Markets

According to a media report, BWE (German WindEnergy Association) President Hermann Albers has demanded that the solar sector demonstrates photovoltaic’s (PV) potential for reduced costs. In his view, saving the EEG (Renewable Energy Sources Act) is at stake.

The global photovoltaics (PV) market is making positive progress, with new research released by solar energy market research company Solarbuzz showing that PV demand “soared” by 54 percent in the second quarter of this year (Q2’10), to 3.82 gigawatts (GW).

The global photovoltaics (PV) market is forecast to exceed 16 gigawatts (GW) this year, said IMS Research, with demand for PV systems predicted to almost double. It went on to say that the top five markets will account for more than 13 GW, but growth is expected to slowdown next year.

The Ontario photovoltaics (PV) market will reach 694 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity by next year, including 186 MW of Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program (RESOP) projects, according to a study carried out by Canada-based ClearSky Advisors.

Global building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) installation capacity is expected to grow more than ten-fold in the next six years, with figures reaching as high as 2.4 gigawatts (GW) by 2016, according to Pike Research.

Using carbon nanotubes – hollow tubes of carbon atoms – Massachusetts Institute of Technology chemical engineers say they have found a way to concentrate solar energy 100 times more than a regular photovoltaic (PV) cell. Such nanotubes could reportedly form antennas that capture and focus light energy, potentially allowing much smaller and more powerful solar arrays, according to Chinese news agency, xinhuanet.

The largest solar power station in the Czech Republic opened on Wednesday in the village of Veprek, some 20 kilometers north of Prague, according to Chinese news agency, xinhuanet.

France needs to revise targets for solar energy and further cut subsidies to curb costs to consumers that may balloon to €54 billion euros (USD$70 billion) by 2020, according to Bloomberg, which was quoting a government report.

The excitement level at this year’s EU PVSEC is slowly picking up. Visions are going beyond the magical year 2020 and stretching to 2050. Speaking to a full hall at the opening conference of the trade show, which opened today in Valencia, Spain, Dr. Giovanni Federigo De Santi, director of the Institute for Energy (IE), Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission ended his speech by asking if the photovoltaics (PV) industry is ready to face the challenges lying ahead in 2050.

Italy is to significantly reduce its feed-in tariffs (FITs) for solar energy, starting from next year. According to EuPD Research, the Conferenza Stato e Regioni – the Italian Committee of Representatives of Italian regions and the central government – announced that incentives for all installation types will be lowered every four months next year.