Global PV markets

First Solar was recently selected to supply and provide the EPC services for two projects in the first stage of the Australian Federal Government’s Solar Flagships program. The aim of the program is to see the establishment of the country’s first large utility-scale projects. First Solar’s Jack Curtis, the Vice President of Business Development Asia-Pacific for the company, spoke to pv magazine about the emerging utility-scale market in the country.

A bill passed on June 25 by the New Jersey State Legislature is designed to stimulate new demand for Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs) from load-serving entities (LSEs); spur additional distributed, grid-tied solar installations by homeowners and other private parties; and save industry jobs in the Northeast region.

New South Wales’ (NSW) Independent Pricing and Regulatory Authority (IPART) has recommended that the feed-in tariff (FIT) to be paid to businesses and households that feed photovoltaic-generated electricity back into the grid to be increased substantially for the Australian 2012/13 financial year.

Germany’s federal and state governments have agreed to a phasing out of funding and cuts in the country’s photovoltaic feed-in tariffs. It is expected that the Bundestag and Bundesrat will discuss and make a decision on the compromise this week.

Germany’s Environment Minister is optimistic an agreement on the country’s EEG will be reached soon. Subsidies for photovoltaic plants have, furthermore, not been completely ruled out. However, criticism has arisen from the CDU party. Like the Liberals, they believe a market cap should be introduced.

The Bundestag has accepted the new EEG (renewable energy law), just hours after Germany’s mediation committee reached a compromise on photovoltaic subsidies. Only the Left abstained, as all other parties voted in favor of it.

Three months after making its preliminary countervailing duty (CVD) determination, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) has reportedly upped the rates Chinese photovoltaic manufacturers will have to pay for exporting their cells to the U.S.

More details have emerged over what the photovoltaic industry can expect to see in Germany’s new EEG (renewable energy law). The Environment Ministry has refused to comment on the speculation before the next meeting of the mediation committee, to be held today, however.

GTM Research forecasts that a massive 60 GW of photovoltaic product capacity will come offline by 2015, as supply continues to outstrip demand. The company furthermore believes that module manufacturing costs will reach US$0.45/W and that product differentiation will be key to survival.

Italy’s next renewable energy law, the Conto Energia V could soon be approved. It is believed that most of the regional state rejections should be taken into account, and that a gradual transition will be adopted.