IP/03/1660
Brussels, 4 December 2003
Solar energy: Europe aims to lead the world in
Photovoltaic technologies
The recently created “Photovoltaics Technology Research Advisory Council”
will meet for the first time today in Brussels. The initiative of Loyola de
Palacio, European Commission Vice President in charge of Energy and
Transport, , and of European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin,
involves 18 members representing all the major players in this technology.
Europe is now the world's second largest manufacturer of photovoltaics,
accounting for more than 24% of overall production, behind Japan (44%) and
ahead of the USA (22%). Current forecasts show large potential for solar
electricity production, for which Europe has seen an average growth rate of
30% per year over the last decade. Nevertheless, photovoltaics are currently
under-utilised in the European Union, despite the active support of the
Commission for research, development and demonstration projects in this
area, with over € 200 million of funding for almost 200 projects over the last
10 years. To find the best way forward, the Advisory Council’s objective is to
develop a Foresight Report and a Strategic Research Agenda, in order to
address the remaining barriers to maximising the potential of this clean
energy source.
“I see the establishment of the Photovoltaic Technology Research Advisory Council
as a catalyst for creating a common European vision and a strategic research
agenda,” says European Research Commissioner, Philippe Busquin. “So far,
electricity produced from photovoltaic technology represents only a very small part of
the total electricity generated in the Union. This contribution will remain static unless
more ambitious measures are taken. We need to consider how we can overcome
the technical, legal and socio-economic obstacles to increase the uptake of this
sustainable energy system, which will create a winning situation for Europe’s
industry, as well as for Europe’s society.”
What are photovoltaics?
Photovoltaics (PV) literally means "light-electricity”; "Photo" coming from the Greek
"phos", meaning "light", and "Volt", from the Italian scientist Alessandro Volta, a
pioneer in the study of electricity. This technology, originally developed for space
applications in the 1960s, has many advantages: it is clean and easy to maintain,
can be installed almost anywhere and is easily adapted to suit the customer’s needs.
The electricity produced can be used either directly or fed into an existing electricity
grid.
Overcoming barriers
Despite all its advantages, PV is not yet fully competitive, as it is still expensive
compared to other forms of electricity generation. However, as a result of ongoing
research and continuous improvement, costs are falling. Although the contribution
today is still modest, the potential share for PV power supply is much greater. The
objective of the Commission White Paper on the promotion of Renewable Energies
is to increase the installed generating capacity of PV in the Union to 3GW by 2010. If
this goal is to be achieved, then commitment is needed to overcome the remaining
technical and non-technical barriers. But technical developments alone are not
sufficient. They should be accompanied by socio-economic research related to wider
public awareness and acceptance, training programmes for installers and, last but
not least, harmonisation of European codes and standards.
Japanese dominance
Figure 2 (see annex) shows the World PV production volume by manufacturer and
the dominance of Japanese companies is clear. Sharp (Japan) showed a massive
growth in production from 2001 to 2002 (a growth of 64.0%) while three Japanese
companies, Sharp, Kyocera and Sanyo Electric, make up the top five along with the
international groups, BP Solar, and Siemens and Shell. However, it is important to
note that Isofoton (Spain) also had a solid increase in production from 2001 to 2002
(51.8%), and that three European manufacturers (Isofoton, RWE Solar group and
Photowatt) also made it into the top ten.
The European Solar League
Among current member states (EU 15), Figure 3 demonstrates how Germany leads
the solar league in terms of solar energy production. In second place is the
Netherlands, though their output is dramatically lower than Germany, followed
closely by Italy, Spain and France to create the EU top five. The results of Figure 3
show that, if installation continues at a rate of 30% per year, then we are on track to
meet the target of 3GW by 2010. But every effort must be made to realise the
potential of PV installation in order to achieve this goal.
For more information on photovoltaics
http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/energy/nn/nn_rt_pv1_en.html
Annex
PV production by volume (MW)
600
Total
561.8 MW
500
400
300
Japan
200
Europe
USA
100
Rest of the world
0
1995
96
97
98
99
2000
01
02
Year
Figure 1 PV production volume by region
Figure 1 shows the world-wide distribution of production volumes with the EU overtaking the
USA for the first time in 2002 with 24% of the market. Japan, however, maintains its strong
position with production at 44% of the total. If this current growth rate continues then it is
predicted that total production capacity will reach over 10 GW per year by 2010, and the
production capacity for Europe alone will reach 2.4 GW per year.
___________________________________________________________________________
_
Rank
Manufacturer
Production in Production in Production in Production
in 2002
1999
2000
2001
Growth
vs
preceding
year
(MW)
(%)
(MW)
(%)
(MW)
(%)
(MW)
(%)
(MW)
(%)
30.0
14.9
50.4
17.5
75.0
19.2
123.1
21.9
48.1
64.0
Solar 32.5
16.1
41.9
14.6
54.2
13.9
73.8
13.1
19.6
36.2
1
Sharp
(Japan)
2
BP
Group
3
Kyocera
(Japan)
30.3
15.1
42.0
14.6
54.0
13.8
60.0
10.7
6.0
11.1
4
Siemens
& 22.2
Shell Group
11.0
28.0
9.7
39.0
10.0
57.5
10.2
18.5
47.4
5
Sanyo
Electric
(Japan)
13.0
6.5
17.0
5.9
19.0
4.9
35.0
6.2
16.0
84.2
6
AstroPower
(USA)
12.0
6.0
18.0
6.3
26.0
6.7
29.7
5.3
3.7
14.2
7
RWE Solar 10.0
Group
(former ASE)
5.0
14.0
4.9
23.0
5.9
29.5
5.3
6.5
28.3
8
Isofoton
(Spain)
3.0
9.5
3.3
18.0
4.6
27.4
4.9
9.3
51.8
9
Mitsubishi
Electric
(Japan)
-
12.0
4.2
14.0
3.6
24.0
4.3
10.0
71.4
1
0
Photowatt
(France)
5.0
14.0
4.9
14.0
3.6
17.0
3.0
3.0
21.4
6.1
10.0
Source data: "PV News", Vol. 22 No 3, March 2003
___________________________________________________________________________
__
Figure 2. World PV production volume by manufacturer (top 10 companies):
Three European manufacturers, the RWE Group, Isofoton (Spain) and Photowatt (France) all
made it into the top ten manufacturers. Some groups such as BP Solar, Siemens, Shell Solar
and RWE Solar operate internationally with production in different regions.
___________________________________________________________________________
__
2
Belgium
Greece
Portugal
Denmark
Great Britain
Finland
Sweden
Austria
France
Spain
Netherlands
Italy
Germany
Total EU
391.6 MWp
0
50
100
150
200
250
MWp
Figure 3: Total Installed Capacity in 2002
The Commission “White Paper” on the promotion of Renewable Energies set a target to
increase the installed generating capacity of Photovoltaics in the Union to 3GW by 2010.
Figure 3 shows that the potential for PV installation seems to be much greater than is currently
the case.
3
Photovoltaics Technology Research Advisory Council: List of Members
Company
Representative
Position
Shell Group
Mrs Karen DE SEGUNDO
Chief Executive Officer
of Shell Renewables
Mr. Franz Karg
Global
R&D
and
technology Director
Prof.
Zhores
ALFEROV
Ivanovich Physics
NOBEL
Laureate 2000
Ioffe Institute
St-Petersburg
Country
United Kingdom
Russia
Prof. V. M. ANDREEV
Director of Research
Mme Michèle PAPPALARDO
President
Mr. Jean –Louis BAL
Assistant-Director
- France
Renewable
Energy
Department
Isofoton
Mr. Emiliano PEREZAGUA
Director
Free Energy Europe
Mr.
Peter
VLEUTEN
Würth Solar
Mr. Bernard DIMMLER
ADEME
ECN,
Centre
VAN
DER Director
Research Prof. Dr Wim SINKE
Fraunhofer
Gesellschaft-I.S.E.
Prof. A. GÖTZBERGER
Spain
The Netherlands
Managing Director
Germany
Director
The Netherlands
Director, retired
Germany
UNIPRESS Research Prof. Witold LOJKOWSKI
Centre
Member of the Polish Poland
Academy of Science
PV
Implementing Dr. Stefan NOWAK
Agreement - IEA
Executive Committee Switzerland
Chairman
Autorità per l'energia Prof. Sergio GARRIBBA
elettrica e il gas
Commissioner
Energy and Gas
DUNSTER
Architects
Director
United Kingdom
Architect Urbanist
Belgium
NCC
Construction Mr. Jan BYFORS
Sverige AB
Vice-President R&D
Sweden
Corporación Energia Mr. Carlos ITOIZ
Hidroeléctrica
de
Navarra S.A
Assistant CEO
Spain
&
WGA VANREETH
Co Mr. Bill DUNSTER
Mr. Bob VAN REETH
4
for Italy