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Greece

IEA Solar Report Provides Wealth of Information (14 Charts)

by James Ayre October 16, 2014

The newest edition of the Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme report was recently released by the IEA — detailing a huge quantity of different aspects of the global solar PV market as well as country- and region-specific solar PV markets.

This 19th edition of the report provides a number of highly interesting/useful graphs, some of which are posted below. Providing visual representations for everything from the 20 largest single-country solar PV power capacity additions from the last five years, to the contribution of electricity from solar PV systems relative to overall country electricity demand, to which solar PV market incentives and enablers have most driven solar PV growth, etc.

Enjoy.

Germany’s steadily high installations for years keep it at the top in terms of cumulative solar PV capacity, but that may change in 2014 thanks to another year with a huge red bubble floating far above the rest.

Here’s a table if you’re into tables or lists.

And here’s a broader look at the 2013 breakdown. China and Japan together account for ~half of all solar PV power installation.

But Germany is still far ahead in terms of total cumulative solar PV capacity… We’ll see if it stays there after 2014. The US, sadly, sits at #5 despite being the 3rd-most-populated country in the world and the richest.

Notice Europe’s shrinking market share. However, that’s not just due to shrinking solar PV markets in Europe — it’s also due to strong growth in North America and Asia… especially Asia.

It’s fascinating here to look at how the electricity from solar PV is differently “consumed.” Also, congrats to Italy for leading the way on this chart — nice solar resources help, but that’s certainly not the only factor at play! The US and China actually perform pretty horribly from this angle. Europe dominates the top rankings.

We still have a long way to go.

That’s some strong growth.

Somewhat crazy how much three countries contribute to the 2013 total. The story will be similar in 2014.

Feed-in tariffs are still the premier market enabler for solar PV power. Note, also, that self-consumption and “pure competitive EV” is already making up 5% of the pie.

As far as renewables go, more mature wind still dominates.

China dominates solar cell production. Who knew?

While there is often talk of Chinese solar cell and solar module producers killing US and German companies, we can see here that US and German solar cell production never came close to Chinese production even as far back as 2010, or even Taiwanese production for that matter. But there’s no denying that the German market collapsed in 2010.

Chinese domination is even stronger in the module business.

Source: IEA, via Sustainnovate

October 16, 2014 0 comment

PV Solar $Solar Incentives Solar Policy

Greece Cuts Feed-in Tariffs 30% Retroactively

by Zach March 22, 2014

written by Zach

Image Credit: NickWinslow (CC BY-SA 3.0)

This is what you call bad solar policy, bad investment and business policy, and overall bad policy. Greece has retroactively cut solar feed-in tariffs (FiTs) by 30% on average. Of course, it comes as part of broader economic problems in Greece.

Feed-in tariffs aren’t the only thing being cut either.

“The new measures ask solar photovoltaic energy producers to contribute 35% of their 2013 income to the Greek electricity market operator LAGIE. The intention is to plug a €700 million gap in LAGIE’s fund used, which is used to pay renewable energy producers in Greece. The country has promised its international lenders – the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund – that it will completely eliminate LAGIE’s fund deficit by the end of 2014,” PV Magazine writes.

“While the same measures also apply to other renewable power producers, they are currently only required though to contribute 10% of their 2013 income to the LAGIE fund, with one exception: rooftop solar PV installations are exempted completely from this measure.”

Here are some details on the FiT cuts:

The second measure introduced by YPEKA regards the drastic reduction of FITs for operational RES plants. Again, solar PV installations face the sharpest reductions, which on average reach 30% of the initial tariffs. Retroactive FIT cuts also apply to rooftop installations.

A smoother FIT reduction, around 20% on average, applies to smaller PV projects up to 20 kW each that are not installed on buildings, and to those projects owned by farmers should they not exceed 100 kW each.

Other renewable energy systems such as wind and hydro projects have been instructed to take a much smaller FIT reduction of around 5-6% on average.

Reductions for solar PV FITs have taken into account a number of factors, such as the technology used, the time of project development, the cost of the installation, and even the location (specifically differentiating between projects in mainland Greece and in the smaller electricity grids of the many Greek islands). A critical factor also taken into account is whether a RES project has received any additional form of aid (e.g direct subsidy, tax exemption). FITs for projects receiving such aids face even sharper cuts.

Greece To Implement Net Metering

by Zach August 4, 2013

written by Zach

Greece is set to implement a solar policy widely used throughout the US — net metering. However, the solar PV industry in Greece isn’t thrilled about it.

Greek Deputy Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change Asimakis Papageorgiou has said that, in most circumstances, households and businesses will be able to export any electricity they produce from solar PV panels or small wind turbines into the grid, and be paid for that.

Debate on Surplus Electricity Payments

However, in some cases, these households and businesses will not be paid for the extra electricity they produce. PV Magazine writes:

In cases where a local distribution grid does not have the capacity to absorb the solar power produced, net metering installations will still be permitted as long as the balance of the network is not threatened. However, Papageorgiou added that there would be no payments for any surplus energy injected into the network after offsetting the energy produced and consumed at the end of each metering period. Thus, electricity grids will absorb any surplus power produced, but will not be obliged to pay for it.

Naturally, the PV industry is not happy about that provision. The Hellenic Association of Photovoltaic Companies (HELAPCO) says that, “any surplus energy generated during a metering period [should be] credited towards the next metering periods within a calendar year.”

However, HELAPCO does support the idea that individual energy producers should be subject to maximum annual credit amount.

August 4, 2013 1 comment

Market Research PV Solar Policy Solar Research

Report: EU Anti-Dumping Duties Could Cost Continent 1.3 GW Of Solar

by Zach June 14, 2013

written by Zach

A new report from research group IHS has found that the EU’s anti-dumping duties on Chinese solar products, if implemented, will result in over 1.3 GW less solar power capacity being installed in the EU in 2013.

Photo Credit: Solar panels in Spanish mountains Steven2358 / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

Photo Credit: Solar panels in Spanish mountains by Steven2358 | CC BY-NC-SA license

Overall, combined with solar incentive cuts, IHS projects that the EU will install 6 GW or 33% less solar power capacity in 2013 compared to 2012. Germany’s solar market is projected to decrease about 3 GW compared to 2012, while Italy’s is projected to do so by about 2 GW.

The positive news from the IHS report: global solar PV installations are supposed to be up about 4 GW or 11% in 2013, reaching 35 GW. The main driver for the growth is strong solar PV growth in Asia, particularly China, Japan, and India.

Regarding the European situation, here’s more: “Although the EU Commission has given a small window of opportunity by reducing the tariff to 11.8% for 60 days, IHS still expects dampened demand,” said Ash Sharma, IHS’ senior director of solar research. “This decline comes in stark contrast to the sharp increase in module shipments from China as buyers stockpile ahead of the next tariff increase in August. As a result, IHS has cut its European forecast for the second half of 2013 by 1.3 GW — a nearly 20% reduction from our previous outlook.”

The top 10 solar markets, according to IHS, are projected to be:

Clearly, Europe still makes a strong showing, especially when you take into account population and economic size.

June 14, 2013 0 comment

Market Research Rooftop Solar Solar $Solar Projects Solar Research

Greece Solar PV Grows 793 MW In Q1 (7 Charts & Graphs)

by Zach April 24, 2013

written by Zach

Previously, we reported that Greece added 300 MW of solar PV in January 2013. The following two months didn’t see as much built, but the Q1 total did hit a respectable 793 MW.

259 MW were added in March and 234 MW were added in February, and Greece is now at about 2.2 GW of solar PV capacity (cumulative).

As you can see in the chart below from LAGIE (the Greece electricity grid operator), solar PV is now the #1 renewable energy source in the country (when it comes to installed power capacity). Solar PV (including rooftop PV) is at 2204 MW, while wind power is at 1495 MW.

Here’s the split by actual generation:

Here are some charts of solar PV by region:

April 24, 2013 0 comment

Solar Projects

Large PV Projects Announced In Greece & Japan

by Zach March 22, 2013

written by Zach

A couple of big new solar PV projects in Greece and Japan have just been announced.

In Greece, Italy-based Energy Resources Ltd and China Development Bank have teamed up on a contract for a 32-MW solar PV park. The €50 million project is supposed to be completed in less than a year, by the end of 2013.

While a Chinese and an Italian company are clearly going to benefit, Greek solar installers are also supposed to get a piece of the pie.

March 22, 2013 0 comment

Market Research Rooftop Solar Solar Policy Solar Projects Solar Research

Greece Adds 300 MW Of Solar PV In January (More Than Germany), Bill Looks To Cut Solar Red Tape

by Zach March 7, 2013

written by Zach

Pretty flower in Greece, with solar panels on rooftop in background. Image Credit: Aggathopos (some rights reserved)

Pretty flowers in Greece, with solar panels on rooftop in background. Image Credit: Aggathopos (some rights reserved)

The latest figures from Greece indicate that the country installed 300 MW of solar PV in January (more than Germany’s 275 MW). The stats come from LAGIE, which is the operator of the Greece electricity grid. Here are some more stats from LAGIE:

This 300 MW January total is over 1/3 the new capacity Greece installed in total last year (890 MW).
This 300 MW January total is over twice as much as LAGIE projected would be installed in a report published just last month (121 MW).
282 MW were from ground-mounted solar PV projects, while the remaining 18 MW were from rooftop solar installations.
Current cumulative solar PV capacity in Greece is 1.72 GW.
New projections have Greece’s cumulative solar PV capacity at 2.58 GW by the end of 2013, and 2.82 GW by the end of 2014.

The surge in installations is due in part to upcoming changes to Greece’s solar feed-in tariffs. Lower rates kick in on March 11, spurring a bit of a boom in development.

March 7, 2013 0 comment