Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ETIP PV - SEC (Support to all stakeholders from the Photovoltaic sector and related sectors to contribute to the SET-Plan)

Teaser

The European Technology and Innovation Platform Photovoltaics (ETIP PV), hereinafter the Platform, is an independent organization of solar energy experts and professionals with a full coverage of relevant backgrounds. It develops joint European strategies and plans in the...

Summary

The European Technology and Innovation Platform Photovoltaics (ETIP PV), hereinafter the Platform, is an independent organization of solar energy experts and professionals with a full coverage of relevant backgrounds. It develops joint European strategies and plans in the fields of research & innovation as well as market development. It also serves as the recognised point of reference for key decision and policy makers and provides high quality analyses and background documents on photovoltaic technology, economics, applications, system integration and other aspects that are important for the development of a competitive industry sector and growing markets. The Platform recognises the paramount importance and potential impact of the strategy for a European Energy Union and the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan) and contributes to its activities.

The Steering Committee (SC) is the permanent decision making body of the ETIP PV. The work of the ETIP PV takes the form of ad hoc working groups (WGs) which are proposed for specific tasks by the Steering Committee. Such tasks may be, for example, to prepare a short document to assist the European Commission or to explore a relevant topic in depth. The nature of the work is often to draft passages of text and consult fellow experts from research or industry. Ad hoc WGs are reviewed every two years with a view to extending or ending their mandate.

The working groups of the ETIP PV presently cover the areas of:
1. Levelised cost of electricity (LCoE)
2. Industry Policy
3. Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV)
4. Grid Integration
5. PV Quality and Reliability

The objective of the ETIP PV – SEC project is to provide continuity of the activities of the ETIP PV. This is done with an efficient and active secretariat which provides an efficient, impartial and transparent management of the platform. The Secretariat supports the Members with research or advice for the documents they are preparing for the ETIP PV, ensuring the generation of high quality outcomes and playing an active role in the development of key ETIP PV public documents.

Work performed

During this reporting period, ETIP PV has focused its activities on three main pillars:

1. Preparation of the Implementation Plan to achieve the targets of the SET-Plan Declaration of Intent (i.e SET-Plan Declaration on Strategic Targets in the context of an Initiative for Global Leadership in Photovoltaics):
15 Steering Committee members have worked together with Member State representatives (Cyprus, Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Turkey) and EC representatives from DG RTD, DG ENER and EC JRC in the Temporary Working Group (TWG) preparing the Implementation Plan.

Their role in the TWG together with the SET-Plan countries and EC was to:
• Provide information on ongoing R&I activities (among which at least one Flagship)
• Identify new R&I activities necessary to reach the targets
• Highlighting concrete non-technological barriers/enablers experienced in their country
• Seeking options for joint programming and funding in specific areas by groups of member states and private stakeholders
• Sharing their experience in monitoring the targets

2. Creating a single voice for the European PV Manufacturing and R&D industry:
ETIP PV is fighting to maintain solar R&D and EU manufacturing and to take further opportunities for Europe. On 22 June 2017, ETIP PV together with EUREC and SolarUnited published an Open letter with an urgent Call for Action to ensure a sustainable future for European PV manufacturing. This initiative has been supported by more than 110 European research centers, equipment suppliers, materials providers, and module manufacturers. See http://www.etip-pv.eu/news/open-letter.html.

3. Recommendations of the working groups in the form of published reports and workshops:
The recommendations of the ETIP PV cover the areas of Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV), Photovoltaics Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE), penetration of PV into power grids and industrial policy. With the support of the Secretariat, the ETIP PV working groups have published a total of five reports:
- Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) as a core element for Smart Cities – Integrated Research, Innovation and Competitiveness Strategies within the Energy Union
- The true competitiveness of solar PV. A European case study
- Assessing the need for better forecasting and observability of PV
- PV manufacturing in Europe: Conference report 18-19 May 2017
- Supporting the Development of the European PV Industry and Markets through Enhanced Quality

All the reports can be downloaded from the ETIP PV website at http://www.etip-pv.eu/publications/etip-pv-reports.html

Final results

The expected impacts are:
• Increased cohesion of the stakeholders involved in the PV sector to reach agreements on concrete priorities and strategies for the large scale deployment of photovoltaic solar energy technologies
• Increased communication between research, industry and civil society actors to facilitate the exploitation of research results
• Increased contribution of ETIP PV to key Actions 1 and 2 of the SET-Plan

Website & more info

More info: http://www.etip-pv.eu/.