PV Status Report 2012

Photovoltaics is a solar power technology to generate Electricity using semiconductor devices, known as solar cells. A number of solar cells form a solar "Module" or "Panel", which can then be combined to solar systems, ranging from a few Watts of electricity output to multi Megawatt power stations. The unique format of the Photovoltaic Status Report combines international up-to-date information about Research Activities with Manufacturing and Market Implementation Data of Photovoltaics. These data are collected on a regular basis from public and commercial studies and cross-checked with personal communications. Regular fact-finding missions with company visits, as well as meetings with officials from funding organisations and policy makers, complete the picture. Growth in the solar Photovoltaic sector has been robust. Yearly growth rates over the last decade were on average more than 40%, thus making photovoltaics one of the fastest growing industries at present. The PV Status Report provides comprehensive and relevant information on this dynamic sector for the public interested, as well as decision- makers in policy and industry.JRC.F.7-Renewable Energ

HOW COMPETITIVE IS PHOTOVOLTAIC ELECTRICITY

Over the last decade prices for residential grid-connected PV systems have decreased by 50 to 80% depeding on the local market conditions. Electricity production from residential photovoltaic solar systems has shown that it can be cheaper as residential electricity prices in a growing number of countries, depending on the actual electricity price and the local solar radiation level. The article shows how the financing costs for a PV system and the actual electricity price determine the economics of a unsubsidised PV system.JRC.F.7-Renewable Energ

PV Status Report 2013

Photovoltaics is a solar power technology to generate Electricity using semiconductor devices, known as solar cells. A number of solar cells form a solar "Module" or "Panel", which can then be combined to solar systems, ranging from a few Watts of electricity output to multi Megawatt power stations. The unique format of the Photovoltaic Status Report combines international up-to-date information of Photovoltaics. These data are collected on a regular basis from public and commercial studies and cross-checked with personal communications. Regular fact-finding missions with company visits, as well as meetings with officials from funding organisations and policy makers, complete the picture. Growth in the solar Photovoltaic sector has been robust. The Compound Annual Growth Rate over the last decade was over 50%, thus making photovoltaics one of the fastest growing industries at present. The PV Status Report provides comprehensive and relevant information on this dynamic sector for the public interested, as well as decision- makers in policy and industry.JRC.F.7-Renewable Energ

Quo Vadis Photovoltaics 2011

Since more than 10 years photovoltaics is one of the fastest growing industries with growth rates well beyond 40% per annum. This growth is driven not only by the progress in materials and processing technology, but by market introduction programmes in many countries around the world and the increased volatility and mounting fossil energy prices. Despite the negative impacts of the economic crisis in 2009, photovoltaics is still growing at an extraordinary pace and had an extraordinary year with a doubling of production and market in 2010. The open question is what will happen in 2011 and the years to come as the situation is dominated by huge manufacturing overcapacities and an increasing unpredictability of poly support. How can the PV industry accelerate their cost learning to ensure another 10 to 20 years of sustained and aggressive growth necessary to make PV to one of the main pillars of a sustainable energy supply in 2030. Despite the fact, that globally the share of electricity from photovltaic systems is still small, the share of PV electricity at local level can already now be above 30% of the demand at certain times of the year. Future research in PV has to provide intelligent solutions not only on the cell, but also on the module and the system level in order to permit the continuation of a rapid growth of photovoltaic electricity in order to deliver 5 to 10% of electricity in 2020.JRC.F.8-Renewable Energy (Ispra

PV Status Report 2014

Photovoltaics is a solar power technology for generating electricity using semiconductor devices known as solar cells. A number of solar cells form a solar ‘module’ or ‘panel’, which can then be combined to solar power systems, ranging from a few watts of electricity output to multi-megawatt power stations. The unique format of the PV Status Report combines up-to-date international information on photovoltaics. These data are collected on a regular basis from public and commercial studies and cross-checked with personal communications. Regular fact-finding missions involving company visits, as well as meetings with officials from funding organisations and policy-makers, complete the picture. Growth in the solar photovoltaic sector has been robust. The Compound Annual Growth Rate over the last decade was over 50%, thus making photovoltaics one of the fastest growing industries at present. The PV Status Report provides comprehensive and relevant information on this dynamic sector for the interested public, as well as decision-makers in policy and industry.JRC.F.7-Renewables and Energy Efficienc

Peer Review of Major Published Studies on the Environmental Profile

A peer review of major published studies on the environmental profile of cadmium telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic (PV) systems took place in Berlin in August 2005. these studies were conducted by researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), New York, University of chicago, and the Fraunhofer Institut fuer Festkoerpertechnologie, Muenchen. The review was organized by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) and moderated by the German Federal Ministry of Environment (BMU). The reviewers were prominent professors in European universities that were selected by the BMU and the JRC.JRC.DDG.F.8-Renewable Energy (Ispra

PV Status Report 2017

Photovoltaics is a solar-power technology for generating electricity using semiconductor devices known as solar cells. A number of solar cells form a solar ‘module’ or ‘panel’, which can then be combined to form solar power systems, ranging from a few watts of electricity output to multi-megawatt power stations. Growth in the solar photovoltaic sector has been robust. The Compound Annual Growth Rate over the last decade was over 40 %, thus making photovoltaics one of the fastest growing industries at present. The PV Status Report provides comprehensive and relevant information on this dynamic sector for the interested public, as well as decision-makers in policy and industry.JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewable

European Photovoltaic Market contracts in a rapid expanding global market

During the last 10 years, solar photovoltaic electricity generation has grown from a niche market to provide about 180 TWh electricity in 2014, roughly 0.8% of the world electricity production. The IEA Medium-Term Renewable Energy Market Report 2014 published in August 2014 estimates, that cumulative installed capacity of solar photovoltaic electricity systems will more than triple by 2020 compared to 2013.JRC.F.7-Renewables and Energy Efficienc

PV Status Report 2018

Photovoltaics is a solar-power technology for generating electricity using semiconductor devices known as solar cells. A number of solar cells form a solar ‘module’ or ‘panel’, which can then be combined to form solar power systems, ranging from a few watts of electricity output to multi-megawatt power stations. Growth in the solar photovoltaic sector has been robust. The Compound Annual Growth Rate over the last decade was over 40 %, thus making photovoltaics one of the fastest growing industries at present. The PV Status Report provides comprehensive and relevant information on this dynamic sector for the interested public, as well as decision-makers in policy and industry.JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewable

Photovoltaics and our future energy supply

Solar energy is the most abundant energy resource on earth today, providing about 10,000 times more energy per year than we actually use. There is a whole family of solar technologies which can deliver heat, cooling, electricity, lighting, and fuels for a variety of applications. One of these technologies is photovoltaics which converts solar energy directly into electricity using semiconductors which exhibit the photovoltaic effect and are called solar cells.JRC.F.7-Renewable Energ