May 21 2009
While some industry observers have questioned whether photovoltaic generated electricity will ever be competitive with fossil fuels, a report by Research Analysts Ltd shows how grid parity will be reached progressively from 2010 onwards in several European countries; Italy will blaze the trail, closely followed by Spain and then Germany.
The report shows the hurdles the industry cleared in order to reach its grid parity target. However, while the industry has made considerable headway, it still has some way to go in order to maintain its competitiveness with retail electricity prices. Economies of scale are still a major driver to achieve cost reduction in the photovoltaic sector.
Germany is the largest solar photovoltaic power national market in the world, on the basis of its installed base, with a well-developed and competitive industry and incentive scheme designed to promote on-grid applications. The scheme is based on so-called feed-in tariffs. The report shows how Germany will remain the world’s largest solar sales market in 2009 despite the 8% reduction in feed-in compensation rates.
As Germany’s unemployment reaches 8.3% of the workforce, the local photovoltaic industry is providing an attractive marketplace for those seeking work. Today, over 50,000 people are employed in the PV sector in Germany, up from just 2,500 in 1999.
While the German photovoltaic solar module sector is one of fastest growing in the renewable energy industry, the global financial crisis has cast a long shadow of uncertainty in the marketplace. For instance, will there be pricing pressure for projects to be realised at all in a recession, or will investors turn to solar plants which promise them a more secure return than shares or certificates? What is clear is that substantial investments are required to continue the growth of this sector, to build and expand production capacities and for the photovoltaic projects involving the integration of solar cells and modules.
Research Analysts Ltd’s latest report, The German Solar Photovoltaic Market: a new era of competition dawns, considers the current status and prospects as the economic recession grips the nation. It includes comment and coverage from the major manufacturers, setting out the ways in which they are overcoming various hurdles to commercialisation. The strength of this report lies in the analysis of German solar photovoltaic value chain, providing detailed information on manufacturers of silicon, wafers, cells, modules, Poly-Si, a-Si, CIS, CIGS, CdTe and CPV-based photovoltaic technologies. It shows how recent changes in German political support for the industry will result in a new era of competition in the solar power market.
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