A lack of ambition across the sector has hindered solar PV’s growth in this sun-rich country, with only the small-scale rooftop sector likely to expand over the coming years.

Solarpraxis Forum highlights how traditional energy utilities are struggling to cope with the expansion of the renewable energy sector, forcing a rethink of their relationship with renewables.

The Alpine country’s unusual solar PV remuneration system obliges households and other small power producers to trade energy on the market while allowing bigger investors piece of mind through the FIT scheme. The usual practice in Europe and elsewhere is the other way round.

Secretary of state Eric Pickles refused to be drawn into the planning application for a 15-16 MW farm in Cumbria but is very much an interventionist when it comes to applications in the Tory heartlands in the south east of England.

While the country’s solar PV tariff is very good, a separate renewable energy production law allocated an extremely low quota for PV plants, including 6 MW for ground-mounted installations and 4 MW for rooftop, by 2020.

Philae, Rosetta’s spacecraft probe, has reportedly gone to hibernation in an unknown corner of the 67P comet after its secondary batteries could not be charged due a lack of solar irradiation. But all is not lost. In contrast, a whole lot has been gained.

Despite escalating local opposition, oil giant Repsol is planning to commence deepwater drilling off Spain’s Canary Islands in search of petroleum. The sun-drenched Canary and Balearics Islands are Spain’s lost solar PV case.

While government cuts slashed the internal rate of return for Greek PV plants, they still remain significantly higher than in other European countries and offer foreign investors a potentially attractive investment as Greece’s economy slowly recovers.