RenewableS 2013 GlObal STaTUS RePORT - REN21

ENDNOTES 02 MARKET AND INDUSTRY TRENDS BY TECHNOLOGY – Solar Photovoltaics (PV)
aspx, updated 21 January 2013. The countries are Canada, China,
the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Italy, Portugal,
Spain, Thailand, Ukraine, and the United States, per Lenardic, op.
cit. note 50.
52 Considering extensions of existing PV power projects as well
as single stages completed in 2012, at least 24 plants of more
than 30 MW were connected to the grid in 2012, per Lenardic,
op. cit. note 50; rankings from “Large-scale Photovoltaic Power
Plants Ranking 1-50,” op. cit. note 51. The plant in Arizona
(Agua Caliente), which uses First Solar panels, is expected to be
completed in 2014 when it reaches a total of 290 MW capacity,
per First Solar, “Agua Caliente Solar Project,” www.firstsolar.com/
en/Projects/Agua-Caliente-Solar-Project, viewed 14 March 2013;
the first 250 MW came on line in 2012, per GTM Research and
SEIA, op. cit. note 19, p. 18.
53 Germany and other leaders from “Large-scale Photovoltaic Power
Plants Ranking 1-50,” op. cit. note 51, and from Lenardic, op. cit.
note 50. Considering plants larger than 10 MW, China led for new
installations during the 12-month period up to March 2013. China
was followed by the United States, Germany, India, and France,
from Wiki-Solar, cited in “5.75 GW of Large Solar PV Plants Added
Globally in the Last 12 Months,” SolarServer.com, 25 February
2013.
54 For example: in Ghana, the 155 MW Nzema solar project is
expected to be on line by late 2015, per Daniel Cusick, “Ghana
Will Build Africa’s Largest Solar Array,” E&E, 4 December 2012;
Adam Vaughan, “Africa’s Largest Solar Power Plant to Be Built
in Ghana,” The Guardian (U.K.), 4 December 2012; South
Africa plans two 75 MW projects, per Vince Font, “Financial
Green Lights Signal Upswing in Global Solar PV Development,”
RenewableEnergyWorld.com, 16 November 2012; in Serbia,
a definitive agreement was signed with the government in
October for the OneGiga project, per Misha Savic, “Securum,
Serbia Sign Agreement to Build 1,000-MW Solar Park,”
Bloomberg, 31 October 2012, at www.renewableenergyworld.
com; plans were announced in 2012 for a 200 MW plant in
Java, Indonesia, per Bryony Abbott, “Southeast Asia’s Solar
Market Continues to Attract International and Regional Interest,”
RenewableEnergyWorld.com, 5 October 2012; in the United
States, an 800 MW solar farm is planned for California (Mt. Signal
Farm), per Font, op. cit. this note; in Mexico, a letter of intent was
signed with the Comision Federal de Electricidad with SunEdison
for a 50 MW PV plant, per Charles W. Thurston, “Mexico’s Sunny
Sonora State Fosters Solar PV Growth,” RenewableEnergyWorld.
com, 6 November 2012; a 250 MW plant was approved for
construction in the southern Japanese city of Setouchi, per Yuriy
Humber and Tsuyoshi Inajima, “Japan’s Aggressive FIT Already
Unlocking Gigawatts of Wind and Solar Power,” Bloomberg, 1
October 2012, at www.renewableenergyworld.com; China plans
a 310 MW project for Shanxi province, per Tim Culpan, “GCL-Poly
Planning Massive Solar Power Installations in China,” Bloomberg,
3 October 2012, at www.renewableenergyworld.com; in January
2012, Oman announced plans for a 400 MW solar PV plant, per
Ian Stokes, “Full Version: Renewable Energy Project Monitor,”
RenewableEnergyFocus.com, 30 April 2012.
55 Alasdair Cameron, “Tracking the Market: focus on the concentrating
photovoltaic sector,” Renewable Energy World, July–August
2011, pp. 71–75; locations from Travis Bradford, Prometheus
Institute, Chicago, personal communication with REN21, 21
March 2012.
56 MW projects from Debra Vogler, “CPV ramps to utility status
in 2011,” Renewable Energy World, 18 October 2011, at www.
electroiq.com; 116 plants were identified with a combined
capacity just over 100 MW, per PV Insider, “CPV World Map 2012,”
June update, prepared for CPV USA 2012, 4th Concentrated
Photovoltaic Summit USA 2012, www.pv-insider.com/cpv12;
global capacity totaled 88 MW, per Steve Leone, “Amonix Closes
150-MW Las Vegas HCPV Plant,” RenewableEnergyWorld.com,
19 July 2012.
57 United States (50 MW) including Colorado plant, Spain (26 MW),
China (6 MW) and Chinese Taipei/Taiwan (5 MW), Italy (3.2 MW),
Australia (3.1 MW); all estimates derived from PV Insider, “CPV
World Map 2012,” op. cit. note 56. Other countries with CPV
capacity include: Denmark, France, Greece, Malta, and Portugal
in Europe; Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa in Africa; Israel,
Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East;
Australia; Japan, Korea, and Malaysia in Asia; and Chile and
Mexico in Latin America. The United States had 37 MW in operation
at the end of 2012, with 7 MW of this installed in 2011 and
30 MW in 2012, and another 4 MW came on line in New Mexico in
January 2013 (data include only “utility-scale” projects), per SEIA,
“Utility-Scale Solar Projects in the United States Operating, Under
Construction, or Under Development,” updated 11 February
2013. Australia has a 500 kW test plant at Bridgewater that began
operation in March 2012, per Silex Systems, “Solar Systems’
Bridgewater Test Facility Commences Operation,” press release
(Lucas Heights, NSW: 21 March 2012; and a plant at Mildura, with
the first 1.5–2 MW of a planned (up to) 150 MW coming on line in
April 2013, per Giles Parkinson, “Solar Systems Begins Operation
at Mildura Power Plant,” REneweconomy.com, 15 April 2013, at
http://reneweconomy.com.au.
58 Jason Deign, “What Lies in Store for CPV in 2013?” PV Insider,
23 January 2013, at http://news.pv-insider.com. Note that a 50
MW project, the world’s largest to date, was under construction
in China’s Qinghai Province in early 2013, per Frank Haugwitz,
consultant, personal communication with REN21, April 2013.
59 Italy based on preliminary data from Terna, “Early Data on 2012
Electricity Demand: 325.3 Billion kWh The Demand, -2.8%
Compared to 2011,” press release (Rome: 9 January 2013); in
Germany, solar PV generated 28 billion kWh in 2012, corresponding
to 4.7% of total gross electricity consumption, per BMU,
op. cit. note 12; about 5% in Germany from BSW (Federal Solar
Industry Association), “Rekordjahr 2012: Deutschland erzeugt
Solarstrom für 8 Millionen Haushalte,” at www.solarwirtschaft.de
(using Google Translate); and 5.6% of annual demand from IEA-
PVPS, op. cit. note 1; in May 2012, distributed solar PV systems
in Germany produced 10% of the country’s total electricity consumption,
up 40% over May of 2011, per Stephen Lacey, “Solar
Provides 10 Percent of Germany’s Electricity in May,” Climate
Progress, 12 June 2012, at www.renewableenergyworld.com;
in August, PV met 8.4% of Italy’s electricity demand, according
to grid operator Terna SpA, cited in “PV Provides 8.4% of Italian
Electricity in August,” PV News, October 2012, p. 6.
60 EPIA, op. cit. note 1, pp. 13, 44.
61 Build-up especially in China from Bowden, op. cit. note 23, p. 7;
impacts from Sarasin, “Working Towards a Cleaner and Smarter
Power Supply” (Basel, Switzerland: December 2012).
62 “Strong Year for Solar PV as Support Subsidies Slashed,”
Renewable Energy Focus, July/August 2012; Doug Young, “Solar
Bits: LDK Woes, Hanwha Loan,” RenewableEnergyWorld.com, 31
December 2012; excluding cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin films,
per Masson, op. cit. note 1.
63 Estimates of 30% and 20% from Izumi Kaizuka, RTS Corporation
and IEA-PVPS, personal communication with REN21, 15 April
2013; module prices declined 28% and thin-film prices 19%
from “Hanergy Sees Thin-Film Solar Gaining Market Share,”
Bloomberg, 8 March 2013, at www.renewableenergyworld.com;
reduction of 38.1% in 2012 after a drop of 44.1% in 2011, from
GTM Research Competitive Intelligence Tracker, April 2013; average
global module prices fell by 42%, from USD 1.37/Wp in 2011
to USD 0.79/Wp in 2012, per Paula Mints, “Solar PV Profit’s Last
Stand,” RenewableEnergyWorld.com, 22 March 2013. Note that
between 2005 and late 2012, solar module prices declined more
than 70%, per Chris Cather, “Are Solar Developer Fees Declining?”
RenewableEnergyWorld.com, 19 November 2012.
64 Costs are in 2011 USD, and U.S. system costs ranged from USD
4–8/W, all from IRENA, Renewable Power Generation Costs in
2012: An Overview (Abu Dhabi: January 2013), p. 54. Note that
installed costs were as low as USD 2/Watt in Germany and higher
in the United States, where balance-of-system costs have not
fallen as quickly, per Pernick, Wilder and Winnie, op. cit. note
2; costs in Germany were as low as 1 EUR/W in the utility-scale
segment and easily below 1.6 EUR/W in the residential segment,
per Masson, op. cit. note 1. Further, installed costs of residential
systems in Germany are significantly lower than those in the
United States due greatly to lower “soft costs” (permitting
fees, installation, balance of systems), per Joachim Seel, Galen
Barbose, and Ryan Wiser, “Why Are Residential PV Prices in
Germany So Much Lower Than in the United States? A Scoping
Analysis” (Berkeley, CA: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,
February 2013). See Table 2 for year-end data.
65 Production in 2012, down from 32.9 MW of cells and 36.1 MW of
modules in 2011, from GTM Research Competitive Intelligence
Tracker, April 2013. Note that production capacity was roughly
36 GW, a slight increase from about 35 GW in 2011, while actual
production was almost 29 GW and shipments increased about
10% to 26 GW, per Paula Mints, SPV Market Research, cited in
James Montgomery, “Solar PV Module Rankings in 2012, and
What Comes Next,” RenewableEnergyWorld.com, 3 May 2013.
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