’s
PCF identifies clean, non-emitting electricity systems as critical to Simons department store inaugurated the largest PV system in the
environmental and economic wellbeing, stating that new capacity will province (1 060 kW) installed on its roof and on its electric vehicle
be supplied by renewables such as solar and wind. Progress on the PCF carport.
is assessed in annual reports, the most recent of which was published
in December 2018 [2]. Ongoing implementation of the PCF includes the
2018 federal adoption of the “Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act,”
followed by the announcement of how this carbon pollution pricing
system will be administrated. Examples of specific investments made so
far under the “Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program,” over a
12-year period, include 9,2 BCAD for green infrastructure projects
and 20,1 BCAD in funding of public transportation. The Low Carbon
Economy Fund provided 1,1 BCAD in funding for provincial and
territorial projects for energy efficiency retrofits in the residential
and commercial building sector. These are important developments
and illustrate meaningful emissions reductions. Nevertheless,
despite the progress emphasized in the synthesis report, the March
2018 publication by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada,
“Perspectives on Climate Change Action in Canada,” highlights that
far more needs to be done, both at the federal and provincial level, Fig. 1 - Simons department store 1,060 MW PV system located in Québec City is
if the 2030 targets are to be reached [3]. In this context, increased Québec’s largest PV system.
adoption of PV and other renewables such as wind, hydro, and
geothermal will help Canada deliver on its commitments. British Columbia: For residential and commercial consumers, solar
energy incentives are limited. The public utilities such as BC Hydro and
NATIONAL PROGRAMME Fortis BC have net metering programs and offer a rebate for home
Ontario: Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, had five contract renovation and various energy efficiency upgrades. As of 2018, over
programs covering solar, wind, bioenergy, and hydroelectricity 1 330 customers participated in the BC Hydro net metering program,
projects. The largest of these for solar was the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) and 95 % of these customers chose to install a photovoltaic system [4].
and microFIT programs, which were launched in 2009 to generate
clean electricity in order to phase out coal-fired generating capacity. RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRATION
After 2016 and 2017, no further contracts were accepted for FIT and Through science, the Renewable Energy Integration (REI) Program of
microFIT, respectively. However, both FIT programmes provide contract CanmetENERGY strives to improve sustainable, reliable and affordable
periods for PV for 20 years, and fixed prices for renewable electricity access to renewable energy. To this end, the REI program leads solar
sold to the province. For example, for a 500 kW project, electricity PV research activities related to the performance and quality of
prices ranged from 65,3 CADcents/kWh in 2009 to 20,7 CADcents/ PV systems and components as well as their integration to buildings
kWh in 2017. Other support programs for PV were the Green Energy and electricity grids. CanmetENERGY also leads research dealing with
Investment Agreement (GEIA), the Renewable Energy Standard Offer solar PV integration in the Arctic, particularly in remote communities
50 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
in Nunavut, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories with the objective of REFERENCES
reducing their dependence on fossil fuels, and evaluating performance, [1] Government of Canada, “Pan Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and
cost, and durability of photovoltaics in this climate. Climate Change: Canada’s Plan to Address Climate Change and Grow the
Economy,” Ottawa, 2016.
In 2014, a partnership between government and business created [2] Environment and Climate Change Canada, “Pan-Canadian Framework on
the Refined Manufacturing Acceleration Process (ReMAP), which is Clean Growth and Climate Change: Second Annual Synthesis Report on the
supported by 7,7 MCAD over a five-year period. The ReMAP network Status of Implementation - December 2018,” Gatineau, 2018.
utilizes 38 laboratories and manufacturing lines across the country [3] Office of the Auditor General of Canada, “Perspectives on Climate
to aid product commercialization in the renewable energy sector, Change Action in Canada: A Collaborative Report from Auditors General,”
healthcare, communications technologies, and aerospace [5]. In terms Government of Canada, Ottawa, 2018.
of government policies to support renewable energy, PV programs are [4] BC Hydro, “Generating your own electricity,” Government of British
developed independently by the provinces and territories. The policy Columbia, [Online]. Available: https://www.bchydro.com/work-with-us/
programs in Canada, and particularly in Ontario, over the past decade selling-clean-energy/net-metering.html. [Accessed 25 January 2019].
have been effective in catalyzing PV growth. [5] Networks of Centres of Excellence, “Refined Manufacturing Acceleration
Process - ReMAP,” Government of Canada, [Online]. Available:
INDUSTRY AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT http://www.nce-rce.gc.ca/NetworksCentres-CentresReseaux/BLNCE-RCEE/
Although not all provinces and territories have yet reported their ReMAP-AAPF_eng.asp. [Accessed 23 January 2019].
PV capacity for 2018, the total capacity in Canada can be estimated at [6] Task 1, “National Survey Reports,” International Energy Agency
around 3,04 GWp. Approximately 97 % of PV installation is in Ontario. Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme, [Online]. Available:
Outside of Ontario, the continued phase-out of fossil fuel electricity http://www.iea-pvps.org/index.php?id=93. [Accessed January 2019].
generation will encourage further growth. The provinces of Québec
and Manitoba showed rapid PV capacity expansion in 2018 compared
to the previous year. A map of the distribution is given in Figure 2. © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the
Annual investments in the PV sector exceeded 1 BCAD and the labour Minister of Natural Resources (2019)
force in manufacturing and installation is estimated at around
10 000 jobs [6]. Examples of several large PV manufacturers active
in the Canadian market include Canadian Solar, Heliene, and Silfab.
Producers active in the field of concentrating solar and sun-tracking
systems include Trace and Morgan Solar.
Fig. 2 - This graph shows installed photovoltaic capacity (in megawatt DC) and the number of
utility interconnected systems as of December 31, 2017, for all provinces and territories. However,
Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Alberta, and Ontario have already reported updated capacities for 2018 and
these figures are included in the inset graph showing the estimated total Canadian photovoltaic
capacity as of December 31, 2018.
CHILE 51
CHILE
PV TECHNOLOGY STATUS AND PROSPECTS
ANA MARIA RUZ, TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, SOLAR ENERGY COMMITTEE, CHILEAN ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (CORFO), CHILE
Chile ratified the Paris Agreement in 2017 and committed to reduce its
CO2 emissions per GDP unit by 30 % below their 2007 levels by 2030.
Additionally, and subject to the grant of international funds, the country
is committed to reduce its CO2 emissions per GDP until it reaches a
35 % to 45 % reduction with respect to the 2007 levels; in both cases,
considering a future economic growth which allows to implement
adequate measures to achieve this commitment.
Notes: SEN: Sistema Eléctrico Nacional; SEA: Sistema Eléctrico Aysén; SEM: Sistema Eléctrico
In 2008, Chile passed a law requiring generation companies to produce
Magallanes. Source: CEN (National Independent System Operator), CNE (National Energy
5 % of their electricity from non-conventional renewable energy (NCRE), Commission).
with the target rising incrementally by 0,5 % per year up to 10 % by
2024. This law was updated in 2013, redefining the target to 20 % of Fig. 2 –Total net installed capacity by technology, 2018 (Source: Ministry of Energy).
with 78 % of facilities located in the Atacama, Metropolitan, policies, plans, programs and standards associated with sustainable
Valparaíso and Maule regions. See Figure 3. In January 2018, a series energy. They also implement programs for mitigating the barriers that
of modifications to distributed generation law were passed, with the limit the efficient development of markets associated to sustainable
most important being: a) to raise the capacity limit of generators from energy.
100 kW to 300 kW in order to support the development of bigger
self-consumption project for benefitting productive activities, and; b) in The Forecasting and Regulatory Impact Analysis Division of
order to reinforce the objective of promoting self-consumption (instead the Ministry of Energy focuses on generating strategic energy
of energy commercialization) surpluses of electricity supply can be information, on developing analyses on energy topics with
deducted from electricity bills from establishments owned by the same prospective capabilities that anticipate challenges in the energy
owner if serviced by the same distribution company. sector allowing for efficient and timely decision-making, on the
development of regulatory impact analyses, and on the design
NATIONAL PROGRAMME of long-term energy policies. This Division is also responsible
The Ministry of Energy, created in 2010, is responsible for developing for developing a “Long-Term Energy Planning” process, which
and coordinating plans, policies, and regulations for the proper is reviewed every five years for different energy scenarios of
operation and development of the country’s energy sector. expansion of generation and consumption projected for thirty years.
These scenarios are considered in the planning of the electricity
The Sustainable Energy Division of the Ministry of Energy contributes transmission systems carried out by the National Energy Commission.
to the development and implementation of public policies that allow The results of the Long-Term Energy Planning delivered in December
for the sustainable and efficient development of the energy sector, 2017 projected a massive entry of solar generation systems, up to
and particularly for renewable energy deployment. They generate the 13 GW of photovoltaic systems, and 8 GW of solar power
information for the design, implementation and follow up processes of concentration systems by 2046.
12 000 2 500
PV capacity installed by year (MWp)
10 000
Number of PV installation by year
2 000
8 000
1 500
6 000
1 000
4 000
500
2 000
Fig. 3 – Evolution of installed and declared distributed generation with power less than 100kW
(2015-2018) (Source: Minister of Energy).
CHILE 53
Fig. 4 - Quilapilun Solar PV plant 40 kilometers north of Santiago, 110 MWp Fig. 5 – CINTAC PV rooftop plant located in Maipu industrial sector, south of
operated by EDF Energies Nouvelles. Santiago city, grid connected 2,78 MWp.
The National Energy Commission (CNE), under the Ministry of INDUSTRY AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT
Energy, is the technical institution responsible for analysing prices, With the highest solar potential and the largest metallic mining district
tariffs, and technical standards that energy production, generation, in the world, as well as a strong position in non-metallic mining, Chile
transport and distribution companies must comply with, in order to has the potential for making strong contributions to the increasing
ensure that energy supply is sufficient, safe and compatible with the demand for electric vehicles, the hydrogen-based economy and the
most-economic operation. Likewise, the CNE designs, coordinates and production of low-emission copper. In order to take advantage of such
directs the bidding processes to provide energy to regulated consumers. opportunities, adding value to the economy and developing the local
The public tenders for regulated clients that took place between 2015 industry, Chile has sustainability challenges to face, particularly in the
and 2017 were considered very successful, as they received multiple mining sector. On one hand, the country needs to develop capacities to
bids resulting in considerably lower energy prices, mainly thanks to the become a minerals provider of materials such as battery grade lithium
development of the solar industry in the country. carbonate and hydroxide in the long run, as well as to add value to
lithium-based products such as battery components. On the other hand,
R&D, D renewable energy costs need to further decrease and fossil fuels have
The Solar Energy Research Centre (SERC Chile [5]) is the most relevant to be replaced.
among solar R&D organizations in Chile. It is financed by the National
Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICYT), and To address these challenges, Corfo has decided to contribute to the
was integrated by six Chilean universities from 2013 - 2017. Currently, creation of the largest Clean Technology Institute ever created in the
SERC Chile has started a new administrative cycle of five years country, which will have a strong industrial focus on development,
(2018 -2022), bringing together one additional university and scaling and adoption of technological solutions in solar energy, low
Fraunhofer CSET Chile. The Centre’s productivity in 2018 is evidenced by emission mining and advanced materials of lithium and other minerals
the 67 ISI publications and 131 international conference presentations, following a two-stage application process. The call for the Request for
the publication of two book chapters and the launching of the book Interest (RFI) stage was launched in Antofagasta on November 2018
called “Atrapando el sol en los sistemas de potencia” (Catching the sun and the Request for Proposals stage will be launched on June 2019.
in power systems) written by Brokering and Palma. The aforementioned
book chapters were drafted according to empirical results obtained
at SERC, particularly on the topics of energy storage and on the
incorporation of electricity generated through solar devices into power
systems.
The Atacama Module System Technology Consortium (AtaMoSTeC)
is a project that has undertaken the challenge of developing
photovoltaic systems for the high radiation conditions of the Atacama
Desert, at a levelized cost of energy less than 25 USD/MWh. AtaMoSTeC
is a technological programme with CORFO’s co-financing for 12 MUSD
and private contributions of 5 MUSD. It is managed by the University of
Antofagasta and has the participation of companies including Colbún,
Mondragón, Vidrios Lirquén and CINTAC, along with 15 small national
companies entering the solar market of goods and services.
[5] http://sercchile.cl/en/
54 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
CHINA
PV TECHNOLOGY AND PROSPECTS
XU HONGHUA, INSTITUTE OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE
LV FANG, INSTITUTE OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE
WANG SICHENG, ENERGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE, CHINA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND REFORM COMMISSION
GENERAL FRAMEWORK
New Policy “Grid Parity” is Coming
PV FIT for 2019 has not been issued by the end of January 2019. Fortunately, PV cost in China is very close to “grid-parity”. It can be
According to the document of NDRC issued on December 19, 2017, seen that PV will be in no need of subsidy in two years. The current FIT
the 2018 feed-in tariff (FIT) of PV for the three solar resources regions of coal fire power and grid selling prices in China are shown in Table 2:
would be 0,55, 0,65 and 0,75 CNY/kWh, and for the self-consumption
projects, the subsidy for total PV electricity would be 0,37 CNY/kWh. TABLE 2 – FIT AND GRID SELLING PRICES
According to the NEA’s document, building PV and residential PV will
not be controlled by quota, and the quota for ground mounted
PV plants should be as shown in Table 1: FIT of Coal-Fire Power (Yuan/kWh) 0,30 – 0,45
QUOTA
14,4 13,9 13,0 13,0 Residential and Public Service Units 0,45 – 0,65
(GW)
• Feed-in Tariff (FIT) policy to enlarge the market. The first FIT of
PV was set in 2008, 4 CNY/kWh. In 2011, a FIT of 1,15 CNY/kWh
for all of China was launched and in 2013, and a FIT according
to solar regions was issued: 0,9, 0,95 and 1 CNY/kWh. In 2018,
the FIT of PV was set at the level of 0,5, 0,6 and 0,7 CNY/kWh.
• Specific government sponsored projects.
• Incentive policies from relevant ministries: MOF, MIIT, SAT, MLR, etc.
• Incentive policies from local government.
MWT 1 500,0
Source: CPVS
56 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
Table 4 shows the highest Lab. level cell efficiencies in China for INDUSTRY AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT
various types of PV efficiencies in China for various types of PV cells. PV Industry in China
In Table 5, the industry level average cell efficiencies are provided. China has been the largest producer of PV modules in the world since
2007. PV productions of the entire manufacturing chain in 2018 are
TABLE 4 – LAB. LEVEL HIGHEST CELL EFFICIENCY shown in Table 6:
5 GaAs 25,1
6 CdTe 14,5
9 Perovskite 16,0
Source: CPVS Fig. 3 - PV Home Systems (Photo: Solarqt).
CHINA 57
Thus it can be seen that by the year 2035, 1 kW per person in China
will be achieved.
ABBREVIATIONS:
NDRC: National Development and Reform Commission
NEA: National Energy Administration
CPIA: China PV Industry Association
CPVS: China PV Society
MOF: Ministry of Finance
MIIT: Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
SAT: State Administration of Taxation
MLR: Ministry of Land and Resources
Fig. 4 - PV Home Systems at Quzhou, Zhejiang Prov. ERI: Energy Research Institute
POWER
INSTALLED
YEAR GENERATION
POWER (GW)
(TWH)
PV GENERATION
INSTALLED PV
YEAR AND SHARE
AND SHARE (GW)
(TWH)
COPPER ALLIANCE
THE COPPER ALLIANCE’S ACTIVITIES
FERNANDO NUNO, PROJECT MANAGER, EUROPEAN COPPER INSTITUTE
Fig. 1 - Calama Solar 3. The excellent local radiation conditions, in combination Fig. 2 - Calama Solar 3. This 1 MW power plant provides electricity to the
with the one-axis tracking systems, makes this 1 MW plant to deliver an industrial facilities of División Chuquicamata (the largest open-pit copper mine
outstanding annual generation of 2 900 MWh. in the world) in Chile.
DENMARK
PV TECHNOLOGY STATUS AND PROSPECTS
FLEMMING KRISTENSEN, ENIIG HOLDING LTD., DENMARK
PETER AHM, PA ENERGY LTD., DENMARK
GENERAL FRAMEWORK
The Danish government launched its energy plan called Our Energy
in November 2011, with the vision of a fossil free energy supply by
2050 and interim targets for energy efficiency and renewable energy
by 2020 and 2035, e.g. by 2020, 50 % of the electricity shall come
from wind turbines. The energy plan was finally agreed upon in March
2012, by a broad coalition of parties both inside and outside the
government. The plan, which reaches up to 2020, was further detailed
in the government’s energy statements. In the latest PV relevant
statements of September - October 2017, a new support model has
been agreed upon for the promotion of renewable energy (RE), in
particular PV and wind. The model is based on so called technology Fig. 1 - PV system for Øresundsbroen (the bridge between Denmark and
neutral tenders, initially for the years 2018 and 2019. The tenders Sweden). The power of the system is 255 kWp. System delivered by Helge
will be launched with a defined public economic support ceiling, and Andersen, Solarpark DK A/S, Denmark.
interested stakeholders can submit their bids. The bids with the lowest
cost per kWh produced and exhibiting a solid base will win. The aim
is to get as much RE energy for the public money as possible leaving NATIONAL PROGRAM AND IMPLEMENTATION
the market to decide technology within some framework conditions. Denmark has no unified national PV programme, but during 2018, a
The first such auction round encompassing on-shore wind and PV was number of projects supported mainly by the Danish Energy Authority’s
held September-November 2018, resulting in 17 bids. Of these, three EUDP programme, and some additional technology oriented support
contracts on both wind (165 MW) and PV (104 MW) are expected programmes targeted R&D in the field of green electricity producing
requesting in average a price adder of 0,0228 DKK /kWh (0,003 EUR) technologies, including a few PV projects.
on top of the market price per kWh – far below expectations. With
regard to RE, this plan sets target for the overall contribution from Net-metering for privately owned and institutional PV systems was
RE by 2050, but the previous in-between targets leading up to 2050 established mid 1998 for a pilot-period of four years. In late 2002, the
are no longer in the plan. A new energy plan covering 2020 – 2030 net-metering scheme was extended another four years up to end of
has been politically negotiated in mid-2018, and inter alia confirms 2006. Net-metering has proved to be a cheap, easy to administrate
the principle of technology neutral auctions over the 10-year period. and effective way of stimulating the deployment of PV in Denmark;
Furthermore, coal will be phased out, three large scale off-shore wind however the relative short time window of the arrangement was
farms will be established – however, no targets have been set for PV. found to prevent it from reaching its full potential. During the political
negotiations in the fall of 2005 the net-metering for privately owned
Renewable energy is very much a present and considerable element PV systems was consequently made permanent, and net-metering
in the energy supply. By the end of 2018, more than 45 % of the - during 2012 at a level of approximately 0,30 EUR/kWh primarily
national electricity consumption was generated by renewable energy because of various taxes – combined with dropping PV system prices
sources including incineration of waste. During 2018, PV provided proved in 2012 to be able to stimulate PV deployment seriously, as
2,8 % of the national electricity consumption. Ongoing research, the installed grid connected capacity during 2012 grew from about
development and demonstration of new energy solutions including 13 MW to approximately 380 MW, a growth rate of about 30 times.
renewable energy sources have in principle high priority in the energy For PV systems qualifying for the net-metering scheme, grid-parity
plans, however the amount of R&D funding allocated to RE exhibits was reached in 2012 for the sector of private households.
only modest increases, following previous reductions. Renewable
energy technologies, in particular wind, play an important role This dramatic growth gave rise to political debate towards the end of
with PV still seen as a minor option suffering from go-stop political 2012, and the government announced a revision of the net-metering
interventions preventing a stable market development despite a scheme inter alia reducing the net-metering time window from
proven growing degree of competitiveness. However, the above one year to one hour. During the first half of 2013, a series of new
2020-2030 plan with its technology neutral auction scheme may regulations were agreed politically; this because the consequences
provide a firmer base for of the new regulations were not fully clear to the decision makers
a PV market. at time of the decision and follow up measures were found to be
necessary. By June 2013, the new regulations were finally in place
Regions and municipalities are playing an increasingly more active including transitory regulations, effectively putting a cap on future
role in the deployment of PV as an integral element in their respective PV installations under the net-metering scheme in terms of an overall
climate and energy goals and plans, and these organisations are maximum installed capacity of 800 MW by 2020; for municipal PV
expected to play a key role in the future deployment of PV in the installations the cap was set at an additional 20 MW by 2020. In 2016,
country. However, existing regulations for municipal activities have PV was summarily excluded from the long existing standard FIT for
been found to present serious barriers for municipal PV; with several both wind and PV set at 0,60 DKK/kWh (8,05 EURcent) for the first
municipalities having presently reduced or stopped PV deployment. 10 years and 0,40 DKK/kWh (5,4 EURcent) the following 10 years.
60 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
The above mentioned market uncertainties combined with reduced Fig. 2 - Roof top system from the hospital in the city Skive. The power of the
R&D funding has effectively put the PV market on hold also in 2018; system is 61 kWp. System delivered by Helge Andersen, Solarpark DK A/S,
only about 91 MW installed capacity was added leading to a total Denmark.
installed capacity of just around 1 GW by end of 2018. The amount of
PV installations not applying for the additional support but operating
in the economic attractive “self consumption mode” appears to be strategy aiming at 15 % of the electricity coming from PV by 2035,
growing, but no firm data is available yet. but is now revising this target but being hampered in the process by
the regulatory uncertainties. The association played a key role in the
The main potential for deployment of PVs in Denmark has been previously mentioned revision of the national PV Strategy and has
identified as building applied or integrated systems. However, since initiated a national PV/solar energy conference held in January 2018,
2016 some ground based centralised PV systems in the range of 50 highlighting the possible role of PV/solar energy in the future energy
to 100 MW have been commissioned and later extended. The above system.
mentioned technology neutral auction scheme can be expected to
stimulate this trend. A few PV companies producing tailor-made modules such as window-
integrated PV cells can be found.
The Danish Energy Agency commissioned a revision of the national
PV Strategy in 2015. This revision, which was carried out in There is no significant PV relevant battery manufacturing in Denmark
consultation with a broad range of stakeholders including the Danish at present, although a Li-Ion battery manufacturer has shown interest
PV Association, was completed in the first half of 2016 and can be in the PV market.
found on the website of the Danish Energy Agency. However, the
revised strategy has not received any official recognition, nor has A few companies develop and produce power electronics for PVs,
there since been updates of same strategy. mainly for stand-alone systems for the remote-professional market
sector such as telecoms, navigational aids, vaccine refrigeration and
In early 2016, the Danish Energy Agency forecasted PV to reach telemetry.
1,75 GW by 2020 (5 % of power consumption) and more than 3 GW
by 2025 (8 % of power consumption); these figures are part of a A number of companies are acting as PV system integrators, designing
periodically revised general energy sector forecast, the so called Energy and supplying PV systems to the home market. With the rapidly
Catalogue. So far, there seems to be little, if any, political impact from expanding market in 2012, the number of market actors increased fast,
these forecasts. but since 2013, most start-ups have disappeared.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT Danish investors have entered the international PV scene acting as
R&D efforts are concentrated on silicon processing, crystalline Si cells holding companies, e.g. for cell/module manufacturing in China and
and modules, polymer cells and modules and power electronics. R&D the EU and are increasingly acting as international PV developers.
efforts exhibit commercial results in terms of export in particular for
electronics but also for other custom made components. PV-T modules Consultant engineering companies specializing in PV application in
have received increasing interest. emerging markets report a slowly growing business volume.
Penetration and high penetration of PV in grid systems are as a The total PV business volume in 2018 is very difficult to estimate with
limited effort being researched and verified by small demonstrations, any degree of accuracy due to the small market of around 90 MW
and network codes are reported to be under revision to accommodate and to the commercial secrecy of the PV sector both domestically
a high penetration of inverter-based decentral generation and and internationally. The cumulative installed PV capacity in Denmark
to conform to the EU wide harmonisation under development in (including Greenland) by end of 2018 was estimated to be at
Entso-E/EC. The Danish TSO has published a study indicating that around 1 GW.
up to 7,5 GW PV can be accommodated in the national grid system
without serious problems; 7,5 GW PV will correspond to almost FUTURE OUTLOOK
20 % of the national electricity consumption. The present liberal government has announced the intention to keep
the present level of the annual government funds allocated to R&D
As mentioned above, R&D funding for RE and PV appears to exhibit into energy and renewables with slight increases indicated, and has
lower political priority after 2016, although future increases have been shown little interest in PV as such. However, the before mentioned
indicated. technology neutral auction scheme launched in 2018 may provide
new opportunities for PV. Then, by mid-2018, the decided energy plan
INDUSTRY AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT covering 2020 – 2030 may provide new opportunities for PV, as well.
A Danish PV Association (Dansk Solcelle Forening) was established
in late 2008. With some 75 members, the association has provided The emerging market sector of PV installations for own consumption
the emerging PV industry with a single voice and is introducing appears to be growing, however there is little firm data on this relative
ethical guidelines for its members. The association has formulated a new sub-market.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 61
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
SUPPORT TO RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRATION ACTIVITIES ON PHOTOVOLTAICS AT EUROPEAN UNION LEVEL
FABIO BELLONI, EUROPEAN COMMISSION, DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
PIETRO MENNA, EUROPEAN COMMISSION, DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR ENERGY
Germany
Italy
United
Kingdom
France
Spain
Belgium
Greece
Netherlands
v. research, innovation and competitiveness: supporting
breakthroughs in low-carbon and clean energy technologies by
prioritising research and innovation to drive the energy transition
and improve competitiveness. Fig. 1 - Cumulative installed photovoltaic capacity in some EU countries [3].
Since the Energy Union strategy was launched in February 2015, the The installed PV power capacity in the EU at the end of 2017 could
Commission published several packages of measures to ensure the generate around 120 TWh of electricity or about 4,5 % of the final
Energy Union is achieved. The EU concluded the negotiations of the electricity demand in the Union. A more complete and detailed
“Clean Energy for All Europeans package” end of 2018. The Clean analysis of the EU PV market is given elsewhere [4].
Energy package includes a revised Energy Efficiency Directive, a revised
Renewable Energy Directive, the Energy Performance in Buildings RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMME
Directive, a new Electricity Regulation and Electricity Directive and Horizon 2020 - The EU Framework Programme for the years
new Regulations on Risk Preparedness and on the Agency for the from 2014 to 2020
Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER). The package is completed by Horizon 2020, the EU framework programme for research and
the Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate innovation for the period 2014-2020, is structured along three
Action [2]. The formal adoption of all the new rules will be completed strategic objectives: ‘Excellent science’, ‘Industrial leadership’, and
in the first few months of 2019, marking a significant step towards ‘Societal challenges’ [5].
the creation of the Energy Union and the delivering on the EU’s Paris
Agreement commitments. It empowers European consumers to become An overall view of the budget which is currently being invested on
fully active players in the energy transition and fixes two new targets photovoltaics, under different Horizon 2020 activities, is provided in
for the EU for 2030: a binding renewable energy target of at leas Figure 2.
32 % and an energy efficiency target of at least 32,5 %. For the
electricity market, it confirms the 2030 interconnection target of 15 %,
following on from the 10 % target for 2020. These ambitious targets
will stimulate Europe’s industrial competitiveness, boost growth and
jobs, reduce energy bills, help tackle energy poverty and improve air
quality. Once these policies are fully implemented, they will lead to
steeper emission reductions for the whole EU than anticipated – some
45 % by 2030 relative to 1990 (compared to the existing target of
a 40 % reduction).
DEPLOYMENT
The annual maximum deployment of PV installations in Europe was
reached in the year 2011, when more than 22 GW were installed. After
that year, much reduction in annual installations has been observed. In
2017, the newly installed solar photovoltaic capacity in the European
Union basically stagnated at about 5,9 GW.
A total EU financial contribution of about 165,6 MEUR is for Research and Innovation, the Directorate-General for Energy and
being invested, under H2020, on activities which are related to the Joint Research Centre, participates throughout this process as
photovoltaics1. This contribution is mostly spent for research and a facilitator, also providing guidance. The PV IWG is co-chaired by
innovation actions (33 %), innovation actions (29 %) and grants Germany and the ETIP PV.
to researchers provided by the European Research Council (12 %).
Fellowships, provided under Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions, absorb The IWG is expected to target the following areas of activity:
5 % while actions for SME are at 9 % of the overall investment. (a) Monitoring national support for the PV IP,
Coordination actions, such as ERA-NET, represent 12 % of the budget. (b) Monitoring (global) progress of PV on a technological and
economical level,
SET-PLAN ACTIONS AND INITIATIVES (c) Stimulating additional national or European support for the PV IP,
The SET Plan is the implementing tool for the research, innovation and (d) Outreach and dissemination.
competitiveness dimension of the Energy Union. It aims at supporting
and strengthening partnerships among national governments, industry The European Commission intends to facilitate this process through a
and research actors to enable R&I actions that contribute to deliver Coordination and Support Action (CSA) whose call has been published
on the EU energy objectives. The SET Plan focuses on development in the 2018-2020 Work Programme of Horizon 2020 [8]. A project
of technologies that have the highest and most immediate systemic proposal for PV has been selected under this call. The project, currently
potential for GHG emission reductions, cost reductions and under negotiation between the consortium and Commission services,
improvement of performance. will receive an EU grant of about 1 MEUR. Activities are expected to
support and complement the work of the IWG by e.g. structuring
The SET Plan has proved to be a successful platform for inclusive, joint research proposals, gathering project partners, stimulating private
decision making on concrete R&I activities, through the endorsement investment, and developing a metrics for progress monitoring.
of its Implementation Plans (IPs) [6], covering all energy R&I priorities
of the Energy Union. Countries aim at mobilising funding at national The experience gained in developing the SET Plan IPs will be key
level but also through partnerships with other countries on R&I in advancing specific technology and innovation as well as system
activities that had been previously outlined within the SET Plan integration in general, and will also be instrumental in further
Actions. alignment of energy technology and innovation policies at national
and EU level.
Briefly, the IP for PV identifies a set of 6 technology-related priority
activities for the future development of PV technologies and REFERENCES
applications in Europe [7]: [1] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/energy-union-and-climate_en
1) PV for BIPV and similar applications, [2] https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/energy-strategy-and-energy-union/
2) Technologies for silicon solar cells and modules with clean-energy-all-europeans
higher quality, [3] Global Market Outlook 2018-2022, Solar Power Europe, 2018.
3) New technologies and materials, [4] Arnulf Jäger-Waldau, PV Status Report 2018, JRC, Publications Office of
4) Development of PV power plants and diagnostics, the European Union, 2018
5) Manufacturing technologies (for cSi and thin films), [5] REGULATION (EU) No 1291/2013 of 11 December 2013 establishing
6) Cross-sectoral research at lower TRL. Horizon 2020 - the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation
(2014-2020), OJ L 347/104 (20.12.2013).
Across the proposed actions, the overall volume of investment to be [6] SET Plan delivering results, available at https://setis.ec.europa.eu/
mobilised has so far been identified in broadly 530 MEUR, with the setis-reports/set-plan-implementation-progress-reports
main contribution expected from the SET Plan countries involved, then [7] SET-Plan PV Implementation Plan, available at https://setis.ec.europa.eu/
from industry, finally from the H2020 Framework Programme. Some of system/files/set_plan_pv_implmentation_plan.pdf
the actions are already running. [8] Horizon 2020 Work Programme 2018-2020 - Secure, clean and
efficient energy; topic LC-SC3-JA-2-2018: Support to the realization
After the delivery of the PV IP by the ad hoc PV Temporary Working of the Implementation Plans of the SET Plan, available at
Group in November 2017, a new structure has been put in place to the http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/wp/2018-2020/
purpose of the effective execution of the IP. This body, denominated main/h2020-wp1820-energy_en.pdf
PV Implementation Working Group (IWG), has become operational in
May 2018. Its membership comprises 9 SET Plan countries (Cyprus,
Belgium – Walloon region, Belgium – Flemish region, France,
Germany, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Turkey and Spain) as well
as 12 representatives from the European Technology and Innovation
Platform for Photovoltaics (ETIP PV), industry and research institutions.
The European Commission, represented by the Directorate-General
1 As of 3 /10/2018
FINLAND 63
FINLAND
PV TECHNOLOGY STATUS AND PROSPECTS
KARIN WIKMAN, PROGRAMME MANAGER, INNOVATION FUNDING AGENCY BUSINESS FINLAND
JERO AHOLA, PROFESSOR, LUT UNIVERSITY
FRANCE
PHOTOVOLTAIC TECHNOLOGY STATUS AND PROSPECTS
CELINE MEHL AND PAUL KAAIJK, FRENCH ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (ADEME)
MELODIE DE L’EPINE, HESPUL
Fig. 1 – Urbasolar’s 854 kWp solar canopy over the employee parking lot at the NTN-SNR Cévennes St. Privaden site in France
(Photo: Urbasolar/M. Colin).
The feed-in tariff bonus for small building integrated systems was In September, the French Environment and Energy Management
finally phased out in October, marking the end of more than a decade Agency (ADEME) organised a collaborative workshop with both
of targeted support mechanisms for building integration PV (BIPV). industry and market actors as a first step to updating its Strategic
Feed-in tariffs were mostly stable, with a 0 % to less than 1 % Roadmap for Photovoltaics, that should be published in 2019.
variation across all segments. The tariff revision mechanism is based Stakeholders discussed subjects on a wide variety of topics, from
on the volume of grid connection requests and general inflation – life-cycle manufacturing environmental excellence to social
a low variation indicates low grid connection request volumes. acceptability and consumer confidence.
TABLE 1 – COMPETITIVE TENDERS – VOLUME, CALENDAR AND RECENT AVERAGE BID LEVELS
Wind
Building mounted Ground-based Building mounted
System type Building mounted Innovative solar and/or ground-
systems and systems and systems for
and size systems systems based photovoltaic
parking canopies parking canopies self-consumption
systems
Ground:
Individual system 100 kW 500 kW 500 kW to 30 MW 100 kW to 100 kW 5 MW
size limits to 500 kW to 8 MW Canopies: 1 MW to 3 MW to 18 MW
500 kW to 10 MW
Support Call for Tenders Call for Tenders Call for Tenders Call for Tenders** Call for Tenders Call for Tenders
Mechanism 2017–2019 2017–2019 2017–2019 2017–2020 2017–2019 2018
825 MW
1 050 MW 3,92 GW 450 MW
in 9 calls 210 MW in
Volume in 9 calls of 75 MW in 6 calls of in 9 calls of 200 MW in 1 call
of 75 MW 3 calls of 70 MW
to 150 MW 500 MW to 850 MW 50 MW
to 100 MW
Self-consumption
Remuneration + bonus on PPA (5 MW)
PPA*** FIP**** FIP FIP
type Self-consumption FIP (65 MW)
+ FIP
Average
tendered price 4th call: 4th call: 4th call: 4th call: 1st call: 54,94 EUR/MWh
(or bonus for 82,7 EUR/MWh 72,24 EUR/MWh 58,2 EUR/MWh 29,8 EUR/MWh 80,7 EUR/MWh
self-consumption)
** Call for Tender is not limited to photovoltaics systems; other RES technologies *** PPA = Power Purchase Agreement at tendered rate
are eligible **** FIP = Market sales + Additional Remuneration (Feed in premium) Contract at
tendered rate
T A B L E 2 – P V F E E D - I N - T A R I F F S F O R T H E 4 T H Q U A R T E R O F 2 01 8 ( E U R / K W H )
Average selling price (EUR/Average kWh) Call for Tenders Average selling price (EUR/Average kWh)
0,0827 (4th Call) 100 kW to 500 kW 0,0827 (4th Call)
66 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
R&D ADEME also manages the State’s 3rd “Investing in the Future”
Research and Development for photovoltaics in France ranges from programme (Investissements d’Avenir) that is financing innovative
fundamental materials science, to pre-market development and pre-industrial technologies (for ecological transition topics).
process optimisation – but also includes social sciences. The National In 2018, ADEME ran two different calls related to photovoltaics within
Alliance for the Coordination of Research for Energy (ANCRE) is an the Investissements d’Avenir programme. The call for Renewable
alliance of 19 different research or tertiary education organisations, Energy Projects targeted reducing the cost of energy production
with the goal of coordinating national energy research efforts. (through the development of new products and improving the
Members include the CEA (Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies reliability of RES systems) and reducing the environmental footprint
Commission) and the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research), of RES systems, with a strong accent on replicable actions. Other
whilst the research financing agencies ADEME (Environment and eligible subjects included adapting production sources and developing
Energy Management Agency) and ANR (National Research Agency) are control units to facilitate the integration into smart grids. The two
members of the coordination committee. Innovation Competition calls were part of the SME Initiative that is
jointly managed with bpifrance (see below), and aims to help French
The two major centres for collaboration on photovoltaics, the Institut companies develop innovative products and services and champions
Photovoltaïque d’Ile-de-France (IPVf) and the Institut National de the emergence of international players.
l’Energie Solaire (INES) include significant industrial research platforms,
working with a number of laboratories and industrials across France. Other calls that interacted with photovoltaics include the Call for
Research projects, with a section for active building integration
The IPVf, an industrial-academic partnership, inaugurated its new products and active control systems.
experimental research platform in 2018. This year’s highlights • bpifrance (a French public investment bank) provides,
for it include an efficiency record for the patented new solar cell amongst others, low-cost financing and subsidies for research-
architecture in III-V material by MBE growth (Molecular Beam Epitaxy). to-enterprise technology transfers and technology innovation-
to-market deployment, feasibility studies and accompaniments.
INES works with industrial partners on subjects from building
integration components to grid integration and storage technologies, The first results for the national Innovative Solar Call in the
as well as fundamental research on silicon and cell technologies. In framework of the national call for tenders were published in February.
2018, its work for spatial applications saw the validation of large, There were 164 submissions. However, of the 85 lowest-biding
flexible, modules for the Thales Alenia Space Stratobus project – at candidates, 35 projects were judged ineligible, a rather high rate.
under 4 g/W, these modules, based on technologies for terrestrial More than 70 % of the winning candidates will receive the citizen
applications, will equip the project’s stratospheric dirigible in 2022. investment bonus. Successful candidates include floating PV, linear
bifacial systems, agri-voltaics, and systems or component innovations.
France’s 2018 National Budget has an account dedicated to Energy Despite the national Energy Regulator’s (CRE) proposition to end
Research, with a specific mention for the CEA (Atomic Energy competitive tenders for innovative systems, as estimating the cost of
and Alternative Energies Commission) working on developing experimental systems involves a high level of uncertainty, the 2nd call
very-high-yield PV cells (heterojunction and backside contact) and was not cancelled, but postponed to mid-2019 in order to be reshaped.
building integration. The CEA has teams working in a number of joint
research units, laboratories and facilities. The major show-cases for photovoltaics research in France are the
PVTC (PhotoVoltaic Technical Conference) in April with a focus on
The principal state agencies financing research are: materials and advanced processes to innovative applications, and
• The National Research Agency (ANR), which finances projects the National PV Days (JNPV) in late December at the initiative of the
through topic-specific and generic calls and also through tax Fed-PV, (CNRS PV research federation) and IPVf.
credits for in-company research.
Projects awarded or begun in 2018 through ANR calls include INDUSTRY AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT
both fundamental materials research and photovoltaics-specific Both industry and market stakeholders were present in the
research (organic, Perovskite, etc.) and social sciences (economics government’s solar energy working group that ran from April to
and risks, international studies). June, with three convergent claims: an extension of with open-ended
• The French Environment and Energy Management Agency feed-in tariffs to systems up to 500 kW or 1 MW, regional tariffs
(ADEME) runs its own Calls for R&D on renewable energies and (through regional Tenders or region-based bonuses on tariffs) and a
has an active policy supporting PhD students with topics related modification to energy and financial regulations to allow third-party
to PV, as well as being the French relay for the IEA PVPS and investment in self-consumption systems (direct sales with no excessive
SOLAR-ERA.NET pan-European network. charges and taxes). Only the last subject is currently being studied by
the government, in line with EU directives.
FRANCE 67
2018 saw an increased concentration of the photovoltaic energy Photovoltaics, and their building integration or on-roof installation
production market with over 29 % of the commissioned capacity in accessories, are not considered “traditional building techniques”
the hands of 10 companies [1] - and the top 6 are French. Two major in France, and as such require individual material and installation
players were acquired – one by Engie, one by Total, consolidating procedure certification (Avis Technique) before being accepted as viable
Engie’s position as the major PV generator – but also developer - in solutions by most insurers. Obtaining an Avis Technique is a lengthy
France, with nearly twice the installed capacity as the next company, process, and cost returns are not evident when there is only a small
EDF EN. Two major financial funds, the state’s Caisse des Dépôts and market. The insurer representative body Agence Qualité Construction
Mirova, the “responsible investment” branch of national corporate (AQC), placed most BIPV systems under observation [2] on the
banking and investment firm Natixis, have entered the top 25 through 1st of January, increasing the difficulty of finding decennial
minority participation in a large number of projects. building liability insurance for professionals installing building
integrated photovoltaics systems. Whilst a number of manufacturers
The self-consumption calls were under-subscribed, with less than demonstrated the quality of their products to the satisfaction of the
50 % of the target volumes – and candidates were predominately AQC and had their systems exempted (placed on a Green List), others
for systems on supermarkets, or, less common, on industrial sites. struggled through the year. Installers were also handicapped as no roof
The low level of interest may be attributed to several factors: an mounting kits were certified in 2018, limiting the number of solutions
uncertain and costly tender process, metering requirements that they could present to clients. The AQC published a study on preventing
increase installation costs, and individual capacity limits that electrical risks and has commissioned further studies on risk factors as
both limit scaling economies and may not be significant in terms part of their prevention work.
of surface coverage for potential sites. The combination of these
factors could be resulting in system over-costs, when compared The French Building Federation’s photovoltaics branch (GMPV) upped
to unsubsidised self-consumption systems, which are higher than their investment in accompanying installers and building professionals,
the subsidy gains. The next tender period, with individual size with a number of working groups and workshops, for example on
limits raised to 1 MW, may see a change in subscription rates. installation techniques and insurability.
Carbon footprint and environmental impacts have been a subject Total grid connections added decreased slightly through each quarter
in 2018, with both industry action (the inauguration of France’s first in 2018, and whilst both the commercial segment of systems from
photovoltaics recycling plant in southern France, operating on behalf 100 kW to 250 kW and the domestic segment of systems up to 9 kWc
of PV Cycle), contributions to the European Preparatory Study on a doubled the annual capacity installed in 2018 as compared to 2017, all
PV EcoDesign and Eco-Label, exchanges on photovoltaics carbon other segments stagnated. Overall grid connected volumes grew by an
footprint calculations for the national E+C- building label, estimated 862 MW in 2018 as compared to 875 MW in 2017 and
the continuation of environmental criteria in Tenders and a 587 MW in 2016. Commercial and industrial systems continue to
dedicated discussion group at the ADEME collaborative workshop dominate grid connections, with 72 % of new capacity for 624 MW.
for the revision of its Strategic Roadmap for Photovoltaics.
T A B L E 3 – G R I D C O N N E C T E D C A P A C I T Y A T T H E E N D O F D E C E M B E R 2 01 8 ( P R O V I S I O N A L )
Source: SDES (Department for data and statistical studies, Ministry for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition).
[1] Analysis Finergreen March 2018 [2] See the 2017 report: “under observation” indicates that the AQC considers
that these types of systems may lead to serial liability claims.
68 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
GERMANY
PHOTOVOLTAIC BUSINESS IN GERMANY - STATUS AND PROSPECTS
KLAUS PRUME, CHRISTOPH HÜNNEKES, PROJEKTRÄGER JÜLICH (PTJ), FORSCHUNGSZENTRUM JÜLICH GMBH
GENERAL FRAMEWORK AND IMPLEMENTATION photovoltaic (PV) systems. At the same time, there is a reduction of
The expansion of renewable energies is one of the central pillars in the net installed electricity generation capacity of fossil (-1,1 GW) and
Germany’s energy transition. The overall objective is an environmental nuclear (-1,3 GW) power plants [1, 2].
friendly, reliable and economical feasible energy supply. Accordingly, In 2018, a capacity of 2,96 GW PV power (as a first estimate) has
Germany’s electricity supply is becoming “greener” every year as the been newly installed in Germany (see Figure 2) which is a noticeable
contribution made by renewable sources is constantly growing. In increase compared to the previous years and in good accordance
2018, approximately 38 % of the gross electricity consumption was with the intended annual additions of 2,5 GW. This results into
covered by renewable energy. This makes renewables an important a total installed PV capacity of 45,3 GW connected to the German
source of electricity in Germany. Thereof 8 % are generated by electricity grid [3].
10,0 50
7,9 8,2
40
Cumulative installed PV capacity [GW]
8,0 7,4
Annual installed PV capacity [GW]
6,0 30
4,4
4,0 20
3,0
2,6
2,0 1,8
2,0 1,5 10
1,3 1,2 1,3
1,0 0,8
0,7
0,1
0,0 0
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018*
Fig. 2 - Development of grid connected PV capacity in Germany, *first estimate as of January 2019.
GERMANY 69
10,00
9,17 auction evaluation phase
8,48 PV auctions
8 mixed technology
8,00
Average funding rate [Eurcents / kWh]
7,41 7,25
6,9
6,58
6,00 5,66
5,27
4,91
4,67 4,59 4,69
4,33
4,00
2,00
0,00
Apr Aug Dec Apr Aug Dec Feb Jun Oct Feb Apr Jun Oct Nov
15 15 15 16 16 16 17 17 17 18 18 18 18 18
NATIONAL PROGRAMME
The responsibility for all energy related activities is concentrated For small PV systems < 100 kWp, a fixed FiT is paid which depends
within the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). mainly on the system size and the date of the system installation. The
Up to now, the main driving force for the PV market in Germany is the FiT is adapted on a regular basis, depending on the total installed PV
Renewable Energy Sources Act [4]. The 2017 revision of the Renewable capacity of the last twelve months. Details on the development of the
Energy Sources Act is the key instrument to achieve effective annual FiT can be found in [7]. Table 1 shows the development of the FiT for
quantitative steering and to bring renewable energies closer to the small rooftop systems (< 10 kW) installed since 2002.
market. Funding rates for renewable electricity systems with more than
750 kW installed power are determined via a market-based auction Moreover, investments in residential PV installations are attractive
scheme [5]. In 2018, a total volume of approx. 575 MW was awarded even without financial support by a Feed-in-Tariff. Offers for PV
in three auctions for ground-mounted photovoltaic installations. rooftop systems of 10 kW with a price of 10.000 EUR are accessible.
Additional 400 MW of two technology independent mixed auctions The Levelized Costs of Energy (LCOE) for these systems are around
(PV and onshore wind) were solely awarded to PV systems. The calls 12 EURcents / kWh whereas the average electricity price for a private
were characterized by a high degree of competition. The proposed household is around 29 EURcents / kWh [8]. Therefore, private
capacity was significantly over-subscribed. The average funding homeowners have an interest in maximizing the self-consumption
awarded in the auctions for ground-mounted PV installations can be from their PV systems. Nearly every second new residential PV system
found in Figure 3 which shows a good efficiency of the process [6]. is now installed with a battery storage system, too.
Medium size photovoltaic systems below 750 kW are still eligible This development is fostered by the continuation of a market
with a guaranteed Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) for a period of 20 years. Systems stimulation program for local stationary storage systems in
with more than 100 kW power capacity are obliged to direct marketing conjunction with small PV systems (< 30 kWp) [9]. The program is
of the generated electricity. A feed-in premium is paid on top equipped with a sum of 30 MEUR and is designed to run from March
of the electricity market price through the so-called “market 2016 until end of 2018.
integration model”.
TA B L E 1 – D E V E L O P M E N T O F T H E F E E D - I N TA R I F F ( F I T ) F O R S M A L L R O O F TO P S Y S T E M S ( < 10 K W )
YEAR 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012* 2013* 2014* 2015* 2016* 2017* 2018* 2019*
EURcents/
48,1 45,7 57,4 54,5 51,8 49,2 46,75 43,01 39,14 28,74 24,43 17,02 13,68 12,56 12,31 12,31 12.20 11,47
kWh
* adjusted by a flexible monthly degression rate between 0 – 2,8 % throughout the year
70 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
No. of projects
activities. Within the framework of the new Energy Research
Mio. €
90
Programme, the BMWi as well as the BMBF (Federal Ministry of
Education and Research) support R&D on different aspects of PV. 180
The main parts of the programme are administrated by the Project 60
Management Organisation (PtJ) in Jülich.
90
Funding Activities of the BMWi 30
In conjunction with the new Energy Research Programme, the BMWi
released a new call for tenders in October 2018 which reflects the
0 0
targets of the new energy research program. Concerning PV, the call
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
addresses specific focal points which are all connected to applied
research:
• Efficient process technologies to increase performance and reduce Fig. 4 - R&D support and quantity of PV projects funded by BMWi
costs for silicon wafer and thin film technologies (BMU) in the 6th and 7 th EFP .
• New PV materials and cell concepts (e.g. tandem perovskite
solar cells) platform for players from industry, universities, research institutes and
• Quality and reliability issues of PV components and systems politics. It is a source of inspiration for the future focus of research
• System technology for both, grid-connection and island PV plants, on renewable energies to the BMWi and gives concrete ideas for the
• Cross-cutting issues like Building Integrated PV (BIPV), implementation of thematic topics or support concepts. Two recent
Vehicle-integrated PV (ViPV) or avoidance of hazardous materials major outcomes are the expert recommendations for the consultation
and recycling of PV systems. process towards the 7th Programme on Energy Research mentioned
above and a position paper on PV production technologies [13].
In 2018, the BMWi support for R&D projects on PV amounted to about The Research Network is an open expert forum for all interested
76,9 MEUR shared by 433 projects in total. That year, 98 new grants stakeholders. In Germany more than 2 000 researchers and more than
were contracted. The funding for these projects amounts to 84,7 MEUR 65 companies are active in research for photovoltaics.
in total. The development of funding activities is summarized in
Figure 4. The German contributions to most of the PVPS Tasks are part Funding Activities of the BMBF
of the programme. Details on running R&D projects can be found via a From September 2015 on, the BMBF relaunched its energy related
web-based database of the Federal Ministries [11]. funding under the “Kopernikus” initiative. Under this scheme
cooperative research on four central topics of the German Energy
Network on Research and Innovation in the field of Photovoltaics Transition are addressed: storage of excess renewable energy,
The energy transition will only succeed if all stakeholders work development of flexible grids, adaption of industrial processes to
together especially in the field of research and innovation. Therefore, fluctuating energy supply, and the interaction of conventional and
the BMWi coordinates the close and ongoing dialogue between renewable energies.
the relevant stakeholders by initiating high-level energy transition
platforms. This also creates a high level of transparency, contributing INDUSTRY AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT
to greater public acceptance of the energy transition. The Research In 2018, once again a significant drop of approximately 25 percent in
and Innovation Platform acts as an advisory body for the BMWi, module prices was observed. This requested for additional cost savings
hosting a dialogue on the strategic direction of energy research with and put not only the German but also the global PV industry under
the national stakeholders in the Federal Government and the business pressure. At the same time, German manufacturers of components,
and scientific communities [12]. machines and plants still benefit from a continued global investment
of the solar industry in photovoltaic-equipment. The VDMA (Verband
Underpinning the Research and Innovation Platform the Network Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau, Mechanical Engineering
on Research and Innovation in the field of Renewable Energies Industry Association) specialist group on PV reported in the first
was founded in 2016. PV and wind power are the two pillars of three quarters of 2018 an 41 percent increase in sales compared
this network. The network serves as an information and discussion with the previous year [14]. Beside these activities, significant added
GERMANY 71
Fig. 5 - Building integrated PV facade on a multi-storey car park (Photo: © PtJ / Klaus Prume).
value arises from industrial engagement in poly-silicon and module [9] Market stimulation program for local stationary storage systems in
production, inverter technologies and the installation, operation and conjunction with small PV-systems: https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/EN/
maintenance of systems. Together with a strong research community a Artikel/Energy/research-priorities-energy-storage.html
workforce of approximately 35 800 people were employed in the solar [10] The 7th Energy Research Programme “Innovations for the Energy
industry in 2016 [15]. Transition” of the Federal Government, see https://www.bmwi.de/
Redaktion/EN/Artikel/Energy/research-for-an-ecological-reliable-and-
affordable-power-supply.html
REFERENCES [11] Research project database (in German), see http://foerderportal.bund.de
[1] Energy charts Germany published by Fraunhofer ISE: https://www. [12] BMWi Research and Innovation Platform, see https://www.bmwi.de/
energy-charts.de/power_inst.htm?year=2018&period=annual&type=i Redaktion/EN/Artikel/Energy/research-and-innovation-platform.html
nc_dec [13] BMWi Network on Research and Innovation in the field of Renewable
[2] Press release of the BMUB (Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Energies, “Expert recommendations for the consultation process towards
Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety): https://www.bmub.bund.de/ the 7th Programme on Energy Research” and “Position paper on PV
en/pressrelease/minister-hendricks-nuclear-phase-out-progressing/?tx_ production technologies”, see https://www.energieforschung.de/home
ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=2643 [14] VDMA - German Engineering Federation: https://www.vdma.org/en/
[3] Publication of the BMWi (Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and v2viewer/-/v2article/render/27601805
Energy): [15] BMWi study: https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Publikationen/Studien/
http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/EE/Redaktion/DE/Bilderstrecken/ erneuerbar-beschaeftigt-in-den-bundeslaendern.pdf?_ blob=
entwicklung-der-erneuerbaren-energien-in-deutschland-im-jahr-englisch. publicationFile&v=8
html - Differences compared to numbers published previously are related
to differences between the data collection of the Bundesnetzagentur
(Federal Network Agency) and the transmission system operators (TSOs).
[4] Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG 2017), Federal Ministry for
Economic Affairs and Energy, see http://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/EN/
Downloads/2016-revision-of-the-renewable-energy-sources-act.html
[5] Bundesnetzagentur (BNA) market scheme auction process (in German):
https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/DE/Sachgebiete/ElektrizitaetundGas/
Unternehmen_Institutionen/Ausschreibungen/Ausschreibungen_node.html
[6] Info graphic of the BMWi on the decrease of the average funding rate:
http://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/EN/Infografiken/Energie/eeg-wettbewerb-
2017.html
[7] Feed-in-Tariffs for 2015/2016 can be found at www.bundesnetzagentur.de
[8] Study from Fraunhofer ISE: Levelized costs of electricity for renewable
energy technologies: https://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/content/dam/ise/
en/documents/publications/studies/EN2018_Fraunhofer-ISE_LCOE_
Renewable_Energy_Technologies.pdf
72 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
ISRAEL
PHOTOVOLTAIC TECHNOLOGY STATUS AND PROSPECTS: AN UPDATE
YAEL HARMAN, TECHNOLOGIES 6 RENEWABLE ENERGY SECTION MANAGER, MINISTRY OF ENERGY
GENERAL FRAMEWORK
In 2016, the Israeli government decided on a series of steps designed During 2018, several steps were taken to simplify new PV construction
to ensure that Israel meets its target of 17 % Renewable Energy and strong incentives were given to rooftop PV, as it is the easiest and
(RE) electricity production (in energy terms), and 17% reduction in quickest to install (in comparison to solar fields). The rooftop efforts
electricity use by 2030, compared to business as usual [1]. The RE are expected to yield approximately 480 MW in 2019.
target includes interim targets of 10 % in 2020 and 13 % in 2025. Although renewable energy is more competitive than ever, it is clear
During 2016-2017, the Public Utility Authority (PUA) allocated a that in order to achieve a high percentage of electricity production
quota of 1 600 MW for PV, which led, in 2018, to the installation of from variable RE, Smart Grid is essential. Initial steps to support
475 MW. The total RE capacity in Israel has increased accordingly to Smart Grid have been taken by the Office of the Chief Scientist at
1 450 MW, a 37 % increase in total solar capacity compared with the Ministry of Energy (mainly through funding of R&D and pilot
2017; a fourfold increase in annual installations compared with the projects).
previous year, and twice the installations of the former best year
(2015). Overall, Israel has reached the level of about 4 % of Beginning in 2016, the electricity price in Israel started to increase. In
RE electricity generation in 2018. 2018, the price of electricity increased by 2,9 % to 0.47 ILS (excluding
VAT), yet it is still lower than the price in 2006.
PV systems are still the most abundant RE resource in Israel,
accounting for approximately 95 % of installed capacity. Israel continued its trend of switching from coal to natural gas. In
2018, 70 % of the electricity production came from gas. In 2018
Two large PV projects started construction in 2017: 60 MW in Natural Gas price in Israel for electricity generation was for about
Mashabei and 120 MW in Tze’elim. Both projects are expected to be 4,8 USD per MMBTU.
gridconnected in 2019. Two more projects, the largest CSP fields in
Israel, 242 MW in total, located at Ashalim, are in their final testing NATIONAL PROGRAMME
phases, and are expected to be fully operational early in 2019. 2018 marked a significant change in Israel’s energy market with
Combined with other projects in development, PV installations in a major reform in the Israeli energy market, the publication of the
2019 might reach 700 MW. 2030 objectives for the energy market, and strong promotion for
rooftop solar.
600 1 400
Annual Installed
Cummulative installed
Cummulative installed PV capacity [MW]
475
450
Annual installed PV capacity [MW]
1 050
300 700
250
200
170
155
150 350
94 102
43 38
0 0
0 0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
year
Fig. 1 - Development of grid connected PV capacity in Israel through 2018.
[1] Among the steps that were taken was an allocation of funds for energy
efficiency projects
ISRAEL 73
Reform in the Electricity Market rules, as in Israel the bilateral sale of renewable electricity was not
The electricity sector in Israel is dominated by the vertically allowed prior to the introduction of these new provisions. Quota
integrated Israel Electric Corporation (IEC). On June 2018, the Israeli for net-metering were finished in 2018 and are not expected to be
government approved a reform initiated by the Ministry of Energy, extended.
Ministry of Finance, and the PUA. The reform was designed to
increase competition in the electricity generation market by reducing RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
IEC shares in the generation segment, separate the system operator The Ministry of Energy supports R&D under three main programs,
activity from the IEC, open the supply segment to competition, and which are operated by the Office of the Chief Scientist at the
strengthen IEC in the transmission and distribution segment. The Ministry:
reform provides great opportunities for new players in the market • Direct support for academic research - support is 100 % for
and is expected to have a significant impact on the electricity market research projects.
in Israel. • Support for startup companies - support is 62,5 % for projects
with technology innovation.
Publication of the Ministry of Energy Plan for the Year 2030 • Support for Demonstration and Pilot programs - support is 50 %
In 2018, the Ministry of Energy published its long-term plan to for commercial deployment of novel technologies.
“Rescue Israel from Polluting Energy”
• Discontinuation of the Use of Coal: By the year 2030, Coal To facilitate higher penetration of PV systems, high priority research
will not be used in electricity production, except perhaps as topics include improved efficiency of PV systems, and storage.
emergency backup. In 2018, the Office of the Chief Scientist received a relatively large
• Integration of Renewable Energy: A target of 17 % production numbers of academic proposals especially in the fields of tandem
from renewable energy by the year 2030 with interim targets of cells and combination of CS and PV to increase efficiency. The office
10 % by the year 2020 and 13 % by 2025. The plan specifies that supported six projects related to solar and PV with total investment
the targets will be re-evaluated in 2022, with the option to raise of ~1 M$ out of total budget of ~10 M$.
them, if technologically favorable.
• Transition to Clean Transportation: Electricity and Natural Among the current supported projects are:
Gas. By the year 2030, import of gasoline- or diesel-fueled SolCold Ltd: SolCold is developing a nano-based coating material
automobiles to Israel will be prohibited. that creates cooling when exposed to sunlight. As cooling expenses
• Transition to Clean Energy in the Industrial Sector based on are increasing year after year, the proposed technology reduces
natural gas. cooling costs and saves energy. The technology is a multi-layered
• Promotion of Energy Efficiency to meet the goal of electricity material activated by anti-stokes fluorescence in response to
consumption reduction objective of at least 17 % by the year sunlight, thus converting the internal heat into radiation and cooling
2030. below the ambient temperature. The cooling power is expected to
reach 20 W/m2, which may save up to 60 % in air-conditioning costs.
1,6 GW Regulatory Framework for Rooftop Solar The material can be applied to buildings, cars, trucks, containers,
In 2018, the PUA published a new rooftop regulatory framework airplanes, clothes, and many more items.
for the next three years. The scheme included net metering, FITs
for small-scale solar, and a series of tenders. The scheme regulates
the installation PV on household roofs, commercial and industrial
facilities, public buildings, parking lots, pergolas, water reservoirs and
fish ponds. Under the new framework, PV projects up to 15 kW will be
eligible for net metering [2], or apply for a 25-year FIT (not indexed
to inflation) of 0,48 ILS (0,137 USDcents)/kWh. Furthermore, the
framework will support PV systems ranging in size from 15 kW to
100 kW, with a 25-year FIT of 0,45 ILS (0,129 USDcents)/kWh (not Fig. 2 – SolCold’s logo for its new coating material.
indexed to inflation). The framework entails a series of tenders,
starting in the upcoming summer. The minimum capacity to be Luminescence Solar Power: The two biggest challenges in solar
allocated in a single tender will be 50 MW. A participant can energy today are how to increase its efficiency and how to store
either sell all electricity to the grid at the winning tariff, or sell the utility-scale electricity at competitive prices. Until now, the only
electricity to other consumers who are connected to same solar method to reliably store such energy has been thermal energy storage
rooftop. Lastly, the PUA permits construction of PV outside of the (TES) which is combined with Concentrated Solar Power (CSP). Yet,
framework for self-consumption with a low tariff of only 0,16 ILS while the demand for CSP is increasing, the combined production and
(0,045 USDcents)/kWh for the surplus. This is a major change of PUA storage cost is still much higher than photovoltaics.
[2] A quota of 400 MW was set for net metering. This quota was already
claimed in full. A quota of 400 MW was set for net metering. This quota was
already claimed in full. A quota of 400 MW was set for net metering. This
quota was already claimed in full.
74 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
ITALY
PV TECHNOLOGY STATUS AND PERSPECTIVES
EZIO TERZINI, ENEA
SALVATORE GUASTELLA, RSE
Fig. 1 – Regional distribution and trend of PV installations in Italy (updated in November 2018) (Source: TERNA Sistema elettrico).
B) Support to the Investments Fig. 2 – Hybrid concentrated PV-T, 2-axis tracking system (c.f. 60X –1,7 kW
Tax Breaks E-power – 4,0 kW T-power) under test at ENEA Portici Research Centre.
The scheme of tax breaks allows some or all expenses associated
with small PV installation (power less than 20 kW) to be deducted
from taxable income streams by 50 % of the plant costs. European Commission’s Innovation Radar has identified RSE as “Key
White Certificates (or Energy Efficiency Certificates) innovator”), concerning the MOVPE (Metalorganic Vapour-Phase
Companies and public institution, carrying out structural energy Epitaxy) integration of the SiGeSn ternary material in III-V based
efficiency measures (comprising also PV installations), are entitled structures for the realization of monolithic high efficiency – low
of the White Certificates having a market value and a profitable cost four junction solar cells. RSE is also committed in the design of
trading, so helping the investment return time. new optics and advanced solar tracking methods, as well as in the
Over-amortization set-up of new methodologies for outdoor and indoor CPV module
This measure allows professionals, commercial bodies and characterization.
companies to increase up to 130 % the fiscally recognized cost of
new capital goods (including PV systems). Moreover, RSE is engaged in the development of new quaternary
calcogenides PV thin film cells made of chemical elements abundant
RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRATION on the earth’s crust to ensure a potential large penetration of PV
In Italy, research, development and demonstration activities in the technology.
field of PV technology are mainly led by ENEA (the Italian Agency for
New Technology, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development), Furthermore, RSE carries out research and demonstration activities
RSE (a research company owned by GSE), CNR (the National Council for enhancing the production of the existing Italian PV plants (i.e.
for Scientific Research), Eurac, ENEL, several universities and other by O&M strategies, based on advanced diagnostic techniques, and
research institutes, including company’s organizations. by repowering techniques) and for enhancing the RES penetration
into the microgrids of small islands not connected to the national
ENEA is the most relevant research organization in the photovoltaic electric grid. These activities are carried out in the frame of EU
technology sector in Italy. In the field of PV devices the activities projects (i.e. EU H2020 GOPV) and Italian government commitments.
are focused on high efficiency tandem cells based on c-Si or
heterojunction (a-Si/c-Si) rear cells and CZTS or perovskite single The PV Energy Systems Group of the Institute for Renewable Energy
junction top cell. Some effort is also in place to combine PV materials of EURAC is active in three core areas. In the first area “Performance
with energy–efficient building materials. The research activities and Reliability”, the activities are focused on the definition of
also include the analysis of LCA aspects and the development various methodologies for the calculation of degradation rates in
of technologies for the recovery of materials from discontinued PV performance using data from PV systems from different climates
photovoltaic modules. worldwide. In the second area “BIPV field”, EURAC is managing a
database for BIPV products and BIPV case studies. The strong focus
For the advancement of PV systems and plants ENEA develops of the group is on giving support to early design of BIPV projects in
technologies and components for flat, concentrated (CPV), hybrid various demo cases in Italy and around Europe. In the frame of the
concentrated (PV-T) (Fig. 2) and BIPV systems. Moreover, it is involved third area “PV grid integration”, EURAC has access to large amount
in the development of “digital PV” by implementing systems, processes, of data coming from more than 2 000 PV plants located in the
components and models for maximization of producibility, storage, region and it is investigating the impact of PV in the distribution
grid integration, automation of diagnostics and O&M. grid by developing new algorithms for forecasting, by assessing
the hosting capacity, and by analysing the impact of mitigation
RSE is the main research organization carrying out activities on high option such as storage. Finally, EURAC is a point of reference for
efficiency solar cells in Italy, developing multi-junction solar cells O&M operators developing methodologies linked to “Industry 4.0” to
based on III-V-IV elements and nano-structured coating for high assess the failure rate in the field and the relevant economic impact.
concentration applications (CPV), in the frame of the Italian electric
system research programme RdS (Ricerca di Sistema) and European Enel is involved in R&D activities especially in its Innovation Hub
projects (the last one, CPV Match, concluded at the end of 2018). In located in Catania (Sicily), where research and innovation in the PV
particular, RSE is pursuing an original research path (for which the and RES sectors are being stimulated through a technology campus
and an accelerator for startups.
ITALY 77
An important industrial initiative is represented by 3SUN, formerly a the improvement on module production with the installations of large
company controlled by ENEL, which in April 2018 has become a unit PV plants. This is the case of FuturaSun which has filed the patent for an
of ENEL Green Power Group. Located in Catania, 3SUN continues to innovative Italian technology for the automatic stringing of
be the main Italian PV factory and one of the biggest in Europe. In 12 busbars cells (that triples the factory production capacity) and has
2018, 3SUN started the installation of new manufacturing lines based installed in Italy about 50 MW PV plants in grid parity (Fig. 4) and others
on innovative silicon heterojunction technology by converting its in foreign counties (i.e, Germany and Brazil).
production lines from the double junction silicon thin-film modules,
with annual capacity of 200 MW/y. Today it has almost completed Moreover, several Italian PV operators are focused on large size plant
the conversion process and has started to produce bifacial modules management and maintenance services in Italy. Generally, they aim
with glass-glass structure (Fig.3). The first phase of the project started at optimizing performances and reducing costs through integrating
in 2018 and consisted in implementing a module assembly line, management, control and maintenance of big ground plants into single
with nominal capacity of 80 MW/year, by manufacturing bifacial platforms.
modules, using bifacial PV cells purchased from external suppliers.
This was a learning phase thought to better develop 2m2 area bifacial In the field of concentrating photovoltaic (CPV), some Italian operators
modules with glass-glass and frameless structures, before expanding are actives (Solergy, Beghelli Bechar and SUNGEN), with prototypes
to bigger volumes of manufacturing of complex bifacial HJT cells. developed in EU funded projects, and are implementing systems both
The manufacturing of such bifacial modules, having a conversion mirror and lens based, passively or actively cooled.
efficiency of about 18 % and a bifacial factor of 90 %, started in
July 2018 and is ongoing. Subsequently, in June 2019, the lines will FUTURE OUTLOOK
be switched to HJT bifacial cell and modules manufacturing with a The National Energy Strategy (SEN) is one of the main instrument
nominal capacity of more than 200 MWp/year. The HJT modules will of general programming and address of the Italian energy policy. In
have an efficiency of 20 % with a very high bifacial factor, which will addition, more recently, the above mentioned PNIEC, presented to
allow to achieve lower levelized costs of energy due to additional EU for evaluation, has raised the target of energy production from
energy generation with respect to mainstream technologies, because renewables from 28 % (SEN target) to 30 % by 2030. In consideration
of high bifacial behaviour and very good thermal stability. of these targets, the PV electricity production should reach a value
of 75 TWh, more than three times the current value. To this aim, Italy
needs to encourage the growth of PV in order to reach a value of
about 50 GW of total installed power; that is an installation rate of
about 2,5 GW per year (2019-2030),more than six times the current
annual installation rate. Concrete actions to favour a development of
PV market towards the aforementioned objectives are foreseen by the
Decree for Renewable Sources (Decreto FER1), prepared and completed
in 2018 but not yet formally issued.
JAPAN
PV TECHNOLOGY STATUST AND PROSPECTS
HIROYUKI YAMADA, NEW ENERGY AND INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION (NEDO)
OSAMU IKKI, RTS CORPORATION
Fig. 1 - Road Surface PV System (Seven-Eleven Chiyoda Nibancho Store) (Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo). About 10,000 kWh/year for the installation of 100 m2.
GENERAL FRAMEWORK
The Japanese government reviewed the Fourth Strategic Energy Plan, 40,4 GWAC started operation. Japan’s annual PV installed capacity
which was formulated in 2014 as the national energy policy, and the in 2018 is estimated to be 7 GWDC, and its cumulative PV installed
Fifth Strategic Energy Plan was approved by the Cabinet in July 2018. capacity is expected to reach the 56 GWDC level.
The Fifth Strategic Energy Plan focuses on ensuring realization of the
2030 energy mix and clearly states that it would position renewable NATIONAL PROGRAM
energy as a mainstream power source, for the first time in the history (1) Feed-in Tariff (FIT) program for renewable energy power
of energy policy. Furthermore, the challenge toward energy transition generation facilities
and decarbonization, looking ahead to 2050, is described as the METI is taking initiative in introducing PV systems under the FIT
direction of Japan’s long-term energy policy. program. In FY 2018, the FIT levels for PV systems were set lower
than those of the previous fiscal year. The tariff for PV systems with
Following the formulation of the Fifth Strategic Energy Plan, the a capacity of 10 kW or more was set at 18 JPY/kWh (excl. tax) for the
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) started to develop period of 20 years. For PV systems with a capacity of below 10 kW,
new rules, policy measures and guidelines toward making renewable the tariffs were set as follows, for the period of 10 years: 1) 28 JPY/
energy a mainstream power source from the viewpoint of power kWh for FY 2018 (26 JPY/kWh for PV systems which are not required
generation cost and business environment, and toward establishing to be equipped with devices to respond to output curtailment)
the next-generation network to support the large-volume introduction and 2) 26 JPY/kW for FY 2019 (24 JPY/kWh for PV systems which
of renewable energy from the viewpoint of grid interconnection and are not required to be equipped with devices to respond to output
dispatching ability. Specifically, improvement of the environment curtailment). While the tariffs are planned to be set on a mid- to
toward the large-volume introduction of renewable energy has been long-term basis, the tariff for FY 2020 has not been decided yet and
accelerated and strengthened by promoting acceleration of cost it will be decided at an appropriate timing in the future. In the period
reduction and independence from the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) program, from July 2012 when the FIT program started to the end of June 2018,
securement of long-term stable business operation, co-existence with total capacities of approved PV systems with a capacity of below
community, implementation of the Japanese version Connect and 10 kW, between 10 kW and below 1 MW and 1 MW and more are
Manage, reform of network costs, thorough disclosure of information, 5,8 GWAC, 29,0 GWAC and 36,4 GWAC, respectively, amounting to
strengthening of industrial competitiveness and responses to 71,2 GWAC in total.
FIT-approved projects which have not started operation.
METI revised the Renewable Energy Act and enforced it from April
The Ministry of the Environment (MoE) formulated the Program to 2017. Major points of the revision are transition of approval scheme
promote the acceleration and maximization of renewable energy, and from facility approval to PV project business plan approval, which
is making efforts to maximize dissemination of renewable energy with examines business plans of PV projects, and the introduction of a
the leadership of companies and local governments, by promoting a tender scheme for PV systems with a capacity of 2 MWAC or more. In
combination of renewable energy, energy conservation and energy December 2018, METI decided new measures to address FIT-approved
storage as a base. PV projects with a capacity of 10 kWAC or more which have not
started operation, in order to curb the financial burden of the nation.
Regarding the approved and the commissioned capacities of PV METI will take measures such as the application of appropriate
systems under the FIT program which took effect in July 2012, a total purchase price depending on the timing of start of operation, as well
of 71,2 GWAC (as of the end of June 2018, including cancelled and as setting a deadline for starting operation.
revoked projects) of PV systems have been approved, of which
JAPAN 79
The total approved capacity as of the end of June 2018 decreased by conducted on a weekend in the autumn, when the electricity demand
more than 10 GWAC from 84,5 GWAC as of the end of March 2017, decreased. The output curtailment was conducted 8 times in total in
because the approval of PV projects for which connection contracts October and November 2018. Before that, Kyushu Electric reported at
with electric utilities were not signed was cancelled, following the a METI council meeting on how they inform power producers of the
start of the new FIT scheme in April 2017. Mainly among large-scale output curtailment and the implementation procedures. In remote
PV projects, it takes time for many PV projects to start operation islands with isolated electric grids, output curtailment was conducted,
after they have obtained approval due to the issues of development similar to the previous year. It has been indicated that output
permission and grid connection. Only 40,4 GWAC of FIT-approved curtailment is likely to be conducted in the future in the electric grids
PV systems started operation, of which approximately 2,6 GWAC of the Shikoku region, etc. In case output curtailment is conducted,
started operation between January and June 2018, an 18,3 % decrease the Organization for Cross-regional Coordination of Transmission
year on year. METI’s data on commissioned capacity as of the end of Operators (OCCTO) verifies it following the guidelines and the results
June 2018 are the latest data available (as of January 25, 2019). of the verification are released.
In and after April 2017, information on approval of a PV project In order to actualize the environmental value of renewable energy
business plan for PV systems with a capacity of 20 kW or more has and the like, the non-fossil value trading market was established and
been released. Although it takes time for examination, approval the first tender was conducted in May 2018. Non-fossil certificates
has steadily made progress. As of October 31, 2018, the capacity of equivalent to FIT electricity generated between April and December
approval of PV project business plan for PV systems with a capacity of 2017 are subject to the tender. 26 companies purchased the non-fossil
20 kW or more reached about 350 000 projects totaling 54,7 GWAC, certificates with a total contracted electricity amount of approximately
including commissioned projects. 5,16 GWh. The weighted average price of the contracted amount was
1,30 JPY/kWh, which is the lowest bid price, and the income through
As for the tender scheme, the second and the third tenders were held the tender amounted to around 6,7 MJPY. The revenues gained
for PV projects with a capacity of 2 MWAC or more. Similar to the through the trading of non-fossil certificates of FIT electricity will be
first tender, the purchase price was decided by the pay-as-bid scheme, used for reducing the financial burden of the nation. The non-fossil
under which the bidding price is set as the purchase price. The tender certificates bidden by and awarded to electricity retailers can be used
target capacity for the second tender was 250 MWAC and the ceiling for achieving the target of the Act on the Promotion of the Use of
price was not disclosed. 19 PV projects totaling 393 MWAC applied Nonfossil Energy Sources and Effective Use of Fossil Energy Source
for participating in the tender, of which 15 projects (334 MWAC) were Materials by Energy Suppliers and the Act on Promotion of Global
qualified. However, out of the 15 projects, 9 projects (197 MWAC) Warming Countermeasures (ratio of non-fossil power source in
actually participated in the tender. According to the tender results 2030: 44 %, equivalent to 0,37 kg-CO2/kWh), as well as for appealing
released, there was no bid winner, since all the bids exceeded the to customers. In addition, considerations are underway to utilize
ceiling price of 15,5 JPY/kWh. Following the first tender, the bidding non-fossil certificates for RE 100 and other corporate initiatives on
capacity fell below the tender capacity for two tenders in a row. The the procurement of renewable energy-based electricity. The scheme
tender target capacity for the third tender was 197 MWAC and the regarding trading of non-FIT and non-fossil certificates has been
ceiling price was not disclosed. 38 projects totaling 761 MWAC applied designed for residential PV systems, for which surplus power has
for participation, of which 32 projects (637 MWAC) were qualified, been purchased under the FIT program since November 2009 and the
and 16 projects (307 MWAC) actually participated in the tender. purchase period will expire from November 2019 onwards.
13 projects out of the 16 projects bid with the price below the ceiling
price of 15,5 JPY/kWh, and 7 projects with the lowest bid prices, (2) METI’s budget related to the dissemination of PV power
totaling up to the tender target capacity, won the bid. The highest generation
bid was 15,45 JPY/kWh, and the project with the bid price same as METI’s budget related to resources and energy focuses on three pillars
the ceiling price lost the bidding. The lowest bid was 14,25 JPY/kWh as follows: 1) Accelerated reconstruction of Fukushima Prefecture; 2)
and the weighted average winning bid was 15,17 JPY/kWh, which Low carbonization of energy utilization and 3) Enhancement of energy
confirmed the effects of cost reduction through the introduction security. The amounts of budget regarding technology development
of the tender scheme. The Fifth Strategic Energy Plan, which was and installation support of PV systems and related fields vary largely.
approved by the Cabinet in July 2018, showed the direction of making There was only one new project, the “Project to develop technology to
renewable energy a mainstream power source toward 2030, and the reduce amount of output curtailment of renewable energy,” for which
key issue is to accelerate further cost reduction. 4,6 BJPY including the FY 2017 supplementary budget was allocated.
Among the major projects related to technology development and
Following the increase in installations of naturally variable renewable demonstration, 5,4 BJPY was allocated to the “Technology development
power sources such as PV and wind power generation systems, project to reduce levelized cost of energy of PV power generation,”
output curtailment was conducted on the dates and the hours when 5,78 BJPY for the “R&D project to develop technology to address
the power generation amount was forecasted to exceed the demand. output fluctuations of electric grids,” 4,1 BJPY for the “Demonstration
In the mainland Kyushu region, the first output curtailment was projects to establish virtual power plants using consumer-side energy
80 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
Fig. 2 - Large-scale PV systems on farmland (Gotemba PV Power Plant No. 1 & No. 2) (Gotemba City, Shizuoka Prefecture). “SPLITMAX” PV modules using half-cut cells (by
Trina Solar) (335 W).
resources,” and 8,93 BJPY for the “Demonstration projects to establish the Rational Use of Energy (Energy Saving Act)” and so on. As a budget
supply chain of hydrogen derived from unused energy.” As for support item to realize these efforts, the budget was continuously allocated
of dissemination, 7,0 BJPY was appropriated for “Projects to promote to the “Green housing in local community” (11,5 BJPY), etc. Moreover,
local production and local consumption of energy taking advantage of 9,148 BJPY was allocated for the “Enhancement of disaster prevention
local characteristics” and 7,5 BJPY for “Projects to support promotion functions of governmental facilities which serve as disaster prevention
of renewable energy introduction in Fukushima Prefecture.” bases,” some amount (exact amount is unknown) was allocated for
“Expenses related to sewage projects” which is designed to promote
(3) Efforts by other ministries and local governments related to disaster prevention and reduction measures for sewage facilities. In
the dissemination of PV power generation these efforts, introduction of renewable energy is also a significant
The Ministry of the Environment (MoE) appropriated 8,5 BJPY for a issue. In order to secure safety of maritime transportation routes in
new project, the “Project to promote low-carbonization of houses by case of disaster, the budget amount for “Disaster prevention measures
establishing net zero energy houses (ZEHs), etc. (in partnership with for aids to navigation” was increased from 5,08 BJPY in FY 2017 to
METI/ partly MLIT).” For this project, 7 799 applications were made 8,33 BJPY in FY 2018.
in FY 2018, of which 7 100 applications were selected. Other new
projects include the “Project to establish a stand-alone/ distributed The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) is
energy system utilizing hydrogen” (1,0 BJPY), the “Project to establish continuously implementing a subsidy program to support introduction
information for environment-friendly introduction of renewable of PV systems in facilities for agriculture, forestry and fisheries, in
energy” (0,8 BJPY), the “Project to promote low-carbonization by order to promote introduction of renewable energy to these industries.
utilizing green bonds and funds in communities” (0,95 BJPY), and the With the budget (included in 1,8 BJPY) for the “Introduction and
“FS project on low-carbon and resource-cycling ‘creation of towns and utilization of renewable energy,” MAFF is supporting efforts, etc.
living’” (0,2 BJPY). MoE decreased the budget amount for the “Project to utilize the advantages of the renewable energy projects for the
to promote self-sustainable dissemination of renewable energy-based development of regional agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
electricity and thermal energy” from 8,0 BJPY to 5,4 BJPY. This project
received 342 applications in FY 2018, of which 86 applications were The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and
made by local and public organizations. 166 projects were selected, Technology (MEXT) has been actively promoting the introduction
and PV systems, etc., for self-consumption or local production for local of renewable energy in relation to promoting measures to improve
consumption of electricity were introduced. quake resistance of educational facilities and measures against aging
facilities. MEXT has been continuously committed to the “Realization
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of clean and economical energy system,” which aims to promote R&D
(MLIT) obliges the buildings to conform to the energy conservation to overcome energy and global environmental issues. MEXT increased
standards, in response to the “Act on Improvement of Energy the budget for the “Project to create future society (promotion of high
Consumption Performance of Buildings”, the “Revised Act Concerning risk and high impact R&D),” which is designed to promote R&D on
innovative energy technology from 0,4 BJPY to 0,68 BJPY.
JAPAN 81
Among local authorities, applications were invited for subsidy JST supports research activities mainly through universities and
programs to support the introduction of residential PV systems and research institutes. Under the “Advanced Low Carbon Technology
storage batteries, etc. Through partnerships with private enterprises, Research and Development Program (ALCA)” of the “Strategic Creation
activities to promote local production and local consumption of Research Promotion Program”, development on PV-related technology
electricity have been expanding further. Toward making renewable is continued, focusing on high quality silicon quantum dot PV, organic
energy a mainstream power source, co-existence with community thin-film PV (OPV) and perovskite PV technologies. Under the ALCA
and long-term stable operation have become significant subjects, project, R&D on the next-generation storage batteries is also underway
which has led to promoting the formulation of ordinances and as a specially-prioritized technology field. In the “Future Society
guidelines for appropriate installation of PV systems. In addition, for Creation Project” which started in FY 2017, R&D on Pb-free perovskite
sharing information among government ministries and agencies as PV and ultra-thin type c-Si triple junction PV has been promoted,
well as municipalities, the “Liaison committee regarding sustainable with the aim of “Realizing low-carbon society with ‘game-changing
introduction of renewable energy in local communities” was newly technology’.” Under this project, in 2018, development of low-cost
established. grid system toward large-volume introduction of renewable
energy-based power sources was selected, for the purpose of “realizing
R&D, D ultra-smart society.” Furthermore, under the “Project to deploy R&D
R&D accomplishments,” development of the next-generation PV technology
As for R&D activities of PV technology, the New Energy and Industrial using organic materials and new semiconductor materials, as well as
Technology Development Organization (NEDO) conducts technology development of high-performance wavelength conversion materials
development towards commercialization, which is administered by for solar cells, etc. has been supported. In 2018, development of
METI, and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) conducts ultra-flexible OPV was selected as a new subject of the public-private
fundamental R&D, which is administered by MEXT. joint research.
Fig. 3 - Ground-mounted PV System (Setouchi Kirei PV Power Plant) (Setouchi City, Okayama Prefecture). Approximately 235 MW multicrystalline silicon PV modules
“TSM-260PC05A” (by Trina Solar) and PV modules (by Yingli Green Energy).
management technologies in Portugal, Slovenia, Poland and China, in batteries, high output PV cells and modules as well as building
order to expand introduction of renewable energy and promote energy material integrated products, focusing on residential PV systems for
conservation. self-consumption, while utilizing OEM products from abroad.
NEDO has also conducted a demonstration project on technology Following the deceleration of the domestic PV market, Japanese
to address global warming since FY 2011 under the Joint Crediting manufacturers are promoting business restructuring, through
Mechanism (JCM). In FY 2018, with the initiative of the private integration of their production bases, as well as selection and
sector, a demonstration project including PV power generation was concentration of products for sale. Furthermore, they intend to shift
conducted in Indonesia. Under the JCM, an investigation on formation their business models from the conventional business of selling
of demonstration projects was also conducted. In FY 2018, a feasibility PV cells and modules to offering proposals for installation including
study on the project to promote dissemination of desalination system self-consumption type PPA models and O&M services, electricity
using PV power generation was selected. trading and acceleration of overseas business development and so on.
Furthermore, in Japan, demonstration projects on large-capacity In the area of PV inverters, new products have been launched one after
storage battery systems are being conducted by electric utilities as another. Among large-capacity products, new products were released,
part of support programs by METI and MoE, aiming to expand possible with features such as high output, outdoor use, compact models,
grid connection capacity of renewable energy and to control the grid. self-consumption and distributed type inverters, as well as those for
Supported by METI, a demonstration project on the establishment of low voltage and ground installations. For residential applications, new
virtual power plant (VPP) is also conducted in the form of a large-scale products such as hybrid storage systems were launched. Full-scale
consortium. METI and MoE also conduct a demonstration project on entries into overseas markets have started, and announcements
ZEB and PV technologies which have been adopted for a large number were made on a plan to expand overseas sales activities, mainly in
of energy creation facilities. Discussion on the use of block chain Southeast Asia. Tabuchi Electric, through Business Revitalization ADR
technology has also started. MoE started a demonstration project to (Alternative Dispute Resolution) procedures, is advancing its business
trade the portion of CO2 emissions reduction by households through reconstruction with the support of Diamond Electric.
introduction of PV systems, etc. Electric utilities and energy service
providers started discussion on the development of electricity trading In the area of mounting structures, float systems for floating
service by using block chain technology and plans of demonstration PV systems and products for solar sharing (PV system installation
tests were announced. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) on farmland while continuing agricultural activities) using
conducted a demonstration test on the “service to keep surplus PV greenhouses were released.
electricity,” in order to address the 2019 issue (in 2019 onwards, the FIT
surplus power purchase period of residential PV systems will expire). In the housing industry, companies, mainly homebuilders, are actively
NEDO started construction of the world’s largest-scale hydrogen-based launching packaged products for net zero energy houses (ZEH).
energy system using renewable energy in Fukushima Prefecture. Proposals by companies affiliated with electric utilities and those
dealing with housing facilities on PV system installation models with
INDUSTRY STATUS AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT no initial cost are rapidly increasing. Among ZEH-related products,
In the PV cell/ module and PV system business in Japan, the presence Sekisui Chemical and Misawa Homes sell ZEH as apartments for rent.
of overseas manufacturers has been rapidly increasing. While the Some manufacturers are proposing ZEH in combination with storage
Japanese PV market itself is gradually shrinking, there are many cases systems. As such, competitions are intensifying. In addition, Panasonic
where low-priced non-Japanese PV products are selected for both and Sekisui Chemical are developing a large-scale smart town, which
industrial and residential PV applications. Overseas PV manufacturers will be equipped with a whole range of smart products. Efforts on the
are strengthening their activities in Japan by expanding their local “Zero Yen PV installation model”, under which PV systems are installed
sales offices. A large number of manufacturers launched new products with no initial cost at consumers’ sites and generated electricity is
such as sc-Si PERC solar cells and new wiring technologies. Major supplied to the consumers, were announced by several companies
Japanese manufacturers are proposing new products such as storage such as LIXIL TEPCO Smart Partners, TEPCO HomeTech, YKK AP/Huis
JAPAN 83
Ten Bosch/TEPCO HomeTech, NTT Smile Energy/Denka Shinki, Okinawa implementation of solar sharing, a service to match farmers and
Co-op Energy, Home Equipment Assist/Shikoku Electric Power/STNet, PV-related business operators was announced. Also, a service to
TEPCO HomeTech/Solar Frontier, and CANAME. Installation models support establishment of VPP has started.
using lease programs by Looop and other companies are also
on the rise. In the area of PPS (power producer and supplier), announcements
were made on proactive supply of renewable energy-based electricity
In the area of electricity storage, demonstration projects are taking into account of achieving the global initiative RE 100, as well
increasing, in addition to the launch of new products for PV systems. as services to purchase PV electricity to address the 2019 issue, in
Announcements were made by manufacturers on the development addition to proposals for new entries and new menus. As for new
and the releases of electricity storage systems with improved entries, while major electric utilities are entering the PPS business
performances and safety for various applications such as residential, through the establishment of venture businesses, entries by regional
medium- and large-scale applications, those for VPP and those PPS in partnership with municipalities have continued. Investment in
integrated with EV charging stations. Hybrid systems of storage emerging companies by major businesses and their partnerships is also
batteries and inverters are also increasing and entries into overseas advancing, which is leading to establishing an infrastructure to trade
markets have started. As to demonstration projects, there were quite renewable energy-based electricity, business for local production and
a few cases where manufacturers and trading companies introduced local consumption of electricity in rural areas, and the P2P trading
storage systems overseas for local production and local consumption business among individuals. For the supply of renewable energy-based
of electricity through partnerships with local entities. In Japan, ELIIY electricity, announcements were made on the combination of FIT
Power started a demonstration test to establish a large-scale VPP, in electricity and green electricity certificates, utilization of non-fossil
partnership with nine Japanese companies. value certificates and J-Credits, as well as menus of supplying
electricity with zero CO2 emissions coefficient. Electricity trading with
In the area of PV power generation business, construction and block chain technology is also making progress.
operation of a number of PV power plants are starting one after
another, mainly large-scale PV power plants taking advantage of In preparation for the termination of the FIT surplus power purchase
the FIT program. An approximately 235-MW PV power plant, one of period of residential PV systems, major electric utilities and gas
the largest PV power plants in Japan, developed by Setouchi Future companies have already announced that they will purchase the surplus
Creations LLC and Kuni Umi Asset Management started operation in power, while PPS, who are leading this business field, as well as major
Setouchi City, Okayama Prefecture. Furthermore, an increasing number PV system manufacturers also made announcements on their plans
of MW-scale floating PV power plants and those for solar sharing, as to purchase surplus power. Some companies disclosed their purchase
well as PV-wind hybrid systems started operation. Overseas project prices. For example, Smart Tech announced that they will purchase
development has been promoted in full scale, and announcements PV electricity for 10 JPY/kWh as a limited time offer, up by 2 JPY/kWh
were made on the projects in Vietnam (JGC, Sharp, etc.), Indonesia from the regular price of 8 JPY/kWh.
(Fujisaki Electric, etc.), Taiwan (Kyuden Mirai Energy, etc.), Saudi Arabia
(SoftBank, etc.) and so on. Development of PV power plants without As for the finance-related business, supply of funds for large-scale
taking advantage of the FIT program has also been observed. In order newly-built PV power plants both home and abroad as well as
to expand its supply capabilities, NTT Facilities started soliciting compound renewable energy systems is growing in particular. Financing
candidates for its development partner. options for users are increasing, including green bonds, infrastructure
funds, syndicate loans, crowdfunding and loans for solar sharing.
In the area of the PV power generation business support service, Operation of power generation facilities by lease companies is gaining
a variety of menus are being proposed following the expansion of momentum. An increasing number of companies are joining RE100 and
PV installations. In addition to the activities to enhance remote providing information to ESG investment.
monitoring services including remote monitoring of inverters,
proposals on the service to forecast power generation amounts and
electricity demands are advancing. Toward improving efficiency of
inspection work on MW-scale PV power plants, automatic inspection
and analysis services for PV systems using drones are increasing, while
three-dimensional survey service for PV installations has emerged.
Other announcements include the establishment of a mass production
framework of PV module cleaning robots, packaged service of
maintenance and power sales compensation of low-voltage
PV systems and so on. In order to strengthen the business of reuse
and recycle of PV modules, companies are establishing their bases
to collect PV modules across Japan. Regarding the service to support
84 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
REPUBLIC OF KOREA
TECHNOLOGY STATUS AND PROSPECTS
DONGGUN LIM, KOREA NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF TRANSPORTATION
Fig. 1 - Roof mounted PV system at National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, Seoul, Korea.
Energy). The RPS replaced the FIT Scheme from 2012. In Korea,
21 (in 2018) obligators (electricity utility companies with electricity
generation capacity exceeding the 500 MW) are required to supply
10% of their electricity from NRE sources by 2023; up from 2 % in
2012. In 2018, 1 897 MW was installed under this programme. The
RPS is expected to be the major driving force for PV installations in
the next few years in Korea with improved details such as boosting
the small scale installations (less than 100 kW) by adjusting the
REC and multipliers, and unifying the PV and non-PV markets.
To further enhance the predictability of profit (to attract project Fig. 2. Zero-energy house, Seoul, Korea.
financing entities), the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE)
launched a new long-term (20 years) fixed price (SMP+REC) RPS
scheme in 2017. This scheme has an advantage of guaranteeing the (3) Building Subsidy Programme
long-term power purchase with a fixed price which is determined by The government supports a certain portion (depending on the building
the market-following system including competitive bidding. MOTIE type) of installation cost for PV systems (below 50 kW) in buildings
also launched 15 of 29 projects in a new REC multiplier scheme, in excluding homes. In addition, the government supports maximum
which there is a maximum 20 % increase in the REC multiplier when 80 % of initial cost for special purpose demonstration and pre-planned
community residents are involved in the projects. Grid connection of systems in order to help the developed technologies and systems
PV systems is guaranteed up to 1 MW by the Government since 2017. to diffuse into the market. Various grid-connected PV systems were
The newly adjusted REC multiplier scheme based on five evaluation installed in schools, public facilities, welfare facilities as well as
criteria (economic feasibility, environmental effect, potential, industry universities. In 2018, 16,9 MW was installed under this programme.
promotion effect, and policy priority) is summarized below.
(4) Regional Deployment Subsidy Programme
TABLE 1 – REC MULTIPLIERS IN RPS In an effort to improve the energy supply & demand condition and
to promote the development of regional economies by supplying
region-specific PV systems that are friendly to the environment, the
ELIGIBLE ENERGY SOURCE
MULTIPLIER government has been promoting the regional deployment subsidy
Installation Type Details programme designed to support various projects carried out by local
government. The government supports up to 50 % of the installation
1,2 Less than 100 kW
costs for NRE (including PV) systems owned and operated by local
1,0 On land 100 kW ~ 3 000 kW authorities. In 2018, 17,9 MW was installed under this programme.
More than 3 000 kW
0,7 (5) Convergence and Integration Subsidy Programme for NRE
On forestland Regardless of capacities
A consortium led by either local authority or public enterprise with
Less than or equal NRE manufacturing companies and private owners can apply for
1,5 On building or to 3 000 kW this subsidy programme. This programme is designed to help diffuse
existing facilities the NRE into socially disadvantaged and vulnerable regions and
1,0 More than 3 000 kW
classes such as islands, remote areas (not connected to the grid),
1,5 Floating on the water surface long-term rental housing district, etc. Local adaptability is one of the
most important criteria, thus the convergence between various NRE
resources (PV, wind, electricity and heat) and the complex between
(2) Home Subsidy Programme areas (home, business and public) are primarily considered to benefit
This programme was launched in 2004 that merged the existing from this programme. In 2018, 25,6 MW was installed under this
100 000 Solar-Roof Installation Programme. Although the 100 000 programme.
solar-roof deployment project was to install PV system in residential
houses, the One Million Green Homes Plan focuses on a variety of (6) PV Rental Programme
resources such as PV, solar thermal, geo-thermal, and small wind. Household owners who use more than 350 kWh of electricity can
In general, detached and apartment houses can benefit from this apply for this programme. Owners pay PV system rental fee (maximum
programme. The Government provides 60 % of the initial PV system monthly 70 000 KRW which, on the average, is less than 80 % of
cost for single-family and private multi-family houses, and 100 % for the electricity bill) for a minimum of seven years and can use the PV
public multi-family rent houses. The maximum PV capacity allowed is system with no initial investment and no maintenance cost for the
3 kW. In 2018, 78,1 MW was installed under this programme. rental period. PV rental companies recover the investment by earning
PV rental fees and selling REP (Renewable Energy Point) having no
multiplier. In 2018, 21,1 MW was installed under this programme.
86 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
(7) Public Building Obligation Programme The RPS scheme was the main driver for PV installation in 2018, and
New buildings of public institutions, of which the floor area exceeds a remarkable size of 2 057 MW was recorded. At the end of 2018, the
1 000 square meters, are obliged by law to use more than 21% (in total installed PV capacity was about 7 429 MW; among them, the
2017) of their total expected energy usage from newly installed NRE PV installations that were made under RPS scheme accounted for
resource systems. Public institutions include state administrative 84,9 % of the total cumulative amount.
bodies, local autonomous entities, and state-run companies. The
building energy obligation share will increase up to 30 % by 2020. In
2018, 68,6 MW was installed under this programme.
R&D, D
The KETEP (Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and
Planning) controls the biggest portion of the MOTIE-led national
PV R&D budget and managed a total of 67 BKRW in 2018.
The PV R&D budget was about 61 % for c-Si area and about 36 % for
next-generation thin film area.
MALAYSIA
IR. DR. SANJAYAN VELAUTHAM, CEO, SUSTAINABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, MALAYSIA
WEI-NEE CHEN, CHIEF CORPORATE OFFICER, SUSTAINABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, MALAYSIA
Fig. 1 - 30 MW Large-scale solar (LSS) plant by Gading Kencana Development Sdn Bhd in Bidor, Perak.
[1] Malaysians are categorised into three different income groups: [2] Unless specified, all PV capacities in this report are dc-rated.
Top 20 % (T20), Middle 40 % (M40), and Bottom 40 % (B40). B40 group
has median income of 3 000 MYR per month.
88 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
announced the enhanced NEM which will allow surplus to the grid with employment of 536. For ingot, wafer, solar cells and PV
to be compensated on a one-to-one basis with the retail rate. This modules manufacturing, the total estimated nameplate capacity
enhanced NEM will commence 1st January 2019. In 2018 alone, the was 14 187,4 MW with employment of 21 404. Figure 2 shows the
new operational capacity under the NEM was 7,227 MW. major PV manufacturing statistics in Malaysia classified under four
categories for 2018 and 2019 (estimate): Metallurgical and Poly
INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT Silicon, Ingot and Wafer, Solar Cells, and PV Modules.
On the PV manufacturing front, Malaysia remains a significant PV
producer (after China and Taiwan). It was estimated that over 90 % of Within the PV industry, there were 108 PV service providers active in
the PV products were exported to Europe, US and Asia. the market in 2018. The list of these registered PV service providers for
2018 can be found in www.seda.gov.my.
In 2018, the total metallurgical grade silicon (MGS) and polysilicon
manufacturing nameplate capacity remained at 20 kilotons
M E TA L S I & P O LY S I 2 01 8 2 01 9 ( E S T I M A T E )
No. Company Name Capacity (kilo ton) Employment Capacity (kilo ton) Employment
INGOT/WAFER 2 01 8 2 01 9 ( E S T I M A T E )
2 LONGi (Kuching) Sdn Bhd (wafer, P-type mono) 1 000 175 1 000 175
CELL 2 01 8 2 01 9 ( E S T I M A T E )
MODULE 2 01 8 2 01 9 ( E S T I M A T E )
MOROCCO
PHOTOVOLTAIC TECHNOLOGY STATUS AND PROSPECTS
BADR IKKEN, GENERAL MANAGER, IRESEN
AHMED BENLARABI, RESPONSIBLE FOR PV SYSTEMS, IRESEN
Constructions
Coal started in 2018,
34 % Erfoud, Missour, operation of the
Noor Tafilalt 120 MW
Wind Zagora plant expected
19 % in first quarter of
2019
[1] PAREMA, Les énergies renouvelables et l’efficacité énergétique au Maroc, [4] https://www.medias24.com/MAROC/Quoi-de-neuf/182319-Solaire-les-
September 2017, GIZ Maroc premiers-appels-d-offres-du-projet-Noor-PV-II-lances-dans-quelques-mois-
[2] https://www.usinenouvelle.com/article/plan-solaire-2020-du-maroc-39-deja- Bloombreg.html
en-developpement-selon-l-agence-publique-masen.N357893 [5] https://www.medias24.com/MAROC/ECONOMIE/ECONOMIE/180565-Bakkoury-
[3] PAREMA, Les énergies renouvelables et l’efficacité énergétique au Maroc, En-2020-nos-objectifs-seront-depasses.html
September 2017, GIZ Maroc [6] Ministry of Energy, Mines, and Sustainable Development
90 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
IRESEN is also setting up a new platform, the Green and Smart Even though the importations during the beginning of the 21st
Building Park, dedicated to smart-grids, energy efficiency, and green century were low, a clear exponential growth in importation that
mobility. Among the different research projects, the integration of started in 2014 is to be noted. Since then, the amount of progression
renewable technologies in buildings, especially BIPV, and the study has been growing reaching a peak worth of 1 184 682 339,00 MAD
of impact of different micro-grid interacting between each other will (108 803 176,74 EUR) in 2016.
0
1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016
1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015
Fig. 3 - Graph of importation of PV modules from 1998 to 2016.
[7] www.iresen.org [9] PV Status Report 2018, JRC Science for Policy Report, 2018
[8] https://renewablesnow.com/news/to-the-point-almaden-morocco-to- [10] http://www.douane.gov.ma/adil/
commission-250-mw-pv-production-line-629574/
THE NETHERLANDS 91
THE NETHERLANDS
PV TECHNOLOGY STATUS AND PROSPECTS
OTTO BERNSEN & SAQIB BUTT, NETHERLANDS ENTERPRISE AGENCY RVO, ENERGY INNOVATION
Supporting schemes for the implementation of solar power are varied DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS
and complementary. For small rooftop systems, a net metering scheme New market segments are being explored notably the integration of
exists and for larger systems over 15 kWp the SDE+ scheme is available, solar panels in buildings, infrastructure, including floating, and vehicles.
which is basically a reversed auction system. For collective PV systems, For these specific niche markets, dedicated platforms are formed by
a tax reduction system is in place called the “Postcoderoos”, covering industry and the universities together. The latest is the platform for
members with a similar postal codes. An energy label is mandatory (the floating solar panels, on the sea, as well as on the river and lakes
EPC) for newly built houses coming onto the market, which stimulates https://www.zonopwater.nl/.
the installation of rooftop PV panels. As of 2020 all new buildings will
need to be almost “energy neutral”. Several provinces and municipalities IMPLEMENTATION AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT
offer additional local subsidies for solar panels. The PV market showed sustained growth and a continued acceleration
in 2018 with an estimated added amount of 1 400 MWp installed
The renewable energy subsidy (HE), with 50 MEUR budget a year, is a capacity (CBS). The percentage of RES has risen from 14 % to an
generic innovation scheme for all renewable energy sources, including estimated 15 % in 2018 of total electricity production. The share
combinations with storage for example, targeting the Dutch Climate of PV has risen from 13,22 % to 17,50 % of the total amount of RES
goals for 2030 and technologies that save on the SDE+ expenses in (see Table 2).
future years. The goal is the accelerated introduction of new products
to the market in order to reach the national climate goals with lower The expectations for 2019 are that these amounts will still increase
expenses. and that more social organisations will become involved in the
implementations, such as waterships, municipalities and housing
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES cooperatives. At the same time, measures and incentives are being
In 2018, much as in previous years, a R&D budget of around 7,5 MEUR discussed for specific niche markets that have potential to grow, but
for solar divided over the two program lines of the TKI Urban energy which are still facing specific barriers.
”solar technologies” and ”multifunctional building parts” exists. In
addition, there are separate programs for fundamental research (NWO
and STW), for renewable energy and technical innovation in general TABLE 2 – SOLAR POWER AS A % OF TOTAL RES
and specific programs for SMEs. The granted R&D project can be
found in the publication below. https://www.topsectorenergie.nl/sites/
Renewable Energy Sources as Part of Total
default/files/uploads/Urban%20energy/publicaties/Projectcatalogus/
Renewable Energy Generation
Projectcatalogus_UE_projecten_2018.11.30.pdf
100 %
Research into solar technologies, production and applications is 90 % 28,38 % 26,76 %
80 % 38,24 % 33,27 %
dispersed in the Netherlands over many universities including Utrecht, 70 % 13,22 % 17,50 %
Leiden, Amsterdam, Delft, Nijmegen, Groningen, Eindhoven, Twente. 60 % 8,43 % 10,62 %
More fundamental research is conducted also at the institutes AMOLF 50 %
40 %
in various groups, such as Nanoscale Solar Cells, Photonic Materials 30 % 52,58 % 55,46 % 57,83 % 55,22 %
and Hybrid Solar Cells; see their website at http://www.amolf.nl/ 20 %
research/nanoscale-solar-cells/ and DIFFER https://www.differ.nl/ 10 %
0% 0,75 % 0,65 % 0,56 % 0,52 %
research/solar-fuels. 2015 2016 2017 2018
Water Wind PV Biomass
INDUSTRY STATUS
The Dutch solar sector is varied and complementary with an Source: CBS.
established international market position and new start-ups every
year. New technologies are developed and introduced and in 2018, the
test site for bifacial solar modules which has been completed at the
headquarters of Tempress in Vaassen deserves special mention. The
site is used to monitor the outdoor performance of bifacial PV module
technologies and compare this with their monofacial counterparts. It is
a joint effort with Yingli and other partners, and the bifacial modules
are expected to improve module performance by over 30 %.
NORWAY
PHOTOVOLTAIC TECHNOLOGY STATUS AND PROSPECTS
TROND INGE WESTGAARD, THE RESEARCH COUNCIL OF NORWAY
Fig. 1 - This supermarket in Trondheim has a combination of building integrated Fig. 2 - Wall of a supermarket in the Oslo area, where the façade is a
PV panels in the façade, standard solar panels on the roof, battery storage, combination of building integrated PV panels and wood materials. This project
and energy wells. The project received support from ENOVA SF due to its also received support from ENOVA SF. In addition to combining energy efficient
innovative combination of energy efficient technologies (Photo: Geir Fikke, technologies, this project made extensive use of wood materials in the building
Solenergi FUSen AS). design (Photo: Trygve Mongstad, Solenergi FUSen AS).
GENERAL FRAMEWORK
Norway’s electricity production is already based on renewable energy installation and 1 250 NOK per installed kW maximum capacity up to
due to the availability of hydropower. In normal years the electricity 15 kW. This programme is now extended to also incorporate leisure
production from hydropower exceeds the domestic electricity homes with grid connection.
consumption. In 2018, hydropower generated 95 % of the total
electricity production of 147 TWh, while the gross domestic electricity Surplus electricity from small, privately operated PV systems can be
consumption was 137 TWh. The generation from wind power is transferred to the grid at net electricity retail rates (i.e. excluding grid
increasing from year to year due due to increased installed capacity, costs, taxes and fees). Small suppliers are exempt from specific grid
and it is now 2,6 % of the total electricity generation. The hydropower connection fees that are generally charged from electricity suppliers.
generator capacity can, under normal circumstances, satisfy peak Such installations are not allowed to exceed a limit of 100 kW electric
demand at any time. power feed-in to the grid.
Norway and Sweden operate a common electricity certificate market Enova SF has a programme that supports energy efficiency projects
to stimulate new electricity generation from renewable energy sources. for commercial buildings and residential apartment buildings. This
This market-based support scheme is in practice not accessible for programme has e.g. supported construction of supermarkets that have
small scale producers due to the registration fees. combined PV panels with other innovative energy saving technologies
(Figure 1 & Figure 2).
In this situation where electricity already is provided from renewable
energy sources, PV systems are predominantly installed on residential RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
and commercial buildings for self-consumption of the electricity The Research Council of Norway (RCN) is the main agency for public
produced by the systems. funding of research in Norway. Within the energy field, it funds
industry-oriented research, basic research, and socio-economic
NATIONAL PROGRAMME research.
Norway has no defined goals when it comes to implementation
of PV technology. The electricity certificate market is technology The total RCN funds for solar related R&D projects, mostly in PV,
neutral, and it is only relevant for hydropower, wind power, and PV were approximately 83 MNOK (10 MUSD) for 2018. Most of the R&D
installations on commercial rooftops. To compensate for this, the projects are focused on the silicon chain from feedstock to solar
public agency Enova SF subsidizes up to 35 % of the installation costs cells research, but also related to fundamental material research and
for grid connected residential PV systems at a rate of 10 000 NOK per production processes.
94 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
Leading national research groups and industrial partners in PV NorSun manufactures high performance monocrystalline silicon
technology participate in the Research Center for Sustainable Solar ingots and wafers at its plant in Årdal in western Norway. Annual ingot
Cell Technology (http://www.susoltech.no), which is funded by RCN production capacity exceeds the equivalent of 400 MW of solar panel
and Norwegian industry partners. The research activities are within capacity. Most of the ingots are converted to wafers utilizing diamond
silicon production, mono- and multi-crystalline silicon ingots and wire sawing at the Årdal plant.
wafers, solar cell and solar panel technology, and use of PV systems in
northern European climate conditions. The total center budget is Norwegian Crystals produces monocrystalline silicon blocks
240 MNOK (31 MUSD) over its duration (2017–2025). in Glomfjord in northern Norway. The capacity of the factory is
equivalent to 400 MW per year. The company also supplies wafers to
There are six main R&D groups in the university and research institute its customers.
sector of Norway:
• Institute for Energy Technology (IFE): Focuses on polysilicon The Quartz Corp refines quartz at Drag in northern Norway. Parts of
production, silicon solar cell design, production, characterization, this production are special quartz products that are adapted for use in
and investigations of the effect of material quality upon solar cell crucibles for melting of silicon.
performance. A solar cell laboratory at IFE contains a dedicated
line for producing silicon-based solar cells. Additionally, there Scatec Solar is a provider of utility scale solar (PV) power plants and
are two labs - a characterization laboratory and a polysilicon an independent solar power producer (IPP). The company develops,
production laboratory, featuring three different reactor types. builds, owns, and operates solar power plants. The present portfolio of
• University of Oslo (UiO), Faculty of Mathematics and Natural power plants has a capacity of approximately 600 MW, consisting of
Sciences: The Centre for Materials Science and Nanotechology power plants in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. Large projects
(SMN) is coordinating the activities within materials science, are under construction in Malaysia, Argentina, South Africa, and Egypt.
micro- and nanotechnology.
• Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) IMPLEMENTATION
Trondheim: Focus on production and characterization of solar The Norwegian PV market is small on an international scale. In total,
grade silicon. approximately 23 MW of PV capacity was installed in 2018, which
• SINTEF Trondheim and Oslo: Focus on silicon feedstock, refining, resulted in an accumulated PV generation capacity of approximately
crystallisation, sawing and material characterization. 68 MW. Reduced installation costs for both commercial and
• Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU): Focus on residential rooftop installations are the main market driver.
fundamental studies of materials for PV applications and
assessment of PV performance in high-latitude environments. Installation rates of PV systems depend on how financially attractive
• Agder University (UiA): Research on silicon feedstock. Renewable such investments are for companies and for home owners. The
Energy demonstration facility with PV-systems, solar heat combination of moderate and very season dependent solar resources
collectors, heat pump, heat storage and electrolyser for research in Northern Europe, relatively low electricity prices, and moderate
on hybrid systems. financial support is important in this aspect.
The Northern Research Institute (Norut) in Narvik also has a research The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) has
group that is active in silicon solar cell research and testing of PV proposed new rules for grid connection tariffs. This proposal aims
systems under arctic conditions. at what is claimed to be a fairer distribution of grid costs compared
to the existing tariffs. NVE’s proposal would have had negative
INDUSTRY AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT consequences for PV installations where the owner also requires
The Norwegian PV industry is divided between “upstream” materials relatively high peak power from the conventional grid. On the other
suppliers and companies involved in the development of solar power side PV installations that reduce peak power demand will potentially
projects. The industry supplies purified silicon, silicon blocks, and benefit from the new tariffs. The proposal was met with criticism for
wafers in the international markets. Solar power project development being unpredictable for consumers, and a review of a proposal with
is to a large extent oriented towards emerging economies. minor revisions takes place in 2019.
PORTUGAL
PHOTOVOLTAIC TECHNOLOGY STATUS AND PROSPECTS
ANTONIO JOYCE, LNEG (LABORATORIO NACIONAL DE ENERGIA E GEOLOGIA)
ISABEL CABRITA, DGEG (DIRECAO GERAL DE ENERGIA E GEOLOGIA)
JOSE MEDEIROS PINTO, APREN (ASSOCIACAO PORTUGUESA DE ENERGIAS RENOVAVEIS)
Fig. 1 – 4,1 MW CSF MONTES NOVOS PV plant at Estremoz (Photo: Edgar Santos).
In December 2018, preliminary results of the Portuguese National GHGs Reduction -45 % -65 % -85 %
Carbon Neutrality Roadmap for 2050 (RNC2050) were presented, (without LULUCF) to to to
setting the targets from 2030 to 2050, which underline the (% relative to 2005) -55 % -75 % -90 %
government ambition to reach carbon neutrality in 2050, supported by
well-defined trajectories for the different economy sectors. In January 70 % 85 %
Renewable energy
2019, the preliminary report of the National Energy and Climate Plan 47 % to to
sources (RES)
(NECP) was presented that covers the measures and activities for 80 % 90 %
2030, setting a challenging target of 47 % RES share in final energy
RES – Electricity 80 % 90 % 100 %
consumption.
RES - Transports 64 %
At the end of 2018, Portugal had an accumulated PV installed capacity (without aviation and 20 % to 100 %
of 673 MW. The location of the PV installations is mainly in the south navigation) 69 %
of the country and, since 2014, 11 concentration photovoltaic power
58 % 69 %
plants have been in operation, totalizing a capacity of 14 MW. It RES – Heating and
38 % to to
should be noted that in recent years and because of the public policies Cooling
61 % 72 %
adopted, Portugal maintains PV as one of the priority technologies in
terms of its mix of renewable electricity production. Decentralization Energy Efficiency 35 % n.d. n.d.
of production has been strengthened, maintaining the policy in
promoting units of Self Production. Source: NECP 2030 and RNC 2050
96 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
According to provisional data of the Directorate General of Energy Some of the most important players in PV R&D activities are:
and Geology (DGEG), the increase in installed capacity was in 2018 of
88 MW: University of Minho working on PV conversion materials namely
• Self-Production legislation (Decree-Law 153/2014 of 20 October) on thin film; amorphous/nanocrystalline silicon solar cells; Silicon
was responsible for 37 MW, namely Self Production Units (UPAC) nanowire solar cells; oxygen and moisture protective barrier coatings
with 29 MW, and Small Production Units (UPP), up to 250 kW, for PV substrates; and photovoltaic water splitting.
with 8 MW;
• New utility scale power plants with a total capacity of 51 MW, INL (International Iberian Nanotechnology) working on solar
with 46 MW coming from a single utility scale PV power plant. fuel production; Inorganic-organic hybrid solar cells, sensitized solar
cells, perovskite solar cells, Cu2O, Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cell devices and
reaching in terms of PV energy produced, 1 017 GWh, which represents materials, quantum dot solar cells, thin film Si, encapsulation barrier,
1,7 % of the total electricity production in Portugal. and Si-NW solar cells.
Solar energy is expected to have an important role in the increase of
decentralized power production. University of Oporto (Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade
do Porto) working on Solar PV cells and modelling processes.
NATIONAL PROGRAMME
The NREAP still in place defines a target of 31 % for renewable energy University of Aveiro working on semiconductor physics; growth and
sources in the final energy consumption by 2020, implying a share characterization of thin films for photovoltaic applications.
of renewable electricity of around 59,6 % in the gross electricity
consumption. Portugal is making its final effort for reaching those University of Coimbra (Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia)
targets, for which the Solar PV contribution is of paramount relevance. working on dye-sensitized solar cells perovskite solar cells, bulk
Excepting the self-consumption regime, all licencing for new heterojunction organic solar cells, and metal oxide photo-electrodes
installations are issued according to Decree-Law DL215-B/2012 and for solar fuel applications.
since 2016 the Feed in Tariff regime was suspended and all installations
from that time on go through a Market process. University of Lisbon (Faculdade de Ciências) working on silicon
technologies namely ribbon cells, and modelling.
The current regulatory framework for self-consumption regime
(Decree-Law DL153/2014 of 20 October) displays efficient rules for University of Lisbon (Instituto Superior Técnico) working on
small-scale RES generation either UPPs (small scale production units organic cells.
up to 250 kW) with a FiT regime applied to total electricity injected
into the grid or UPACs (self-consumption units) that can inject to the New University of Lisbon (UNL) (Faculdade de Ciências e
grid the surplus of production at 90 % of the wholesale average Tecnologia, UNINOVA and CENIMAT) working on thin film
market price. This regulation has been a great asset for small scale technologies and tandem cells.
PV development and public awareness.
LNEG (Laboratório Nacional de Energia e Geologia) working on the
The electricity scenario of the new NECP 2030 presents an increasing development of conversion technologies, such as perovskites, kesterites
evolution of solar PV capacity, reaching around 8,1 GW to 9,9 GW in (CZTS) and CTS, for tandem cells, on new PV/T modules, on BIPV, and
2030, which implies a well-defined strategy to boost the high amount on Prosumers concepts.
of installed capacity supported by grid reinforcement, both regarding
the infrastructural system and smart management. DGEG – Directorate-General of Energy and Geology working on
modeling the contribution of PV technologies for the national energy
In the future, concerning the decarbonization of the economy and system up to 2030, namely supporting the National Energy-Climate
the targets set for both 2020 and 2030, the promotion of renewable Plan (NECP).
energy sources, namely PV, is one of the purposes of national Also private companies, for example, EFACEC, Martifer Solar, Open
energy policy. The ambitious targets that have been established, are Renewables and MagPower have their own research and innovation
expected to lead to a significant contribution of RES in final energy groups.
consumption by 2030, and solar is expected to play a major role in
pursuing those objectives. INDUSTRY AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT
Provisional data for 2018 registered an incorporation rate for
R&D, D renewable energy sources (RES) into the electricity production mix of
In the last years, PV R&D in Portugal has had strong development with about 51,7 % (30,8 TWh), within an annual total electricity production
an important scientific community, comprised by a significant number of 59,5 TWh. The remaining 48,3 % (28,7 TWh) were produced by
of researchers working in different aspects of photovoltaics. These are fossil fuels.
mostly public research groups but some important private companies
in Portugal are also addressing the innovation process on PV. Solar PV accounted for 1,7 % of the total generation.
PORTUGAL 97
March 2018 was a remarkable key point for RES electricity, as its
generation registered 103,6 % of the mainland electricity demand for Non Renewable
the whole month. This event showed the capability and flexibility of 21,2 % Renewable
the system to integrate high levels of RES, illustrating how the system Thermal
will work in the future with a high share of variable RES, revealing the Hydro
importance of the interconnection capacity between countries and the Solar PV
role of the hydro balancing pumping facilities. Geothermal
5,3 %
51,7 % 48,3 % Biomass
The annual average for MIBEL’s daily market prices in Portugal was 0,4 % Wind
57,5 EUR/MWh, which reflected a 9,6 % increase over last year. In fact, 1,7 %
in 2018, some technical/economic factors were identified as enablers
for high electricity prices, such as: 48,3 %
• the increase of electricity demand (2,5 % over 2017 value) in
mainland Portugal (1,7 % when considering corrections on 23,1 %
temperature and number of working days);
• the increase of CO2 emission allowances price within the
European market by 2,7 times compared to 2017, with a 2018’s Fig. 2 - Electricity generation by energy source in Portugal 2018, DGGE data
annual average of 15,9 EUR/tCO2; (provisional).
• the increase of commodity prices over 2017 values: 34 % for
natural gas and 15 % for coal;
• the outage of nuclear power plants in Spain and other European for licensing, but until the end of 2018 with little concretization rate,
markets, leading to an increase in electricity prices throughout as only about 50 MW of solar PV plants were entered into service,
Europe. establishing PPAs contracts with retail energy traders. The main topic
• Figure 3 shows the monthly electricity market prices for the last about these projects is that they have a high investment risk as the
two years in Portugal; reflecting the positive impact of renewables market price is very volatile. Furthermore, as there is no figure of last
for the same period. It is worth noting March 2018, mainly the resort market aggregator in Portugal, these few power plants, even if
high RES share already mentioned and the lowest value for the they have established a PPA, are subjected to high balancing costs.
monthly electricity market price (39,75 EUR/MWh). A final note to highlight a huge drawback occurred in 2018, related
with the news coming from ACCIONA confirming the definitive
Also, this figure shows the opportunity to increase solar PV closure of its solar panel assembling plant in Moura, Portugal, as its
contribution, that will compensate the lack of hydro resource in economic viability is impossible in a competitive market environment
summer months. dominated by Chinese manufacturers. In December, seven days after
the EU decided to eliminate tariffs on the import of panels from China
In the last three years there was a great interest in developing solar PV – Jinko announced the end of their activity in Moura and transferred
projects under the current market wholesale conditions. Since 2016, its production to factories in Asia. Throughout 2018, Acciona tried to
there were submitted to DGEG more than 2 GW of solar PV projects negotiate the entry of a third-party, without any result.
6 000 80
5 000 64
Market Price [€/MWh]
Electricity [GWh]
4 000
48
3 000
32
2 000
1 000 16
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Oc
Oc
No
No
Fe
Fe
Au
Se
Au
Se
Ja
Ju
Ja
Ju
M
M
D
D
M
Fig. 3 - Renewable Electricity Production and Iberian Wholesale Electricity Price (December 2016 to December 2018)
(Source: OMIE, REN; APREN’s analysis).
98 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
SOLARPOWER EUROPE
SOLARPOWER EUROPE’S ACTIVITIES
AURELIE BEAUVAIS, POLICY DIRECTOR, SOLARPOWER EUROPE
Fig. 1 - SolarPower Europe’s Digital Solar & Storage event took place on 4 and 5 December 2018 at BMW World in Munich (Photo: Fiona
Castiñeira).
SolarPower Europe is a member-led association representing • Simpler and faster administrative procedures for projects of
organisations active along the whole solar value chain. all sizes
• Minimum shares of renewables in all new buildings and buildings
SolarPower Europe’s aim is to shape the regulatory environment and undergoing major renovation
enhance business opportunities for solar power in Europe. It envisions • The guarantee that small-scale projects will benefit from priority
a future where solar energy is the leading contributor to the European dispatch and balancing responsibilities exemptions after 2020
energy system. • A restrictive framework for capacity mechanisms including an
emissions target to avoid coal generation qualifying under such
2018 was a crucial year for the energy sector in Europe. The finalisation schemes
of the “Clean Energy for All Europeans” package sets the scene for a • An enabling framework for solar and storage applications
new era of growth for renewables in Europe, and proposes important • An adaptation of market rules (day-ahead, intraday, balancing)
adaptations to the power market rules. to make them fit for variable solar electricity
Through constant interaction with policymakers over the last two SolarPower Europe has been a driving force in coalition building at
years, SolarPower Europe is proud to have contributed to the shaping EU level, leading highly successful political campaigns; Make Power
and adoption of forward-looking reforms paving the way towards a Clean, Small is Beautiful, and the RE-Source Platform.
sustainable, renewable-based European energy system:
• A 32 % EU binding RES target by 2030 in the European energy In addition to the above-mentioned highlights, SolarPower Europe
mix, on top of the guarantee that member states will not fall increased its advocacy efforts to remove the trade measures on solar
short on their 2020 RES targets panels from Asia. In September 2018, the EU removed the solar trade
• A proactive European framework for self-generation and measures, a historic move that was welcomed by a broad group of
consumption European policymakers, NGOs and EU solar companies – making solar
• An obligation for EU countries to provide visibility on national even more affordable for European citizens.
support schemes for at least five years ahead by publishing a
long-term schedule In parallel, SolarPower Europe’s Industrial Strategy task force has
• An “anti-retroactivity clause” to ensure the stability of financial been working at full speed in 2018, to provide EU policymakers with
support to renewables the solar industry’s key recommendations for the implementation
of a practical supply-side industrial policy in Europe. These
SOLARPOWER EUROPE 99
Fig. 2 - SolarPower Europe wins European Association Award 2018 for ‘Best Provision of Industry
Information and Intelligence’.
recommendations were launched at the SolarPower Summit in March • The RE-Source event on 20th and 21st of November 2018, with over
2018. Finally, SolarPower Europe has been actively committed to the 800 attendees and high-level European policymakers. This event
recast of the Ecodesign regulation covering PV systems, promoting was acknowledged as second “Best Association Networking Event”
the ever-increasing sustainability and quality of PV installations. In at the 2018 European Association Awards.
2018, SolarPower Europe’s activities on ecodesign and sustainability • The Digital Solar and Storage event hosted on 4th and 5th of
standards were extended to EV and stationary batteries. December in Munich, with over 400 experts and business leaders
from the solar sector.
SolarPower Europe has maintained a high-level of interaction with • The Solar Operation & Asset Management conference, organised
existing coalitions gathering utilities, system operators, sectoral in collaboration with the Solar Trade Association and hosted on
industry associations, NGOs and other relevant stakeholders. It 6th of December in London. A successful event, now in its third
chaired the “Energy Union working group” of the e-mobility platform year running, gathering over 150 industry representatives and
- promoting the electrification of the transport sector, and created experts from the solar industry.
a platform dedicated to the promotion of renewable-based mobility –
solar mobility. It also maintained its contribution to the Electrification Throughout the year, SolarPower Europe pursued and reinforced a
Alliance, gathering more than 50 organisations to promote the strong service-oriented approach towards its members by delivering
significant potential of electricity on the EU’s path towards high-quality deliverables on:
decarbonisation. In 2018, SolarPower Europe became an associated • Operation and Maintenance (O&M), with the publication of
member to the Covenant of Mayors, which brings together thousands industry-led best practices guidelines.
of local governments voluntarily committed to implementing EU • Environmental Footprint task force, which delivered high-level
climate and energy objectives. recommendations on the European solar sector ahead of the
ecodesign/ecolabel legislation recast.
SolarPower Europe also increased substantially its presence in the • Solar and storage, which developed 10 policy priorities for the
media and organised several successful events: deployment of such combined solutions as well as a “Solar &
• 120 % increase in media mentions from 2017 to 2018, including Storage” mini report.
coverage in Financial Times, Bloomberg, the Guardian, Forbes, • Digitalisation, which will look inter alia at how to make solar
Reuters. accessible to all consumers and created a new report on
• 33 % increase in followers across our social media channels digital-friendly energy regulation “When solar policy went digital”.
(Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram) from 2017 • Emerging markets, with the delivery of SolarPower Europe’s first
numbers. emerging markets report on Mozambique, and a financing matrix
• The SolarPower Summit in March 2018, which gathered over for project developers.
300 high-level industry representatives and policymakers • A “Grid Intelligent Solar” report, highlighting the contribution of
including the participation of Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of utility-scale solar installations to the electricity system’s reliability.
the European Commission in charge of the Energy Union, Miguel
Arias Cañete, Commissioner for Energy and Climate, and Brussels Finally, SolarPower Europe’s policy and business objectives were again
Energy Minister Celine Fremault. supported in 2018 by thought-leading research in fields such as solar
• Midsummer Celebration on the 4th of July, with the launch of PV market forecasts, financing, and electricity market design. In March
SolarPower Europe’s communications campaign: Generation Solar 2018, SolarPower Europe received a European Association Award for
– We Are All Generation Solar. “Best Provision of Industry Information and Intelligence” for the 2018
• A high-level workshop on solar mobility, organized on 19th of edition of its Global Market Outlook.
September with the participation of Brussels Mobility Minister
Pascal Smet and DG ENERGY Director General Dominique Ristori.
100 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
SOUTH AFRICA
PV TECHNOLOGY STATUS AND PROSPECTS
GAOSHITWE LEKOLOANE, JARRAD WRIGHT, KITTESSA RORO, CSIR ENERGY CENTRE, COUNCIL FOR SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL
RESEARCH
TSHEPO MALEFETSE, THEMBAKAZI MALI, SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE
Other recommendations in the NDP include diversifying power The programme’s primary mandate is to secure electrical energy
sources and ownership in the electricity sector, supporting cleaner from the private sector for renewable and non-renewable energy
coal technologies, and investing in human and physical capital in sources. The programme is designed to reduce the country’s reliance
the 12 largest electricity distributors. Energy security is at the core on fossil fuels, stimulate an indigenous renewable energy industry
of current and future industrial and technological advancement. The and contribute to socio-economic development and environmentally
Department of Energy [3] (DoE) is mandated to ensure the secure and sustainable growth. The IPP office has been designed not only to
sustainable provision of energy for socio-economic development. This procure energy, but has also been structured to contribute to the
is achieved by developing an integrated energy plan, regulating the broader national development objectives of job creation, social
energy industries, and promoting investment in accordance with the upliftment and broadening of economic ownership. The programme
integrated resource plan. The department’s strategic goals, among contributes to security of energy supply in South Africa and ensures
others, are to ensure that the energy supply is secure and demand is a diversified energy mix through the procurement of additional
well managed, and that there is an efficient and diverse energy mix for
renewable energy, coal, gas and cogeneration capacity from the private RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
sector. The IPP office provides the following services for ensuring a The Department of Science and Technology [9] (DST) has appointed
proper rollout the South African National Energy Development Institute [10] (SANEDI)
• Professional advisory services to implement the research and development initiatives identified
• Procurement management services in the component of the Draft Solar Technology Roadmap. This
• Monitoring evaluation and contract management services has been undertaken in the past four years as part of its mandate
to promote energy research and technology innovation and also
Since 2013 the IPP increased the country’s installed and operational to advise the Minister of DST on research in the field of energy
renewable energy capacity to more than 3GW. As from June 2018, technology. The mandate allows SANEDI to promote relevant energy
97 % of IPP’s scheduled to be operational have started commercial research through cooperation with any other entities, institutions
operations. or individuals equipped with the relevant skills and expertise within
and outside South Africa. Moreover, the mandate will also open up
areas of possible collaborations with any entity, in line with providing
Actual average
tariffs in R/kWh for training and development in the field of energy research and
(Apr-2017-R) -43% technology development, establishment and expansion of industries;
5
-59% and commercialisation of energy.
-83%
4 3,84 Furthermore, the DST has funded Solar Technology Research,
3,74 3,50
3,28
Development and Innovation (RDI) programme, with SANEDI
3,06 appointed by DST to among other things, implement the Programme
3
by establishing the Programme Management Office (PMU), developing
2,29
2,13 criteria for funding of proposals for development of solar technologies
2 and undertaking of solar related studies, issuing Calls for Proposals
1,60
1,25 1,23 and funding of successful RDI projects. Projects such as the Energy
0,96 Research Programme (ERP) review and Solar Technology Development
1 0,65
0,92 projects have been undertaken.
0,72 0,65
0 The DST-funded Energy Research Programme (ERP) is mainly focused
Nov 2011 Mar 2012 Aug 2013 Aug 2014 Nov 2015
on basic and applied research and is meant to ensure that South
Solar PV Wind CSP Africa stays abreast with regard to the latest technologies and
research. The ERP is additionally used for the implementation of the
Energy Grand Challenge to realize the objectives of human capital
Fig. 1 - Average tariff cost reductions achieved in South African REIPPPP [6]. development and develop alternative energy technologies. The specific
objectives of the ERP are to strengthen South African technological
Sources: Department of Energy [7]; South African Independent Power capability, improve the coordination of energy research areas, create
Producers Association [8]; StatsSA; CSIR analysis international linkages and increase human capital development (HCD)
in the field of renewable energy. Therefore, the ERP demonstrates the
willingness by the South African government to improve energy access
Through a competitive bidding process the IPP effectively leveraged by researching and developing green technologies that contribute
rapid, global technology development and price trends, buying clean towards improving energy access while at the same time addressing
energy at lower and lower rates with every bid window, resulting in other pressing issues related to poverty alleviation and unemployment.
the country getting the benefit of renewable energy at progressively
lower tariffs. Cost for all technologies under the REIPPPP has The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is a
continued to drop consistently as shown in Figure 1 and this is world-class African research and development organisation
expected to drop further on future bid window rounds. established through an Act of Parliament in 1945 and the
organisation’s executive authority is the Minister of Science and
The total foreign equity and financing invested in REIPPPP’s reached Technology. The CSIR fosters partnerships with a network of clients
R48.7 billion by June 2018. The 27 recently signed projects which were and partner organisations, regionally and abroad, as part of a
signed April 2018 will provide foreign investment to the total of R17.9 global sphere of influence on matters of technology. The expertise
billion, domestic investment of R36.9 billion and total investment of from diverse research fields to provide integrated solutions and
R55.9 billion. interventions to support a broad range of national development
[6] CSIR Analysis: Statistics of utility-scale solar PV, wind and CSP in South [8] South African Independent Power Producers Association
Africa in 2017 [9] Department of Science and Technology
[7] Department of Energy: State of Renewable Energy in South Africa Report 2016 [10] SANEDI https://www.sanedi.org.za/
102 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
programmes, as set out in the NDP. With South Africa having high
level of Renewable Energy potential and in line with the national
commitment to transition to a low carbon economy, the CSIR has
established an integrated Solar PV Research and Testing Facility [11]
to provide support for the photovoltaic (PV) industry in the Southern
Africa by providing qualitative reliability evaluation of PV modules,
pre-qualification testing, outdoor performance modelling, and
performance monitoring of PV modules and systems. The indoor
environmental chambers, mechanical load tester and sun simulator
provide a testing laboratory to perform accelerated stress testing and
provide quantitative data to compare the relative reliability of various
PV modules in the market. The laboratory is the first in sub-Saharan
Africa to offer indoor accelerated stress testing for PV modules and
energy rating measurements across a broad range of temperature and Fig. 3 - CSIR Indoor sun simulator located in Pretoria.
irradiance levels.
Indoor testing and measurement services include the following: INDUSTRY AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT
• Performance measurements under standard test conditions South Africa has a clear drive to deliver on its commitment to reduce
• Accelerated stress and extended reliability testing carbon emissions and a clear way to deliver on this is to reduce carbon
• Temperature coefficient determination for current, voltage, and emissions through a robust renewable energy programme like the
power output REIPPPP. A total of 6,3 GW approved and 4 GW of renewables (mainly
• Performance rating across a range of irradiance and temperature from wind and PV) from IPPs already online as an outcome of the
• Electrical safety tests: wet and dry insulation REIPPPP (Figure 4). The acceleration and roll-out of capacity under
• Fault diagnosis: Electroluminescence and Infrared imaging the REIPPPP has given South Africa a strong foundation to continue
• Pre-qualification testing for locally developed modules and market development in future. As of 31 December 2018, 2078 MW
components of wind, 1479 MW of utility-scale solar PV and 400 MW of CSP
was operational in South Africa thereby adding 100 MW of CSP in
Outdoor testing and measurement services include the following: 2018 [12].
• Feasibility studies for PV installations
• Light induced degradation measurements
• Light soaking, stabilization, soiling and long-term degradation
studies
• Performance modelling and validation Capacity Supply
operational +718 +100 Sources
• Hotspot endurance stress testing
[MW] 3 957
• Provision of high resolution meteorological data 3 857 Solar PV
+1 094
Wind
3 139
1 479 1 479 CSP
+520
1 479
+1 053 2 040
1 520
965
2 078 2 078
960 1 460
467 1 075
210 560
257 200 300 400
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
[11] https://www.csir.co.za/csir-energy-centre [12] G. Lekoloane, JG Wright, and C Carter-Brown “Municipal energy transition:
Opportunities for new business models and revenue streams
[13] Joanne Calitz and JD Wright “Statistics of utility-scale solar PV, wind and
CSP in South Africa in 2018
SPAIN 103
SPAIN
PHOTOVOLTAIC TECHNOLOGY STATUS AND PROSPECTS
ANA ROSA LAGUNAS ALONSO, CENTRO NACIONAL DE ENERGÍAS RENOVABLES, CENER
GENERAL FRAMEWORK
There has been a clear tendency change in 2018 for PV installations been changed from the previous year. Figure 1 shows the evolution of
in Spain. However, the capacity awarded on tenders in 2017 following electricity coverage by RREE since 2008 but only considering the grid
compromise with the European Union concerning electricity connected generation.
generation by Renewable Energies, has not yet been installed. The
summary of those tenders totals 3,9 GW for different PV plants and a As can be seen in Figure 1, total demand coverage by grid connected
similar quantity for wind. RREE in 2018 had an increase from 2017, up to a total of 37,4 %.
The main difference has been originated in the amount of electricity
The effect of those tenders has also tractioned some other private generated from hydroelectric (going up to 13,7 %), while as practically
initiatives for big PV plants installation. On the other side, concerning no new capacity has been installed in RREE (1,5 % more from wind),
self-consumption, the situation has also been unblocked during the other energies remain almost constant. Wind, as always, is
second half of the year due to the modifications of the law regulating the winner among all with a 19 % of total demand coverage,
it. Two of the most important modifications are the elimination of the 3 % corresponds to PV and 1,7 % from solar thermal. In summary,
sun tax and the permission for collective self-consumption. 7,4 % points more than prior year for the total demand coverage
coming from RREE during 2018, approaching again the 40 % total.
In summary and due to non-materialization of awarded grid
connected plants, the total installed capacity for the year has been Information presented corresponds to consolidated values up to
only 261,7 MW, out of which 235,7 MW is for self-consumption. 2017, reported by grid operator REE (Red Eléctrica de España). For
2018 data are estimations as of December for both peninsular and
With these numbers and as the electricity coming out of self- extra-peninsular territories. Final information for the year will appear
consumption cannot be easily estimated, the contribution of PV to in the July 2019 timeframe. Off grid and self-consumption capacity
the electricity demand coverage in the country during 2018 has not has not been considered at all in the graph.
50,0 %
37,5 %
25,0 %
12,5 %
0,0 %
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Fig. 1 – Percentage of demand coverage from renewable energies (2008, 2009 data out of CNE, 2010 -2018, REE).
104 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
In absolute numbers, the total electricity demand out of the grid NATIONAL PROGRAMME
for the country is close to 262 TWh and the increase in hydraulic There is no specific novelty in the National Programme, apart from
generation, and at a lower level in wind, compensates in part the the tenders in 2017. However, modifications on some regulatory laws
decreases last year on generation due to coal, combined cycle and are going to support important PV development. Actual prices of
slightly lower nuclear (Figure 2) . components and solar irradiation characteristics in the country make
the LCOE value attractive for investors and new big PV plants are being
GWh
announced. Also, cooperative self-consumption, provides electricity
100 000 prices below the ones of the traditional energies and that, together
90 000 with the change in mentality to support a greener society are going
80 000 to be drivers for more PV deployment. Increase in PV could also be
70 000 seen on the very sunny islands starting slowly in the Balearic Islands
(mostly self-consumption) and not so much in the Canary Islands yet,
60 000
as priority has been given to wind there.
50 000
40 000 In summary, Figure 3 shows the evolution of installed capacity,
30 000 both grid connected and off-grid, with specific separation of
20 000 self-consumption. Previsions are that 2019 will have at least 3,9 GW
10 000 grid connected coming from the tenders, and should be added to that
the capacity installed by private initiatives and a big amount of smaller
0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 and medium size PV for self-consumption.
Evolution of installed PV
Annual installed Accumulted
capacity (MW) Power (MW)
5 000 4705 5 000
4672 4664 4674 4687
4538 4666
4 500 4249 4 500
4 000 4 000
3643
3.3983.415
3 500 3 500
3 000 3 000
2 500 2 500
2 000 2 000
1 000 1 000
147
12 16 21 28 38 61
500 500
49 49 132 236
0 0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Fig. 3 – Evolution of installed PV 2000 – 2018 with expected minimum grid connected value for 2019.
SPAIN 105
Fig. 4 - PV plant under construction with Soltec´s horizontal 1-axis PV trackers. Fig. 5 - New Power Electronics factory in Valencia.
are made from the air through the use of drones and in general,
tele-detection and diagnosis appear as the most effective tools.
The DOCTOR-PV project awarded by national call and involving an
important consortium of Spanish companies and R&D centers is
dealing with it. Another point to optimize performance of the big
plants is related to the study of soiling and its varieties; depending
on the meteorological conditions as is the case with the INVIVO
project from ERA-NET-MED with CIEMAT’s participation or the Marie
Curie Project on a similar subject from Jaen University. Tools or
methodologies in order to take the optimum cleaning decision or the
means to avoid soiling as much as possible are two of the subjects
driving activities in some other R&D projects. Also, as part of the
support to the optimum generation of PV plants is the research on
activation energies of defects driving to degradation modes of PV Fig. 6 - Construction work from ONYX SOLAR for the installation of BIPV in
modules that is being done on the SOLAR-TRAIN project (ITN-Marie DEWA´s building for R&D (Dubai).
Curie) with the CENER’s participation.
Concerning other PV applications, such as BIPV, it is important to EVASA, the only company active in encapsulant production in Europe
mention the BIPVBOOST project from H2020 with participation of during last years, has been interrupted as they went bankrupt in 2018.
TECNALIA and ISFOC, dedicated to standardizing and lowering the cost Still there are low volume manufacturing companies working on
of BIPV products, or the CEFRABID from H2020 ERA-NET for obtaining that topic (NOVOGENIO). Also, with activity that initiates in R&D and
clean energy from road acoustic barriers infrastructure development. together with optimum design and manufacturing goes up to real
Another aspect that is noteworthy is the GRECO Project (www.greco- BIPV installations, ONYX SOLAR continues its trajectory, having finished
project.eu) from the SWAFS-H2020 call led by Instituto de Energía impressive buildings in Dubai, among other places, during last year.
Solar of Polytechnic University of Madrid (IES-UPM) in order to
demonstrate strategies for open science on PV R&D. The study of The lower level of manufacturing concerning PV modules technology
new materials (organics or hybrid materials) and new cell concepts is not only a problem affecting Spain; it is the same all over Europe.
remains as an important activity, but it’s still far from the full device Therefore, efforts exist for returning to more production capacity or
integration and module fabrication. finding the niche product that could justify it.
Finally, as in prior years, effort on R&D is also dedicated to the The summary of 2018 with respect to PV technology in Spain is
hybridization of PV with other technologies for massive generation positive due to the trend change and the hope of having imminently
and given the modularity and easy integration of PV technology, more generation capacity out of PV in the country.
its participation in the new schemes of microgrids that support the
concept of smart buildings and smart cities.
INDUSTRY STATUS
Industrial development in the country for the specific PV business
is low. Activity in PV modules is residual; however there are some
Spanish companies active in manufacturing other PV components of
the new mega plants, which have also an important deployment and
implantation worldwide. This is the case of POWER ELECTRONICS and
INGETEAM on the side of PV inverters, or SOLTEC (the third largest
manufacturer in the world), STI NORLAND, NCLAVE, etc., in the case
of horizontal one axis tracking systems. The successful activity of
106 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
SWEDEN
PHOTOVOLTAIC TECHNOLOGY STATUS AND PROSPECTS
TOBIAS WALLA, SWEDISH ENERGY AGENCY
PIERRE-JEAN RIGOLE, SWEDISH ENERGY AGENCY
Fig.1 - RISE - RISE EMC-lab ”Awitar” in Borås - 82 kWp – Yearly production 48 MWh (Photo: Anna Åberg, Welcome eventbyrå).
Fig. 2 - Solvåg – Piteå – 117 double-sided solar panels from Prism Solar (USA) - 36 kWp – Yearly production 45 MWh (Photo: Warm in the Winter The facility is both a
research project and an open green park and social meeting place. It contains 117 double sided solar panels that capture sunlight on the front and reflect light on the
back. These are located against different point of the compass and with different angles of inclination towards the sun).
has ongoing information and knowledge dissemination efforts, for thermal electricity, resource efficiency, ecological environment and
example through a national project where local energy advisors are sustainability, prosument perspective, and integration in attractive and
trained in PV regulations and applications. sustainable cities.
Public perception In 2016 a new research and innovation programme was launched,
There is a strong opinion in favour of PV technology in Sweden, “El från solen”, covering PV and solar thermal electricity (STE). The
and about 80 % of the population thinks that efforts towards budget for the entire programme period (2016-2020) is about
implementation should increase [1]. 17 MEUR. The programme includes both national and international
research and innovation project, innovation procurement and expert
NATIONAL PROGRAMME studies. International projects are conducted in the EU collaboration
The Swedish Energy Agency is the governmental authority responsible SOLAR-ERA.NET Cofund. In addition to the research program, the
for most energy-related issues including implementation of Swedish Energy Agency also provides funding to PV companies
governmental policies and decisions related to incentive in the energy though dedicated project supporting their technology development.
sector, information on energy system and climate change, providing
the government and the public with statistics, analyses and forecasts, Highlights
and founding of research and innovation. There are strong academic groups performing research on a variety
of PV technologies, such as CIGS thin film, dye sensitized solar
In 2016, the agency developed a proposal for the first national cells, polymer solar cells, nanowire solar cells, perovskites and more.
strategy in order to promote solar electricity. It suggests that a yearly There is also research on techniques to improve production cost and
production of 7-14 TWh electricity from PV can be feasible in Sweden performance of conventional silicon solar cells.
in 2040 (note that this figure is not an official national target). This
yearly production would be equivalent to 5-10 % of the electricity Comprehensive research in CIGS and CZTS thin film solar cells is
consumption if electricity usage is the same 2040 as today. performed at the Ångström Solar Center at Uppsala University. The
objectives of the group are to achieve high performing cells while
RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRATION utilizing processes and materials that minimize the production cost
Research, development and demonstration is supported through several and the impact on the environment. The Center collaborates with the
national research funding agencies, universities and private institutions spin-off company Solibro Research AB (a company of Hanergy), and
in Sweden. However, among the national research funding agencies, Midsummer AB.
the Swedish Energy Agency is specifically responsible for the national
research related to energy. With an annual budget of 140 MEUR, some At Lund University, the division of Energy & Building Design studies
55 programmes and 900 projects running is therefore the main funding energy-efficient buildings and how to integrate PV and solar thermal
source for research and innovation projects within PV. into those buildings. There is research at the same university on
nanowire for solar cells and an innovative production technique called
In 2016, the Swedish Energy Agency has published its strategy Aerotaxy. The research is performed in collaboration with the company
defining priorities within PV and solar thermal electricity (STE). Sol Voltaics AB. Based on the GaAs nanowire, Sol Voltaics is developing
Prioritized research areas are: Grid integration, Innovative and flexible a product called Solfilm, which can be used a single junction solar cell
solar cell and BIPV, high efficiency solar cell, competitive solar or in combination with existing crystalline silicon to form a tandem
solar cell.
[1] Svenska folkets åsikter omolika energikällor - https://som.gu.se/
digitalAssets/1656/1656970_svenska-folkets---sikter-om-oilka-energik-
-llor-1999-2016.pdf
108 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
Fig. 3 - Derome Plusshus’s warehouse and logistic center in Varberg - 600 kWp. Fig. 4 - Solevi – Göteborg Energi – 5,5 MWp – Sweden’s largest utility-scale
(Photo: Derome Plusshus). solar plant (Photo: Göteborg Energi - Jeanette Larsson).
An ongoing collaboration between Linköping University, Chalmers specifically for this market segment. Some utilities are selling turn-key
University of Technology and Lund University, under the name Center PV systems, often with assistance from PV installation companies.
of Organic Electronics, carries out research on organic and polymer
solar cells. Different areas of use are being investigated, such as Sun Renewable Energy AB is the only remaining solar cell factory for
sunshade curtains with integrated solar cell. In 2017, the spin-off silicon PV modules in Sweden. The company overtook the business
company Epishine was created to commercialize the technology. after the bankruptcy of SweModule AB. There are also a few companies
exploring other types of solar cells. Midsummer AB offers both
Research on dye-sensitized solar cells is carried out at the Center thin-film CIGS cells as well as equipment to manufacture CIGS cells.
of Molecular Devices, which is a collaboration between Uppsala Exeger AB is offering dye sensitised solar cells that can harness the
University, the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm and energy of ambient light for powering consumer electronics and have
the industrial research institute Swerea IVF. Two Swedish start-up their own manufacturing plant in Sweden.
companies, Exeger and Dyenamo, are developing and commercializing
the product based on this technology. Notably, several companies are now offering roof integrated PV
products. In 2018, Midsummer AB started the production in Sweden of
The company Swedish Algae Factory cultivate algae (diatoms) to a solar roof product, where their CIGS based solar panels are mounted
use their shell material of to enhance the efficiency of solar panels. on a standing seam steel roof. Soltech Energy Sweden AB, Nyedal
The company collaborate with Chalmers university and was awarded Solenergi AB, Monier AB, and S:t ERIKS AB are selling a PV integrated
a project within the Horizon 2020 action LIFE. The project aims to roof tile designed and constructed to replace traditional roof tiles.
build up a larger pilot facility for production of this innovative algae
material. Other Swedish companies that can be highlighted are PPAM
Solkraft AB which develops different niche products such as
Others which are involved in PV research are the Universities of bifacial PV modules; Ferroamp AB and Checkwatt AB developing
Chalmers, Luleå, Umeå, Dalarna, Karlstad and Mälardalen. balance-of-system equipment such as smart inverters, power meters,
or energy hubs; and Trine AB that provides services for people to
INDUSTRY AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT invest in solar energy in growing markets offering them to earn a
The cumulative installed grid-connected power has grown from only profit while making social and environmental impact.
250 kW in 2005 to 307,4 MW in 2017. The market for solar cell in
Sweden grew by 50 % to 117,6 MW installed capacity compared to
78,6 MW in 2016. However, PV still accounts for only about 0,15 %
of the Swedish electricity production (160,5 TWh under 2017), which
leaves a large potential for growth. It has been estimated that the
potential for electricity produced by roof-mounted solar cells in
Sweden amounts to over 40 TWh per year.
SWITZERLAND
PV TECHNOLOGY STATUS AND PROSPECTS
STEFAN OBERHOLZER, SWISS FEDERAL OFFICE OF ENERGY (SFOE)
AND STEFAN NOWAK, NET NOWAK ENERGY & TECHNOLOGY LTD.
Fig. 1 – Installing photovoltaic panels in high mountains could reduce the power deficit experienced in winter, according to a recent study by the WSL Institute for Snow
and Avalanche Research SLF and EPFL (Annelen Kahl, Jérôme Dujardin, and Michael Lehning, PNAS January 22, 2019 116 (4) 1162-1167) (Photo: © ZHAW Wädenswil).
5 000
4 500
4 000
3 500
3 000
GWh
2 500
2 000
1 500
1 000
500
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Waste (renewable part) Photovoltaics Wood Biogas Biogas (waste water treatment) Wind Benchmark 2020
Fig. 2 – Evolution of the power production from renewables in Switzerland without hydropower. The increase in production from photovoltaics has mainly
contributed to the fact that Switzerland is currently on track to reach its benchmark for 2020 of 4,4 TWh (Source: SFOE).
to an existing long waiting list, no new photovoltaics installation will NATIONAL PROGRAMME
enter into the feed-in-tariff scheme. Installations of a certain capacity The Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) runs a dedicated national
within the feed-in-tariff scheme will have to sell their production photovoltaic RTD programme that involves a broad range of
directly in the market from 2020 on and are remunerated with a tariff stakeholders. The programme is part of the long-standing coordinative
closer to market requirements. Installations with capacity smaller activities by the SFOE to support research and development of energy
than 100 kW only receive a onetime investment subsidy of 30 % of technologies in Switzerland, where funds deployed in a subsidiary
the costs of a reference installation. The onetime investment subsidy manner aim to fill gaps in Switzerland’s research funding landscape
is available for all systems with capacities from 2 kW to 50 MW. At the Grants are given to private entities, the domain of the Swiss Federal
end of 2018, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy announced a strong Institutes of Technology (ETH), universities of applied sciences, and
increase of the quotas for onetime investment subsidy for photovoltaic universities.
installations. With this measure, a large part (260 MW) of smaller
installations (<100 kW) can be supported until end of 2019 with a total The focus of the photovoltaics programme lies on R&D,D in a system
subsidy of 100 MCHF. Also, larger installations (150 kW to 50 MW) and market oriented approach, from basic research, over applied
with pending subsidy requests and a total capacity of 502 MW will research, product development, pilot and demonstration projects. On
receive a guarantee for subsidies within 2019 with a total volume of average, the volume of the SFOE PV RTD programme (including pilot
150 MCHF. While providing for financial security for partly already built and demonstration) is in the order of 10 % of the total public support
PV systems, these changes in the regulatory framework should also for photovoltaics research in Switzerland, which is in the order of
bring an additional boost to the Swiss PV market in the coming years. 36 MCHF per year (including roughly 30 % from European projects).
The programme supports research and pilot & demonstration projects
This, together with additional new opportunities such as the in different areas of photovoltaic cell technologies (c-Si, CIGS and
collective grid connection of various end consumers to increase others), in the field of photovoltaic modules and building integration
self-consumption and flexibility, should give a push to the yearly of photovoltaics, as well as in the topics of system aspects of
market development of photovoltaics in Switzerland, which has been photovoltaics such as grid integration, quality assurance of modules
stagnating around 250 MW in the last years. and inverters or battery storage technology. Other themes are life
SWITZERLAND 111
Fig. 3 - High efficiency pilot PV system by Insolight which uses a unique module design: The panel’s protective glass embeds a grid of lenses which concentrate the direct
sunlight on an underneath array of high-performance space-grade solar cells. An integrated tracking system keeps each cell in focus regardless of the sun’s position
without active tracking of the modules. Efficiencies of 29 % have been demonstrated (Photo: © Insolight).
cycle analysis, solar forecasting, as well as performance monitoring. on various thin-film solar cell technologies, in particular CIGS cells.
International co-operation on all levels, related to activities in the Perovskite solar cells and especially the topic of tandem cells (c-Si with
Horizon 2020 programme of the European Union, the European PV perovskite or III/V, CIGS with perovskite) gain increasingly attention.
Technology and Innovation Platform, the European SOLAR-ERA.NET The development of new module architectures, especially for building
Network, the IEA PVPS programme and in technology co-operation integration applications, is another large field of research with a lot
projects is another key element of the SFOE photovoltaics programme. of ongoing activities. This includes new approaches and solutions for
coloured, light-weight and flexible modules, as well as customized
RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRATION modules with various shapes applying different types of techniques.
There are many Swiss research laboratories dealing with all kinds of Grid integration of photovoltaics, photovoltaics in combination with
different aspects of photovoltaics (see Figure 4 for an overview). In the heat pumps and different storage technologies (batteries and thermal
field of solar cells, the focus lies on high-efficiency crystalline silicon storage), photovoltaics and electro-mobility (bidirectional charging)
solar cells (heterojunction technology, PERC, passivating contacts) and are further themes with ongoing and increased activities.
Fig. 4 – Swiss photovoltaics technology landscape. Circles denote research institutions, squares industrial activities
(Source: SFOE).
112 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
Fig. 5 - dhp has realized the world’s first solar folding roof across a sewage infrastructure, a consistent double use of already sealed land for solar power generation in
urban infrastructures and with 100% self-consumption. Following a pilot plant with the HORIZON solar folding roof, the system was extended to a capacity of 643 kW in
2018 (Photo: © dhp technology).
THAILAND
PV TECHNOLOGY STATUS AND PROSPECTS
MR YONGYUT JANTARAROTAI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AND EFFICIENCY
MR YONGYUTH SAWATDISAWANEE, DEPUTY DIRECTOR GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AND EFFICIENCY
MR SUREE JAROONSAK, DIRECTOR OF SOLAR ENERGY DEVELOPMENT DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT
AND EFFICIENCY
Fig. 1 – The 75 kW PV rooftop project installed over the parking building of the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency, Ministry of Energy of
Thailand. The project aims to introduce demand-side management program to increase renewable energy consumption in the building using Building Energy Management
System (BEMS) to balance between generated power and electricity demand, and to cut peak demand of building electricity need (Photo: DEDE).
Fig. 2 - 5 MW Tap Sa Kae Solar Power Plant operated by EGAT combines 4 different solar PV technologies. The plant was integrated with learning and research center in
the field of solar PV efficiency, energy-efficient building design, and edutainment center that welcome students and interested person to visit and immerse themselves in
renewable energy in the Lower Central Region of Thailand.
PV module in the operating conditions of rooftop PV systems and INDUSTRY AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT
PV power plants were carried out by King Mongkut’s University PV systems were expected to continue to flourish in the upcoming
of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), together with the Electricity future since the cost of PV electricity production now becoming more
Generation Authority of Thailand (EGAT) and Thailand Research Fund competitive with the conventional electricity production.
(TRF). Moreover, the National Electronics and Computer Technology
Center (NECTEC) has also studied PV system performance of different In the next year, the project of PV rooftop systems for the household
PV systems in the similar area such as Concentrator Photovoltaic will be implemented. The initial target of the project is to install the
System (CPV), fixed PV system and PV system with solar tracking. total 100 of MW PV from household rooftop and connect to the grid.
The collaborating model and forecast research led by NECTEC and
Chulalongkorn University also studied the forecast of PV output using Thailand aims to extend the market of solar power trading from
Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model and solar power forecast traditional power distribution power system with large scale
with weather classification using self-organized map. power producers towards decentralized power distribution system.
Solar PV owners will be able to either utilize their own power for
For the demonstration of PV systems, the Department of Alternative self-consumption, enter private PPA for energy trading, or connect
Energy Development and Efficiency (DEDE) has installed 75 kW to the grid to sell electricity to state utilities.
PV rooftop on its parking lot to increase the efficiency of utilizing
renewable energy in the building as well as to integrate building Solar floating platform and viable battery storage systems are the area
energy management system (BEMS) measures to balance energy in which Thailand has interested to develop and extend its reach.
supply and demand for the building. The Provincial Electricity
Authority (PEA) has 250 kW of PV rooftop system on the head office
building in the same basis.
TURKEY
PV TECHNOLOGY STATUS AND PROSPECTS
AHMET YILANCI, EGE UNIVERSITY SOLAR ENERGY INSTITUTE, IZMIR, TURKEY
TABLE 1 – BREAKDOWN OF INSTALLED CAPACITY OF ELECTRICTY BY ENERGY RESOURCES IN 2017 AND 2018
NATIONAL PROGRAMME AND LEGISLATION grace periods for environmental compliance. The Law 6094 introduces
Solar energy is the most important renewable energy source, which is significant amendments to improve the incentive mechanism under
still untapped in Turkey with a potential of 500 GW minimum. Turkey’s the Renewable Energy Law (Law No: 5346) and encourage renewable
renewable energy investment totaled 2,2 BUSD in 2018, down 5 % energy investment opportunities [7]. According to the Law 6094, a
on 2017 [11]. At the end of 2018, cumulative installed PV power in purchase guarantee of 13,3 USDcents/kWh is given for solar electric
Turkey has reached about 5 062,9 MW and increased very rapidly with energy production for ten years. The incentives are available for
a 48 % growth compared to the previous year’s data, 3 420,7 MW [2]. the PV power plants for five years which are or will be in operation
The photovoltaic installations started to take off in 2014 with 40 MW before December 31, 2020. Some supplementary subsidies for local
installed capacity. In 2018, newly added PV power systems have about equipment products for the first five years of operation are as follows:
1 642,2 MW capacity (Table 2). • PV module installation and mechanical construction
(+0,8 USDcents/kWh),
Table 2 shows that the majority of the PV system installations was • PV modules (+1,3 USDcents/kWh),
in the period of the first half of the year. Approximately 1 300 MW of • PV cells (+3,5 USDcents/kWh),
new capacity was added during this period while only 340 MW was • Inverter (+0,6 USDcents/kWh),
installed in the second half of the year. This is mainly the result of • Material focusing solar energy on PV modules
the economic problems raised in the year of 2018. The government (+05 USDcents/kWh).
thinks that solar PV will boost up after the stabilization in economy
in very near future. Therefore, it is planned to develop around 10 GW Turkey aims to increase the share of renewable energy in its
additional capacity each in solar and wind energy for the next 10 years production mix. In line with this goal, the Energy and Natural
compared to the 2018 baseline [12]. Resources Ministry is continuing with its Renewable Energy
Designated Area (YEKA) projects. YEKAs are defined under a separate
TABLE 2 – MONTHLY FIGURES FOR PV POWER PLANTS regulation issued in the Law 5346. YEKA in privately owned or
INSTALLED IN 2018 [2]. state-owned lands identify the feasible areas for large-scale
renewable energy projects. The ETKB provided the details as follows:
TOTAL INSTALLED (MW) (i) determination of potential YEKAs, (ii) feasibility and infrastructure
MONTH studies, (iii) publication of final YEKAs in the Official Gazette, (iv)
TOTAL
LICENSED UNLICENSED prerequisites and procedures for the applicants, (v) auction procedures,
INSTALLED
(vi) implementation of manufacturing facility, (vii) construction of
January 22,9 3 455,8 3 478,7 renewable energy power plants. The Regulation on YEKAs has come
February 22,9 3 919,2 3 942,1 into force following its promulgation in the Official Gazette dated
October 9, 2016. Although the concept of YEKAs was introduced in
March 22,9 4 567,4 4 590,3
Turkish legislation in 2005, it remained mostly inactive until this date.
April 22,9 4 605,0 4 627,9 The Regulation’s objectives can be regarded as forming large-scale
May 22,9 4 680,0 4 702,9 YEKAs in order to make effective and efficient use of renewable energy
June 22,9 4 703,0 4 725,9 sources, and rapidly completing investment projects by assigning
these areas to investors, and enabling high-tech equipment used in
July 22,9 4 721,0 4 743,9
the generation facilities to be domestically manufactured or supplied
August 31,9 4 761,0 4 792,9 and contribute to technology transfer. YEKAs will be determined and
September 49,8 4 768,0 4 817,8 developed following either (i) the necessary studies undertaken by the
October 81,7 4 842,0 4 923,7 General Directorate of Renewable Energy, or (ii) following a tender to
November 81,7 4 920,8 5 002,5 be held for the allocation of connection capacity [13].
cell and module processes. In addition to the manufacturing facility, a few unlicensed plants, but it is now prohibited by the changed
the consortium will establish on-site research and development amendments made to the Unlicensed Electricity Generation Regulation
(R&D) centre with 100 permanent employees. The Karapınar YEKA-1 on 23 March 2016.
Solar Power Plant tender was the first practice in the energy sector
to be based on the condition of localization and YEKA-based price
determination [14-17].
meetings and workshops organized for capacity building and removing [14] Turkey started construction of its first solar module plant, https://
the barriers along the whole year. The conference was organized with www.esiasee.eu/turkey-started-construction-first-solar-module-plant/,
the participation of the leading organizations in the solar energy December 27, 2017
industry and from researchers to industry representatives, from public [15] Turkey’s biggest solar plant to be built by Kalyon-Hanwha Co., https://
to contractors all stakeholders came together to evaluate solar energy www.dailysabah.com/energy/2017/03/20/turkeys-biggest-solar-plant-to-
and the development of the industry. be-built-by-kalyon-hanwha-co, Daily Sabah, March 20, 2017.
[16] Hanwha-Kalyon JV to build 500MW PV manufacturing facility in Turkey,
https://www.power-technology.com/news/hanwha-kalyon-jv-build-
500mw-pv-manufacturing-facility-turkey/
[17] Hanwha Q CELLS News, https://hanwha-qcells.com/qcells-office/press/
press-releases-en/2017_Q4/171226, December 22, 2017.
[18] http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkeys-electricity-consumption-rises-
0-75-pct-in-2018-140386
[19] http://turkishpolicy.com/article/933/renewable-energy-investment-in-
turkey-between-aspiration-and-endurance
[20] Bavbek, G., Solar Photovoltaic Market in Turkey: Prospects and Challenges,
Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM) Climate Action
Paper Series 2015/1, 2015.
[21] http://smartsolar.com.tr/projeler/
[22] http://www.gunder.org.tr
[23] https://www.ibc-solar.com/corporate/press/article/news/detail/News/ibc-
Fig. 3 - SOLARTR 2018 Conference and Exhibition, November 2018 [22]. solar-sets-quality-standards-for-rooftop-pv-installations-in-turkey/
14
DC
[1] GTM Research SEIA: Solar Market Insight Report 2018 Year In Review. [5] Tests to qualify under the Commence Construction rule include the Five
March 2019. Percent Safe Harbor test, which can be met by incurring five percent or
[2] GTM Research SEIA, Q4 2018: U.S. Solar Market Insight. December 2018. more of the total project cost in the year that construction begins, and the
[3] Id. Physical Work Test, which can be met by starting work of a physical nature
[4] The credit for residential customers drops to 26 % and 22 % for projects (E.g., construction, landscaping).
placed in service in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Commercial and utility [6] North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center. Renewable Portfolio
projects under construction before 2020 receive the full 30 % credit. The credit Standard Policies. Accessed January, 2019. http://www.dsireusa.org/
then falls to 26 % for commercial and utility projects starting construction resources/detailed-summary-maps/
in 2020 and 22 % for commercial and utility projects starting construction in [7] https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_
2021. For any solar project that starts construction after 2021, or which fails id=201720180SB100
to be placed in service by January 1, 2024, the ITC for commercial and utility
projects reverts to 10 %.
120 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT & DEMONSTRATION 1. Photovoltaic (PV) Research and Development, which supports
The DOE is one of the primary bodies that supports research, the research and development of PV technologies to improve
development, and demonstration (RD&D) of solar energy technologies. efficiency, durability, and reliability, as well as lower material
In February 2011, the Secretary of Energy launched the SunShot and process costs to reduce the levelized cost of solar generated
Initiative, a program focused on driving innovation to make solar electricity.
energy systems cost-competitive with other forms of energy. To 2. Concentrating Solar Power (CSP), which supports research and
accomplish this goal, several DOE offices, including SETO, Office of development of CSP technologies that reduce the cost of solar
Science, and ARPA-E collaborated to support efforts by national energy with systems that can supply solar power on demand,
laboratories, academia, and private companies to drive down the even when there is no sunlight, through the use of thermal
cost of utility-scale solar electricity to about 6 USD cents per storage.
kilowatt-hour by the year 2020. In 2017, DOE announced that it had 3. Systems Integration, which develops technologies to enable
met its utility-scale 2020 goal and updated its SunShot goal to further improved integration of solar power with the power grid
reduce the installed cost of solar energy to 3 USD cents per kWh by including power electronics and systems-level research on
2030, while enabling greater adoption by addressing grid integration renewables integration.
challenges and market barriers [13]. 4. Balance of Systems Soft Cost Reduction, which works with
stakeholders at the state and local levels to cut red tape,
By funding a portfolio of complementary RD&D concepts, SETO streamline processes, and increase access to solar.
promotes a transformation in the ways the U.S. generates, stores, and 5. Innovations in Manufacturing Competitiveness, which helps
utilizes solar energy. These research and development activities fall groundbreaking technologies and business models transition
into five broad categories, which in fiscal year 2018, were funded at to the market by supporting efforts on developing commercial
the levels found in Table 1: prototypes and scaling-up.
[8] https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/About/Newsroom/2018-Announcements/2018- [11] GTM Research SEIA, Q4 2018: U.S. Solar Market Insight. December 2018
12-17-Governor-Cuomo-Unveils-Agenda-for-First-100-Days [12] A full list of projects funded with DOE loan guarantees is available at:
[9] https://nj.gov/governor/news/news/562018/approved/20180523a_ https://energy.gov/lpo/loan-programs-office/
cleanEnergy.shtml [13] Since solar energy does not match demand at higher penetrations, even
[10] https://www.governor.wa.gov/sites/default/files/climate-change-package- lower prices are needed to spur development. More information on the
overview-policy-brief.pdf SunShot 2030 Goal of 3 ¢/kWh can be found here: https://www.energy.gov/
eere/solar/sunshot-2030
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 121
Fig. 3 - Dangling Rope Marina, Lake Powell, Utah; Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
TABLE 1 – BREAKDOWN OF SOLAR ENERGY of California and Massachusetts; California is shifting away from
TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM FY 18 ENACTED FUNDING a solar-friendly time-of-use rate structure, and Massachusetts is
transitioning to the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART)
Photovoltaic Research & Development 70,0 MUSD program – the successor to its Solar Renewable Energy Certificate
(SREC) program. The non-residential sector has been otherwise
Concentrating Solar Power 55,0 MUSD
supported by a growing community solar market, which comprised
Systems Integration 71,2 MUSD ~ 20 % of non-residential installed capacity in 2018. Over half of
Balance of Systems Soft Cost Reduction 11,0 MUSD community solar’s capacity increases this year have been in Minnesota,
Innovations in Manufacturing Competitiveness 34,4 MUSD attributable to support from community solar-specific feed-in
tariffs [16]. An increasing amount of residential and non-residential
Total 241,6 MUSD installations are expected to contain storage as lithium-ion battery
prices continue to fall, net metering gets reduced or eliminated, and
INDUSTRY AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT time-of-use rates increase in popularity. In 2018, an estimated 3 %
The U.S. market, in terms of annual installed capacity, experienced of residential and 2 % of non-residential installations contained
a minor decrease from roughly 10,8 GW in 2017 to 10,6 in 2018. storage [17].
The unprecedented increase in installed capacity seen in 2016 was
largely due to expectations from developers and utilities that the ITC The utility sector’s decrease in installations in the first part of the year
would expire. Many planned installations were accelerated to meet has been attributed to delays related to uncertainty around the effects
the expected deadline, which contributed to an apparent lull in 2017. of import tariffs [18]. Utility sector installations and procurements
Viewed as a single period, installed capacity from 2016 – 2018 tracked were expected to pick up in late 2018 due to a sharp decrease in global
close to its ten-year average growth rate. panel prices that occurred mid-year.
In January 2018 the President of the United States placed a tariff [14] U.S. PV module manufacturing production, after a contraction in
for a period of four years on imported cells and modules. The tariff is 2017, increased from 223 MWp in Q4 2017 to 316 by Q3 2018, an
set at 30 % in the first year, and will be reduced by five percent in each average of 12,5 % quarter over quarter (60 % Compound Annual
of the next three years. The first 2,5 GW of cells imported each year are Growth Rate) [19]. A number of manufacturers have also announced
excluded. Additionally, in 2018, the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest plans to increase U.S. capacity within the next few years. The U.S. has
rates four times, increasing rates from 1,5 % at the beginning of the a significant presence in other parts of the PV manufacturing value
year to 2,5 % by the year end [15]. While U.S. interest rates are still chain, including polysilicon, encapsulants, wiring, and fasteners. The
historically low, increasing capital costs could impact the rate of new manufacturing sector employed 33 700 people in 2018, a 9 % decrease
installations. from 2017 [20].
Several solar market segment trends changed in 2018. Supported by Industry-wide, approximately 149 000 jobs relating to solar were
strong performance in Q4 2018, the residential installation market added from 2010 to 2018, and the industry has grown to a total
grew by 7 %. Non-residential sector, or commercial, installations of over 242 000 employed in 2018 [21]. 2018 saw a decline of
decreased by 8 %, mainly due to policy shifts in the leading markets approximately 8 000 jobs from 2017.
[14] Tariffs resulted from a case brought by two U.S. based PV manufacturers [17] GTM Research/SEIA, Q4 2018: U.S. Solar Market Insight. December 2018.
to the U.S. International Trade Commission under Section 201, Trade Act of [18] Id.
1974, accusing foreign governments of implementing policies supporting [19] Id.
their domestic manufacturing in violation of WTO rules and the GATT [20] Id.
agreement. [21] Solar Foundation. (2019). National Solar Jobs Census 2018. Washington,
[15] https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/openmarket.htm DC: The Solar Foundation.
[16] GTM Research SEIA: Solar Market Insight Report 2018 Year In Review. [22] Id.
March 2019.
122 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
TASK 2 - PERFORMANCE, RELIABILITY AND ANALYSIS 4. PV System Installation and Grid-interconnection Guideline in
OF PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS (1995-2007) Selected IEA Countries, T5-04: 2001
Task 2 Reports & Database 5. Grid-connected Photovoltaic Power Systems: Survey of Inverter
1. Analysis of Photovoltaic Systems, T2-01:2000 and Related Protection Equipment, T5-05: 2002
2. IEA PVPS Database Task 2, T2-02:2001 6. International Guideline for the Certification of PV System
3. Operational Performance, Reliability and Promotion of Components and Grid-connected Systems, T5-06:2002
Photovoltaic Systems, T2-03:2002 7. Probability of Islanding in Utility Networks due to Grid Connected
4. The Availability of Irradiation Data, T2-04:2004 Photovoltaic Power Systems, T5-07: 2002
5. Country Reports on PV System Performance, T2-05:2008 8. Risk Analysis of Islanding of Photovoltaic Power Systems within
6. Cost and Performance Trends in Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Low Voltage Distribution Networks, T5-08: 2002
Systems and Case Studies, T2-06:2007 9. Evaluation of Islanding Detection Methods for Photovoltaic
7. Performance Prediction of Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems Utility-interactive Power Systems, T5-09: 2002
Using Remote Sensing, T2-07:2008 10. Impacts of Power Penetration from Photovoltaic Power Systems
in Distribution Networks, T5-10: 2002
TASK 3 – USE OF PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER SYSTEMS IN 11. Grid-connected Photovoltaic Power Systems: Power Value and
STAND ALONE AND ISLAND APPLICATIONS (1993-2004) Capacity Value of PV Systems, T5-11: 2002
Task 3 Reports
1. Recommended Practices for Charge Controllers, T3-04:1998 TASK 6 – DESIGN AND OPERATION OF MODULAR
2. Stand Alone PV Systems in Developing Countries, T3-05:1999 PHOTOVOLTAIC PLANTS FOR LARGE SCALE POWER
3. Lead-acid Battery Guide for Stand-alone Photovoltaic Systems, GENERATION (1993-1998)
T3-06:1999, Task 6 Reports, Papers & Documents
4. Survey of National and International Standards, Guidelines and 1. The Proceedings of the Paestrum Workshop
QA Procedures for Stand-Alone PV Systems, T3-07:2000 2. A PV Plant Comparison of 15 plants
5. Recommended Practices for Charge Controllers, T3-08:2000 3. The State of the Art of: High Efficiency, High Voltage, Easily
6. Use of appliances in stand-alone PV power supply systems: Installed Modules for the Japanese Market
problems and solutions, T3-09:2002 4. A Document on “Criteria and Recommendations for Acceptance
7. Management of Lead-Acid Batteries used in Stand-Alone Test”
Photovoltaic Power Systems, T3-10:2002 5. A Paper, entitled: “Methods to Reduce Mismatch Losses.”
8. Testing of Lead-Acid Batteries used in Stand-Alone PV Power 6. Report of questionnaires in the form of a small book containing
Systems – Guidelines, T3-11:2002 organized information collected through questionnaires
9. Selecting Stand-Alone Photovoltaic Systems – Guidelines, integrated with statistical data of the main system parameters
T3-12:2002 and of the main performance indices
10. Monitoring Stand-Alone Photovoltaic Systems: Methodology and 7. The “Guidebook for Practical Design of Large Scale Power
Equipment - Recommended Practices, T3-13:2003 Generation Plant”
11. Protection against the Effects of Lightning on Stand-Alone 8. The “Review of Medium to Large Scale Modular PV Plants
Photovoltaic Systems - Common Practices, T3-14:2003 Worldwide”
12. Managing the Quality of Stand-Alone Photovoltaic Systems - 9. Proceedings of the Madrid Workshop
Recommended Practices, T3-15:2003
13. Demand Side Management for Stand-Alone Photovoltaic Systems, TASK 7 – PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER SYSTEMS IN THE
T3-16:2003 BUILT ENVIRONMENT (1997-2001)
14. Selecting Lead-Acid Batteries Used in Stand-Alone Photovoltaic Task 7 Reports
Power Systems – Guidelines, T3-17:2004 1. Literature Survey and Analysis of Non-technical Problems for the
15. Alternative to Lead-Acid Batteries in Stand-Alone Photovoltaic Introduction of BIPV Systems, T7-01:1999
Systems, T3-18:2004 2. PV in Non-Building Structures - A Design Guide, T7-02:2001
3. Potential for Building Integrated Photovoltaics, T7-04:2001
TASK 5 – GRID INTERCONNECTION OF BUILDING 4. Guidelines for the Economic Evaluation of Building Integrated
INTEGRATED AND OTHER DISPERSED PHOTOVOLTAIC Photovoltaics, T7-05:2002
SYSTEMS (1993-2003) 5. Market Deployment Strategies for Photovoltaics in the Built
Task 5 Reports Environment, T7-06:2002
1. Utility Aspects of Grid Interconnected PV Systems, T5-01:1998 6. Innovative electric concepts, T7-07:2002
2. Demonstration Tests of Grid Connected Photovoltaic Power 7. Reliability of Photovoltaic Systems, T7-08:2002
Systems, T5-02:1999 8. Book: “Designing with Solar Power - A Source Book for Building
3. Grid-connected Photovoltaic Power Systems: Summary of Task 5 Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV)”, Edited By Deo Prasad and Mark
Activities from 1993 to 1998, T5-03:1999 Snow, Images Publishing, 2005 (ISBN 9781844071470)
COMPLETED TASKS 123
TASK 8 – STUDY ON VERY LARGE SCALE PHOTOVOLTAIC 10. Task 9 Flyer: PV Injection in Isolated Diesel Grids, T9-10:2008
POWER GENERATION SYSTEM (1999-2014) 11. Policy Recommendations to Improve the Sustainability of Rural
Task 8 Reports Water Supply Systems, T9-11: 2011
1. Book: “Energy from the Desert: Feasibility of Very Large Scale 12. Pico Solar PV Systems for Remote Homes, T9-12:2012
Photovoltaic Power Generation (VLS-PV) Systems”, James and 13. Rural Electrification with PV Hybrid Systems - 2013 (En),
James, 2003 (ISBN 1 902916 417) T9-13:2013
2 Report: “Summary – Energy from the Desert: Feasibility of 14. Mini-réseaux hybrides PV-diesel pour l’électrification rurale -
Very Large Scale Photovoltaic Power Generation (VLS-PV) 2013 (Fr), T9-13 :2013
Systems”, 2003 15. Innovative Business Models and Financing Mechanisms for PV
3. Report: “Summary – Energy from the Desert: Practical Proposals Deployment in Emerging Regions, T9-14:2014
for Very Large Scale Photovoltaic Systems”, 2006 16. PV Systems for Rural Health Facilities in Developing Areas,
4. Book: “Energy from the Desert: Practical Proposals for Very T9-15:2014
Large Scale Photovoltaic Systems”, Earthscan, 2007 (ISBN 17. A User Guide to Simple Monitoring and Sustainable Operation of
978-1-84407-363-4) PV-diesel Hybrid Systems, T9-16:2015
5. Book: “Energy from the Desert: Very Large Scale Photovoltaic 18. Guideline to Introducing Quality Renewable Energy Technician
Systems, Socio-Economic, Financial, Technical and Environmental Training Programs, T9-17:2017
Aspects”, Earthscan, 2009 (ISBN 978-1-84407-794-6) 19. PV Development via Prosumers. Challenges Associated with
6. Report: “Summary - Energy from the Desert: Very Large Scale Producing and Self-consuming Electricity from Grid-tied, Small
Photovoltaic Systems, Socio-Economic, Financial, Technical and PV Plants in Developing Countries, T9-18:2018
Environmental Aspects”, 2009
7. Book: “Energy from the Desert: Very Large Scale Photovoltaic TASK 10 – URBAN SCALE PV APPLICATIONS
Power - State-of-the-Art and into the Future”, Earthscan from (2004-2009)
Routledge, 2013 (ISBN 978-0-415-63982-8(hbk) /978-0-203- Task 10 Reports
08140-2(cbk)) 1. Compared Assessment of Selected Environmental Indicators of
8. Report: “Summary - Energy from the Desert: Very Large Scale PV Electricity in OECD Cities, T10-01:2006
Photovoltaic Power - State-of-the-Art and into the Future”, 2013 2 Analysis of PV System’s Values Beyond Energy -by country, by
9. Report: “Energy from the Desert: Very Large Scale PV Power stakeholder, T10-02:2006
Plants for Shifting to Renewable Energy Future”, 2015 (ISBN 3. Urban BIPV in the New Residential Construction Industry
978-3-906042-29-9) T10-03:2008
10. Report: “Summary - Energy from the Desert: Very Large Scale 4. Community Scale Solar Photovoltaics: Housing and Public
PV Power Plants for Shifting to Renewable Energy Future”, 2015 Development Examples T10-04:2008
11. Brochure: “Energy from the Desert: Fact sheets and the Summary 5. Promotional Drivers for Grid Connected PV, T10-05:2009
of the Research”, 2015 6. Overcoming PV Grid Issues in Urban Areas, T10-06:2009
7. Urban PV Electricity Policies, T10-07:2009
TASK 9 – DEPLOYMENT PV SERVICES FOR REGIONAL 8. Book: Photovoltaics in the Urban Environment, Routledge, ISBN
DEVELOPMENT (1998-2018) 9781844077717
Task 9 Reports
1. Financing Mechanisms for SHS in Developing Countries, TASK 11 – HYBRID SYSTEMS WITHIN MINI-GRIDS
T9-01:2002 (2006-2012)
2. Summary of Models for the Implementation of Photovoltaic SHS Task 11 Reports
in Developing Countries, T9-02:2003 1. Worldwide Overview of Design and Simulation Tools for PV Hybrid
3. PV for Rural Electrification in Developing Countries – A Guide to Systems, T11-01:2011
Capacity Building Requirements, T9-03:2003 2. The Role of Energy Storage for Mini-Grid Stabilization,
4. The Role of Quality Management Hardware Certification and T11-02:2011
Accredited Training in PV Programmes in Developing Countries: 3. Sustainability Conditions for PV Hybrid Systems: Environmental
Recommended Practices, T9-04:2003 Considerations, T11-03:2011
5. PV for Rural Electrification in Developing Countries –Programme 4. COMMUNICATION BETWEEN COMPONENTS IN MINI-GRIDS:
Design, Planning and Implementation, T9-05:2003 Recommendations for communication system needs for PV hybrid
6. Institutional Framework and Financial Instruments for PV mini-grid systems, T11-04:2011
Deployment in Developing Countries, T9-06:2003 5. Social, Economic and Organizational Framework for Sustainable
7. 16 Case Studies on the Deployment of Photovoltaic Technologies Operation of PV Hybrid Systems within Mini-Grids, T11-05:2011
in Developing Countries, T9-07:2003 6. Design and operational recommendations on grid connection of
8. Sources of Financing for PV-Based Rural Electrification in PV hybrid mini-grids, T11-06:2011
Developing Countries, T9-08: 2004 7. PV Hybrid Mini-Grids: Applicable Control Methods for Various
9. Renewable Energy Services for Developing Countries, in support Situations, T11-07:2012
of the Millennium Development Goals: Recommended Practice 8. Overview of Supervisory Control Strategies Including a MATLAB®
and Key Lessons, T9-09:2008 Simulink® Simulation. T11-08:2012
124 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
ANNEX A
IEA-PVPS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
ANNEX B
IEA-PVPS OPERATING AGENTS
TASK 1 – STRATEGIC PV ANALYSIS AND OUTREACH TASK 16 – SOLAR RESOURCE FOR HIGH PENETRATION
Mr Gaëtan MASSON AND LARGE SCALE APPLICATIONS
Becquerel Institute Mr Jan REMUND
g.masson@iea-pvps.org Meteotest
jan.remund@meteotest.ch
Ms Izumi KAIZUKA – Deputy OA
RTS Corporation
kaizuka@rts-pv.com TASK 17 – PV & TRANSPORT
Mr Toshio HIROTA
Adjunct Researcher, Research Institute of
TASK 12 – SUSTAINABILITY OF PHOTOVOLTAIC Electric-driven Vehicles
SYSTEMS Waseda University
Mr Garvin HEATH t.hirota2@kurenai.waseda.jp
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
garvin.heath@nrel.gov Mr Keiichi KOMOTO – Assistant to the Task 17 OA
Senior Consultant
Mr Andreas WADE– Deputy OA Global Innovation & Energy Division
c/o SolarPower Europe Mizuho Information & Research Institute, Inc.
Strategy Committee keiichi.komoto@mizuho-ir.co.jp
Andreas.Wade@FIRSTSOLAR.COM
Mr Boris FARNUNG
Group Manager PV Power Plants
Division Photovoltaic Modules, Systems and Reliability
Fraunhofer-Institut für Solare Energiesysteme ISE
Boris.Farnung@ise.fraunhofer.de
Mr Zeger VROON
Zuyd University of Applied Sciences
zeger.vroon@zuyd.nl
128 IEA - PVPS ANNUAL REPORT 2018
COLOPHON
Cover Photograph
IRESEN Morocco
Task Status Reports
PVPS Operating Agents
National Status Reports
PVPS Executive Committee Members and Task 1 Experts
Editor
Mary Jo Brunisholz
Layout
Autrement dit
Paper
Normaset Puro blanc naturel
Type set in
Rotis
Printed in 300 copies by
MediaF, Fribourg, Switzerland
ISBN 978-3-90642-84-8