04 | 2024 | 78538

From the ground up

Community solar’s evolving landscape
 editorial

imprint Clean power, to the people

Publisher

Photo: pv magazine
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ISSN 1865-3138 Page 10 Page 66
pv magazine was founded in 2008 by Solarpraxis AG, Karl-Heinz Remmers.

www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024 1
contents
The smarter E special ≥
20 Fertile ground for agrivoltaics:
Agrivoltaics alone could surpass
the European Union’s solar goals
for 2030
22 Sun shines on PPAs: Europe had
a record year for power purchase
agreements in 2023, and there’s
more on the way
24 Better together: Co-locating
renewables and battery energy
storage systems (BESS)
28 Broken transmission: PV projects
in Europe are set to go, but getting
power to the grid is challenging
30 Setting sustainability standards:
Europe tackles forced labor with
the Solar Stewardship Initiative
market & trends ≥
6 News
8 Stability expected: Jesse Pichel of
Roth Capital Partners reviews the
performance of solar stocks
10 One for all, one for one: Some new
online marketplaces seem to follow
a dog-eat-dog ethos, argues Martin
Schachinger
12 Time to form, not follow:
Grid-forming inverters promise to
strengthen electricity networks
advertisement overview ≥
AISWEI New Energy Technology (Yangzhong) Co., Ltd.
ASTRONERGY NEW ENERGY TECHNOLOGY PTE. LTD.
Dongguan Lithium Valley Energy Co., Ltd.
Electrical Energy Storage Events 2024
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Intersolar Mexico 2024
LG Energy Solution Australia Pty., Ltd.
pv-magazine @Focus event at Intersolar Europe 2024
pv-magazine Awards 2024
RE+ USA 2024
4 04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com
14 EU solar trends: Good news for 56 Italy enables shared solar: Recent
installations, but manufacturing legislation is making it easier to set
faces challenges up energy communities
16 Shifting supply chains: Sourcing 60 US community solar on the rise:
local solar and energy storage in States with strong policy support
the United States are seeing rapid growth
18 India’s $9bn rooftop revolution:
Large subsidy package could kick- industry & suppliers ≥
start the home solar market
62 Fortifying French PV: Two indus-
32 Egyptian PV ready for takeoff: trial projects target 20 million
With grand renewables targets, modules, while manufacturers call
Egypt looks set to ramp up for policy support
36 Pulling together in Central Asia: 66 Solar through the looking glass:
Calls have been made for the region Domestic solar manufacturing is an
to take a unified approach uphill struggle for Australia
40 A Mediterranean super-grid: 70 pv magazine test: Results from our
A Greek interconnector network outdoor test field in Xi’an, China
from the Middle East to Europe
44 Minigrids, maximum effect: financial & legal ≥
The World Bank and a philanthropic
alliance back minigrids in Africa 72 Bringing the sun home: What
advisers should assess to future-
proof home solar portfolios
applications &
installations ≥ details ≥
48 The greenhouse effect: Will the 74 Events
integration of PV in greenhouses 76 pv magazine Award
reward innovation or shatter 78 On the road
expectations? 80 Final thought
52 Vocal community: An Australian
example of how local outrage can
threaten renewable projects
61 Risen Energy Co., Ltd. 47
Front cover inside SNEC 17th (2024) International Photovoltaic Power Generation
39 and Smart Energy Conference & Exhibition 79
9 Solar & Storage Live Philippines 69
Back cover inside Solar + Storage España 2024 59
65 SolaX Power Network Technology (Zhejiang) Co., Ltd. 3
35 Sunotec Group Back cover outside
73 Xiamen Huge Energy Stock Co., Ltd. 51
55 ZIMMERMANN PV-Steel Group 43
77
news

Shovel ready in Collie

Western Australia’s state-owned utility

Photo: Synergy
company has broken ground at the site
of a 500 MW/2,000 MWh battery energy
storage system (BESS). The four-hour
BESS is being built in the town of Collie
and is scheduled for completion before the
end of 2025.
Local utility Synergy said the BESS will
help to prepare the state’s power grid for
the retirement of coal-fired power stations
by improving system security and sup-
porting increased renewable generation
in Australia’s South West Interconnected
System (SWIS). The Western Australian
government has set an emissions-free
power generation target for 2030.
Western Australian Energy Minister
Reece Whitby said the project represented
an “exciting milestone” on the state’s
decarbonization journey. “When com-
plete, this battery will support reliability
and more renewable energy on WA’s main
electricity grid,” he said.
Constructing the Collie battery is expected ing coal-fired Collie Power Station, which contract to complete site preparation for
to cost AUD 1.6 billion ($1.05 billion). The is set to be retired by 2027. the battery facility. It is expected that up
site is located 200 km southwest of state Collie-based earthworks specialist Car- to 500 jobs will be created at the peak of
capital Perth and just north of the exist- dinal Contractors has been awarded the construction.

Water works for hydro-solar

A 2.5 GW hybrid hydro-floating solar
(HHFS) project has been given the green
light in Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur-based
utility Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB)
said it has signed partnerships with state
agencies to “ensure the development is
carried out successfully and responsibly.”
The project will see TNB install 2.5 GW of
HHFS at its hydropower dams. The com-
pany will initially install 30 MW at its
Chenderoh Hydro reservoir, followed by
installations at its Temenggor and Kenyir
Hydro reservoirs.
Dato’ Seri Ir. Baharin Din, chief execu-
tive officer of TNB, said using bodies of
water for solar installations can conserve
land usage, preserve natural habitats, and
reduce water evaporation.
“Unlike traditional thermal power plants,
floating solar farms do not have water
or air discharges that could negatively
impact water or air quality. Hence, it min-
imizes pollution and supports biodiversity
with minimal disruption to the aquatic
ecosystems,” he said. “Floating solar
farms can complement other renewable
energy sources to power the national grid
with the potential to boost clean power
significantly.”
The announcement follows a TNB floating
solar pilot project on the island of Stesen
Janakuasa Sultan Azlan Shah, off the west
coast of the Malay Peninsula.

Photo: EGAT

6 04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com
 news

Photo: Meyer Burger

Factory closure imminent

Meyer Burger was on the verge of clos-
ing its factory in Freiberg, Germany, as
pv magazine went to press.
The Swiss module maker said in March
2024 that it would prepare to wind down
operations at the site. It said that the deci-
sion was made due to a lack of policy sup-
port to combat “market distortions” cre-
ated by oversupply and “dumping prices
of solar modules.”
Meyer Burger’s announcement comes
as it prepares to invest significantly in a
new manufacturing facility in the United
States. The company has secured share-
holder approval for a rights issue of
around CHF 200 million ($225 million)
to finance the completion of its US man-
ufacturing facilities in Colorado and
Arizona. The two facilities are currently
under construction, with a targeted pro-
duction capacity of 2 GW each.
Meyer Burger aims to close a funding gap
of CHF 450 million through a combination
of the rights issue, an export agency credit
guarantee of up to $95 million from the
German government, and either the “45X”
advanced manufacturing production tax
credit under the US Inflation Reduction
Act, in the amount to $300 million, or a
US Department of Energy loan.

Module maker for sale

French PV module maker Systovi is seek-
ing a buyer for its design, production
Photo: Systovi
and commercial business. The company
has been manufacturing solar equip-
ment at its factory in Carquefou, France,
since 2008.
In a press release, Systovi said it was
searching for a buyer because the busi-
ness could no longer compete with Chi-
nese suppliers. “Despite a solid first half of
2023, Systovi has faced the sudden acceler-
ation of Chinese dumping since last sum-
mer, a consequence of the increase in local
manufacturing capacity and the closure of
the US market, linked to the protectionist
measures under the Inflation Reduction
Act,” said the company. “In the absence of
an appropriate regulatory framework, this
has resulted in a flood of subsidized Chi-
nese panels on the French and other Euro-
pean markets and led to a sharp drop in
Systovi’s order books.”
The decision follows a €1.5 million ($1.59
million) investment in Systovi’s produc-
tion line that went live in 2023, doubling
capacity to 80 MW. Systovi Managing
Director Paul Toulouse said the company
will choose a buyer based on the capacity
to preserve employment and sustainably
manage the business. Systovi has been
a subsidiary of French industrial group
Cetih since 2018.

Ramping up production
Power Electronics has announced plans to establish a 20 GW
inverter factory in the United States. The Spanish inverter man-
ufacturer said it aims to bring the additional capacity online by
2026. A company spokesperson told pv magazine that its cur-
rent production capacity is 30 GW.
The announcement is included as part of Power Electronics’ stra-
tegic plan for the period 2024-27. During this time, the company
said it plans to invest €300 million ($328 million) to expand its
inverter production capacity in Spain and the United States.
The new US factory will cover 174,015 m2. The company’s strategy
to 2027 includes plans to complete a new plant in Llíria, Spain,
for its electric mobility division.
David Salvo, chief executive officer of Power Electronics, said the
company’s strategic plan will contribute to the “development of
energy transition and sustainable mobility.”
Photo: Power Electronics

www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024 7
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If greater awareness of online pricing puts wholesalers under pressure, they will have to decide whether to reduce margins further in order to keep up.
What this would mean for installers remains an open question.
hidden in package deals. That would con-
ceal important information in order to
avoid discussion, which in turn, would
lead to a lack of transparency in product
selection and make real price comparisons
impossible.
Whichever way you look at it, price
information in the wrong hands leads to
problems along the entire supply chain.
A deeper understanding of the market is
often lacking among the creators of such
quickly-programmed online market-
places. Everyone thinks they can jump on
the bandwagon and celebrate short-term
success in a promising sector thanks to
rapid growth and low risk. Some platform
operators are often not even interested in
creating a sustainable, profitable business
model in the long term.
Short-term thinking
Rapid growth and fantasies of online mar-
ket dominance until a business exit – a
takeover by a financial investor – dom-
inate the strategies of such companies.
What this does to the solar business envi-
ronment involving suppliers, competi-
tors, and customers, appears to be irrel-
evant to some. As long as a company’s
own narrative seems okay and is reg-
ularly backed up by sensational, often
unverifiable success stories – everything
is fine. The fact that others who have built
up their business solidly and run it with
www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024
market & trends
Photo: Enpal
a certain business ethic and fairness fall
by the wayside is accepted, perhaps even
provoked by this type of market partic-
ipant. The modus operandi seems to be
dog eat dog, every person for themselves.
Imported panels are selling for
€0.11–0.14/W
Perhaps the most outrageous aspect of the
new-entrant solar marketplaces is that the
operators of one of these newly founded
sites actually claim to have invented a con-
cept long sought-after by the European
solar industry for managing quotas and
surplus stock. The sites in question even
claim to offer a completely new, disruptive
business model that is intended to facili- About the author
tate and channel transparent trade across Martin Schachinger has a degree in
national borders. electrical engineering and has been
The only response to such outlandish active in PV and renewables for close
claims is: Congratulations! You’ve had a to 30 years. In 2004, he founded the pvX-
change.com online trading platform, enabling
super idea but unfortunately you are not
wholesalers, installers, and service companies
the first. Please do your homework, or to buy solar panels, standard components, and
things will soon go “disruptively” down- inverters that are no longer made but may be
hill. Martin Schachinger urgently needed to repair defective PV plants.
11

pared to 14% in 2023. Clean energy pen-
etration rates in the world’s top 15 renew-
ables-friendly countries are expected to
reach 30% to 70% in 2025, and to increase
to 50% to 85% in 2030. As a result, inverter
technology must move beyond grid-fol-
lowing and be able to “form” a grid in cer-
tain situations.
Compared to the current mainstream
grid-following solutions, grid-forming
inverters are better able to stabilize and
strengthen electricity networks by oper-
ating as voltage sources that have no reli-
ance on external grid voltage. In other
words, grid-forming systems can provide
the same capabilities as synchronous gen-
erators while benefiting from the fast, flex-
ible control offered by power electronics.
The application of grid-forming tech-
nology started with microgrids in rural
villages, at mine sites and at military bases,
for example. Those demonstration proj-
ects were built to showcase the capabilities
of grid-forming solutions. As grid-form-
ing technology matured, new inverters
started being deployed in island grids that
incorporated a larger number of generat-
ing sources and loads.
With the addition of grid-following
solar and wind projects located far from
synchronous generators leading to low
system strength, grid-forming technol-
ogy has been deployed to provide system
strength and support further installa-
tions of IBRs. The continuous penetration
of IBRs into bulk power systems means
grid-forming inverters are expected to
be used at large scale to provide system
strength and other grid-stability ser-
vices, just like conventional synchronous
generators.
New regulations
Grid-forming inverter technology has
been mainly driven by financial and regu-
latory initiatives in regions with concerns
about weak grids. The United Kingdom
and Australia are the leading adopters of
the technology.
The National Grid Electricity System
Operator (NGESO) of the United King-
dom implemented Grid Code modifica-
tion GC0137 in February 2022, to intro-
duce a minimum specification required
for the provision of grid-forming capa-
bilities. The change facilitates the partici-
pation of grid-forming IBRs in the provi-
sion of grid services.
The Australian Renewable Energy
Agency (ARENA) has funded eight grid-
www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024
market & trends
scale battery projects that will operate in
grid-forming mode between 2024 and
2026.
Regions including mainland China, the
United States, the European Union, and
Chile have also released roadmaps, offi-
cial documents, draft specifications, ten-
ders, or funding programs to promote
the large-scale application of grid-form-
ing inverters.
“ The rollout of grid-forming
technology is still at an early stage
and has many barriers to overcome
”
Barriers to deployment
The rollout of grid-forming technology is
still at an early stage and has many barri-
ers to overcome, including a lack of spec-
ification, limited enabling market mech-
anisms, technology immaturity, technical
challenges, and cost premiums.
The most urgent barriers to tackle
are the lack of specifications globally to
define grid-forming capabilities, and
the introduction of technical and com-
pliance requirements for grid-forming
projects. Without the clear definition of
required capabilities, inverter suppli-
ers cannot design and develop products
based on uniform technical standards to
meet grid requirements, and developers
have limited guidance on evaluating how
well such projects would be able to meet
About the author
grid needs. That means it’s hard to forecast Siqi He is a Shanghai-based senior
project returns. analyst on the clean energy technol-
ogy team at S&P Global Commodity
Overcoming all the barriers to deploy- Insights and researches the solar, inverter,
ment requires collaboration between and energy storage supply chains. Before join-
grid operators, project developers, sys- ing S&P Global, she worked for Wood Mackenzie
tem integrators, and inverter suppliers, Power and Renewables in New York, and spent
so grid needs are clearly defined, prod- four years as a financial analyst with Petro-
China in Beijing. She holds a degree in finance
ucts are well developed, and projects are from Renmin University of China and a master’s
funded, constructed, and operated prop- degree in public administration from Columbia
erly to ensure grid stability. Siqi He University in the United States.
13

the feasibility of expanding the module
supply chain in Europe in 2023, there are
almost zero expansion projects in place
for 2024. That is due to high production
costs, rapidly declining spot prices, a lack
of trade barriers, and the impact of the
European Union’s Carbon Border Adjust-
ment Mechanism that taxes high-carbon
content solar panels.
Tumbling spot prices have driven the
closure of European manufacturers. With
projected solar demand of 100 GW, solar
installations in Europe will receive a shock
if trade barriers emerge.
Key challenges
The European solar market will face many
challenges and opportunities in 2024. Of
late, the solar supply chain has experi-
enced large-scale capacity expansion and
inventory pull amid an optimistic market
outlook. That caused a rapid pile-up of
panels, prompting spot market price falls
exceeding 45% for passivated-emitter rear
contact (PERC) modules from $0.24/W to
$0.25/W, in December 2022, to $0.12/W to
$0.13/W a year later.
Rapidly reduced prices in the supply
chain coming closer to the line cost of
manufacturers means there is little room
left for further price reductions amid
oversupply in 2024. Meanwhile, proj-
ect developers should pay attention to a
potential price increase for PERC prod-
ucts if there is still demand after the sec-
ond half of 2024, as prices for main-
stream panels would increase when they
reach the end of their product cycle and
their related manufacturing capacity
drops markedly.
Regardless of technology or cost, n-type
panels have become the new mainstream
solar technology thanks to cost reductions
and higher efficiency. N-type solar wafers
and cells now comprise 60% to 70% of the
Chinese market, and that figure contin-
ues to rise.
www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024
market & trends
Photo: Meyer Burger
Some manufacturers considered expanding the module supply chain in Europe in 2023, but the
number of projects in place is close to zero in 2024.
European demand is also rapidly shift-
ing to n-type products. Manufacturers
are delivering a large volume of orders
for tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOP-
Con) products.
European module spot prices were
€0.12-0.13
in December 2023
With the continuous introduction of
new products and technology and rapid
increases in the adoption of n-type mod-
ules in European projects, local mod-
ule manufacturing must catch up with
the selection of cell technology and
bill-of-materials components on the
market.
The choice of technology and mate-
rials is also important for manufactur- About the author
ers intending to build a module supply
Alan Tu is an assistant analyst on
chain in Europe. In a market now dom- InfoLink Consulting’s solar research
inated by TOPCon technology, with team. He focuses on national solar
growing support from heterojunction policy and demand, especially in China,
and back-contact products, conducting Europe, the United States, and other major mar-
kets. He monitors policy trajectory and potential
primary research and evaluation to seek
impacts. Tu also researches cell supply, demand,
routes to cost reduction and sustainable and price trends, reporting price updates and
operation are key to keeping costs well in exploring the connection between solar and the
check. Alan Tu international trading environment.
15
market & trends

Shifting supply chains

bring their own risks
Sourcing solar and energy storage
locally will reduce some supply
chain risks, but it also opens the
door to a new set of questions for
prospective investors.
B uoyed by US Inflation Reduction Act
(IRA) incentives, solar and energy
storage manufacturers have announced
multibillion-dollar investments in pro-
duction capacity expansion and new fac-
tories. At first sight, US-made products
typically experience less regulatory and
political grief than imports. Tariffs and
other trade risks are less of a concern.
Logistics avoid costly long ocean voyages
and their related geopolitical headaches.
Domestic manufacturing can help miti-
gate project risk.
New factories, however, typically expe-
rience startup pains that can affect deliv-
eries and quality. Also, IRA incentives
do not make new fabs immune to mar-
ket dynamics that can affect their viability.
Solar modules and energy storage sys-
tems assembled in the United States may
feature imported components, chiefly
from Asia. Thus, trade and logistical risks
are not removed entirely. For instance,
raw materials and components could fall
foul of the Uyghur Forced Labor Preven-
tion Act (UFLPA) that seeks to ban mate-
rials linked to allegations of forced labor
in the Xinjiang region of China from
entering the US.
The risks associated with US-made pan-
els and storage systems have been identi-
fied by Clean Energy Associates and proj-

Photo: Nextracker

The US Inflation Reduction Act could put wind in the sails of US manufacturing, but supply chain diversification has its own challenges.

16 04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com

ect developer EDP Renewables North
America. These can be summarized as
choosing the right technology, supplier,
supply agreement, and factory oversight.
Top technology
Lengthening delivery times for trans-
formers and breakers that connect solar
and storage systems to the grid can add
months or years to project timelines. With
developers often competing with utilities
for such equipment, tightening supply ini-
tially affected transformers, but now also
encompasses substation breakers and
switchgear. Now that demand is exceed-
ing supply, wait times can hit 180 weeks for
some high-voltage equipment, up from 40
weeks previously. Many developers are
shifting their approach.
For example, high-voltage circuit
breaker equipment routinely uses a “dead
tank” design in the United States, which
features the switching unit in a metal-
lic container. Much of Europe and Latin
America uses cheaper, smaller “live tanks,”
of which there are more suppliers. Switch-
ing to live tanks, which are more readily
available, requires developers to convince
utilities of their equally valid protection
claims before they can be included in an
interconnection agreement.
Suitable suppliers
The drive to diversify supply chains can
sometimes mean components from doz-
ens of sources are used in solar and stor-
age equipment in different combinations
during production. Has each combination
been vetted? Investors want the security of
a well-tested, stable bill of materials.
Do all suppliers meet customer envi-
ronmental, social, and corporate gover-
nance goals? These are likely to go fur-
ther upstream over time – right up to
the extraction of the quartz used in
polysilicon.
Appropriate agreements
Suppliers may push back if buyers insist on
an exact bill of materials being included in
the supply contract – the kind that may
be required by financial institutions that
insist on extensive testing of all materi-
als and combinations used to make the
product.
Developers will want in-factory third-
party oversight and the right to reject
equipment based on that oversight.
Such oversight could include an audit
of the factory with the findings to be
www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024
market & trends
corrected and confirmed prior to the
project entering production. Further, a
production audit would include mon-
itoring the manufacturing process and
selecting a sample of the finished prod-
uct for additional scrutiny. Non-confor-
mities can be identified, counted, and
compared to thresholds that should be
clearly stated in the supply agreement. If HV transformers and
a threshold is exceeded, the overall pop- breakers can take
ulation from which the sample was taken
180
could be rejected. As an additional step,
measures such as accelerated testing to
measure performance degradation, or
resistance to severe weather conditions,
could be conducted on samples taken
from production. weeks to arrive
In addition, supplier agreements should
contain liquidated damage provisions that
offer protection against schedule disrup-
tion. Given recent enforcement of the
UFLPA by U.S. Customs and Border Pro-
tection officials, the supplier agreement
should offer clarity in terms of what hap-
pens if an imported product is detained at
a port of entry. Agreements should also be
clear regarding responsibility in the event
there is a change in tariffs for anything
to be imported, after the price has been
negotiated.
Neither the buyer nor the supplier is
keen to manage all of those risks. What
results is a process of negotiation. Tight
supplies in recent years have tilted the
balance in such negotiations in favor of
suppliers. Buyers may have more lever-
age in negotiations as the industry transi-
tions to oversupply conditions with more
new-supplier entrants, and more choice.
Optimal oversight
Regardless of where equipment is sourced,
a detailed and comprehensive supply
agreement sets up a project for success.
The definition of product quality stan-
dards is critical as it determines which About the authors
defects will and will not be rejected during
Paul Wormser is vice president for
in-factory oversight. technology at Clean Energy Associ-
Ensuring that supply agreement details ates. He has worked as an executive
are met could require third-party over- at the company since 2017 and over-
sight inside the factory literally 24/7, at sees all aspects of product manage-
least initially. If such intensive oversight ment. He has more than 40 years of solar and
storage experience.
shows that everything is landing “butter
side up” and the product quality is con- Travis Secrest joined EDP Renew-
sistently meeting the contractual stan- ables North America in 2021 and is
dards, then on-site monitoring can be associate director of services pro-
curement, primarily focusing on EPC
scaled back. However, if quality issues
sourcing and strategy for the North
remain, then the quality assurance mon- American business unit. Prior to joining EDP
itoring may need to be maintained indef- Renewables, he held roles with multiple renew-
initely. Paul Wormser & Travis Secrest ables-focused general contractors.
17

The Indian government has set an ambitious target for rooftop solar, but installation figures fell short of expectations in 2022.
of smart meters to avoid delays in instal-
lation, and consumers have been given
complete freedom of vendor selection.
Warning on execution
The government’s desire to support res-
idential solar is commendable, but as
past experience has shown, large, subsi-
dy-driven schemes are prone to multiple
forms of abuse and need careful checks
and balances. There have been widespread
incidences of residential and irrigation
pump systems heavily underperforming
within just a few years of installation – or
worse, going missing altogether. Unless
the rooftop solar scheme’s mechanics are
designed to ensure adherence to stringent
quality standards and sustained high per-
formance, there could be sub-optimal uti-
lization of capital and strong consumer
pushback.
There are some other interesting aspects
of the new scheme. First, previous govern-
ment statements indicate that this initia-
tive was meant to target low-cost electric-
ity for low-income households in remote
regions of the country. The limited launch
www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024
market & trends
Photo: Microquanta
so far, however, suggests that the rooftop
solar program is open to all consumers,
irrespective of location, system size, and
income level. Secondly, only domestically
manufactured cells and modules can be
used under the scheme. Because “made-
in-India” cells remain in short supply and
are likely to remain so over the next few
years, progress will probably be much
slower than hoped for. Nonetheless, Crisil
expects the pace of installations to more
than quadruple, reaching 4 GW capacity
by 2027.
While some market players are agog
about the new scheme, the piecemeal
release of often-conflicting details has
created confusion. A formal document
outlining the initiative’s timeline, details
of target consumers, technical and opera-
tional criteria, the roles and responsibili-
ties of stakeholders, and financing options About the author
is eagerly awaited. Curiously, while formal Vinay Rustagi is senior director of
issuance of the scheme’s documents is renewables at Crisil, an S&P Global
group company. He advises project
still pending, the government has already
developers, investors, equipment suppliers,
opened registrations for consumers and technology companies, and policymakers on
more than 10 million applications have issues related to business strategy, market envi-
been received to date. Vinay Rustagi ronment, policy frameworks, and finance.
19
 The smarter E special
Fertile ground
for agrivoltaics
There is huge PV potential to be
found across Europe’s farmlands,
but in some respects, it is a
segment still at the germination
stage. Recent regulatory activity
in Italy could fuel progress, as pv
magazine learned when it caught
up with industry expert Oltis
Dallto to discuss the evolution of
agrivoltaics.
Photo: Sun’R
Balancing the needs of agricultural production with energy generation will be key to the
success of agrivoltaics over the long term.
20
E uropean agrivoltaic potential is mea-
sured in gigawatts. If the right steps
are taken, agrivoltaics alone could sur-
pass the European Union’s 2030 goals for
solar installations, according to the Euro-
pean Commission’s Joint Research Cen-
tre (JRC). Published in 2023, the JRC’s
“Overview of the Potential Challenges
for Agri-Photovoltaics in the European
Union” claims that combining farming
with solar on 1% of European Union uti-
lized agricultural area could surpass 720
GW of direct current (DC) capacity. It
represents significant energy-generating
potential and a big revenue opportunity
for European farmers – one that comes as
many agricultural businesses face serious
cost pressures.
Despite the opportunity, there are
administrative hurdles hindering prog-
ress. High on the list are the lack of a
clear and concrete definition of agrivol-
taics, or a European standard for agrivol-
taic systems. This lack of definition has the
potential to sink the business case of oth-
erwise viable projects. Without clear reg-
ulations from the European Union, agri-
voltaic installations have the potential to
put access to Common Agricultural Pol-
icy (CAP) subsidies at risk.
Individual EU member states have been
taking action to support the segment. In
Italy, national guidelines for agrivolta-
ics were first published in July 2022. The
guidance outlines five key requirements
for what constitutes an agrivoltaic system.
The presence of such guidance opens the
door to state support. If you can define it,
you can subsidize it.
Big investment
In April 2023, the European Commission
signed off on an Italian incentive program
that included a major subsidy for agrivol-
taics development. Italy’s post-pandemic
recovery plan, the Piano Nazionale di
Represa e Resilienza (PNRR) assigns €1.1
billion ($1.2 billion) of investment grants
for advanced or experimental agrivoltaic
systems, covering up to 40% of eligible
investment costs. The Italian government
has also budgeted an estimated €560 mil-
lion of incentive tariffs to be paid during
the operational phase of the projects, for
a 20-year period.
Oltis Dallto, agri-PV manager at Juwi
Group, handles all of the solar develop-
er’s agrivoltaic projects in Italy, as well as
some pilot projects in Germany, and is
responsible for global agrivoltaic initia-
tives. He said that as well as putting euros
on the table, the Italian government has
taken action on bureaucratic barriers,
introducing simplification decrees. This
includes allowing plants up to 20 MW to
skip certain lengthy environmental pro-
cedures and receive authorization just
30 days after filing a request with a local
municipality, provided the plant is located
in a suitable area – three kilometers from
industrial, commercial, and productive
areas and outside perimeters with envi-
ronmental, landscape, or heritage con-
straints. “The Italian government is push-
ing a lot in agrivoltaics,” said Dallto.
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com
 The smarter E special

Photo: SolarPromotion

Focus on The smarter E Europe

The smarter E Europe 2024 show will open its doors on June 18, 2024,
in Munich, Germany, kicking off a two-day conference program
(June 18-19) and three-day exhibition (June 19-21) that is expected to
feature 2,800 exhibitors.
Preparations for Europe’s largest series of exhibitions for the energy
industry are already well underway for exhibitors, organizers and
attendees. Given the industry’s current challenges and opportuni-
ties, large-scale and commercial projects are expected to be among
the biggest discussion topics at The smarter E Europe this year.
COP28 targets and trending legislation are driving demand for clean
energy technology to speed the world’s transition away from fossil
fuels. On top of this, technical progress has eliminated any insur-
mountable hurdles to climate-friendly energy concepts in new and
existing buildings.
In cooperation with Solar Promotion and Freiburg Wirtschaft Tour-
istik und Messe, the organizers of The smarter E Europe, we take a
look at some of the biggest trending topics in European energy this
year, including agrivoltaics, large-scale hybrid systems, grid inte-
gration, growth in power purchase agreements, and rising calls for
transparency and sustainability.

State aid has been accompanied by
updated guidance. In January 2024, stan-
dards body the Comitato Elettrotecnico
Italiano (CEI) updated its guidelines for
Italian agrivoltaics, with additions includ-
ing new specifications for inter-row sys-
tems with solar tracking, which Dallto
said were similar to standards already in
place in Germany. Most important in the
updated guidance, according to Dallto,
was the addition of a new requirement
to involve only agricultural or forestry
experts when calculating a site’s agro-
nomic parameters, an important measure
for predicting crop growth.
“It means the agronomist is now con-
sidered part of the engineering team and
decides the special requirements and
fixes the agronomic layer, the lower layer.
After that, the PV engineer will provide
and design the upper layer of the PV sys-
tem. Both are aiming to create syner-
gies between these two systems. It’s kind
of changing hierarchies, which is quite
good, because agriculture is put in first
place, which is the main goal of agri-PV,
and then PV must be adapted to the need
of the crops,” he said.
Farming focus
Bridging gaps between agricultural and
energy goals will be key to developing
agrivoltaics further. The good news for
PV project developers and farmers is that
there are applications with potential to
improve agricultural outcomes.
Water management is one area where
PV can play a positive role – it’s a criti-
cal one, too. The European Commis-
sion’s most recent drought report for the
Mediterranean region, published in Jan-
uary 2024, warned that following the
“severe and prolonged” droughts that
have affected northern Africa over the
last six years, and Europe for more than
two years, drought conditions are again
affecting large parts of the region. Impacts
on water resources have been reported in
coastal regions of the Iberian peninsula,
Mediterranean islands, and northern
Africa, the report found, with water use
restrictions already announced or imple-
mented in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco.
In this context, water efficiency is
increasingly important and Dallto high-
lighted France as a market where high,
elevated agrivoltaic projects on fruticul-
ture are making major progress, as the
structure of the PV system becomes an
infrastructure for the irrigation system.
“I see huge opportunities,” said Dallto.
“Putting the panels above [soil] will lead
to less evapotranspiration [the evapora-
tion of water from the soil] and without
any other accessories there will be water
saving for sure. Also, the evaporation will
cool the panels, making them perform
better in summer.”
The agrivoltaics-focused engineer and
forestry expert added that integrating
photovoltaics with rainwater collection
and weather monitoring systems can fur-
ther reduce a farm’s consumption from
the water grid and – at least in Italy – help
to unlock funding support.
“The guidelines in Italy individuate
other additional requirements. The more
accessories you put in the plant – water
collection systems, focusing on increasing
biodiversity and the soil fertility, or pay-
ing attention to landscape integration and
mitigation – it gives you extra points to
access PNRR funds,” he said.
Matthew Lynas

www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024 21
The smarter E special

Sun shines on PPAs

The year 2023 set a record for renewables power purchase agreements Spanish capacity
(PPAs) in Europe, and the most optimistic industry analysts forecast 25% Spain and Germany led the way in terms
growth in 2024. While Spain has long been the continent’s PPA leader, it of number of agreements and committed
could soon be knocked off its perch as other regions ramp up their plans. capacity, together accounting for approx-
imately 50% of Europe’s total volume in
2023. Spain maintained its position as the

T he European renewables PPA mar-

ket broke records in terms of volume
of energy and the number of agreements
signed in 2023. In its latest report, Swiss
consulting firm Pexapark recorded deals
totaling up to 16.2 GW in 2023, which
implies a 40% increase in contracted
power compared to the previous year. In
terms of the number of deals, 272 were
closed, which was 65% more than in 2022.
largest PPA market for the fifth consecu-
tive year, with 4.67 GW across 46 agree-
ments, according to Pexapark data. Ger-
many reached 3.73 GW with 41 deals. Italy
took third place with 1.06 GW across 24
agreements.
The United Kingdom was fourth with
960 MW and 23 agreements, followed
by Greece (950 MW, nine agreements),
Poland (750 MW, 16 agreements), France
(640 MW, 11 agreements), Finland (480
MW, 12 agreements), and Sweden (480
MW, 11 agreements). Portugal – which
signed its first PPA agreements in 2023 –
also had five deals amounting to 420 MW
of generation capacity.
Two more new European countries

“
The introduction of new
government credit guarantee
schemes could widen the potential
pool of buyers entering the market
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” tered four times as much capacity as on-
Pexapark says corporates played a
major role in driving the PPA market,
with 11.95 GW of renewables committed
to corporate contracts across 218 deals, a
28% increase in volume and a 66% year-
on-year increase in deal count.
RE-Source, a platform made up of cor-
porate buyers and energy suppliers, has
collected 10.4 GW of corporate renew-
able energy deals signed in 2023.
According to data from consultancy
BloombergNEF, of the 46 GW of solar and
wind PPAs announced worldwide in 2023,
15.4 GW were signed in Europe, driven by
low corporate PPA prices that fell faster
than energy prices.
entered the PPA market in 2023 – Hun-
gary and Slovenia – following on from
Bulgaria, Croatia, Austria, and Roma-
nia, all of which saw their first PPA deals
signed in 2022.
The vast of majority of these PPAs con-
cern PV-generated power, which regis-
and offshore wind combined, at 10.5 GW
across 160 deals.
Spanish energy company Iberdrola was
the top seller by both volume (908 MW in
total) and number of deals, which totaled
nine. Amazon, meanwhile, was the biggest
buyer in 2023, with 1.87 GW contracted in
seven deals.
IT conglomerates maintained their
first place in the ranking of buyers, with
a total of 3.6 GW in 25 deals. Several
other emerging trends are apparent in
the data for European PPAs in 2023, and
are expected to further crystallize as 2024
goes on.
Multi-buyer deals
Also known as aggregated PPAs, multi-
buyer PPAs first emerged in 2016 and
became prevalent in 2023. The idea is
to aggregate demand from smaller com-
panies with lower annual consumption

22 04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com
 The smarter E special

Photo: Carlsberg Group

volumes and for them to buy operating

as a single party.
Lightsource bp invited different compa-
nies to join a collective contract for solar
procurement in Spain in 2023 and plans to
continue the model. Different multi-buyer
PPAs were also closed in Denmark. “By
sharing risk, this could be a new avenue
for smaller companies to jointly procure
renewable energy,” Annie Scanlan, direc-
tor of policy and impact at RE-Source,
told pv magazine.

Hybrid agreements
Germany has pioneered govern-
ment-backed partial subsidy programs,
resulting in a portfolio of solar-plus-stor-
age projects of more than 1 GW. Here,
the premium is applied in addition to any
commercial revenues the projects may
earn. According to Pexapark, the out-
look for hybrid PPA activity in Germany
is very positive.
In June 2023, private equity fund DIF
Capital Partners signed a hybrid PPA
with French multinational Engie for
a 55 MW solar project located in Bed-
fordshire in the United Kingdom, along
with a 40 MW/80 MWh battery storage
asset. The hybrid PPA consists of a PPA
for the solar asset and an optimization
agreement for the battery, each with a
10-year term. Pexapark’s storage and PPA
transactions team has confirmed that
“this model is ready for export to other
EU markets.”
Pexapark has also participated in a
Green Genius built this solar plant in Lithuania.
moving forward, saying, “we believe that
the trend will continue in 2024.”
Looking ahead to 2025, Pexapark expects
the European PPA market to exceed 20
GW in about 350 deals. Spain and Ger-
many will remain the key markets, but
Germany is expected to overtake Spain as
the most active PPA market. In addition,
the share of both countries in total vol-
umes could decline as other players, such
as France, consolidate their position and
begin to see larger deployments. Increas-
ing activity is also expected in the mar-
kets of southeastern Europe, especially in
Greece and Romania.

46 GW
hybrid PPA in Lithuania, offering “energy
as a service”. In this case, Svyturys-Ute-
nos Alus, owned by Carlsberg, is being
offered two solar plants plus storage by
Green Genius, to cover 100% of the com-
pany’s demand. of solar and wind PPAs were announced in 2023

Green hydrogen
Pexapark has unveiled PPAs linked to
green hydrogen and ammonia produc-
tion in Norway, France, and Germany.
In Spain, Cox Energy told pv magazine
about two projects offering “HPAs” –
hydrogen purchase agreements – linked
to photovoltaic self-consumption. Pexa-
park sees no reason for this to diminish
Finally, Pexapark warns of the challenge
of potential competition between con-
tracts-for-difference and the PPA market,
saying that the introduction of new gov-
ernment credit guarantee schemes could
widen the potential pool of buyers enter-
ing the market. Pilar Sanchez Molina

www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024 23
The smarter E special
Better together
While coupling battery energy
storage systems (BESS) and
renewables is increasingly common
in the United States, co-location
has been slow to gain traction
in Europe. A range of practical
challenges has hindered the
commitment of developers and
investors but the growing share of
solar and wind energy, and policy
support in some parts of Europe,
are making the business case
increasingly appealing.
Increased utilization of grid connections strengthen the case for co-locating renewables and
storage.
24
C o-locating renewables with BESS
opens the door to ample opportu-
nities that solar and wind cannot realize
on their own. Hybrid power plants can
provide additional value through greater
flexibility and increased utilization of
grid connections, which are becoming
increasingly difficult to obtain. Yet only a
small number of BESS projects in Europe
have been developed in conjunction with
renewables. That is now beginning to
change, however.
Data collated by analysts at Wood
Mackenzie show that 2024 will be the
first year on record in which Europe will
record a double-digit share of solar-plus-
battery projects, accounting for 12% of
the total BESS pipeline (see chart to the
right). While standalone projects will con-
tinue to account for the lion’s share of the
pipeline, in excess of 70%, PV-plus-BESS
is expected to double its share already in
2025. “The interest in co-located assets in
Europe, especially solar-plus-storage, is
increasing. Great examples are the Neth-
erlands and Spain, where most develop-
ers are looking into co-located systems,”
says Anna Darmani, lead analyst focused
on the downstream energy storage mar-
ket for Wood Mackenzie’s Europe, Mid-
dle East, and Africa practice. “However,
the technical aspects and business cases of
co-located assets are still more challeng-
ing and need to be developed.”
Why co-locate?
The list of value drivers for co-locating
BESS is a lengthy one. “Market partici-
pants are becoming increasingly attracted
to co-location because batteries provide
an excellent way to mitigate capture price
risk, by oversizing renewables assets and
increasing generation in higher-priced
hours of the day,” says Ryan Alexander,
research lead for European power mar-
kets at Aurora Energy Research. By add-
ing batteries to their renewable energy
plants, developers can tap more revenue
streams, mitigate curtailment risk, and
offer a more consistent profile to poten-
tial offtakers.
Several countries in Europe have made
a push at the policy level to encourage
co-located assets, through government
contracts-for-difference auctions and
even direct subsidies. For instance, inno-
vation tenders in Germany, which are
open to hybrid power plants – including
solar parks and wind farms connected to
BESS – offer 20-year contracts to win-
ning bidders with a fixed market-pre-
mium price. Since 2020, Germany’s Fed-
eral Network Agency has been holding
biannual auctions, moving toward its goal
to facilitate up to 4 GWh of BESS capacity
by 2028. The last innovation tender, held
in September 2023, was oversubscribed
by almost two times the auction volume
of 400 MW, with bids coming in only
for solar and storage projects and none
offered for wind energy. Meanwhile, in
Spain in 2023, the government announced
€150 million ($164 million) in grants for
co-located assets under its Strategic Proj-
ects for Economic Recovery and Transfor-
mation tender, with new projects eligible
to have 40% to 65% of their investment
costs covered under the scheme. The ten-
der awarded 880 MW/1,809 MWh of proj-
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com
The smarter E special

MUNICH, GERMANY

SAN DIEGO, USA

DUBAI, UAE
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

FORTALEZA, BRAZIL

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL

PORTO ALEGRE, BRAZIL

INTERSOLAR EES
— —
CONNECTING INNOVATING
SOLAR BUSINESS ENERGY STORAGE

■ DUBAI, UAE | APRIL 16–18, 2024
■ MUNICH, GERMANY | JUNE 19–21, 2024
■ SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL | AUGUST 27–29, 2024
■ MEXICO CITY, MEXICO | SEPTEMBER 3–5, 2024
■ SAN DIEGO, USA | FEBRUARY 25–27, 2025
■ GANDHINAGAR, INDIA | FEBRUARY 2025
■ DUBAI, UAE | APRIL 16–18, 2024
■ MUNICH, GERMANY | JUNE 19–21, 2024
■ SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL | AUGUST 27–29, 2024
■ GANDHINAGAR, INDIA | FEBRUARY 2025

26 04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com
 The smarter E special

THE WORLD‘S LEADING EXHIBITION

AND CONFERENCE SERIES FOR THE NEW
ENERGY WORLD
—
The smarter E is the innovation hub for events and topics
that drive the new energy world. Renewable energy,
decentralization and digitalization are bringing about
lasting changes to the energy world. This development
GANDHINAGAR, INDIA demands cross-sector, intelligently connected concepts
and solutions for the efficient generation, storage,
distribution and use of energy.

Under the motto “Creating a New Energy World”,

The smarter E unites the energy exhibitions Intersolar,
ees, Power2Drive and EM-Power and its accompanying
conferences to take an in-depth look at these topics
and bring together major industry players from the
world‘s most influential markets.

185,000+ Visitors
3,700+ Exhibitors
8,300+ Conference attendees

POWER2DRIVE EM-POWER
— —
CHARGING THE EMPOWERING
FUTURE OF MOBILITY GRIDS AND PROSUMERS

■ MUNICH, GERMANY | JUNE 19–21, 2024 ■ MUNICH, GERMANY | JUNE 19–21, 2024
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■ GANDHINAGAR, INDIA | FEBRUARY 2025

www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024 27
The smarter E special
Broken transmission
There has been a strong European
contribution to solar’s record run
as the continent has battled high
energy prices and fear of scarcity by
piling on modules. Easy wins were
won before “grid congestion” was
even a well-known phrase, leading
to a struggle with electricity system
operators to allow grid connections.
PV projects are now ready to go, but
getting their power into the grid is
another matter.
The EU Action Plan
for Grids outlines
€584
billion of necessary spending
28
S olar’s record run of growth in Europe
has reached new heights for three con-
secutive years from 2021 to 2023. In 2024,
several factors are leading to a demand
slowdown across regions struggling with
grid upgrades, higher project financing
costs, and energy price decreases from
competing fossil fuel sources.
The ease with which PV systems can be
acquired and installed on rooftops makes
solar a commodity market where, despite
panels having 25-year lifetimes, supply
and demand can shift rapidly. This can
lead to periods of exceptional demand
followed by oversupply. Add in factors
such as extreme energy price spikes, plus
pandemic- and war-related fears caus-
ing energy supply anxiety, and the recent
period for solar looks more extraordinary
than business as usual.
Within the European Union at the end
of 2023, the estimated total solar fleet
amounted to 263 GW, with 55.9 GW
added in 2023. BloombergNEF data on
total fleet size suggest Germany stands at
80.9 GW, Spain at 36.5 GW, and Italy at
29.4 GW.
In terms of installations, Germany
added 14.1 GW of capacity in 2023, a
record in itself, beating Italy’s old mark
of the 9.3 GW installed in 2012. Data
from SolarPower Europe put Spain next
with 8.2 GW, followed by Italy (4.8 GW),
Poland (4.6 GW), and the Netherlands
(4.1 GW). Czechia, Bulgaria, and Roma-
nia all added more than 1 GW of solar
for the first time. While these records are
good news, Europe needs an average of
70 GW installed per year to meet 2030
solar targets.
Bulgaria is a bright spot, ending 2023
with nearly 3 GW of total installed PV
capacity. The country is on track to meet
2030 goals of 3.2 GW nearly seven years
early, driven by merchant assets, with
coming subsidies likely to supercharge
the space.
Despite these considerable achieve-
ments, more chapters must be written for
a true success story.
Grid scaling
The key causes of solar’s expected slow-
down in 2024 include grid-connection
approval issues, project financing costs,
lack of local manufacturing, and a drop
in energy prices.
Electrical grid connections face trouble
globally. The International Energy Agency
reports that nearly 1.8 TW of PV proj-
ects in various stages of development are
awaiting grid connection approval. Exist-
ing grids were not designed to handle dis-
tributed energy resources. The European
Commission’s EU Action Plan for Grids,
published in November 2023, calls for
€584 billion ($638 billion) of necessary
investment by 2030 to expand and digi-
talize electricity transmission and distri-
bution systems.
Spain offers a case study as a mature
PV market. S&P Global Commodity
Insights reports that more than 55 GW
of solar projects with secured grid access
must be built before June 2025 to retain
connection rights. Up to 29 GW of this
pipeline risks missing the deadline due
to slow authorization or financial viabil-
ity concerns.
Some countries show increased approv-
als. Poland’s grid-connected PV project
pipeline hit 18 GW in November 2023.
Data from Instytut Energetyki Odnawial-
nej (IEO) indicates a rise in grid-connec-
tion approvals could drive further growth.
Projects and planned capacity grew by 41%
and 46%, respectively, between March and
November 2023. Yet fossil fuels still pro-
vide more than 70% of Poland’s electric-
ity. The IEO says more than €100 billion
of large-scale grid investment is needed by
2040 to accommodate more distributed
energy resources.
Grid improvements, via energy storage,
are still nascent compared to what might
be necessary for managing intermittency
and enhancing the reliability of PV-domi-
nated grids. European Union figures show
2.8 GW/3.3 GWh of utility-scale energy
storage was deployed in 2022.
In a boost to battery energy storage
system (BESS) technology, in July 2023,
the European Parliament endorsed the
Electricity Market Design Reform Pro-
gramme that encourages markets to inte-
grate non-fossil-fuelled resources into
the grid. In Germany, grid fee exemp-
tions for energy storage were extended
to 2029, avoiding a contentious rule that
considers batteries to be both producers
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com

Electricity grids were not designed with multiple renewable-energy generators in mind, so new transmission lines are needed.
and consumers of energy, meaning devel-
opers could pay twice for a grid con-
nection. With this regulatory support,
Aurora Energy Research projects a seven-
fold increase in capacity across 24 Euro-
pean countries by 2030 – from 7.1 GW of
installed grid-scale BESS capacity in the
third quarter of 2023 to 51 GW.
Financing costs
Financing costs, such as energy prices
from fossil fuel sources, are macroeco-
nomic issues the solar industry can do
little to influence. For instance, the Euro-
pean Central Bank (ECB) will likely cut
interest rates, but only if inflation contin-
ues its steady decline.
Domestic manufacturing in the Euro-
pean Union remains a complex topic, as
the scale of high-end solar manufactur-
ing in Asia proves to be a tough compet-
itor. Despite calls for domestic industry
support, via tariffs or increased prices on
imports, building a manufacturing base
still requires a complete supply chain.
www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024
The smarter E special
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
One positive sign comes from Spain,
which announced a €750 million incen-
tive scheme for clean-technology man-
ufacturing, now in public consultation
before approval.
Essential upgrades
With more wind power, larger amounts
of battery storage, the ongoing transi-
tion to electric vehicles, and the pos-
sibilities of bidirectional charging, it is
obvious that grid upgrades are required.
These will focus mainly on new power
lines to transport energy without bot-
tlenecks along with more substations at
high and lower voltages to handle larger
power loads, both at the transmission
line. In the distributed grid, more mon-
itoring with smart meters is necessary. In
Germany alone, for example, 7,500 km of
high-voltage transmission lines will need
to be newly constructed or upgraded,
including new ultra-HVDC transmission
lines that are legislated to be underground
cables. Tristan Rayner
29
The smarter E special
Setting sustainability
standards
The Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI) was launched amid an energy crisis
and a European ban on products suspected to have been made with forced
labor, in order to help the industry meet transparency and sustainability
goals, as demand for renewables continues to soar.
T he release of the “In Broad Daylight”
report in 2021 raised awareness about
the issue of alleged force labor in solar
supply chains. It coincided with efforts
by trade associations SolarPower Europe
and Solar Energy UK to establish a Supply
Chain Sustainability Workstream – now
known as the SSI – that would support
sustainability in the sector.
According to Alexia Ruvoletto, the head
of the SSI Secretariat, the report’s publi-
cation, along with European Commis-
sion President Ursula von der Leyen’s
2021 State of the Union speech on forced
labor, “really drove demand for enforced
sustainability standards and transparency
in the supply chain, especially from the big
buyers.” Ruvoletto told pv magazine that
on the heels of the report’s publication, the
loudest actors in the industry approached
SolarPower Europe asking for something
Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Albert E. Theberge
Challenges at US customs have informed the approach to standards in Europe.
30
to be done so they could be sure the prod-
ucts that they source are made in a cer-
tain way.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022
sparked a massive energy crisis. Ruvoletto
said there was a general panic over how to
repower the European Union while also
ensuring transparency for an industry
that would become a key energy source. In
October 2022, one month after the Euro-
pean Commission proposed regulations to
ban products made using forced labor, the
Supply Chain Sustainability Workstream
rebranded and officially launched as the
SSI. It was designed to serve as a tool to
support new rules by setting standards and
certifying compliance with them.
Membership and structure
The SSI was founded with more than 30
members, the majority of which are buy-
ers. Companies must sign the SSI prin-
ciples when they join, agreeing that they
share the values of transparency and
respect for human rights. Depending on
the category of membership, members
may sign a contract that obliges them to
commit two sites for certification in their
first year of membership. The number of
sites increases each year.
As a multi-stakeholder organization,
SSI includes a broad range of types of
members, including civil society groups,
NGOs, workers’ groups, unions, financial
institutions, commercial banks, experts
in human rights, and ratings agencies. A
technical working group called the “stake-
holder advisory group” is comprised of a
diverse array of members to ensure that it’s
not just the industry taking the lead and
deciding how standards will be set.
New criteria
To prevent companies from becoming
members for greenwashing purposes, SSI
requires its members to undergo third-
party auditing to confirm compliance
with standards created by the initiative.
Ruvoletto said SSI saw how this had been
successfully accomplished in other sectors
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com
 The smarter E special

Photo: EC - Audiovisual Service

and wanted to create something similar
for the solar industry.
SSI’s first standard – the ESG Standard,
published in October 2023 – addresses
recyclability, forced labor, and other issues
faced by the solar industry and is based on
the International Labour Organization’s
forced labor indicators. SSI performs exer-
cises to align its standards with EU leg-
islation, such as the potential agreement
between the European Parliament and
European Council on regulations regard-
ing forced labor.
An SSI working group is currently
being established to produce the first draft
of a Supply Chain Traceability Standard
that will certify not only manufacturing
sites, but also the origin of parts. Ques-
tions to be addressed by the group include
how much of the supply chain should be European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in her 2021 State of the Union
covered in year one of a company gaining address that the European market will ban products suspected of forced labor.
certification, as well as levels for ensuing
years. SSI is recruiting a diverse range of
stakeholders for this working group and at the company level, the complainant will
plans to open the draft standard to public then have to bring it to the SSI Secretariat.
consultation when it is ready.

Levels of certification
To certify compliance with its standards,
SSI enlists qualified, independent third-
party auditors who follow international
standards for their trade – such as ISO
17065 and ISO 17021, which apply to cer-
tification bodies. The auditors travel to
the facilities of the supplier and man-
ufacturer members of SSI and conduct
site walkthroughs, unsupervised worker
interviews, and documentation reviews.
To receive a certification, these three ele-
ments are non-negotiable.
Members can attain one of three levels
of certification: gold, silver, or bronze. A
gold-level certification means that a com-
pany has achieved 100% conformance
with the standard. Silver and bronze lev-
els depend on how many minor non-con-
formance issues there are. A minor
non-conformance may be something
such as a fire exit sign that has fallen
down and not yet been remounted, for
example. Minor non-conformance issues
must be addressed before the next assess-
ment or a company will be denied cer-
tification for lack of implementation of
recommendations.
SSI members are required to have an
internal complaints process or mecha-
nism to review any grievances. Anyone
wishing to file a complaint must first take
it to the company. If the issue is not solved
If there is any conflict of interest, a third
party will be appointed to review the com-
plaint. In this way, compliance issues can
be addressed without having to wait until
“putting
The SSI is
itself
the next assessment.
forward as a key
Nuanced approach
Europe is heeding the lessons of the
Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act
tool to help reduce
(UFLPA) in the United States. While
the UFLPA has been successful in draw- the risk of forced
ing attention to the issue, Ruvoletto said
SSI has heard that “there have been chal- labor in the value
lenges in the implementation, especially
with regards to the consistency of how
decisions by customs officers are made.”
chain by making it
This has created difficulties for companies
attempting to prove they are compliant. more future-proof
Ruvoletto said the European Union’s
nuanced approach to the problem is more
efficient, as it does not target one specific
region, but instead tackles slavery regard-
and transparent
”
less of where it comes from.
“From our point of view, there is no sus-
tainable growth in the solar industry with-
out tackling forced labor,” Ruvoletto said. The smarter E Events
With its mission as a multi-stakeholder
Still craving more?
organization that brings diverse view- Explore a range of events in
points together to hold the entire sector to 2024, from exhibitions, con-
account, the SSI is putting itself forward as ferences, and workshops to
a key tool to help reduce the risk of forced digital formats such as webi-
nars, all brought to you by the
labor in the value chain by making it more
organizers of The smarter E
future-proof and transparent, leading to a exhibition and conference.
more sustainable industry. Scan and explore:
Bernadette Geyer

www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024 31
market & trends
Takeoff at last for
Egyptian PV?
The gigawatt-scale Benban project showcases Egypt’s solar potential, and
premium prices for gas exports make the case for a more diverse energy
mix. A nation with grand renewables targets, but slow installation rates,
may finally be weaning itself off fossil fuel resources.
E gypt was one of the first African coun-
tries to develop large-scale renewable
energy projects and had 555 MW of wind
power generation capacity by 2012. That
was the result of donor support, how-
ever, rather than a push by the Egyptian
government to tap its plentiful renew-
able energy resources. The world’s three
biggest combined cycle gas-fired power
plants were completed by Siemens, in
2018, for Egyptian Electricity Holding
Photo: Scatec
The Benban project, 50 km from Aswan, provides a large chunk of Egypt’s current solar capacity.
32
Company (EEHC). They have a combined
capacity of 14.4 GW, underlining Cairo’s
commitment to natural gas.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has
driven up gas prices and prompted Euro-
pean markets to replace Russian fuel with
alternative sources. Egypt shipped 80% of
its liquefied natural gas to Europe last year.
The resulting revenue, combined with fall-
ing PV component costs has changed the
landscape of Egyptian energy economics.
The latest figures published by Egypt’s
New and Renewable Energy Authority
(NREA) indicate the country’s power gen-
eration mix is currently 80% thermal, 12%
wind, 6% hydro, and 2% solar. The gov-
ernment aims to achieve 42% renewables
in the mix, including 22% solar, by 2030. It
has estimated that this will require 31 GW
of solar, up from just 1.77 GW at present,
making for an incredibly ambitious tar-
get. A goal of 60% renewables by 2040 has
also been set.
NREA figures show that at the end of
2023 there was 1.5 GW of solar capacity at
Benban and 26 MW at Kom Ombo, with
both located near Aswan, plus 50 MW at
the Belectric-CCC joint venture’s Zafa-
rana project on the Red Sea coast. There
was also 97 MW of rooftop and 30 MW of
standalone solar capacity and the remain-
ing 102 MW of solar arrays included com-
mercial and industrial (C&I) installations
and other smaller projects.
Benban project
Utility-scale PV development has, thus
far, clustered around Aswan in the south
of the country, where solar resources are
strongest and there is plenty of land for
development.
The biggest chunk of Egyptian solar
capacity is provided by the Benban proj-
ect, which lies 50 km from Aswan and is
one of the world’s biggest PV sites. Official
figures on its capacity vary from 1.4 GW
up to 1.8 GW, with the confusion appar-
ently centering on the scope for expansion
of some individual elements.
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com

All power generated at Voltalia’s 32 MW RA project will be sold under a 25-year power purchase agreement.
It is actually a complex of 41 separate
projects covering 37 km², with opera-
tors including Voltalia, Infinity Solar, SP
Energy, Acciona Energía, Horus Solar
Energy, and Scatec Solar. It cost a total of
$4 billion to develop, some of which was
provided by the World Bank’s Interna-
tional Finance Corp. (IFC), the African
Development Bank (AfDB), and the Euro-
pean Bank for Reconstruction and Devel-
opment (EBRD), with most phases com-
pleted in 2018-19.
Feed-in tariffs (FIT) give the opera-
tors guaranteed prices for 25 years and
are the only private FIT in the country,
a spokesperson for Voltalia told pv mag-
azine. Sources within the country sug-
gest that 6,000 management and mainte-
nance jobs have been created at Benban,
which will provide a pool of skilled work-
ers and expertise that could be tapped on
for future projects.
Voltalia developed its 32 MW RA proj-
ect at Benban using Suntech 330 W panels,
with all the power generated sold under
a 25-year power purchase agreement
www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024
market & trends
Photo: Voltalia
(PPA) with Egyptian Electricity Transmis-
sion Co. (EETC) at a rate of $0.084/kWh
under Egypt’s feed-in tariff program. The
incentives are actually paid for in Egyp-
tian pounds, however.
Other installations
Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power expects to
complete its 200 MW Kom Ombo plant,
just 20 km from Benban, in April 2024.
Some of the financing for the $182 mil-
lion project was provided by the EBRD,
the OPEC Fund for International Devel-
opment, and the AfDB.
In December 2023, ACWA Power
signed a framework agreement with
Egyptian partners to develop a $4 bil-
lion green hydrogen project – proba-
bly in the Suez Canal Economic Zone –
with an annual production capacity of
600,000 tons, from phase one, rising to
2 million tons per year. That is set to be
powered by PV and wind capacity and
ACWA Power said it already has an Egyp-
tian PV and wind development pipeline of
1.4 GW. The hydrogen plant will connect
33
market & trends
The Egyptian government aims to achieve 42% renewables in the country’s energy generation mix, including 22% solar, by 2030.
to the grid via the same 220 kV transmis-
sion line as Benban, with all power sold
under a 25-year PPA to the EEHC. Glo-
beleq and Masdar also both signed frame-
work agreements in late 2022 to develop
green hydrogen facilities in the Suez Canal
Economic Zone. Empower New Energy
“positive,
Overall, the outlook for the sector is
particularly as 1.7% annual
population growth is driving up demand
for electricity
”
already operates five 500 kW C&I projects
in Egypt for offtakers InterCairo Alumi-
num, related business InterCairo Extru-
sion, Cairo Metals, Smart Paper, and med-
ical supplies company AMECO. Empower
is currently preparing three solar invest-
ments with multinationals operating in
Egypt “that are seeking to decarbonize
their operations, while at the same time
34
Photo: Scatec
securing a competitive electricity tariff
over time,” said Empower Chief Execu-
tive Officer Terje Osmundsen. Other C&I
projects in the country include 467 kW
and 374 kW arrays in Sharm El Sheikh
to supply the tourism sector, a 450 kW
rooftop project on a Luxor hospital, and
a 500 kW rooftop installation on a Giza
industrial plant.
NREA figures show that 700 MW of
solar capacity is currently under construc-
tion: the 500 MW Abydos project and
another 200 MW at Kom Ombo. Dubai’s
AMEA Power expects to complete Aby-
dos, again located near Aswan, by the end
of March 2025, with financing provided by
an IFC-led consortium and a PPA in place
with the EETC.
In December 2023, Scatec – which
already operates 380 MW at Benban –
signed a cooperation agreement with the
EEHC for the development of a 1 GW
solar and 200 MWh battery project, which
will be the first utility-scale hybrid proj-
ect in the country. A preliminary financ-
ing agreement has already been con-
cluded with the AfDB. The company is
now working with the government on the
details of the agreement, according to a
Scatec spokesperson.
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com
market & trends
Pulling together
in Central Asia
With Central Asian nations facing a
looming energy deficit, calls have
been made for the region to take a
unified approach, rather than each
state focusing on the development
of its own solar industry.
Kazakhstan boasts large areas fit for solar plant construction
36
O n a cold morning in early March
2024, large swaths of Tajikistan
were hit by a power outage. Thousands of
households across the country, including
in the capital, Dushanbe, were left without
heating or hot water. Some mobile inter-
net providers and banking apps were also
down, leaving daily life almost paralyzed.
Fortunately, the blackout lasted only a few
hours – this time.
Citizens of Central Asian republics are
no strangers to power outages. Power
cuts are common in winter, especially in
rural areas, as energy system operators
try to balance between supply and surg-
ing demand. In recent years, the energy
shortage issue has become more frequent,
with blackouts tending to last longer and
hurt not only the daily life of citizens, but
also the entire regional economy.
In January 2023, Tashkent, the capital of
Uzbekistan, experienced a days-long power
outage, plunging the city into chaos. Tash-
kent International Airport was closed. Sub-
way trains were stuck in tunnels, district
heating and tap water pumps went idle and
traffic lights were switched off, resulting in
traffic jams and multiple accidents. Similar
events happened at around the same time
in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Rising electricity consumption and
under-invested, dilapidated energy infra-
structure – the bulk of which was inher-
ited by Central Asian republics from the
Soviet Union – are believed to be the two
key factors contributing to the creeping
crisis. Government officials and indepen-
dent analysts see renewables as a silver
bullet to tackle the energy deficit.
“The construction and promotion of
micro-networks based on solar energy
should be one of the key steps to tackle
power outages,” said Roman Vakul-
chuk, senior researcher and head of the
Research Group for Climate and Energy
at the Norwegian Institute of Interna-
tional Affairs.
Considering the huge distances between
settlements in the region, low population
density, and the high cost of connecting
such homes to the main grid, solar and
wind microgrids are the most adequate
and sustainable solution for the countries
of Central Asia, Vakulchuk said.
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com

There is still a major focus on utility-scale projects by independent power producers in the region.
Catching sunlight
In Kazakhstan, the biggest country in
Central Asia, solar power has been a
locomotive of renewable energy develop-
ment for several years, according to Ainur
Sospanova, chairman of the board of the
Kazakhstan renewable energy association,
Qazaq Green.
Industry development in Kazakhstan
kicked into gear in 2014 when the govern-
ment adopted a fixed tariff mechanism to
secure sufficient returns on investment.
“Naturally, solar projects are easier, in
implementation, so they have been turned
around quickly,” Sospanova said.
In 2020, the Kazakh government
embarked on a plan to boost the share of
renewables in the energy mix from 3%
to 15%. The long-term strategy envisages
pushing this figure to 50% by 2050.
Uzbekistan, the second-largest Central
Asian economy, in turn seeks to boost its
green energy generation to 30% by 2030.
In total, 25 big solar plants are due to be
built in the country in the coming years,
some thanks to the efforts of foreign inves-
tors including Masdar, Total EREN, and
Phanes Group, the Uzbek energy minis-
try has reported.
Green energy growth has the poten-
tial to end blackouts in Uzbekistan. The
generation potential of the solar and
wind sectors exceeds the country’s actual
electricity consumption by a factor of 10
to 12, said Obid Akhmedov, head of the
energy preservation fund of the Uzbek
energy ministry. “As of today, the indus-
try attracted $2.1 billion of direct foreign
www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024
market & trends
Photos: Qazaq Green
investment and projects worth over $13
billion are currently under implementa-
tion,” Akhmedov said. “Green energy has
become one of the drivers of our economy
and a truly nationwide movement.”
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are at the
forefront of PV development in the region,
Vakulchuk noted. An improving political
landscape is one of the critical factors that
is luring money into the sector.
“In my opinion, the economies of the
[Central Asian] countries today have
become more open than they were a
decade ago,” said Vakulchuk. “Uzbekistan
has become noticeably more open since
President [Shavkat] Mirziyoyev came to
power. I think this has a positive effect on
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
Investors coming to Uzbekistan simulta-
neously consider neighboring markets.”
Foreign investors are expressing grow- The Uzbek government pays
ing interest in Central Asia. Marcus
$0.08/kW
Schrauf, chief executive officer of Saudi
Arabia based FAS Renewables, which is
looking into development opportunities
in the region, told pv magazine that his
company sees massive potential in the for home solar generation
region, as there are many energy-intensive
industries, including mining and smelt-
ing operations. “A key trend, for now, is
still focused on utility-scale renewables
by large independent power producers,”
said Schrauf.
The primary attractions of Central Asia
for foreign investors are the prospect of
less competition and an underdeveloped
commercial market, Schrauf added. On
the other hand, there are challenges asso-
37
market & trends
Central Asian countries should take a collaborative approach to renewables development, according to Qazaq Green.
ciated with nascent or non-existent regula-
tion, counterparty credit risk, and a lack of
debt funding for non-utility scale projects.
Swan, pike, crawfish
A popular post-Soviet fable tells the story of
a swan, a pike, and a crawfish trying to pull a
loaded cart. With each animal pulling in dif-
ferent directions, the cart refuses to budge.
The moral of the tale is that “when partners
can’t agree, their dealings come to naught
and trouble is their labor’s only fruit.”
Some analysts believe that, in their
efforts to develop their own solar indus-
tries, the authorities in Central Asian
countries are acting much like the char-
acters in the fable.
Qazaq Green’s Sospanova suggested
“theSince Soviet times,
Central Asian
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and other Cen-
tral Asian countries should consider join-
ing forces to develop renewable energy,
taking the Nord Pool power exchange that
now covers much of Europe as an exam-
energy grid has been ple. “Otherwise, the renewable energy
plants we are going to build will not work
united in a single effectively,” she said.
That approach would make sense. Since
Soviet times, the Central Asian energy
system known locally grid has been united in a single system
known locally as the “energy ring.” Tajiki-
as the energy ring
” stan is the only country in the region dis-
connected from the network, though the
country has plans to rejoin.
Kazakhstan generates most of its elec-
tricity from burning coal, which makes
the energy system inflexible. As a result,
Sospanova said, the energy market reg-
ulator has to tame growth in the solar
energy sector to keep the system in bal-
ance. For instance, during the last round
of renewable energy auctions, only around
100 MW of new solar energy projects were
38
awarded, versus 300 MW to 400 MW of
wind farms, on the Asian steppe where the
wind blows consistently around the clock.
Uzbekistan primarily relies on gas, and
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan get around 90%
of their electricity from hydropower.
“By joining our efforts, we can gather a
great energy basket, paving the way for us
to achieve decarbonization goals and eco-
nomic development objectives more effec-
tively,” Sospanova said.
Kazakhstan boasts large areas fit for
solar plant construction and, with the help
of its neighbors, could expand solar power
generation tremendously, Sospanova said.
The country covers a territory of 2.7 mil-
lion km² – more than all other Central
Asian nations combined.
A unified approach would be a win-
win situation, said Sospanova, as Uzbeki-
stan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan could also
surpass their decarbonization goals and
reduce the need for investment in maneu-
verable power generation sources.
The reality is different, however. Uzbeki-
stan has rolled out ambitious solar devel-
opment plans and Kyrgyzstan has taken
its first step in that direction. “If we do
not take each other’s plans into account,
we will face new blackouts in the foresee-
able future,” Sospanova said. Her fear is
that energy systems will not cope with
the resulting surge in renewable energy
generation. “From good, the renewable
energy will turn evil,” Sospanova added.
European ties
Political rapprochement with the Euro-
pean Union could play a role in the future
of the solar industry in Central Asia.
Vakulchuk pointed out that the Euro-
pean Bank for Reconstruction and Devel-
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com

opment (EBRD) has emerged as one of the
key players in the field of green energy in
Kazakhstan, and has provided significant
technical and financial support to a num-
ber of solar and wind energy projects.
European institutions are scaling up their
work in other parts of the region.
“This has helped countries improve tar-
iff policies, for generating electricity from
green energy sources, and making the lat-
ter more competitive with coal and natu-
ral gas,” Vakulchuk said.
The Uzbek energy ministry’s Akhme-
dov also underscored the importance
of foreign help in developing the solar
energy sector. For example, Uzbekistan
has recently embarked on a program
called Solar House, under which the gov-
ernment pays UZS 1,000 ($0.08) to house-
holds per kilowatt of electricity generated
by their solar panels.
The government recently adopted a plan
to scale up the program, investing $150 mil-
lion for the purpose, of which $100 million
will come from foreign investment, from
various sources, Akhmedov said.
There may be other ways the solar
industry in Central Asia could benefit
market & trends
from stronger ties with Europe. At the
end of 2023, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan
expressed an intention to join the Caspian
Sea-European Union Green Energy Cor-
ridor, a project involving green exports
from the Caucasus to Eastern and South-
ern Europe via a subsea cable.
The prospects of that venture, how-
ever, remain relatively vague. Vakulchuk
said that in the coming decades, Central
Asian countries would probably be pri-
marily focused on meeting their own elec-
tricity requirements, to end the blackouts,
90%
so it’s unlikely that exports to the Euro-
pean Union would be high on the agenda
for the time being.
“On the other hand, if the EU creates
the necessary conditions, helps attract
investment, and makes cooperation on of Kyrgyz and Tajik electricity
this issue a priority, this could become comes from hydro
an important incentive for the expansion
of green power generation in the region,”
Vakulchuk said.
Sospanova agreed and added that the
green energy corridor could benefit solar
industry development in Kazakhstan, but
also suggested waiting to see how the
project will evolve. Ian Skarytovsky
Advertisement
market & trends
A Mediterranean
super-grid
Greece has grand plans for an interconnector network that runs from the Middle East through to the heart of
Europe. pv magazine examines the latest developments on the road to a Mediterranean super grid and what it
might mean for the regions involved.
T here is great imagination in Greece’s
interconnection strategy. Recent
announcements about plans to connect
the Greek grid with grids in Saudi Ara-
bia, Austria, and Germany demonstrate
huge ambition. Moreover, in recent years,
the country has been steadily working to
link with Cyprus, Israel and Egypt.
The idea of an electricity interconnec-
tion running from Saudi Arabia to Greece
was first expressed publicly in July 2022,
during a state visit by Saudi Arabian
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Bin Salman told Greek officials at the time
that by linking the electricity grids of the
two countries, “we can provide Greece
and southwest Europe through Greece
with much cheaper renewable energy.” He
added that the two countries are working
Photo: Eurowind
Linking solar-rich Middle Eastern countries with European nations that generate significant energy
from wind could benefit both regions.
40
on hydrogen and that Greece can func-
tion as a hydrogen hub for Europe. “That’s
a game changer for both of us,” he said.
A year and a half and many meet-
ings later, those ideas are taking shape.
In February 2024, Saudi Arabia’s state-
owned Saudi Electricity Company, which
enjoys a near monopoly in the genera-
tion and transport of electricity in Saudi
Arabia, formed a new company through
its subsidiary, National Grid S.A., with
Greece’s Independent Power Transmis-
sion Operator (IPTO). The company was
formed to conduct commercial viability
and other studies for the development
of a Saudi-Greek electricity intercon-
nection via a high-voltage direct current
(HVDC) cable. The new company, Saudi
Greek Interconnection, is based in Ath-
ens, and has an initial capital of €500,000
($544,452). Its ownership is split equally
between National Grid S.A. and IPTO.
The two parties signed a shareholders’
agreement in September 2023.
Island hopping
The proposed line connecting Greece
to Cyprus and Israel is Greece’s most
advanced international interconnection
plan yet. Promoted by IPTO subsidiary
Great Sea Interconnector, the link will
be comprised of three distinct segments:
connecting mainland Greece to Greece’s
largest island, Crete; then Crete to Cyprus;
and finally, Cyprus to Israel. The electric-
ity interconnection currently under con-
struction between Attica in mainland
Greece and Crete involves two 335 km
subsea 500 kV DC cables and is expected
to commence full commercial operations
by mid-2025.
Financing this part of the project was
not a problem. In February 2024, the
European Union’s Regional Develop-
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com

A second interconnection between mainland Greece and Crete is currently under construction with two 335 km-long subsea 500 kV DC cables.
ment Fund announced €250 million for
the line to Crete, which is also supported
separately by other European Union and
domestic Greek funds. A tender process
to allocate 20% of the project to private
investors has also been launched by IPTO,
which currently fully owns the link to
Crete. The new interconnector project fol-
lows the construction of a separate 174 km
subsea connection from Crete to Pelopon-
nese, Greece, in 2021. That project linked
mainland Greece and Crete through a line
with 2×200 megavolt amperes (MVA)
transport capacity.
The Greek government and IPTO are
now seeking to secure financing for the
interconnector from Crete to Israel.
In 2022, the European Commission
approved €657 million of funding for the
construction of the interconnector, while
the Cypriot government has committed
an additional €100 million. The segment
linking Crete to Cyprus alone has an esti-
mated cost of €1.58 billion.
In December 2023, IPTO signed a
memorandum of understanding (MoU)
with the United Arab Emirates’ power
and water company TAQA and Cyprus’
www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024
market & trends
Photo: IPTO
Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry.
The MoU was signed in a bid to bring
TAQA and Cyprus into IPTO’s Great Sea
Interconnector.
Separately, Greece’s Ministry of the Envi-
ronment and Energy announced in Feb-
ruary 2024 that US International Devel-
opment Finance Corp. has also expressed
interest in participating in the Great Sea Linking Crete to Cyprus
Interconnector. could cost
Meanwhile, in August 2023, the Euro-
€1.58
pean Investment Bank (EIB) decided
to reject a loan for the interconnector
to expand to Cyprus, on the basis that
energy storage should also be explored
as an alternative proposition to Cyprus’
energy security.
Nevertheless, IPTO is willing to proceed
with business as usual. In December 2023,
billion
the Greek transmission operator issued a
‘Notice to Proceed’ to project contractor
Nexans, which is headquartered in Paris,
France. In practice, this means that IPTO
notified Nexans to reserve the necessary
manufacturing capacity for the produc-
tion of cables linking Crete to Cyprus.
The contract between IPTO and Nexans
was signed in July 2023.
41
market & trends
Photo: EuroAfrica Interconnector
Former Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades (left) speaks at a joint press conference with Egyptian
President Mohamed Abdel Fatah El Sisi during one of several bilateral summits held in Cairo.
Egyptian connection
Linking Greece and Egypt’s grids was
formally proposed for the first time in
2021 with a meeting between the two
countries’ energy ministers in Ath-
ens. The Greek-Egyptian interconnec-
tion project (GREGY) is now managed
“andThetheGreat
GREGY
Sea by Elica SA, a subsidiary of Greece’s
Copelouzos Group.
In 2023, IPTO and Elica signed an
agreement with the goal of bringing IPTO
into the GREGY Project with a 33.3%
Interconnectors have share. According to the MoU, the two
companies should also enter discussions
both been shortlisted with Egypt’s transmission system opera-
tor with the goal of having all three parties
by the European own one-third of the GREGY line.
The Great Sea and the GREGY Inter-
connectors have both been shortlisted
Commission to by the European Commission to receive
streamlined permits and regulatory pro-
receive streamlined cesses. Egyptian President Abdel Fat-
tah El-Sisi appears keen on the project.
permits and In a meeting with the chairman of the
Copelouzos Group in January, El-Sisi
asked the two sides to speed up their
regulatory processes
” cooperation efforts for the project to start
construction as soon as possible.
Road to Germany
Greece is also exploring an interconnec-
tion link to Austria and southern Ger-
many. The proposed Green Aegean Inter-
connector, a DC line connecting the
42
countries, has been openly discussed by
the Greek government since 2022. Greece
has suggested that the interconnector
could have an initial capacity of 3 GW,
with an option to ramp up to 9 GW at a
later stage. The rationale behind the inter-
connector is that Greece and the Middle
Eastern countries linked to it have greater
solar resources, while Austria and Ger-
many have greater wind resources, poten-
tially benefiting all parties.
On Feb. 29, 2024, the European Net-
work of Transmission System Operators
for Electricity (ENTSO-E) published a
draft list of interconnection and energy
storage projects that could bring eco-
nomic, environmental or security of sup-
ply benefits to Europe. ENTSO-E has also
enlisted the Green Aegean Interconnector,
sketching a route that starts in Preveza,
Greece, travels undersea via the Adri-
atic to Slovenia, and then on to Austria
and Germany. Greece’s Prime Minister
has been promoting the project in meet-
ings with other European leaders and the
European Commission.
Geopolitics vs. business
Speaking at a policy event in Washing-
ton, DC, in February, Greek Deputy
Energy Minister Alexandra Sdoukou told
the audience that “we aspire to become a
regional energy hub for southeast Europe
and the eastern Mediterranean. Our three
main priorities are increasing the penetra-
tion of renewable energy systems and pro-
moting decarbonization, supporting our
region’s security of supply, and planning
and developing infrastructure that con-
nects three continents.”
Geopolitics is a main driver for the
development of interconnections between
Greece and the Middle East, Fanos Karan-
tonis, chairman of Cyprus’ Electricity
Market Association, told pv magazine.
But these projects will also have impli-
cations for the electricity policies and
markets of the countries they connect.
Cyprus, for example, is an island with an
isolated electricity network. It does not
yet have a competitive electricity mar-
ket structure in place. The operation of
the interconnection to Greece and Israel
makes it mandatory for Cyprus to open its
electricity market to competition, in line
with the European Union’s target model.
The interconnector can therefore be a pol-
icy enabler, argued Karantonis.
The electricity mix in Cyprus is domi-
nated by fossil fuels. Last year, fossil-fuel
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com
market & trends
Minigrids,
maximum effect
The World Bank has committed $1.4 billion to finance solar minigrids in 29
countries. A philanthropic initiative backed by $1 billion in commitments
from the Rockefeller, Ikea, and Bezos foundations is also working in seven
low-income countries to develop such small PV networks.
O nly 3% of households in the Ndo-
sho neighborhood of Goma, in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
had access to electricity before minigrid
development company Nuru added a 1.3
MW network in 2020. Now Nuru reports
that around one in six of the local house-
holds are connected to its minigrid, which
also powers schools, water treatment,
water distribution, telecommunication
towers, and income-generating equip-
ment owned by small businesses. After
sunset, battery-powered streetlights also
improve safety.
The GEAPP has spent
$442m
to alleviate energy poverty
The hybrid minigrid combines 1.3 MW
of solar, 2.2 GWh of battery storage, and
580 kW of diesel generation capacity. The
World Bank counts 3,000 installed min-
igrids in sub-Saharan Africa and it has
committed $1.4 billion to supporting such
networks, mostly in Africa. The multi-
lateral lender says that, throughout the
world, nearly eight out of 10 people with-
out electricity live in Africa.
Solar minigrids could provide power
for 380 million people in Africa by 2030,
the World Bank has estimated, through
the construction of 160,000 minigrids at a
cost of $91 billion. Globally, by leveraging
44
private-sector funding on the back of its
development-partner funding and gov-
ernment investment, the World Bank sees
the potential to raise $127 billion, from all
sources, for minigrids worldwide by 2030.
Reaching those ambitious targets would
be aided by reducing the cost of electric-
ity generated by solar hybrid minigrids
to $0.20/kWh and building portfolios of
networks instead of one-off projects, the
World Bank said.
A parallel effort is being led by the
Global Energy Alliance for People and
Planet (GEAPP), which focuses its solar
minigrid work on seven countries. It helps
entrepreneurs to build successful solar
businesses and aids national governments
in creating supportive market conditions
for minigrids.
Income generation
Nuru counts more than 600 small- and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that
are connected to the Ndosho minigrid,
enabling them to use income-generating
electric equipment.
The Africa Solar Industry Association
(AFSIA) said in an article for pv maga-
zine that income-generating appliances
and developments such as e-mobility “can
really be seen as the true enabler of min-
igrids across Africa.” Investors in Nige-
ria and Uganda have earned profits from
minigrids, the trade body said, as appli-
ances have been purchased by small com-
mercial and industrial firms, leading to
better electricity consumption. Dozens of
different types of productive appliances
are available on the market, and AFSIA
maintains a catalog of such equipment.
In Ethiopia, where less than 5% of land is
currently irrigated, GEAPP cites research
suggesting that a $2.1 billion investment in
solar-powered electric irrigation pumps
could raise the value of crops produced
by $7 billion and “lift over 1 million peo-
ple out of poverty.”
The World Bank estimates that provid-
ing reliable electricity to customers and
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com
 market & trends

Photo: Nuru

communities would generate sufficient

demand for 3 million income-generat-
ing appliances and machines, while also
expanding services at about 200,000
schools and clinics.

Lower bills
Renewable energy powered minigrids can
provide electricity at a lower cost than
central-grid power, according to GEAPP.
It notes that an International Energy
Agency study “suggests that off-grid solu- This 1.3 MW hybrid solar-storage-diesel project sends power through a distribution system with 46 km
tions represent the most economic route of lines to homes and businesses. It also powers street lighting in the Ndosho neighborhood of Goma,
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
to connectivity for around half the world’s
unconnected population.”
The alliance aims to deploy 2 GW of
minigrids in its priority countries and Nuru will serve as a “compelling model”
to “indirectly construct” 15 GW of mini- and help to attract financing for $1 billion
grids through investment partnerships. Its in minigrid projects planned in the DRC
annual report states that the alliance pur- by the alliance and its partners.
sues these goals through grants to “unlock
wider investments in countries struggling
with affordable finance,” equity invest-
ments, and risk guarantees.
One hitch, the alliance says, is that bat-
tery storage potential is not being realized
due to a lack of regulation and “insuffi-
cient proof points,” showing how storage “ Investors in Nigeria and Uganda have
can accelerate renewable energy adoption.
The alliance’s main priority countries,
each of which has adopted a green tran-
sition strategy linked to Paris Agreement
earned profit from minigrids
”
climate goals, are the DRC, Ethiopia,
India, Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa,
and Vietnam. The alliance says its work in Nuru aims to serve 5 million peo-
these countries will create a “demonstra- ple in the DRC. While GEAPP says that
tion effect,” showing that “systemic change “most investors” perceive the nation to
at the pace and scale required by the Paris be a “highly risky” market, Nuru Senior
Agenda is feasible.” Manager of Strategy and Partnerships
The charitable alliance projects an Kyle Hamilton says that the country
annual $15 billion revenue opportunity for represents a “compelling” opportunity,
low-carbon minigrids in low- and moder- largely because the government privat-
ate-income countries by 2030. ized the energy market in 2014 and state
agencies “are committed to supporting
Investing in developers private sector energy projects at scale.” At
GEAPP has made an $8 million equity the same time, Hamilton says, political
investment in Nuru that helped the busi- risk insurance and armed groups present
ness raise $60 million to expand its port- challenges. Armed groups have captured
folio of hybrid grids. GEAPP believes that Goma in the past.

www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024 45
market & trends
Photo: IREC
The World Bank and GEAPP have recognized the importance of establishing a supportive business environment for minigrid developers.
In Nigeria, minigrid developer Prado
Power benefited from a GEAPP-funded
demand-aggregation program that
yielded cost reductions of 5% for solar
panels, 23% for battery storage, and 29%
for single-phase smart meters. Aided by
those savings, Prado Power built a min-
igrid in a Nigerian village, helping peo-
ple such as a farmer who replaced a gas-
oline-powered grain mill with a more
reliable electric appliance.
Market shaping
Both the World Bank and GEAPP see the
importance of establishing business envi-
ronments to support minigrid develop-
ers through, in the World Bank’s words,
“light-handed and adaptive regulations,
supportive policies, and reductions in
bureaucratic red tape.”
GEAPP has outlined a broader set of
barriers to entry, including investment
shortfalls, the governance environment
in various countries, and difficulties in
Less than
1MWh/person/year
46
engineering energy transitions. Noting
that different countries will require differ-
ent interventions to “reach tipping points”
and accelerate renewables adoption, the
alliance devotes one-quarter of its funds
to advancing appropriate interventions,
calling this type of work “market shaping.”
To reduce the barriers to entry, the alli-
ance says it works closely with the private
sector to identify specific problems, ana-
lyze opportunities, and mobilize finance.
“The change we seek,” the alliance says,
“will almost always require” four ele-
ments. They are pilot projects, companies
that overcome first mover disadvantages,
a track record and “proof points” that
reduce perceived or actual risk for others,
and project pipelines that can attract new
market entrants or justify new investment.
The alliance devotes 8% of its budget
to working with national governments to
develop capacity and help create a policy
environment conducive to public and pri-
vate investment in renewable energy.
constitutes energy poverty
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com
 market & trends

Photo: Nuru
Energy poverty
Rajiv Shah, president of the Rockefel-
ler Foundation and a guiding force for
the program that was spun off to create
GEAPP, described energy poverty in his
book “Big Bets.” The minimum amount
of electricity needed to participate in
the digital economy and leverage mod-
ern technology, he said, is 1 MWh per
person, per year. Some 3.5 billion peo-
ple in 81 “energy-poor” countries don’t
consume that much electricity “and are
worse off for it,” he writes, as they are
deprived of “modern education, health-
care, work opportunities, comfort, and
even safety.”
GEAPP has thus far invested $442
million toward ending energy poverty, Before the minigrid in Ndosho was built, dark streets at night kept many residents at home.
of which two-thirds was for platform
investments and one-third direct invest-
ment. For the years 2023-24, the alliance’s from two “anchor partners,” the Rockefel-
investment pipeline consists of $261 mil- ler and Ikea foundations, and an undis-
lion across 20 countries, and $250 mil- closed amount from a third anchor part-
lion in broader investment across Africa, ner, the Bezos Earth Fund.
Asia, and Latin America and the Carib- In its annual report, the alliance lists 61
bean. The alliance has an ambition to partners, 33 leadership council members;
build a $5 billion portfolio that began and 26 participating governments.
with commitments of $500 million each William Driscoll

Advertisement
 applications & installations
The greenhouse effect
Open agrivoltaic installations are
proving their worth in the field,
but as interrow and raised PV
installations grow in prominence,
could integrating PV with
greenhouses reward innovation, or
shatter expectations?
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Tunnels present opportunities for OPV applications, but there are still problems to solve.
48
F armers are already feeling the effects
of climate change. In July 2023, a 19
cm hailstone fell in Azzano Decimo, Italy,
setting a new European record. The num-
ber and duration of droughts has risen
by almost one-third since the year 2000.
Meanwhile, increased precipitation in
some areas is eroding soil and depleting
it of nutrients.
Some problems are more solvable than
others. Greenhouses are a well-tested way
to create a controlled growing environ-
ment that offers some shelter from hail
and other missiles. They offer water man-
agement benefits and greater control over
climate – but are they a viable candidate
for energy generation?
The short answer is yes, at least accord-
ing to US-based solar glass brand Energy
Glass. Manufactured through a partner-
ship between security glass specialist SAF-
Glas and Saxon Capital Group, Energy
Glass comprises a glass-clad polycarbon-
ate with a proprietary nano interlayer. The
interlayer directs light to the periphery
of the glass where solar cells are located.
Energy Glass technology has already
found its way onto greenhouses in the
United States and Europe, in commercial
installations and as part of research trials.
Bulletproof product
It’s fair to say SAF-Glas Chief Executive
Officer Arthur Marino has confidence in
the quality of his product.
“We can put this in an embassy and an
RPG missile can hit it, it’ll crack it, but it
will still make electricity,” he said.
Marino’s confidence in Energy Glass
isn’t limited to durability. The CEO sees
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com
 applications & installations

a significant opportunity for his business

Photo: Brite Solar

in agrivoltaics. Energy Glass owns its own
nano reactors and Marino said this means
that the business can manufacture solar
glass with the right transparency, weight
and durability to match any particular
farm’s needs.
“For greenhouses and grow houses, we
can supply a product that is more impen-
etrable than normal, that also produces
electricity,” he said.
To back up the business case, Energy
Glass released a white paper in March 2024
with results from a four-month field test
in Almeria, Spain, carried out by research
consultancy Tecnova Centro. The trial took
place across two greenhouses with a cul-
tivated area of 500 m2 for each. Each was
equipped with air recirculators, an interior
shading screen and an automated opening
and closing system for side and roof win-
dows. One greenhouse had Energy Glass
PV panels installed across a surface area The tomato plants on the left were grown under Brite Solar glass, while the ones on the right were
of 20.6 m², 4.12% of the total surface area. grown under standard glass. Both are two weeks old, grown from seeds.
Three inverters, two battery storage sys-
tems and an electrical control panel were
installed to make the greenhouse self-suffi- “In our panel development, agricul-
cient throughout the trial. According to the ture comes first, meaning that we adjust
published results, the Energy Glass panels the transparency of the panel to the
did not adversely affect plant yield or the level where the crop yield is not affected
pollinating activity of bees. negatively.”
“We can do the low dollar product or Kanopoulos said getting the transpar-
of course we can make a custom product ency levels right involved a rigorous pro-
to whatever your specific need is and that cess of pilot projects and cooperating with
technology is not out there yet, so we have agricultural universities “all over Europe”
a good head start,” said Marino. to better understand the relationship
between light and photosynthesis. Vine-
Transparent approach yards in Germany require different trans-
In Greece, solar manufacturer Brite Solar parency levels to vineyards in Greece.
recently confirmed some serious finan-
cial backing. The company announced in
February 2024 that it had completed its
Research has helped Brite Solar get to a
level where crop yield is not negatively
affected by the presence of solar glass,
“
An RPG missile
can hit it, it’ll crack it,
series A financing round for a total of €8.6 according to Kanopoulos.
million ($9.3 million). Backers included
lead investor New Energy Capital, Deep
“We have nanostructure materials that
we place on the panel to use light energy
but it will still
Investments Ltd., Brace Agri Solar Hold- that is otherwise useless for the most part
ings, and the European Innovation Coun-
cil Fund. Construction of a manufactur-
ing plant in Greece is underway.
and make it photosynthetically useful,”
he said. “What we do is develop materials
that absorb UV light and then down shift
make electricity
Arthur Marino
”
Brite Solar has already supplied its glass- to red (that is, 600 nm to 650 nm), which
glass monocrystalline silicon modules to is the photosynthetic area for all plants,
a broad range of agrivoltaics projects in and we have demonstrated that this accel-
10 different countries. Projects include a erates plant growth.”
2,500 m2 hydroponic greenhouse in Ptol- Transparency does come with tradeoffs
emaida, Greece. Cultivating tomatoes, the and solar glass naturally offers less power
greenhouse boasts 50 kWp. Electricity is per square meter than a standard silicon
generated by semi-transparent solar glass module, but Kanopoulos said things are
modules that were made to order, as Nick different at the solar cell level.
Kanopoulos, the chief executive officer of “Of course, the transparent module
Brite Solar, explained. is less efficient than the nontransparent

www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024 49
 applications & installations
Photo: Insolight
A large-scale agrivoltaic greenhouse in St. Gallen, Switzerland
One Swiss greenhouse boasts
800kWp
50
module and the reason for that is because
it has less power installed. If you see the
efficiency at the solar cell level, then there’s
no difference,” he said.
Less power installed means less revenue
from electricity generation, but Kanopou-
los made a clear case for transparent mod-
ules. The main cost of building a green-
house – is building a greenhouse. For
farmers already investing in glass, the
question then becomes standard or solar.
“If regular glass let’s say costs €8 per
square meter, our glass – depending again
on transparency – costs €40 per square
meter.”
“So, it’s [an additional] €32 per square
from solar glass
meter, but while the cost of the green-
house needs to be amortized by selling
whatever you are farming in the green-
house, let’s say tomatoes, the cost of our
glass is amortized because you are selling
energy,” he said.
The right fit
A compelling business case is key for agri-
voltaics project development, but the right
set of circumstances can make adding PV
an attractive option.
Swiss agrivoltaics developer Insolight
has experience working with different
agricultural pilot projects, in partnership
with academic institutions, energy suppli-
ers and others. It has also completed five
major installations in the last year. These
included an 800 kWp project in St. Gal-
len, Switzerland, which Insolight esti-
mates will generate around 750 MWh
annually. Photovoltaic coverage accounts
for around 1 hectare at the 1.6-hectare site,
according to Insolight co-founder and
Chief Technical Officer Mathieu Acker-
mann. The coverage included modules of
varying transparency – a key variable for
both crop yield and energy generation. If
agricultural output and electricity produc-
tion aren’t balanced correctly, the business
case falls down.
In St. Gallen, Ackermann said the eco-
nomics of investing in greenhouse solar
were helped along by a partnership
between the grower and a local energy
company. The farming business was
already committed to investing in a green-
house at the site, while the energy com-
pany invested in transparent solar mod-
ules for the site.
“Thanks to this agreement, the panels
could be made as translucent as required
for the optimal development of the crops,”
he said.
Retrofitting represents another attrac-
tive proposition for investing in green-
house photovoltaics, according to Ack-
ermann. The business case here is built
on replacing existing glass panels with
semi-transparent solar glass modules.
Insolight approaches all its customers
with projections based on its simulation
tools, which not only predict electricity
generation, but also light transmission
and potential crop yield.
“For each project, we provide a detailed
techno-economical analysis and suggest
an optimal configuration. The payback
time for this type of installation can be
quite quick because you don’t need to
build a new structure,” he said.
Organic produce
Greenhouses may present opportuni-
ties for solar glass, but for many farming
applications foil tunnels – also known as
polytunnels or high tunnels – make the
most sense. Tunnels offer farmers a more
affordable and flexible solution than
investing in a greenhouse. These are char-
acteristics that must be retained to effec-
tively integrate PV with foil tunnels.
Matthias Meier, project leader for agri-
voltaic activity at Forschungszentrum
Jülich, said that the German research
institute is currently investigating how
organic photovoltaics (OPV) can be
attached to foil tunnels in a way that
works for farmers. The project has been
running for around one year and is backed
by German research umbrella organiza-
tion Helmholtz.
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com

“It’s not as easy as I thought,” said Meier,
who warned that the difficulty comes from
finding a way to integrate the OPV that
still allows farmers to build and break-
down tunnels with minimal effort. “Usu-
ally, farmers in our region put the foil on
in spring then take it off again in fall. If
OPV is integrated, how do we handle that?
“In my opinion, I don’t see OPV panels
glued on the foil. Maybe in the very far
future direct printing of active OPV film
on foil tunnels might work, but of course
there you have to develop machines and
I don’t know if the market is big enough.
“My feeling is by having something like
a roll on the side and putting it over the foil
tunnels in a very easy way, so that every-
thing is integrated in this roll – cabling
and so on – that you can attach to the foil
tunnel and click it on the other side, this
might work,” he said.
Research questions occupying Mei-
er’s biologist colleagues include gather-
ing more data on how plants grow under
OPV, what kind of distances between
panels work best, or with semi-transpar-
ent OPV, what parts of the spectrum are
transmitted through.
applications & installations
Meier said the spectrum question is
not as straightforward as simply opti-
mizing for red light to fuel photosyn-
thesis. Researchers ignore ultraviolet at
their peril. “If you grow plants and you
need insects in your system then you
need UV light because insects – bees
for example – have orientation via UV
light. If you cut it, they can’t orient them-
selves,” he said.
Like other potential OPV applications,
the future of OPV in a farming context
will come down to market forces. Meier
said OPV was at the “valley of death” point
on the development curve, with potential
“ The future of OPV
in a farming context
for things to go either way.
“There are products on the market will come down to
which are for niche applications of OPV.
There’s [German manufacturer] Heliatek
for example, but it’s not a gigawatt fac-
tory. They have a product and they can
survive. But to really ramp up further
market forces
”
somebody has to first show that [OPV in
agrivoltaics] is working, show the poten-
tial – and then somebody has to invest.
“That’s where we are at with the Helm-
holtz project, trying to overcome this val-
ley of death,” he said. Matthew Lynas
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Communities on this coast love its
unique natural environment – something
which holds true for many regions, with
potato farms and rivers becoming embed-
ded in people’s core identity. In the Illa-
warra, whales have turned into something
of a proxy, with opponents of renewables
development leveraging a real desire to
protect beloved wildlife in order to shift
the debate to blind fear. That has enabled
right wing claims that wind farms will
be “whale graveyards” to take root in an
unwaveringly progressive region, the
accusations spinning out of control online
before calm counterarguments can be
made. “It gives me chills to see statements
from Donald Trump echoed in our small
town,” said Stone.
Rewiring Australia’s McDonald said
that “what’s been hard has been to get
across some of the nuances in the pro-
cess that people should be directing their
energy to.” She noted most renewable
energy proponents share concerns about
www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024
applications & installations
Photo: Hi Neighbour
the environmental impact of large proj-
ects. “Instead, it’s been simplified a lot and
the education side hasn’t been as strong as
“ I couldn’t have
anticipated just
it should, so it whips up this kind of fear-
based campaign and that plays on people’s
uncertainties, which are valid,” she added.
how furious the
“As humans, we relate to what we can see
and touch and feel, and sometimes it [cli- debate would
mate change] is a little bit too abstract.”
Bush revolt
be … it was a
The emotionally charged scenes playing
out in the Illawarra have parallels across
shocking and
”
the country, so much so that the phenom-
enon has been dubbed Australia’s “bush scary time
revolt.” Given large-scale renewable and
transmission projects are set to ramp up Yael Stone
massively over the next six years, thanks
to new government procurement auc-
tions, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
commissioned a formal renewable energy
Community Engagement Review in July
2023. The findings from that exercise, led
by Australia’s Energy Infrastructure Com-
53
applications & installations
Photo: Rewiring Australia
Kristen McDonald and Saul Griffith of Rewiring Australia have seen plenty of uptake for their local electrification campaigns, but the situation
for large-scale solar or wind projects is more complex.
missioner, Andrew Dyer, were made pub-
lic in February 2024 and painted a picture
of a sector that is badly underperforming.
“For many developers, the skills, expe-
rience, and knowledge of engagement
personnel and management are below
community expectations, as are their sup-
porting processes, collateral, and the over-
all governance of the developer’s engage-
ment function,” the review read.
Dyer held scores of meetings with rep-
resentative stakeholders, landholders, and
community groups, and received more
than 500 written submissions and more
than 250 online survey responses – with
most respondents living near to proposed
renewables and transmission projects in
development. Specifically, 92% of respon-
dents were dissatisfied with project devel-
opers’ community engagement, and 85%
were dissatisfied with the explanations and
responses offered by developers. While the
report focused on the private-sector clean
power industry, it is worth noting that
community frustration also extended to
government-led renewables plans.
The review made six recommendations,
all of which have been accepted by the fed-
eral government. They include institut-
54
ing a “suitably qualified and experienced
independent body or person to design,
develop, implement, and operate a devel-
oper rating scheme.” Assessing developer
practices and history, the rating scheme
will launch on a voluntary basis, but Dyer
advised participation be considered in
government tenders. He also recom-
mended authorities begin vetting devel-
opers before allowing them to lodge plans
outside auction programs. This practice
is intended to cut down on the growing
“consultation fatigue” being experienced
by many communities, especially around
Renewable Energy Zones.
Dyer urged states and territories to pro-
vide maps to set out where renewables and
transmission projects are appropriate –
including “no-go” zones – and to intro-
duce a new ombudsman tasked with han-
dling complaints during all project stages,
with developers to bear the cost. The com-
missioner also recommended formal pro-
cesses for community benefit sharing and
communications programs – a theme that
has been a focal point for Nicole Walton,
principal for engagement and change
advisory at Aurecon, a design, engineer-
ing, and advisory firm.
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com

Building trust
Walton said that it is crucial that devel-
opers start by building trust. She posited
a visualization that features an equilat-
eral triangle in which empathy, authen-
ticity, and logic must remain in balance.
That means communicating in ways
that recognize community perception,
are transparent and clear, and recog-
nize that different segments of the com-
munity will require varying degrees of
information. While such an infographic
may suffice for some, others will want
technical project details in appropriate
and digestible forms.
Winning community acceptance,
Walton said, involves explaining a two-
pronged narrative to help communities
understand not just that the energy transi-
tion is happening, but what it looks like at
a state and local level. People must under-
stand how projects benefit them, added
Peta Ashworth, director of Curtin Uni-
versity’s Institute for Energy Transition.
The specific pathway to acceptance,
Walton said, begins with ensuring com-
munities understand the climate imper-
ative. It should then turn to developers
applications & installations
understanding community perceptions,
putting a plan in place to address those
beliefs, adapting that plan as they dis-
cover what the community specifically
wants and needs, and then demonstrat-
ing they have responded to those local
desires.
Finally, Walton said, it is crucial that
developers resource and integrate their Canberra has proposed a
community engagement teams.
4.2GW
“The technical team relies on the com-
munity team to get that social license; the
community engagement team relies on
the technical team to have the content to
win the social license – so they can’t oper-
ate separately from each other, although it offshore wind farm in NSW
is often the case that they try to,” she said.
“Engaging the right people at the right
time with the right messaging – all these
things need to be considered and they are
as important as your marine studies.”
She said they are as critical as flora and
fauna studies, and they are as important
as the design of the actual plant, “because
without community acceptance, your
project can fall over. It’s just that change
in mindset.” Bella Peacock
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applications & installations
Change of pace for
Italian shared solar
Starting an energy community
typically requires many actors, a
lot of effort, and the negotiation
of complex permitting and
implementation processes. Italy is
an early mover and new legislation
to streamline the process could
soon drive an increase in energy
community volume.
Italy will devote
€2.2bn
to RECs by 2026
56
A round 85 collective self-consump-
tion arrays and energy community
projects are already active in Italy, and
hundreds more are in development.
“The 85 active projects we have mapped
are divided into 61 collective self-con-
sumption and 24 renewable energy com-
munities (RECs),” said Simone Franzò,
senior assistant professor at Polytechnic
University of Milan. “If we add to these the
projects under development, we arrive at
200 active projects, including both RECs
and collective self-consumption.”
Quantifying the additional clean power
generation capacity available from RECs
is complex because the regulatory pro-
cess is still being finalized. Italy was, how-
ever, one of the first European countries
to support collective self-consumption in
any form. The authorities have stuck to
deadlines for related legislation, suggest-
ing that the approach enjoys administra-
tive and political support.
Current laws distinguish between col-
lective self-consumption projects – at least
two self-consumers in the same building
– and RECs, which require a legal non-
profit entity to provide services that can
generate economic, social, and envi-
ronmental benefits. For now, collective
self-consumption is easier to implement.
RECs account for around 30% of Italy’s
“widespread” self-consumption projects.
No dominant model
Interest in RECs comes from “promoter”
parties including public authorities,
energy companies, and shared-occupancy
buildings. Franzò said 44% of Italy’s RECs
feature public authorities as promoters.
“This is the first business model: mostly
small municipalities, often taking advan-
tage of available funding lines, push for
the creation of RECs,” he said, noting that
a dominant configuration has yet to actu-
ally emerge.
Utilities can act as promoters, providing
finance. “Bottom-up” initiatives, where
citizens or small- and medium-sized busi-
nesses create and invest in RECs, offer
another approach. Bottom-up models,
said Franzò, “account for 56% of RECs.
But, in the future, we expect a greater role
for energy players such as utilities and
distributors.”
Most utilities have developed a REC
business model, so increasing competi-
tion is likely. The participation of utili-
ties is also crucial, Franzò said, because
it facilitates member aggregation and
streamlines the implementation and
maintenance of facilities.
Sergio Olivero, head of business and
finance innovation at the Energy Center of
the Polytechnic University of Turin, said
RECs that develop their own self-manage-
ment capacity secure greater cash flows.
Utility involvement is not strictly nec-
essary, he said, but the specialist knowl-
edge needed can involve different actors.
“Energy communities will be catalysts for
new business models capable of creating
and redistributing value,” said Olivero.
Milan Polytechnic’s Franzò pointed out
that RECs can perform functions such as
providing grid-balancing services and
can drive electric mobility. He estimated
RECs and collective self-consumption
could bring 7 GW of renewables capacity
by 2030. “The REC incentive draft recites
5 GW of installations between now and
2027,” he said. “In addition, there are 2
GW from [Italy’s post-Covid, Piano Nazi-
onale di Ripresa e Resilienza,] PNRR con-
tributions.” He said rooftop PV will rep-
resent much of that capacity, but with a
capacity limit of 1 MW per REC, ground-
mounted PV could also contribute.
Positive signs
After a slower-than-expected year in
2023, Italian operators want to move on
new REC projects. Legislative delays have
slowed development for all. Energy stor-
age business Senec Italia, for example, said
it is not possible to predict REC capacity
for 2024 and 2025. “Significant accelera-
tion will depend in large part on govern-
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com

There are around 85 collective self-consumption arrays and community energy projects already active in Italy, and over a hundred under construction.
ment policies,” said CEO Vito Zongoli.
“Cultural change and simplification of
procedures could lead to a decisive break-
through in 2025.”
Zongoli stressed the need to overcome
obstacles, including the authorization
process. “Between setting up the plants,
establishment and regulation of the legal
entity, and communication and reporting
procedures to [state renewables body]
the Gestore dei Servizi Energetici (GSE),
it can take up to a year to set up a REC,”
he said. That requires considerable invest-
ment before any return, but Zongoli said
some financial players have submitted
ad-hoc proposals.
A second obstacle stems from mistrust
among local communities.
“It is crucial that the benefits of RECs,
both for community and environment,
are well understood, along with the pro-
cedures for their creation and manage-
ment,” said Zongoli.
Italy’s government, the GSE, and the
Regulatory Authority for Energy, Net-
works and Environment (ARERA) plan
to raise the profile of RECs.
Another hurdle is the difficulty of cal-
culating REC return on investment. REC
incentives are linked to the volume of
www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024
applications & installations
Photos: Edison
shared energy, which can fluctuate over
time based on production and consump-
tion. “This uncertainty, which is exac-
erbated by the lack of established case
studies, makes it difficult to find entities
willing to bet on these new initiatives,”
said Zongoli.
Community acceptance
RECs and collective self-consumption
have a strong social dimension because
they decrease exposure to volatile energy
markets and cannot make profits.
“We need a strong change in the
energy model but we register opposi-
tion to renewables,” commented Ottavia
D’Agostino, a member of the Legambiente
Energy Office. “So RECs are an important
tool: the new member acquires a greater
awareness of energy production, break-
ing the passive relationship towards their
energy bills.”
The social aspect of RECs can vary from
the simple division of benefits among
members to a type of community sup-
port. Donors could also step in to fund
energy communities, although that is not
happening at present.
“In the case of a project implemented
in east Naples, Fondazione con il Sud
57
applications & installations
Italian law distinguishes collective self-consumption – that is, a group of at least two self-consumers in
the same building – from renewable energy communities, which require the creation of a legal entity.
donated to support a solidarity model,”
said D’Agostino. “Donors can also con-
firm this supportive nature. The people
who make up the REC are a second indi-
cation of the social dimension. If assist-
ing people that are often disadvantaged in
other ways, the social component of RECs
is clear.”
Regulatory framework
RECs are a result of the European Renew-
able Energy Directive, in its second elabo-
ration: RED II. RECs in Italy are regulated
by article 42-bis of Decree Milleproroghe
162/2019 (converted by Law No. 8/2020 of
February 28, 2020). This transposes the
European RED II Directive (2018/2001/
EU) and a number of implementing mea-
sures, including resolution 318/2020/R/eel
of ARERA and the Ministry of Economic
58
Development’s (MISE) ministerial decree
of Sept. 16, 2020. The former stated that
participants will be awarded the return
of certain components related to network
charges and avoided network losses. The
September 2020 MISE decree established
the value of the incentive for real-time
shared energy as €100 ($109)/MWh, for
collective self-consumption, and €110/
MWh for RECs.
Legislative decree 199/2021 then inter-
vened to expand the maximum capacity
threshold for energy community renew-
able energy plants, stipulating they must
have a total capacity of no more than 1
MW. For now, doubts remain about the
use of existing installed PV capacity in
a REC. An earlier interpretation sug-
gested that systems already in existence
on the effective date of legislative decree
199/2021 could join an energy community
but could only account for 30% of total
capacity.
The establishment of a REC requires
two founding members, whether energy
producers, consumers, or both. Members
can use existing distribution networks to
feed in and withdraw the energy they pro-
duce but it is necessary that the commu-
nity’s generation facilities and withdrawal
points be connected to the same primary
electrical transformer substation.
In September 2023, the GSE pub-
lished an interactive map of conventional
areas underlying primary substations in
Italy. That was provided for in the Inte-
grated Text on Diffuse Self-consumption
(TIAD), which was published in January
2023. TIAD was scheduled to be imple-
mented from March 1, 2023, or in con-
junction with the entry into force of a
decree by the Ministry of Environment
and Safety (MASE) referring to economic
incentive instruments. The latter was
signed by minister Gilberto Pichetto Fra-
tin in December 2023 and was approved
by the Court of Auditors at the beginning
of 2024. The REC decree went into effect
on Jan. 25, 2024.
Under the MASE decree, the economic
incentive mechanisms are a non-repay-
able grant and an incentive tariff. The
incentive depends on the plant and fea-
tures a fixed €60/MWh and a variable part
linked to zonal prices.
The government said, within 30 days of
the decree coming into force, operational
rules would be approved by the ministry
– after verification by ARERA and upon
proposal by the GSE – which would gov-
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com

ern modalities and timing for incentives
recognition.
Operational rules
MASE has approved operational rules for
incentive tariffs and capital grants under
the National Recovery and Resilience Plan
(PNRR), unraveling three major knots
for collective self-consumption: the use
of multiple incentives, the date of entry
into operation of the plants, and benefi-
ciary entities.
The GSE has defined the conditions for
the combination of multiple incentives.
The PNRR grant can be combined with
capital grants other than those supported
by other European Union programs and
instruments “not exceeding 40%.” In that
case, the PNRR grant claimable per kilo-
watt is, at most, equal to the difference
between 40% of the maximum reference
investment cost expressed in €/kW and
the capital grants per kilowatt already
received or allocated.
PNRR grants are compatible with con-
tributions that only cover the costs of stud-
ies and expenses for preliminary activities,
with the incentive tariff deducted.
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applications & installations
The PNRR grant cannot be combined
with operating incentives other than the
incentive tariff; with tax deductions at
ordinary rates; with other capital grants
supported by other European Union pro-
grams and instruments; or with other
forms of public support that constitute Italian energy communities
a state aid scheme other than the capital could add
account.
7GW
The document then clarifies the other
major node: configurations can also
include “existing” plants, where existing
means plants that came into operation up
to Dec. 15, 2021, other than those already
part of RECs and collective self-consump- by 2030
tion systems.
In the case of RECs, the power gener-
ation capacity of existing plants cannot
exceed 30% of the total power of plants
belonging to the configuration. Fundable
power is 5 GW, as of 2027, with about €2.2
billion to be invested by 2026. For munic-
ipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants,
that is supplemented by a non-repayable
grant of up to 40% of the cost under the
PNRR, which can be accumulated with
the feed-in tariff. Sergio Matalucci
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applications & installations
US community solar on
With just over 6 GW of community solar installed in the United States, and
a goal of 20 GW by 2025, states with strong policy support are seeing rapid
growth in a market that could bring solar to all.
C ommunity solar is a growing trend
in the United States. It rose 8% in
the first three quarters of 2023 compared
to the same period in 2022, according
to Wood Mackenzie. The research firm
said it expects cumulative installations
to reach 14 GW by 2028, more than dou-
bling in less than five years. Community
“
Some 19 states,
plus Washington,
solar traditionally served mostly commer-
cial “anchor” customers, but the share of
capacity serving residential users is rap-
idly increasing, as is the number of low-
to middle-income subscribers. Some 19
DC, have community states, plus Washington, DC, have com-
munity solar policies and programs.
solar policies and Missed opportunity
Recently, top solar states California and
programs
” Georgia have received pushback that is
stalling community solar. The California
Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), for
instance, has said the net-value billing
tariff outlined in the Community Renew-
able Energy Act “conflicts with federal law
and does not meet the requirements” of
the legislation.
CPUC missed an opportunity to become
a national leader in community solar, said
Photo: Castillo Engineering
Community solar is a multi-gigawatt enterprise in the United States, with analysts projecting 14 GW of
cumulative installations by 2028.
60
Derek Chernow, western regional direc-
tor of the Coalition for Community Solar
Access (CCSA) – a national organization
representing more than 125 community
solar developers, businesses, and non-
profit groups – in a statement issued by
the organization.
“Unfortunately, this proposed decision
misses the mark entirely and will make it
impossible to ensure equitable access to
renewable energy-plus-storage projects
that maximize benefits to low-income
communities and further environmental
justice,” said Chernow.
Georgia, a top 10 state for solar genera-
tion capacity, ranks in the bottom ten for
distributed solar, including rooftop resi-
dential, commercial and industrial, and
community PV. The state won’t see a rise
any time soon. Utility Georgia Power said
in a hearing in February 2024 that it is
“adamantly opposed” to the Homegrown
Solar Act, a community solar bill.
The power company said its opposition
was due to a “cost shift.” It argued that
community solar customers would cause
electricity rate increases for non-solar cus-
tomers. Studies have shown cost-shifts are
negligible at current levels of distributed
solar, however, and non-solar customers
might actually receive system cost bene-
fits from community solar.
Model programs
Illinois is now ranked as the fourth-larg-
est US state for community solar operat-
ing capacity, according to the nonprofit
Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR). It
estimates that Illinois had approximately
220 MW of community solar installed by
the third quarter of 2023, attributing this
to the Illinois Shines program that was
passed in 2016 to support the development
of distributed generation and community
solar projects.
While 220 MW is a good start, cumu-
lative community solar capacity is set to
more than double in Illinois in 2024, due
in part to a partnership between Summit
Ridge Energy and Castillo Engineering,
which expects to bring a 26-project port-
folio of 500 MW online. All 26 projects are
expected to be completed before October
2024, at which point the partners will have
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com

the rise
completed more than 120 projects with a
total generation capacity greater than
375 MW. By the end of 2024, the two com-
panies will collectively have a community
solar portfolio of more than 500 MW in
Illinois alone.
In 2023, New York state ran the suc-
cessful NY-Sun program that saw com-
munity solar double to 2 GW of capacity
– enough to serve 393,000 homes. “Ongo-
ing investment in community solar gen-
erates measurable benefits for our health,
our environment, our economy, and for
the thousands of New Yorkers who can
now enjoy lower electric bills,” said Gov-
ernor Kathy Hochul.
The relatively small Elmbrook Com-
munity Solar Farm is an example of how
a solar installation can do far more than
provide PV power. The 5 MW plant came
online in 2023, and boasts a pollinator gar-
den, a 9 MWh battery energy storage sys-
tem, and a solar energy array that provides
enough electricity to power an estimated
1,566 homes, reducing carbon emissions
by more than 7.7 tons per year.
Federal support
The National Community Solar Part-
nership has proposed expanding com-
munity solar to 20 GW by 2025, which
is enough to power the equivalent of 5
million households. With just over 6 GW
of community solar installed across the
United States at the end of 2023, accord-
ing to the Solar Energy Industries
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applications & installations
Association, the country has a long way
to go to achieve that target. Help is on
the way from the US Environmental Pro-
tection Agency’s (EPA) $7 billion Solar
for All program, aiming to award up to
60 grants to states, territories, tribal gov-
ernments, municipalities, and nonprof-
its to expand residential solar access for
low-income households and disadvan-
taged communities.
$7bn
The EPA has a
Solar for All program
“These projections don’t factor in new
states passing community solar laws and
the billions of dollars of federal grants
that we expect will go to states to expand
access to community solar,” said Matt
Hargarten, the vice president of cam-
paigns at the CCSA. “Needless to say, we’re
just scratching the surface on how many
people in America can get the benefits of
community solar access by the end of the
decade if regulators and legislators keep
their foot on the gas.” Anne Fischer
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industry & suppliers
Can French PV
pull ahead?
Two industrial projects in France
plan to be producing 20 million
modules a year between them
by 2027, despite existential
fears among current French PV
manufacturers, who want policy
support to reduce competition from
Asian imports.
Photo: Carbon
Carbon plans to build a €1.5 billion, 5 GW ingot, cell and module fab in Fos-sur-Mer, France.
62
T wo planned gigafactories could add
10 GW of solar module production
capacity in France by 2027, in a market
where incumbent manufacturers Voltec
Solar, Photowatt and Systovi together have
around 500 MW of production capacity.
HoloSolis intends to build an €800 mil-
lion ($871 million), 5 GW solar cell and
module plant in Moselle, eastern France,
financed by European shareholders such
as EIT InnoEnergy, Groupe IDEC, TSE,
Heraeus, and Armor Group. Further fund-
raising is planned in 2024. Fellow manu-
facturer Carbon’s €1.5 billion, 5 GW ingot,
wafer, cell and module fab, in Fos-sur-Mer,
southern France, will be financed with
equity, public support, and bank loans.
HoloSolis, Carbon, and Voltec are
banking on the latest n-type technology,
amid hope that tunnel oxide passivated
contact (TOPCon) equipment will bene-
fit from market momentum, low cost, and
technological maturity.
“While it is important to support
French factories in the implementation of
mainstream technologies, it’s also vital to
prepare for what comes after, to continue
ensuring their competitiveness over the
next five or 10 years,” said François Legal-
land, director of energy research institute
CEA-Liten. He cited new thin-film mate-
rials and four-terminal tandem cells as
particular areas of interest.
Future-proofing
“Fortunately, French innovation doesn’t
start from a blank page,” Legalland added.
“We have never ceased our research,
in partnership with industry. We have
always maintained links with equipment
manufacturers, which today enables us to
master the state of the art around silicon
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com

technologies, and incremental evolution
towards perovskites.”
Carbon is working with partners, par-
ticularly CEA, on silicon-perovskite tan-
dem technology, with the aim of reaching
30%-plus efficiency.
Inspired by the Chinese approach of
embedding research laboratories in pro-
duction plants, HoloSolis will host a tan-
dem cell lab run by teams from the Institut
Photovoltaïque d’Île-de-France (IPVF).
“This proximity means we can work
directly on industrial-scale cells and de-risk
technologies,” said HoloSolis Chief Exec-
utive Officer Jan-Jacob Boom-Wichers.
“We’re going to build a scalable, extendable
factory, capable of adapting very quickly to
changes in the market.”
The consortium is working with Germa-
ny’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy
Systems to design manufacturing tools.
Boom-Wichers said HoloSolis’ sharehold-
ers include France’s Armor, a thin-film spe-
cialist with essential perovskite know-how,
and German silver paste specialist Heraeus.
Voltec Solar produces p-type passiv-
ated emitter rear contact (PERC) mod-
ules and n-type TOPCon and heterojunc-
tion devices at Dinsheim-sur-Bruche, in
Alsace. A tandem demonstrator project is
planned for 2025, rising to 5 GW of annual
production capacity by 2030, in collabora-
tion with the IPVF.
Domestic assistance
French modules are currently caught
between low-price Chinese imports and
the prospect of subsidy-driven products
from the United States. Chinese panels are
now sold for less than $0.10/W – around
one-third of the price of French rivals.
“Even in China, and even in the case of
a hyper-automated factory supported by
provincial governments, production costs
don’t fall below $0.16/W,” said Gaëtan
Masson, managing director of the Bec-
querel Institute and co-chairman of PV
manufacturing association the European
Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC).
“This means that Chinese manufacturers
are also below the break-even point.”
Masson said he believes the market may
have to reach “a certain degree of matu-
rity to accept the purchase of modules at
$0.25, rather than $0.10. We all need to
think about this.”
On March 14, Systovi said it had started
seeking a buyer to support it at arm’s
length until European backing begins
to be felt. Systovi, which has an 80 MW
www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024
industry & suppliers
Photo: Carbon
module assembly line in Carquefou, near
Nantes, said sales dropped sharply from
the €21.5 million achieved in 2023 due
to “the sudden acceleration of Chinese
dumping, a consequence of the increase
in [production] capacity and the closure
of the US market, linked to protectionist
measures to reduce inflation.”
“The regulations are slow in coming,”
Systovi Managing Director Paul Toulouse
said, in reference to the European Union’s
draft Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA).
“The current discussions will not have
any effect within a timeframe compatible
with Systovi’s challenges.”
The NZIA would mandate the inclusion
of EU-made components, or “resilience”
criteria, in at least 30% of public tenders.
“This is a step in the right direction, but
the NZIA has not yet been published and
when it is, it will not be applicable for
another 18 months, at best,” said Toulouse.
Local support
Marina Mesure, a French member of the
European Parliament, is among those call-
ing for customs duties and anti-dumping
“ Even in China,
and even in the case
measures on panels from outside Europe.
Industry body SolarPower Europe does
not want protectionist trade measures. In
of a hyper-automated
a declaration signed in November 2023
by 433 organizations from 26 European factory supported
Union member states – including 18
manufacturers and 28 associations and
research institutes – SolarPower Europe
by provincial
said that “the initiation of anti-dumping
and/or anti-subsidy investigations and the
governments,
imposition of duties on imports of solar
photovoltaic products would be detri- production costs
mental to the entire European solar value
chain.” It pointed out that Europe imposed
duties on modules made in China, Tai-
don’t fall below
wan, and Malaysia from 2013 to 2018,
with few positive effects for European
manufacturers.
Some predict that barrier measures
$0.16/W
”
Gaëtan Masson
could be put in place in the coming
months. “We’re going to have to strike a
balance between closing borders to pro-
tect European production and letting low-
cost products in to continue deployment
of solar power on a European and French
scale,” said Jules Nyssen, president of Syn-
dicat des énergies renouvelables (SER), a
French clean energy association.
France was a pioneer in the strategy
of including emissions criteria for PV
modules in energy auctions, but that no
longer seems sufficient to protect French
solar manufacturing.
63
industry & suppliers
French manufacturers have called for any potential support scheme to include factory operations, along the lines of the Inflation Reduction Act in the
United States.
“Chinese manufacturers have since
developed products with very low CO2
content which are certified on the French
market,” said Élise Bruhat, director of
industrial strategy at Holosolis. “Directly
mentioning local content as a resilience
measure would be more effective.”
Resilience bonus
Germany has proposed a resilience bonus
and Italy wants to offer tax breaks to PV
projects using solar modules manufac-
tured in the European Union. Xavier
433
Daval, chairman of solar analyst Kilo-
WattSol and a member of the SER’s Solar
Commission, said he believes that the
European market “must assume a form
of protectionism, in the name of indus-
signatories have stated trial sovereignty.” He suggested that this
opposition to EU trade could involve parallel markets: one subsi-
measures dized to support European industry and
the other more liberalized for decarbon-
ization purposes.
“We can’t say one day that we need pub-
lic support and the next that we don’t sup-
port reindustrialization,” he said. “We’ll be
all the more legitimate in calling on the
state if we’re backed by a local industry
that creates jobs.”
64
Photo: Meyer Burger
Jobs are under threat at Systovi, with 87
positions potentially at risk. Systovi and
Voltec are calling on the French govern-
ment to provide more support through
a difficult period. They are particu-
larly focusing on the C3IV tax credit for
investment in green industry, which aims
to support business investment in ener-
gy-transition sectors.
“Unfortunately, only cell and module
manufacturers are eligible for the scheme,”
said Systovi’s Toulouse. “This automati-
cally excludes us as producers who only
assemble modules.”
French manufacturers are also calling
for any scheme to be supplemented by
continuing support with operating fac-
tories, along the lines of what is already
being done under the US Inflation Reduc-
tion Act. Some are also keen for demand-
side support, which could take the form
of a self-consumption bonus for individu-
als, paid only to those who have purchased
“Made in France” products, or an obliga-
tion for authorities to equip themselves
with locally produced panels. As this arti-
cle goes to press, the government has yet
to respond to the proposals.
Marie Beyer and Gwénaëlle Deboutte
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com
industry & suppliers

Solar through
the looking glass
The “Silicon to Solar” (S2S) report, partly funded by the Australian capacity and last year invested more than
Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), outlines ways to restore solar $130 billion in the sector, according to
manufacturing to the nation with a little help from the country’s major analyst Wood Mackenzie. Its solar panels
trading partner – China. cost around $0.15/W, compared to nearest
competitor India, at $0.22/W.
When Australian Minister for Cli-

A ustralian universities and research

institutes have been a major influ-
ence on China’s PV boom, educating
numerous Chinese solar engineers and
senior executives.
China hosts 80% of global solar silicon,
wafer, cell, and module manufacturing
mate Change and Energy Chris Bowen
announced ARENA’s AUD 541,000
($357,000) contribution to the AUD 1.12
million S2S report in July 2023, he noted
that “over 80% of today’s global solar PV
manufacturing uses technology devel-
oped in Australian laboratories.” He

Photo: ARENA
Funding for the “Silicon to Solar” report was announced at Australian module manufacturer 5B’s facility in Sydney.

66 04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com

added that Australia relies “too heavily
on overseas supply for our solar panels,
which poses major risks due to produc-
tion concentration and vulnerabilities in
the supply chain.”
The Australian Photovoltaic Institute
(APVI), the initiator of the S2S report
– along with with the Australian Cen-
tre for Advanced Photovoltaics, manage-
ment consultancy Bright Dimension, ITP
Renewables, and Deloitte – analyzed the
potential for Australian PV manufactur-
ing and the policy settings needed.
The main finding was that an industry
producing 10 GW per year of polysilicon
and 5 GW of ingots, wafers, cells, and PV
modules would be “credible and feasible,
under provision of the right government
policy support.”
Quartz and all
S2S estimated every step of the solar sup-
ply chain that comes before module pro-
duction would be double the cost of pro-
duction in China, to start with. However,
Australian module production costs
would add up to $0.11/W compared with
China’s $0.08/W, because heavy compo-
nents, including aluminum and glass,
could be made in Australia.
The minimum viable plant size for refin-
ing Australia’s abundant quartz reserves
into solar-grade polysilicon is around
25,0000 tons, or 10 GW per annum. Just
one facility would exceed Australia’s
requirement and constitute an export-fo-
cused industry.
“This presents an opportunity to com-
plement the IRA [the United States’
renewables-focused Inflation Reduction
Act], which is currently anticipated not to
stimulate sufficient poly-Si capacity in the
US,” said S2S.
Ingots and wafers
Ingot and wafer manufacturing is “highly
specialized,” stated the report, and the lat-
est intellectual property (IP) is owned by
a handful of big Chinese companies. “If
set up in Australia, an ingot/wafer facil-
ity would likely require a partnership with
an international technology provider and
could be scaled up by one, or a few, com-
panies to service both a domestic and
export market over time,” it said.
Government backing would be crucial,
with the S2S report estimating AUD 7.8
billion for production credits to fill that
module cost gap, plus concessional infra-
structure finance.
www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024
industry & suppliers
The hard cell
Photo: University of New South Wales
Cell manufacturing would be the tough-
est nut to crack, the S2S authors found.
Cell production requires high-grade
chemicals and overseas, IP-protected sil-
ver-paste technology. Despite healthy
long-term prospects based on Australia’s
track record in cell efficiency and manu-
facturing process improvements, S2S said
that “large production capacity in China,
the US, the EU, and India present a chal-
lenge to setting up a viable cell production
domestically.”
Brett Hallam is an associate professor
and Scientia Fellow at the University of
New South Wales’ School of Photovoltaic
“
and Renewable Energy Engineering and
a senior consultant with ITP Renewables. Twenty years ago,
The S2S co-author told pv magazine there
is an opportunity to close the loop.
“Twenty years ago, China drew on the
China drew on the
expertise of Australia to establish manu-
facturing for PV,” he said. “Now we’ve got
expertise
the opportunity to learn from the best in
the world about mass manufacturing of of Australia
the lowest cost and best solar panels on
the market.”
S2S doesn’t shy away from challenges
to establish
– including enlisting international tech-
nology partners, mitigating cell produc-
manufacturing
”
tion chemical waste, and a lack of module
certification capability to support rapid for PV
product development. Rather, says S2S
co-author and ITP Renewables Princi- Brett Hallam
pal Consultant Muriel Watt, “we wanted
to do the detail and really spell it out so
that people aren’t overwhelmed. We now
know exactly the issues in each sector that
we need to address. We have some idea of
what kinds of policy are relevant for each
sector and what are the most useful things
we could do to push that along.”
High stakes
Australia expects to rely on solar for 70%
of its future low-carbon energy. Rather
than hydro or offshore wind, solar is where
Australia shines – but not without panels.
Supply chain disruptions such as those
during the pandemic, as well as ongoing
conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East,
have highlighted Australia’s vulnerability.
One ARENA objective is to develop
ultra-low-cost solar to power Australian
green hydrogen and boost the manufac-
turing of green steel, aluminum, and other
value-added industries.
“If you’re banking on your economic suc-
cess over coming decades to be powered by
solar technology, you need to think about
67
industry & suppliers
Photo: Tindo Solar
Adelaide-based module manufacturer Tindo Solar’s products are manufactured largely from vetted
overseas components.
how comfortable you are that the supply
chains are so concentrated,” said ARENA
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Darren
Miller. “And that’s where the manufactur-
ing opportunity starts – around security
and reliability of supply.”
Short-term returns
S2S calculates that the AUD 7.8 billion
needed for a 10-year package of govern-
“
One ARENA
objective is to
ment support for solar manufacturing
could attract upfront investment of AUD
2.9 billion into cutting-edge manufactur-
ing facilities, and could stimulate ongo-
ing operational expenditure. That level
develop ultra-low- of policy support should create 4,000
skilled jobs, stimulate growth in adjacent
cost solar to power industries such as module recycling, and
help retain Australian IP and solar talent,
Australian green according to the report.
Long-term rewards
hydrogen and boost An Australian solar industry, contends
S2S, would become the springboard for a
the manufacturing of manufacturing ecosystem to enable inno-
vative Australian technology to scale up.
green steel, aluminum That would unlock skills and knowledge
spillover into other industries, with the
nation making better use of its educated
and other value- workforce.
The S2S report noted that Australia’s
added industries
” ranking on the international, 133-nation
Economic Complexity Index (ECI) has
fallen from 55th, when Harvard Univer-
sity launched the index, to 93rd in 2023.
Australia’s high standard of living is pre-
dominantly supported by selling raw
68
materials such as iron ore and fossil fuels
coal and gas.
“If we’re going to turn around our econ-
omy in Australia before 2030, the sooner
we start, the better,” said ITP’s Watt. “And
solar makes absolute sense as a starting
point because it’s the cornerstone of all
the other discussions about green steel,
green hydrogen, and becoming a renew-
able energy superpower – none of that
happens without solar.”
Story to date
Australia is not starting from scratch.
Adelaide-based module manufacturer
Tindo Solar has carved out a market for
high-quality modules with its impres-
sive environmental, social, and corporate
governance (ESG) credentials. Its prod-
ucts are largely manufactured from vetted
overseas components and boast a 25-year
Australian warranty.
At the turn of the 21st century, BP Solar
was the southern hemisphere’s biggest solar
panel manufacturer. Competition from
cheap imports reduced its viability, and
Silex Systems – which bought BP’s plant
– tried to restructure the business before
closing for good in 2012. It cited the impos-
sibility of competing with China, a lack of
government support, and a strong Austra-
lian dollar. The cost of labor would also
become a reason for the country shedding
other manufacturing industries, such as
auto production. The slippery slope toward
economic simplicity continued.
“Back in 2010, our founders were
watching what had happened with Chi-
na’s ramping up of PV production,” said
Tindo Solar CEO Richard Petterson. “A lot
of what was coming into the country was
probably less than good and not designed
for Australian conditions.”
The company saw an opportunity to
produce panels that were high quality and
suitable for Australia’s climate.
Today, said Petterson, Tindo Solar’s
main customers are householders who
want to buy high-performing panels and
bask in the renewable energy bounty for at
least a couple of decades. It is also pursu-
ing a growing market among commercial
and industrial (C&I) customers looking
for long-term reliability and low mainte-
nance paired with environmental, social,
and corporate governance credentials that
further boost their own ESG ratings.
“Our product uses about 125 kg of CO2
for every megawatt made, compared to
more than 550 kg/MW in China,” said
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com
industry & suppliers

pv magazine test Our measurements are inevitably

impacted by multiple factors, especially
differences among inverters and meters.
February 2024 results After performing a special study, we esti-
mate a total 1.5% relative uncertainty in
the measurement system. To reduce the
George Touloupas, senior director of technology and quality for Clean impact of this in ranking products’ perfor-
Energy Associates (CEA), analyzes the February 2024 energy-yield results mance, we introduced a ranking method,
from the outdoor testing field in Xi’an, China. where products in each category that per-
form with a deviation smaller than 1.5%
are grouped in the same rank, and each

R estructuring of our installation has

been completed, and the system was
reconnected on Feb. 3, 2024. The LR5-72-
special frame design to reduce dust accu-
mulation and its performance will be com-
pared against the LR5-72-HTH 585 prod-
product category will have no more than
four ranks (see table to the right). The
average bifacial boost is 10.35% for Feb.
HTHF-585 product from Longi uses a uct, to assess its efficiency in self-cleaning. 2024. Bifacial boost is defined as the rel-
ative advantage of the average specific
energy yield of all bifacial products com-
Bifacial boost pared to the average specific energy yield
All in Wh/Wp Total Total Total Total
October 2023 Nov.2023 January 2024 February 2024 of all monofacial PERC products.
Average monthly yield 102.68 40.36 41.62 67.98
Average monthly bifacial yield 105.91 42.08 42.37 71.17 Monthly highlight
Average monthly monofacial PERC yield 100.37 40.20 40.67 64.50 Low temperatures and snow in Xi’an
Operation days 28 14 15 27 significantly impacted module perfor-
Average daily yield 3.67 2.88 2.77 2.52 mance. Snow on different modules melted
Average daily bifacial yield 3.78 3.01 2.82 2.64 at different speeds, resulting in different
Average daily monofacial PERC yield 3.58 2.87 2.71 2.39 inverter start-up times. Snow on bifacial
Bifacial TOPCon boost 5.74% 5.22% 4.51% 9.20% modules melted faster than on monofacial
Bifacial HJT boost / / 3.66% 12.09% modules, and snow on the Recom prod-
Bifacial PERC boost 5.32% 4.23% 3.88% 11.02% uct melted faster than any other monofa-
All technologies: Bifacial boost 5.52% 4.69% 4.17% 10.35% cial products. George Touloupas

Specific energy yield ranking of n-type bifacial TOPCon and HJT modules
# Installation Month Product Type Sample selection method Total February 2024 Wh/Wp February 2024 Rank
51 2023/10/31 Risen RSM132-8-700BHDG n-HJT 3 72.29
1
45 2023/8/15 Trina TSM-NEG9RC.27 n-TOPCon 3 71.39
27 2019/12/31 Jolywood JW-D72N-400 n-TOPCon 3 70.96
2
53 2023/11/15 SEG SEG-575-BTA-BG n-TOPCon 3 70.39
50 2023/9/1 Astronergy CHSM72N(DG)/F-BH-580 n-TOPCon 3 69.84
3
42 2023/6/5 DAS DH144NA-570M n-TOPCon 3 69.58

Specific energy yield ranking of bifacial PERC modules

# Installation Month Product Type Sample selection method Total February 2024 Wh/Wp February 2024 Rank
37 2021/5/1 LONGi LR4-72HBD-445M PERC 3 74.06
1
41 2022/12/18 Tongwei TH550PMB6-58SDC PERC 1 73.76
38 2021/10/18 LONGi LR5-72HBD-535M PERC 3 71.49 2
32 2021/7/1 Risen RSM150-8-500BMDG PERC 1 70.36
28 2020/4/15 Risen RSM144-6-405BMDG PERC 3 70.03 3
34 2021/7/1 JA JAM72D20-445MB PERC 2 69.93

Specific energy yield ranking of monofacial modules

# Installation Month Product Type Sample selection method Total February 2024 Wh/Wp February 2024 Rank
10 2018/5/24 Recom RCM-275-6MB-4-BB21 Mono 1 68.90 1
52 2023/11/7 Longi LR5-72-HTHF-585 p-type Back Contact 1 67.36 2
48 2023/9/26 Longi LR5-72-HTH 585 p-type Back Contact 1 66.22 3
35 2021/7/1 JA JAM72S20-445MR Monofacial PERC 2 65.09
31 2020/10/1 JA JAM60S10-345/MR Monofacial PERC 2 65.03
30 2020/7/7 GCL GCL-M3/72H380 Cast PERC 1 64.86
29 2020/7/7 CSI CS3U-390MS Monofacial PERC 2 64.36
4
44 2023/9/1 AIKO A600-MAF72Mw n-type Back Contact 3 63.91
20 2018/11/21 Phono PS380MH-24/TH Monofacial PERC 1 63.63
36 2021/7/1 JA JAM72S30-540MR Monofacial PERC 2 62.17
22 2019/5/4 Znshine ZXP6-60-275/P Multi 1 57.72
Explanation of sample selection method categorization: 1. Sample randomly selected by CEA from a large production lot; 2. Sample purchased from the market by CEA; 3. Sample provided by supplier, without random selection

70 04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com
 financial & legal
Bringing the sun home
Solar leasing enables the assembly
of portfolios comprising thousands
of assets, but developers need
capital to invest in these systems.
That requires minimal risk
exposure, achieved by a specialist
who evaluates and mitigates risk
and ensures installations meet
quality criteria. Everoze Partner
Julia García outlines what advisors
should assess to future-proof home
solar portfolios.
Photo: SMA
There are financing options available for rooftop solar, but banks need to gain an understanding of
how arrays will perform throughout the loan period.
72
F ollowing the ground-mounted renew-
able energy trend across Europe, the
residential rooftop solar market has expe-
rienced a silent revolution in recent years.
How are all those installations deployed at
scale? One formula that is showing great
success consists of homeowners leasing
solar systems on their own roofs. This
means that they do not have to absorb the
initial investment, as the array is owned
by the installer company, but they benefit
from the solar energy generated by reduc-
ing their consumption from the grid and
by being remunerated for surplus energy
fed into the grid.
Reliability and quality
In the same way as for the financing of
any ground-mounted PV plant, through-
out the loan period banks need to gain an
understanding of how components are
going to perform, how likely it is that the
manufacturer will remain in business, and
how they will respond if a fault is detected.
In the case of portfolios of residential roof-
top installations, additional specific risks
must be assessed. This includes a possible
serial-defect event, which can carry severe
economic consequences due to the spa-
tial spread of assets, increasing the costs
of any repair services.
A low-quality installation process can
also result in frequent repair work and low
customer satisfaction. To avoid this, qual-
ity needs to be maintained across entire
portfolios, which entails a challenge as
the operational asset volumes increase
and the costs per installation decrease.
Quality standards are ensured by a tech-
nical adviser who has two main tasks. The
first, completed before financing, consists
of identifying potential risks in a devel-
oper’s processes and providing mitigation
measures. The second job is done subse-
quently, during the drawdown of funds,
by analyzing installation processes and
the end results, which need to be properly
documented by the developer beforehand.
In this way, it can be confirmed that each
one of a developer’s installations meets the
bankability requirements to make them
safe, long-lasting, and of high quality.
Client satisfaction
On top of using reliable components,
accruing enough capital for maintenance
is key for successful financing. The tech-
nical adviser has to make assumptions
regarding the frequency, price, and tim-
ing of replacement components and to
consider the economic impact of energy
yield and capital and operating expendi-
ture, when determining a lease price.
From the homeowner’s perspective, the
electricity generated and the additional
benefits of the installation should cover
the cost of the lease payments. If a sys-
tem fails to meet that expectation, there
is a risk customers will stop paying a
lease, causing an increase in default rates.
Additionally, the assessment of health and
safety aspects is of the utmost importance
to protect homeowners from any electri-
cal hazards.
Sustainability goals
In a world moving toward decarboniza-
tion via a “just” energy transition, sus-
tainability and environmental, social,
and corporate governance criteria are
now playing an important role in serious
portfolio assessments. Investors and lend-
ers understand now that it is not enough
to just guarantee the economic reliability
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com
 financial & legal

and profitability of a project, as there are
other factors to value, such as climate risk,
biodiversity loss, the use of ethical sup-
ply chains, the avoidance of modern slav-
ery, corporate transparency, and circular-
gram, the solar sector is once again mostly
based on roof-mounted PV systems.
All in all, the rooftop solar market is
booming. Several challenges need to be Spain added
considered, however, such as the per-

ity, among others. For now, those factors
have important economic and technical
repercussions, but with increasing pres-
sure to report transparently, companies
should remain mindful of any potential
impact on their reputation.
Self-consumption
According to the latest edition of trade
body SolarPower Europe’s “Global Market
Outlook,” in 2022, 49.5% of the 239 GW
of new solar capacity in the world was PV
rooftop installations. In China, the roof-
top PV segment had a 54% market share,
in the United States, it grew 25% to reach
8.1 GW and, in Spain, a whopping 3 GW
of new rooftop capacity was achieved.
Germany is a good example of a nation
where the leasing model has proven to
be a success. After pioneering PV instal-
lations in Europe by promoting deploy-
ment on rooftops in the early 1990s, via
the “1000-Dächer” – 1,000 roofs – pro-
3GW
mitting process, fluctuation of electric-
ity prices and interest rates, and a lack of
qualified professionals, among others.
With a good understanding of the tech-
nology, more complex and attractive sys-
tems are enabled that include battery of rooftop solar in 2022
systems to store energy surpluses, elec-
tric vehicle charging stations, and heat
pumps. In addition, a comprehensive
understanding of the market helps nav-
igate crucial challenges that could hin-
der rapid deployment and affect even the
healthiest of players. Future trends need
to be accounted for too, namely the antic-
ipated next step of the sector expanding
towards commercial and industrial roof-
tops, meaning systems which are less stan-
dardizable and, therefore, more complex.
About the author
To follow this trend and fully deploy Julia García began her career in
renewables in 2019. After holding
this market while considering all its par-
positions related to renewable energy
ticularities, a specialized technical adviser and electricity market regulation, she joined
holds the key to success in the financing Everoze as a partner and project consultant for
process. Julia Garcia large-scale and residential PV.

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In partnership with VDE Americas
We assess the risk of hail and gain an understanding of the insurance market for utility-scale solar assets.

Many more exciting All pv magazine

pv magazine Webinars to come Webinars, our up-to-
date program, and our
In the coming weeks, we will continuously add
more webinars with innovative partners and the past webinar library
latest topics. We will welcome CEA, Kaco, Nevados, can be found at
Sigenergy, Soltec, and more.

www.pv-magazine.com | 04 / 2024 75
details

Don’t miss out on the

pv magazine
Awards 2024 –
entries now open!
The pv magazine Awards celebrate outstanding We are accepting applications across the following
achievements across the solar and storage supply categories:
chain. We’re thrilled to have already received a great
selection of submissions since the first entry window Modules
of 2024 opened and we look forward to receiving even Projects
more. The current entry window is open until April Inverters
26, 2024, providing the perfect opportunity to shine a Manufacturing
spotlight on the achievements of your business. Sustainability
Battery energy storage systems (BESS)
Excellence and innovation deserve to be celebrated. Balance-of-system (BOS) components
Submit your entry today.

Further details on category criteria and how to enter are available at pv-magazine.com.

76 04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com
 RENEWING
WHAT’S
POSSIBLE
SEPTEMBER 9-12, 2024 | ANAHEIM, CA

RE+ 24 brings the modern energy industry together to foster a cleaner future
and marks its 20th year as the largest and most comprehensive event in
North America for the clean energy industry. Get ready to explore solutions,
exchange ideas, and discover new technologies!

SAVE THE DATE | RE-PLUS.EVENTS

details

Where we’ve been: Smart Energy 2024, Sydney, Australia

The atmosphere at this year’s Smart Energy Expo in Sydney’s

Photo: pv magazine/Bella Peacock

Darling Harbour was notably subdued. Strangely, it seems that
while most levels of Australian government are now prioritizing
energy and climate policy, the wind in industry sails has dropped.
The two-day conference on March 6 and 7 drew fewer attend-
ees than in previous years, with blockbuster product launches
similarly thin on the ground. Rather, most exhibitors showcased
upgrades and improved integrations. This drew the ire of some
conference speakers, who voiced frustration about continuing
debates Down Under on the merits of new nuclear power and
long overdue fuel efficiency standards.

Where we’re going: World Future Energy Summit,

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
After the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai (COP28) in

Photo: RX Global
December 2023, the World Future Energy Summit from April
16 to 18 in Abu Dhabi will be the next major energy event in the
United Arab Emirates. About 30,000 participants are expected
at the National Exhibition Center over the three days. Along-
side solar, core topics will be green hydrogen production and
energy storage. pv magazine will also have the opportunity to
visit what is probably the largest solar plant in the world, the 2
GW Al Dhafra project. We are excited to again see how a coun-
try with an economy that is highly dependent on fossil fuels can
adopt renewables without slowing its development.

Meet the pv magazine team at these events in April 2024

Event Location Dates
PV Kongress Vienna, Austria April 4
Cumbre de Autoconsumo Madrid, Spain April 4
SolarEX Istanbul, Türkiye April 4-6
Intersolar Brasil Nordeste Fortaleza, Brazil April 10-11
Solar & Storage Live Philadelphia, United States April 10-11
Batterietagung/V2G Conference Münster, Germany April 11
SiliconPV Chambéry, France April 15-19
Intersolar Middle East Dubai, United Arab Emirates April 16-18
World Future Energy Summit Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates April 16-18
Solar Solutions Bremen Bremen, Germany April 17-18
Pulse Rated Power Madrid, Spain April 17-19
Solar + Storage Mexico Guanajuato, Mexico April 17-19
TÜV Rheinland Conference Cologne, Germany April 24-25
International Green Energy Expo Daegu, South Korea April 24-26
RenewX Hyderabad, India April 26-27
Solar & Storage Live London London, United Kingdom April 29-30

78 04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com
details
Cleantech investing has matured
Felix Krause – Managing Partner, Vireo Ventures
I n 2024, the cleantech or deeptech inves-
tor community is composed of a range
of different investors: private equity inves-
tors, institutional investors, and us as
venture capital investors – investing in
unproven, early-stage business models.
We like to syndicate with other venture
capital (VC) firms to bring some variety to
the table, so that together we have better
knowledge and insights. For example, one
investor could be an expert in energy mar-
kets, like Vireo, while another might have
expertise in scaling B2B business mod-
els. Startups should always try to compose
their syndicate in a way that they can best
address the various challenges the business
will need to overcome.
Startups should try to find the right
composition of syndicate, starting with
venture capital and then mixing pure VC
players with corporate VC funds – or cor-
porates themselves, if they have a strong
strategic interest. In my opinion, startups
should avoid working with just one stra-
tegic investor. Instead, they should com-
bine investors as a syndicate, while at the
Preview of issue 05/2024
Photo: Borosil Renewables
Global glass
Regions trying to establish domestic PV
supply chains will need plenty of glass.
Solar upstarts and established glassmak-
ers are all eyeing up new demand.
80
same time avoiding any special corporate
Photo: pv magazine/Jonathan Gifford
terms. That way, each investor is playing
with the same set of rules.
Today’s cleantech startups are much
more professional than in the early days.
Cleantech founders are building great
companies with teams that previously
would have built fintech or big market-
place companies. The whole segment is
attracting top-tier talent.
Most of the newly launched funds
that are successfully raising capital are
cleantech. There is a lot of money going
into the sector.
The whole investment community in
the segment is getting a lot more pro-
fessional, too. In the “zero wave,” peo-
ple invested in cleantech because it was
cool. Some things worked, a lot of them
didn’t. Now people are really using those
early lessons and asking, “what is the ulti-
mate aim and what are you striving for?”
Everyone wants to know what the busi-
ness model is and what the company can
do, rather than just having a cool new
technology.
Photo: JinkoSolar
Photo: Fraunhofer CSP
Breaking point Measuring perovskites
Rapidly falling prices for PV modules in New techniques address many challenges
2023 continue to have implications, all the in the measurement of perovskite PV
way down the supply chain. But what does devices, including the complexities posed
it mean for China’s manufacturing giants? by tandem applications.
04 / 2024 | www.pv-magazine.com
The Verila/Bulgaria project, built on hilly terrain south of Sofia, is one of more than 500 ground-mounted projects.

COMMITTED TO BEING YOUR

TURNKEY SERVICE PROVIDER
As an internationally operating company, SUNOTEC is committed
to being your turnkey service provider of PV solar plants.
From engineering, geology, procurement, PV-mounting systems, civil works,
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