Contests

Foreword 2
Executive Summary 6
　Status of solar power now 6
　Imagining a future with a fair share of sun 6
　What are the benefits? 7
　How can we get there? 7
　Learning from the pioneers 8
　Reference for the future 8

1 Solar basics 9
　1.1. What does photovoltaic mean? 10
　1.2. Benefits of PV technology 10
　　a. Environmental footprint of PV 10
　　b. Improving grid efficiency 10
　　c. Making cities greener 11
　　d. No limits 11
　1.3. Types of PV systems 11
　　a. Grid connected systems 12
　　b. Stand-alone, off-grid and hybrid systems 13
　1.4. The Solar potential 14
　1.5. Example: How PV can meet residential consumption 15
2 Solar technology and industry 17
　2.1. PV systems 17
　　a. PV cells and modules 17
　　b. Inverters 18
　　c. Batteries and charge controllers 18
　2.2. Photovoltaic technologies 20
　　a. Crystalline silicon technology 20
　　b. Thin Films 22
　　c. Concentrator photovoltaics 24
　　d. Third generation photovoltaics 25
　　e. Historical and future evolution 26
　2.3. The PV value chain 27
　　a. Consolidation trends in the solar industry 27
3 Solar cost and competitiveness: Towards grid parity 29
　3.1. Price competitiveness of PV 30
　　a. PV module price 30
　　b. PV system price 31
　　c. PV Electricity generation cost 32
　　d. Electricity price evolution 33
　　e. Market segments for PV 35
　3.2. Factors affecting PV system cost reduction 37
　　a. Technological innovation 37
　　b. Production optimisation 38
　　c. Economies of scale 38
　　d. Increasing the performance ratio of PV systems 38
　　e. Extending the life of PV systems 39
　　f. Development of standards and specifications 40
　　g. Next generation technologies 40
　3.3. PV in electricity networks and energy markets 41
　　a. High penetration of PV in the grids 41
　　b. From centralised to decentralised energy generation 43
4 Solar policieｓ 45
　4.1. Policy drivers for the development of solar PV 46
　　a. Feed-in Tariffs: Key driver of solar success 46
　　b. Other drivers of a successful PV market development 50
　4.2. Policies in the top ten markets 53
　4.3. Developing a world-wide PV policy outlook 57
　　a. The European Union: A driver of PV development in Europe and the world 57
　　b. The desert is a perfect place to develop PV energy 58
　　c. PV in the Sunbelt region: Ongoing policy developments 59
　　d. Smart cities 59
5 Solar power market 62
　5.1. History of PV markets 63
　　a. Europe at the forefront of PV development 63
　　b. Japan and USA lead outside Europe 63
　　c. Distribution of the world PV market in 2009 64
　　d. Root causes of PV market development 64
　　e. Future PV markets: The Sunbelt region 65
　　f. A bright future for PV 65
　5.2. The Greenpeace/EPIA Solar Generation Scenarios 68
　　a. Methodology and assumptions 68
　　b. Scenario assumptions 69
　5.3. Key results 72
　　a. Global scenario 72
　　b. Regional development 74
　　c. Employment and investment 77
　　d. CO2 reduction 78
6 Solar benefits and SuStainability 79
　6.1. Economic benefits 80
　6.2. Environmental factors 82
　　a. Climate change mitigation 82
　　b. Energy payback time (EPBT) 84
　　c. Water consumption 85
　　d. Recycling 85
　6.3. Social aspects 86
　　a. Employment 86
　　b. Skilled labour and education 86
　6.4. Rural electrification 87

List of acronyms 91
References 93
List of Figures & Tables 94
Image Credits 96

Figure 3 Solar irradiation versus established global energy resources Figure 12 Historical evolution of technology market share and future trends ％ Figure 13 PV module price experience curve US$/Wp & MW Figure 15 Evolution of prices of large PV systems euro/KWp. Figure 30 The world PV market in 2009 Figure 32 New installed electrical capacity in 2009 in the EU MW Figure 34 Evolution of cummulative installed capacity by region under two scenarios MW EPIA（2011）による『Solar Generation 6 2011 Full report Final』から