6th Industry Forum Session 1 : SET For 2020 - the Industry vision
Introduction to the day, Winfried Hoffmann, EPIA President
Mr. Hoffmann introduced and welcomed the audience to the 6th Industry Forum, held at the 24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, highlighting the relevance of the event for the PV industry itself and for the future of the technology.
“SET For 2020 Executive Summary”, Winfried Hoffmann and Anton Milner, EPIA Vice President
W. Hoffman and A. Milner jointly presented the core elements of the SET For 2020 study. Entering into the details of what is needed to make Photovoltaics a mainstream power source in Europe, two scenarios were presented: the “Advanced Scenario” and the “Paradigm Shift”, aimed at covering 6% and 12% respectively of the European electricity demand by 2020 and equivalent to 195 and 390 GW of PV Power installed. The study, conducted in collaboration with AT Kearney, shows that Photovoltaics can significantly contribute to reaching the energy and climate European policy targets and that its massive deployment will represent a net benefit for both the European economy and society. Thanks to the positive results registered in the learning curve and constant cost reductions, Photovoltaics will become competitive and will progressively reach “Grid Parity” in the European market.
“Industrialising Solar, Scaling PV to Become a Mainstream Electricity Source”, Mike Splinter, CEO of Applied Materials
M. Splinter’s presentation focused on the real possibility of scaling up industrial processes in order to show that Photovoltaics can become a mainstream electricity source. Highlighting the events that have characterised the world economy and affected the PV industry after the previous EU PVSEC (i.e. the economic crisis, new priorities for energy policies, energy prices’ decline and solar overcapacity) he showed that despite these, global announcements for solar are extremely positive. He clarified, identifying the three necessary steps that the industry has to accomplish. If the 80’s were the time of the “Development phase” (range of 0-10 GW globally), late 90’s and the beginning of the millennium the “Scaling up phase”, the years to come will see PV in the “Mainstream phase”. The combination of cost reductions, demand boosted from policies and advances recorded from the industry will assure the scaling up. Applied Materials are committed to supporting the industry for this ambitious challenge.
“Feed-in tariffs for Renewables, a stimulus package without public borrowing”, Hans-Josef Fell, Member of the German Parliament
H.J. Fell focused his speech on the crucial role that the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) has played on the development of renewable energies in Germany. Stressing the importance of promoting renewables in order to solve the linked economic, environmental and energy crises that the world is experiencing and has experienced in the past, he underlined that such a positive piece of legislation like the EEG can make an enormous contribution “without incurring new” public “debts”. The core element of the EEG is the use of a Feed-in tariff scheme, which allowed Germany to reach 16% of electricity coming from renewables and to create nearly 300,000 jobs by 2008. Finally, he expressed his concern about the possible impact of the election results, underlining the will of Conservatives and Liberals to dramatically cut the support for renewables and Photovoltaics in particular.
