NEW YORK, USA: Reportlinker.com announced that a new market research report is available in its catalog -- the Worldwide Photovoltaic Market - 2013.
In 2008, the global PV market reached 5.6GW and the cumulative PV power installed totaled almost 15GW compared to 9GW in 2007.
Spain represented almost half of the new installations in 2008 with about 2.5GW of new capacities, followed by Germany with 1.5GW of additional connected.
The US confirmed its trend with 342MW of newly-installed PV systems, followed by South Korea, which registered 274MW of PV installations over the year. Italy connected almost 260MW, while France, Portugal, Belgium and the Czech Republic made good scores confirming Europe’s worldwide leadership in the deployment of solar PV energy.
A diversification of the market is taking place with countries adopting appropriate support policies, this is very good news for the PV industry and the environment. Given the current crisis context, high uncertainties over the 2009 market exist.
Experts believe the market could reach up to 7GW in 2009, each individual country’s development influencing the final figure. The PV sector is hoping markets such as the US, Germany, France and Italy will pull the demand. Favourable policy frameworks are expected to further accelerate PV deployment in these countries.
In 2013, the worldwide PV market could reach 22GW if appropriate policies, such as feed-in tariffs (FiT), are in place.
Showing posts with label Spain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spain. Show all posts
Monday, August 10, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
SOLON SE concludes framework agreement with Statkraft for 40 MWp PV plant
BERLIN, GERMANY: SOLON SE recently concluded a framework agreement on the construction of photovoltaic power plants with Statkraft AS, Norway's biggest energy generator, for a total output of 40 MWp.
The agreement signals the acquisition of a key strategic customer for SOLON. The solar power plants will be constructed in Spain. The agreement also gives SOLON exclusive rights to Statkraft's photovoltaic power plant activities in Spain. Statkraft is Europe's largest generator of renewable energy.
The framework agreement runs from 2009 until the end of the project in 2011. Statkraft will assume responsibility for on-site project development, with SOLON handling engineering and the construction and maintenance of turnkey power plants.
Spain is a target area for solar power within Statkraft, which focuses on developing its own projects as well as acquiring licensed projects and operational solar parks.
"Supporting Statkraft in its comprehensive renewable energy operations and helping to develop the photovoltaic segment in the Statkraft portfolio will be an exciting project for us," says Thomas Krupke.
Olav Hetland, Statkraft's Senior Vice President of Solar Energy adds: "We are looking forward to cooperating with Solon on solar parks in Spain. With this framework agreement in place, we will be able to act quickly when projects are ready for construction."
Statkraft is Europe's largest renewable energy company. The Group develops and generates hydropower, wind power, gas power and district heating, and is a major player on the European power exchanges. Statkraft also develops marine energy, osmotic power, solar power, and other innovative energy solutions.
In 2008 Statkraft posted gross operating revenues of EUR 3.1 billion. The group employs 3,000 staff in more than 20 countries.
The agreement signals the acquisition of a key strategic customer for SOLON. The solar power plants will be constructed in Spain. The agreement also gives SOLON exclusive rights to Statkraft's photovoltaic power plant activities in Spain. Statkraft is Europe's largest generator of renewable energy.
The framework agreement runs from 2009 until the end of the project in 2011. Statkraft will assume responsibility for on-site project development, with SOLON handling engineering and the construction and maintenance of turnkey power plants.
Spain is a target area for solar power within Statkraft, which focuses on developing its own projects as well as acquiring licensed projects and operational solar parks.
"Supporting Statkraft in its comprehensive renewable energy operations and helping to develop the photovoltaic segment in the Statkraft portfolio will be an exciting project for us," says Thomas Krupke.
Olav Hetland, Statkraft's Senior Vice President of Solar Energy adds: "We are looking forward to cooperating with Solon on solar parks in Spain. With this framework agreement in place, we will be able to act quickly when projects are ready for construction."
Statkraft is Europe's largest renewable energy company. The Group develops and generates hydropower, wind power, gas power and district heating, and is a major player on the European power exchanges. Statkraft also develops marine energy, osmotic power, solar power, and other innovative energy solutions.
In 2008 Statkraft posted gross operating revenues of EUR 3.1 billion. The group employs 3,000 staff in more than 20 countries.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Are clouds dissipating on solar energy industry?
NEW TRIPOLI, USA: Have economic conditions improved for solar cell manufacturers or just changed in the past six months are questions detailed a the report: Opportunities in The Solar Market For Crystalline and Thin Film Solar Cells, published by The Information Network.
On November 18, 2008, we issued a press release entitled “Six Reasons for Cloudy Skies on the Solar Energy Industry”. All six issues presented cast a partial eclipse of the solar market.
Subsequently, a week later we forecast that the solar market would drop from 40 percent growth to 25 percent growth in 2009. At that time, thoughts of a downturn in the luminous market were considered a heresy and comments to the article reflected the attitude of the time -– up, up, up!
Six months have gone by and its time to revisit these issues to see if anything has changed from a fundamental standpoint. The original issues presented are repeated, along with an update on the current environment:
1. With oil at $60 a barrel, who cares about alternative energy? It's a short sighted view, but with the credit market crunch, who can get a loan to build solar plants anyway?
Oil is now $70 a barrel and rising, which to us suggests that people will start rethinking alternative energy. But the second point about the credit market crunch remains. Who can get a loan to build a solar plant anyway?
2. The high price of oil in the past year was a catalyst for development in other alternative energy sources, not just solar. Advances in wind, geothermal, and hydropower energy are reducing the cost of wind power to a point at which it is becoming competitive with traditional energy sources.
Nuclear power plants smaller than a garden shed and able to power 20,000 homes will be on sale within five years, say scientists at Los Alamos, the US government laboratory which developed the first atomic bomb. Among these alternative energy sources, hydropower and nuclear have the lowest carbon footprints (carbon dioxide produced during operation).
Other alternative energy programs have been affected by the downturn. Most serious was the recent announcement by President Obama that he was terminating the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste depository. This decision gives nuclear power an uncertain future, which may be a benefit to the solar energy.
3. Spain, a huge buyer of solar, reduced its incentive program to aid buyers in 2009. In California, a seemingly green state, Prop. 7 was defeated in the November election with a whopping 65 percent of the voters saying NO. One reason: electricity consumers would pay 10 percent above market rates for renewable power forever.
Spain has not resumed its incentive program and will subsidize just 500 megawatts of solar projects this year, down sharply from 2,400 megawatts in 2008. Mainland China’s stimulus and now Taiwan’s incentives (we suspect money coming in from Mainland China) will counter the downturn in Spain and Germany.
4. The spot market price of 6-inch solar-grade wafers have fallen to $9 from a high of $12.50 in September. This bodes poorly for thin film makers and equipment suppliers.
The thin film solar panel market and hence the equipment market grew strongly because of the shortage of polysilicon. Now that polysilicon is abundant and lower priced, why make thin film panels with 8% efficiency when you get 16+ percent efficiency with silicon wafers?
The spot market price of 6-inch solar-grade wafers has now dropped to below US$3.50 per unit. Winners are the environment and polysilicon solar manufacturers. Losers are the thin film solar manufacturers unless they can achieve a way of increasing efficiency, such as a thin film nano coating being developed by SolarPA in Pennsylvania.
5. Utilization is at only 56 percent. Our analysis of 103 solar manufacturers shows that panel production capacity in 2009 will be 15 GW whereas only 8.3 GW will be sold.
Utilization has not worsened as solar companies are struggling to sell products and new capacity has been put on hold, particularly in Asia.
While polysilicon prices have dropped, solar cell manufacturers are also experiencing a 25 percent drop in revenues in 2009 from last year. The drop in solar cell prices to below $1.50 per watt is not increasing demand, which we forecast last year.
6. The dollar has appreciated strongly against the euro by nearly 25 percent. Germany is the world's largest PV market. US solar companies have had to adjust selling prices to generate sales, reducing profit margins.
On November 18, 2008, 1 Euro was equal to US$1.269. On June 15, 2009, 1 Euro was equal to US$1.385, an appreciation in the Euro of 9 percent. Large, but insignificant in light of the overall economic issues currently facing Europe.
In the past six months we have seen somewhat of a stabilization in the worldwide economies and the share prices of solar companies ramp in recent weeks.
In fundamental terms, while there have been changes in these 6 issues, there are no overriding factors to change our forecast of a downturn in the solar industry through 2009 with demand resuming in 2010 back to a 40 percent growth we projected last year.
On November 18, 2008, we issued a press release entitled “Six Reasons for Cloudy Skies on the Solar Energy Industry”. All six issues presented cast a partial eclipse of the solar market.
Subsequently, a week later we forecast that the solar market would drop from 40 percent growth to 25 percent growth in 2009. At that time, thoughts of a downturn in the luminous market were considered a heresy and comments to the article reflected the attitude of the time -– up, up, up!
Six months have gone by and its time to revisit these issues to see if anything has changed from a fundamental standpoint. The original issues presented are repeated, along with an update on the current environment:
1. With oil at $60 a barrel, who cares about alternative energy? It's a short sighted view, but with the credit market crunch, who can get a loan to build solar plants anyway?
Oil is now $70 a barrel and rising, which to us suggests that people will start rethinking alternative energy. But the second point about the credit market crunch remains. Who can get a loan to build a solar plant anyway?
2. The high price of oil in the past year was a catalyst for development in other alternative energy sources, not just solar. Advances in wind, geothermal, and hydropower energy are reducing the cost of wind power to a point at which it is becoming competitive with traditional energy sources.
Nuclear power plants smaller than a garden shed and able to power 20,000 homes will be on sale within five years, say scientists at Los Alamos, the US government laboratory which developed the first atomic bomb. Among these alternative energy sources, hydropower and nuclear have the lowest carbon footprints (carbon dioxide produced during operation).
Other alternative energy programs have been affected by the downturn. Most serious was the recent announcement by President Obama that he was terminating the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste depository. This decision gives nuclear power an uncertain future, which may be a benefit to the solar energy.
3. Spain, a huge buyer of solar, reduced its incentive program to aid buyers in 2009. In California, a seemingly green state, Prop. 7 was defeated in the November election with a whopping 65 percent of the voters saying NO. One reason: electricity consumers would pay 10 percent above market rates for renewable power forever.
Spain has not resumed its incentive program and will subsidize just 500 megawatts of solar projects this year, down sharply from 2,400 megawatts in 2008. Mainland China’s stimulus and now Taiwan’s incentives (we suspect money coming in from Mainland China) will counter the downturn in Spain and Germany.
4. The spot market price of 6-inch solar-grade wafers have fallen to $9 from a high of $12.50 in September. This bodes poorly for thin film makers and equipment suppliers.
The thin film solar panel market and hence the equipment market grew strongly because of the shortage of polysilicon. Now that polysilicon is abundant and lower priced, why make thin film panels with 8% efficiency when you get 16+ percent efficiency with silicon wafers?
The spot market price of 6-inch solar-grade wafers has now dropped to below US$3.50 per unit. Winners are the environment and polysilicon solar manufacturers. Losers are the thin film solar manufacturers unless they can achieve a way of increasing efficiency, such as a thin film nano coating being developed by SolarPA in Pennsylvania.
5. Utilization is at only 56 percent. Our analysis of 103 solar manufacturers shows that panel production capacity in 2009 will be 15 GW whereas only 8.3 GW will be sold.
Utilization has not worsened as solar companies are struggling to sell products and new capacity has been put on hold, particularly in Asia.
While polysilicon prices have dropped, solar cell manufacturers are also experiencing a 25 percent drop in revenues in 2009 from last year. The drop in solar cell prices to below $1.50 per watt is not increasing demand, which we forecast last year.
6. The dollar has appreciated strongly against the euro by nearly 25 percent. Germany is the world's largest PV market. US solar companies have had to adjust selling prices to generate sales, reducing profit margins.
On November 18, 2008, 1 Euro was equal to US$1.269. On June 15, 2009, 1 Euro was equal to US$1.385, an appreciation in the Euro of 9 percent. Large, but insignificant in light of the overall economic issues currently facing Europe.
In the past six months we have seen somewhat of a stabilization in the worldwide economies and the share prices of solar companies ramp in recent weeks.
In fundamental terms, while there have been changes in these 6 issues, there are no overriding factors to change our forecast of a downturn in the solar industry through 2009 with demand resuming in 2010 back to a 40 percent growth we projected last year.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Hannover Leasing acquires three SunEdison PV systems in Spain
MADRID, SPAIN & BELTSVILLE, USA: SunEdison, North America’s largest solar energy services provider, announced that Hannover Leasing has purchased three SunEdison photovoltaic solar energy systems in Spain’s Lleida province. Under a long-term agreement, SunEdison will monitor, maintain and operate the systems, which have a combined capacity of 4.3 MW. Further details of the transaction were not disclosed.
The three ground mount systems -- 1.6 MW in Alamus; 1.6 MW in Borges Blanques; 1.1 MW in Cervia -– have been operating since September 2008.
“Hannover Leasing recognizes the long-term value of investing with companies which have a proven track record of constructing and operating photovoltaic solar systems. Our goal is to deliver opportunities with financing structures that create immediate tangible value and long-term, stable returns to our partners,” said Carlos Domenech, COO, SunEdison.
Andreas Ahlmann, Managing Director, Hannover Leasing, said: “Despite the economic downturn, Hannover Leasing continues to invest in solar projects. SunEdison is a proven leader in the photovoltaic solar market and has a reputation for developing quality projects that exceed expected generation. These systems offer a unique risk-return profile.”
Due to the company’s advanced monitoring and control technologies, SunEdison’s portfolio of solar assets performed at over 100 percent of expected output in 2008 -- generating stable, low risk cash flows for investors.
SunEdison has more than 200 photovoltaic solar energy systems under management in North America and Europe. The company has offices throughout the United States, Spain, Italy, France and Germany.
The three ground mount systems -- 1.6 MW in Alamus; 1.6 MW in Borges Blanques; 1.1 MW in Cervia -– have been operating since September 2008.
“Hannover Leasing recognizes the long-term value of investing with companies which have a proven track record of constructing and operating photovoltaic solar systems. Our goal is to deliver opportunities with financing structures that create immediate tangible value and long-term, stable returns to our partners,” said Carlos Domenech, COO, SunEdison.
Andreas Ahlmann, Managing Director, Hannover Leasing, said: “Despite the economic downturn, Hannover Leasing continues to invest in solar projects. SunEdison is a proven leader in the photovoltaic solar market and has a reputation for developing quality projects that exceed expected generation. These systems offer a unique risk-return profile.”
Due to the company’s advanced monitoring and control technologies, SunEdison’s portfolio of solar assets performed at over 100 percent of expected output in 2008 -- generating stable, low risk cash flows for investors.
SunEdison has more than 200 photovoltaic solar energy systems under management in North America and Europe. The company has offices throughout the United States, Spain, Italy, France and Germany.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Will solar downturn lead to more mature PV industry?
The severe downturn in the global Photovoltaic (PV) market in 2009 actually could have a positive outcome for the worldwide solar industry, yielding a more mature and orderly supply chain when growth returns, according to iSuppli Corp.
Worldwide installations of PV systems will decline to 3.5 Gigawatts (GW) in 2009, down 32 percent from 5.2GW in 2008. With the average price per solar watt declining by 12 percent in 2009, global revenue generated by PV system installations will plunge by 40.2 percent to $18.2 billion, down from $30.5 billion in 2008.
The figures present iSuppli’s forecasts of global PV installations in terms of gigawatts and revenue.
Fig 1: Global Photovoltaic System Installation Forecast in Megawatts, 2008-2013
Source: iSuppli, April 2009
“For years, the PV industry enjoyed vigorous double-digit annual growth in the 40 percent range, spurring a wild-west mentality among market participants,” said Dr. Henning Wicht, senior director and principal analyst for iSuppli. “An ever-rising flood of market participants attempted to capitalize on this growth, all hoping to claim a 10 percent share of market revenue by throwing more production capacity into the market. This overproduction situation, along with a decline in demand, will lead to the sharp, unprecedented fall in PV industry revenue in 2009.”
However, the 2009 PV downturn, like the PC shakeout of the mid 1980s, is likely to change the current market paradigm, cutting down on industry excesses and leading to a more mature market in 2010 and beyond.
Fig 2: Global Revenues Generated by Photovoltaic Installations 2008-2013 in Millions of US Dollars
Source: iSuppli, April 2009
“The number of new suppliers entering and competing in the PV supply chain will decelerate and the rate of new capacity additions will slow, bringing a better balance between supply and demand in the future,” Wicht said.
Blame it on Spain
The single event most responsible for the 2009 PV market slowdown was a sharp decline in expected PV installations in Spain. Spain accounted for 50 percent of worldwide installations in 2008. An artificial demand surge had been created in Spain as the time approached when the country’s feed-in-tariff rate was set to drop and a new cap of 500 Megawatts (MW) loomed for projects qualifying for the above-market tariff. This set a well-defined deadline for growth in the Spanish market in 2009 and 2010.
While the Spanish situation is spurring a surge in excess inventory and falling prices for solar cells and systems, this will not stimulate sufficient demand to compensate for the lost sales in 2009. Even new and upgraded incentives for solar installations from nations including the United States and Japan—and attractive investment conditions in France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Greece and other countries—cannot compensate for the Spanish whiplash in 2009.
The Spanish impact will continue into 2010, restraining global revenue growth to 29.2 percent for the year. Beyond Spain, the PV market is being adversely impacted by the credit crunch.
“Power production investors and commercial entities are at least partially dependent upon debt financing,” Wicht noted. “Starting in the first quarter of 2009, many large and medium solar-installation projects went on hold as they awaited a thaw in bank credit flows.”
After the fall
After 2010, the fundamental drivers of PV demand will reassert themselves, bringing a 57.8 percent increase in revenue in 2011 and similar growth rates in 2012 and 2013.
“PV remains attractive because it continues to demonstrate a favorable Return on Investment (RoI),” Wicht said. “Furthermore, government incentives in the form of above-market feed-in-tariffs and tax breaks will remain in place, making the RoI equations viable through 2012. Cost reductions will lead to attractive RoI and payback periods even without governmental help after 2012.”
Furthermore, lower system prices will open up new markets by lowering incentives and subvention costs. The lower the PV system prices are, the lower the incentives will have to be. Developing regions will be big the beneficiaries of these lower prices and thus will grow faster than the global average, Wicht said.
Source: iSuppli, USA
Worldwide installations of PV systems will decline to 3.5 Gigawatts (GW) in 2009, down 32 percent from 5.2GW in 2008. With the average price per solar watt declining by 12 percent in 2009, global revenue generated by PV system installations will plunge by 40.2 percent to $18.2 billion, down from $30.5 billion in 2008.
The figures present iSuppli’s forecasts of global PV installations in terms of gigawatts and revenue.
Fig 1: Global Photovoltaic System Installation Forecast in Megawatts, 2008-2013
Source: iSuppli, April 2009“For years, the PV industry enjoyed vigorous double-digit annual growth in the 40 percent range, spurring a wild-west mentality among market participants,” said Dr. Henning Wicht, senior director and principal analyst for iSuppli. “An ever-rising flood of market participants attempted to capitalize on this growth, all hoping to claim a 10 percent share of market revenue by throwing more production capacity into the market. This overproduction situation, along with a decline in demand, will lead to the sharp, unprecedented fall in PV industry revenue in 2009.”
However, the 2009 PV downturn, like the PC shakeout of the mid 1980s, is likely to change the current market paradigm, cutting down on industry excesses and leading to a more mature market in 2010 and beyond.
Fig 2: Global Revenues Generated by Photovoltaic Installations 2008-2013 in Millions of US Dollars
Source: iSuppli, April 2009“The number of new suppliers entering and competing in the PV supply chain will decelerate and the rate of new capacity additions will slow, bringing a better balance between supply and demand in the future,” Wicht said.
Blame it on Spain
The single event most responsible for the 2009 PV market slowdown was a sharp decline in expected PV installations in Spain. Spain accounted for 50 percent of worldwide installations in 2008. An artificial demand surge had been created in Spain as the time approached when the country’s feed-in-tariff rate was set to drop and a new cap of 500 Megawatts (MW) loomed for projects qualifying for the above-market tariff. This set a well-defined deadline for growth in the Spanish market in 2009 and 2010.
While the Spanish situation is spurring a surge in excess inventory and falling prices for solar cells and systems, this will not stimulate sufficient demand to compensate for the lost sales in 2009. Even new and upgraded incentives for solar installations from nations including the United States and Japan—and attractive investment conditions in France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Greece and other countries—cannot compensate for the Spanish whiplash in 2009.
The Spanish impact will continue into 2010, restraining global revenue growth to 29.2 percent for the year. Beyond Spain, the PV market is being adversely impacted by the credit crunch.
“Power production investors and commercial entities are at least partially dependent upon debt financing,” Wicht noted. “Starting in the first quarter of 2009, many large and medium solar-installation projects went on hold as they awaited a thaw in bank credit flows.”
After the fall
After 2010, the fundamental drivers of PV demand will reassert themselves, bringing a 57.8 percent increase in revenue in 2011 and similar growth rates in 2012 and 2013.
“PV remains attractive because it continues to demonstrate a favorable Return on Investment (RoI),” Wicht said. “Furthermore, government incentives in the form of above-market feed-in-tariffs and tax breaks will remain in place, making the RoI equations viable through 2012. Cost reductions will lead to attractive RoI and payback periods even without governmental help after 2012.”
Furthermore, lower system prices will open up new markets by lowering incentives and subvention costs. The lower the PV system prices are, the lower the incentives will have to be. Developing regions will be big the beneficiaries of these lower prices and thus will grow faster than the global average, Wicht said.
Source: iSuppli, USA
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