Periodic Report Summary 2 - PV TP - SEC (Support of the activities of all stakeholders from the PV sector to collaborate together to achieve the 2020 targets)
Project Context and Objectives:
The main objective of the project PV TP-SEC is to support activities for all stakeholders from the PV sector to collaborate together to achieve the binding and mandatory European targets for the year 2020 which are the following:
* Renewable energy consumption to represent 20 % of the total energy EU consumption, with bio-fuel to supply 10% of all transport fuel
* To reduce GHG emissions by 20%
* To increase energy efficiency by 20%
The action will foster the cooperation among the partners and all the relevant stakeholders of the PV sector and optimise the coordination of the research work in various technology areas in line with the R&D targets of the Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) developed by the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform (EU PV TP). The Implementation plan of the SRA will lead the European research towards the development of the most promising technologies and as a consequence it will improve the competitiveness of the European research in the world.
The project PV TP - SEC will give a fundamental contribution to the implementation plan of the Solar Europe Industry Initiative (SEII), which aims to reach the following targets:
* up to 12% of PV electricity produced by 2020
* the grid parity in most Europe by 2020
* a competitive position of the EU PV industry by 2020
For the achievement of the R&D targets set in the Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) and the 2020 targets of the Solar Europe Industry Initiative (SEII) it is necessary to continue in supporting, with the appropriate tools, all stakeholders from the PV sector.
The objective of this project is to support the entities of the EU PV TP through the secretariat, PV TP - SEC. The secretariat will ensure the smooth cooperation between the PV industry and the EU PV TP to carry forward the proposal for the Solar Europe Industry Initiative (SEII) in the framework of the SET-Plan and afterwards the Implementation Plan of the SEII.
Project Results:
In order to achieve the project's objectives and contribute to the implementation of the Solar Europe Industry Initiative, the below presented activities and milestones were identified and set for the second 12 months of the project. Within the work carried out, the PV secretariat supported and coordinated the activities of the entities of the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform (EU PV TP).
The structure of the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform (EU PV TP, or PV Platform) is shown in Figure 1.(attached).
As shown in Figure 1, the entities of the EU PV TP are represented by the Mirror Group (MG), the Steering Committee (SC) and Working Groups (WGs), which are structured in order to cover all the issues to be addressed within the EU PV TP, specifically:
* Policies and instrument, Working Group 1 (WG1)
* Market deployment, Working Group 2 (WG2)
* Science, technology and application, Working Group 3 (WG3)
* Developing Countries, Working Group 4 (WG4)
Within the second year of the project the overall objectives were to offer logistical support to the Platform activities, to coordinate the interaction among partners and ensure an appropriate and efficient administration, budget management as well as top control the execution of the planned work within the timelines and with the desired results.
In addition, the secretariat provided organisational support and information to the Steering Committee, the Mirror Group and the working groups and ensured a smooth and functioning exchange of information between these groups. This was achieved by assisting the different working groups in their work and following the instruction of the Steering Committee on the initiatives to take or task to accomplish.
The secretariat also provided the appropriate administrative activities to guarantee the operation of the work to be performed by each working group of the EU PV TP. The administrative activities included the organisation and management of the WGs, MG and SC discussion of the proposal for the Solar Europe Industry meetings and the General Assembly (GA) and the organisation of workshops for the Initiative (SEII) in the framework of the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan.
Meeting documents were regularly prepared including the agenda of the meeting, the list of participants and other supporting documents and memo paper. The minutes were taken in all the meetings and published on the website of the EU PV Technology Platform and if confidential only for members of the platform, were made available with the member code.
The communication tools are necessary to guarantee the flow and exchange of information within the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform, with the other relevant technology platforms, and externally. This was done by developing, maintaining and updating IT tools such as a website and intranet (as a Members area of the public website). The aim of the new website of the platform (www.eupvplatform.org) is to better highlight the work of the EU PV TP and capitalise on the reputation of its members. During the first year of the project, the layout of the website was adapted to be in line with the new image of the platform and a Members area developed. The website of the EU PV TP is an open source for all stakeholders. Results, publications and papers resulting from and developed by the platform are available on the website.
Also internal (only for members of the platform) and external newsletters were prepared, which guaranteed an appropriate communication tool for the documentation of the platform's work. The newsletter was scheduled to be published every three months; both in electronic and printed form. The electronic version is sent via e-mail (members' version to approximately 150 contacts and the public version to approximately 18.000 contacts). The printed version is hosted on the platform website, on the dedicated section for the newsletter and can be downloaded: www.eupvplatform.org/news/newsletters.
Furthermore, the relevant documents produced by the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform were disseminated by the secretariat at the most relevant European events. In order to strengthen and broaden the EU PV TP network, the results produced by the PV Platform were widely promoted to all relevant stakeholders. This covered the preparation of both technical documents and non-technical documents and their distribution to relevant events.
Position papers were disseminated when required by the Steering Committee, as well as PV Platform communications were uploaded on the platform's website.
The General Assembly (GA) will continue to be the occasion where the leaders of different working groups summarise the work they have done since the previous GA and disseminate to additional stakeholders, decision makers and the European Commission. The biggest event of the PV Platform remains its annual General Assembly.
In 2011, the entire PV TP-SEC team organised the 6th General Assembly of the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform, entitled "Benefits of Photovoltaics for Europe's Energy and Economy" which took place on 30 June 2011, in Brussels, Belgium. About 200 stakeholders registered to the GA from industry, research, investment and politics. The European Commission was represented by Raffaele Liberali, Director for Energy, DG RTD -holding the keynote speech- and Michel Catinat, Head of Unit "ICT for Competitiveness and Industrial Innovation", DG Enterprise and Industry- delivering a presentation on 'The High Level Group on Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) as an initiative to fostering industrial growth'.
The event titled "Sustainability aspects for terawatt-scale photovoltaics" has been organised in the framework of the 26th EU PVSEC as an official side-event and the organisation of this was requested by the SC and the PV Platform. The Sustainability event took place on 8 September 2011, in Hamburg, Germany and it welcomed around 60 participants.
Members of the Steering Committee, with the support of the secretariat, have participated regularly to meetings with the European Commission and EPIA on the Solar Europe Industry Initiative and will be present, as well as delivering presentations during the SET-Plan Conference to be held on 28-29 November 2011 in Warsaw, Poland.
The next event on SEII will be jointly organised by EPIA and the PVTP on 7 September 2011, in Hamburg, choosing as its setting the EPIA Booth on the 26th EU PVSEC. The aim of this 'SEII Industry Consultations Workshop' will be to present the basics of the Solar Europe Industry Initiative (SEII) to the invited representatives from the Industry Advisory Committee.
With the support of the secretariat results of the EU PV TP were written in an easy-to-understand language, so to promote the interest of the general public for PV technology in ten "Photovoltaic Fact Sheets" tackling misperceptions bout PV technologies and answering common questions : www.eupvplatform.org/publications/misperceptions-fact-sheets-.
The first draft of updated "Photovoltaic Fact Sheets" will be ready for discussion at the middle of October and the new factsheet should be printed in December. Besides the ten updated fact sheets, the consortium will include two new ones: "Grid Integration" (by WIP) and "PV Competitiveness" (by EPIA).
During the second reporting period (from 01.09.2010 to 31.08.2011) a new section of the PV TP website has been implemented by EPIA. This section is dedicated to updates and news on the Solar Europe Industry Initiative (SEII) and to the ERANET call for solar electricity. General information and news on the evaluation of the SEII can be found on:
http://www.eupvplatform.org/news/solar-europe-industry-initiative-seii.html
Morever, the Platform is actively using and disseminating the previously created
"Solar Europe Industry Initiative - Implementation Plan" (www.eupvplatform.org/about-pv-platform/major-achievements) and "Solar Europe Industry Initiative - Realising the vision of the Photovoltaic sector" brochure (www.eupvplatform.org/publications/brochures) these serving as reference documentation.
The Platform, and WG3 members specially, are putting a extensive and thorough work in the preparation of the new Strategic Research Agenda (SRA 2) for the Photovoltaic Solar Energy Technology (to be published on 5 September during the 26th EU PVSEC in Hamburg). This will be presented in next year's report as required deliverable (D.4.1).
Potential Impact:
The project PV TP - SEC will lead to an increase of the efficiency and competitiveness of the research in the field of photovoltaics giving a fundamental contribution to the binding and mandatory European target for the year 2020, named 2020 targets:
* Renewable energy consumption to represent 20 % of the total energy EU consumption, with bio-fuel to supply 10% of all transport fuel
* GHG emissions reduced by 20%
* Energy efficiency increased by 20%
This project will foster the cooperation among all the relevant stakeholders of the PV sector and therefore optimize the coordination of the research work in various technology areas in line with the R&D targets of the new Strategic Research Agenda (SRA2). The SRA 2 is developed by the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform (EU PV TP) and will be published to the general public on 5 September 2011 during the 26th EU PVSEC. The Implementation plan of the SRA will lead the European research towards the development of the most promising technologies and as a consequence it will improve the competitiveness of the European research in the world.
Moreover, the project PV TP - SEC will give a fundamental contribution in carrying forward the proposal for the Solar Europe Industry Initiative (SEII), which is driven by the PV industry, in the framework of the SET Plan, and its implementation plan in order to reach the following targets:
* up to 12% of PV electricity produced by 2020
* the grid parity in most Europe by the 2020
* a competitive position of the EU PV Industry by 2020
The contribution of the technology and R&D to reach the targets mentioned in the SEII will be focused on the alignment of the academic research needs with the industry priorities. This will be done by splitting the responsibilities between industry and academic research and by classifying the R&D priorities depending on the time and exploitation in the short and medium / long terms.
The role of the PV TP - SEC secretariat will be fundamental for obtaining the alignment of the academic research needs with the industry priorities; indeed, this alignment can be reached only by supporting the communication and cooperation between the PV academic research and the PV industry.
In the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform, PV industry and research community will interact in one body having also the opportunity to exchange relevant information and obtain support from the market players and government representatives members of the EU PV TP. Position statement and recommendations regarding the Framework Programmes, EC Directives and SET Plan, will be done with one voice within the EU PV TP. Only through this process of optimisation, which is based on the fact that the all the relevant stakeholder interact in one body, it will be possible to achieve a clear and common EU PV research path towards the European 2020 targets and the target of SEII. This work will be done in line with the Implementation plan of Strategic Research Agenda (SRA), which is actually under development by the EU PV TP.
List of Websites:
http://www.eupvplatform.org
The main objective of the project PV TP-SEC is to support activities for all stakeholders from the PV sector to collaborate together to achieve the binding and mandatory European targets for the year 2020 which are the following:
* Renewable energy consumption to represent 20 % of the total energy EU consumption, with bio-fuel to supply 10% of all transport fuel
* To reduce GHG emissions by 20%
* To increase energy efficiency by 20%
The action will foster the cooperation among the partners and all the relevant stakeholders of the PV sector and optimise the coordination of the research work in various technology areas in line with the R&D targets of the Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) developed by the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform (EU PV TP). The Implementation plan of the SRA will lead the European research towards the development of the most promising technologies and as a consequence it will improve the competitiveness of the European research in the world.
The project PV TP - SEC will give a fundamental contribution to the implementation plan of the Solar Europe Industry Initiative (SEII), which aims to reach the following targets:
* up to 12% of PV electricity produced by 2020
* the grid parity in most Europe by 2020
* a competitive position of the EU PV industry by 2020
For the achievement of the R&D targets set in the Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) and the 2020 targets of the Solar Europe Industry Initiative (SEII) it is necessary to continue in supporting, with the appropriate tools, all stakeholders from the PV sector.
The objective of this project is to support the entities of the EU PV TP through the secretariat, PV TP - SEC. The secretariat will ensure the smooth cooperation between the PV industry and the EU PV TP to carry forward the proposal for the Solar Europe Industry Initiative (SEII) in the framework of the SET-Plan and afterwards the Implementation Plan of the SEII.
Project Results:
In order to achieve the project's objectives and contribute to the implementation of the Solar Europe Industry Initiative, the below presented activities and milestones were identified and set for the second 12 months of the project. Within the work carried out, the PV secretariat supported and coordinated the activities of the entities of the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform (EU PV TP).
The structure of the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform (EU PV TP, or PV Platform) is shown in Figure 1.(attached).
As shown in Figure 1, the entities of the EU PV TP are represented by the Mirror Group (MG), the Steering Committee (SC) and Working Groups (WGs), which are structured in order to cover all the issues to be addressed within the EU PV TP, specifically:
* Policies and instrument, Working Group 1 (WG1)
* Market deployment, Working Group 2 (WG2)
* Science, technology and application, Working Group 3 (WG3)
* Developing Countries, Working Group 4 (WG4)
Within the second year of the project the overall objectives were to offer logistical support to the Platform activities, to coordinate the interaction among partners and ensure an appropriate and efficient administration, budget management as well as top control the execution of the planned work within the timelines and with the desired results.
In addition, the secretariat provided organisational support and information to the Steering Committee, the Mirror Group and the working groups and ensured a smooth and functioning exchange of information between these groups. This was achieved by assisting the different working groups in their work and following the instruction of the Steering Committee on the initiatives to take or task to accomplish.
The secretariat also provided the appropriate administrative activities to guarantee the operation of the work to be performed by each working group of the EU PV TP. The administrative activities included the organisation and management of the WGs, MG and SC discussion of the proposal for the Solar Europe Industry meetings and the General Assembly (GA) and the organisation of workshops for the Initiative (SEII) in the framework of the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan.
Meeting documents were regularly prepared including the agenda of the meeting, the list of participants and other supporting documents and memo paper. The minutes were taken in all the meetings and published on the website of the EU PV Technology Platform and if confidential only for members of the platform, were made available with the member code.
The communication tools are necessary to guarantee the flow and exchange of information within the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform, with the other relevant technology platforms, and externally. This was done by developing, maintaining and updating IT tools such as a website and intranet (as a Members area of the public website). The aim of the new website of the platform (www.eupvplatform.org) is to better highlight the work of the EU PV TP and capitalise on the reputation of its members. During the first year of the project, the layout of the website was adapted to be in line with the new image of the platform and a Members area developed. The website of the EU PV TP is an open source for all stakeholders. Results, publications and papers resulting from and developed by the platform are available on the website.
Also internal (only for members of the platform) and external newsletters were prepared, which guaranteed an appropriate communication tool for the documentation of the platform's work. The newsletter was scheduled to be published every three months; both in electronic and printed form. The electronic version is sent via e-mail (members' version to approximately 150 contacts and the public version to approximately 18.000 contacts). The printed version is hosted on the platform website, on the dedicated section for the newsletter and can be downloaded: www.eupvplatform.org/news/newsletters.
Furthermore, the relevant documents produced by the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform were disseminated by the secretariat at the most relevant European events. In order to strengthen and broaden the EU PV TP network, the results produced by the PV Platform were widely promoted to all relevant stakeholders. This covered the preparation of both technical documents and non-technical documents and their distribution to relevant events.
Position papers were disseminated when required by the Steering Committee, as well as PV Platform communications were uploaded on the platform's website.
The General Assembly (GA) will continue to be the occasion where the leaders of different working groups summarise the work they have done since the previous GA and disseminate to additional stakeholders, decision makers and the European Commission. The biggest event of the PV Platform remains its annual General Assembly.
In 2011, the entire PV TP-SEC team organised the 6th General Assembly of the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform, entitled "Benefits of Photovoltaics for Europe's Energy and Economy" which took place on 30 June 2011, in Brussels, Belgium. About 200 stakeholders registered to the GA from industry, research, investment and politics. The European Commission was represented by Raffaele Liberali, Director for Energy, DG RTD -holding the keynote speech- and Michel Catinat, Head of Unit "ICT for Competitiveness and Industrial Innovation", DG Enterprise and Industry- delivering a presentation on 'The High Level Group on Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) as an initiative to fostering industrial growth'.
The event titled "Sustainability aspects for terawatt-scale photovoltaics" has been organised in the framework of the 26th EU PVSEC as an official side-event and the organisation of this was requested by the SC and the PV Platform. The Sustainability event took place on 8 September 2011, in Hamburg, Germany and it welcomed around 60 participants.
Members of the Steering Committee, with the support of the secretariat, have participated regularly to meetings with the European Commission and EPIA on the Solar Europe Industry Initiative and will be present, as well as delivering presentations during the SET-Plan Conference to be held on 28-29 November 2011 in Warsaw, Poland.
The next event on SEII will be jointly organised by EPIA and the PVTP on 7 September 2011, in Hamburg, choosing as its setting the EPIA Booth on the 26th EU PVSEC. The aim of this 'SEII Industry Consultations Workshop' will be to present the basics of the Solar Europe Industry Initiative (SEII) to the invited representatives from the Industry Advisory Committee.
With the support of the secretariat results of the EU PV TP were written in an easy-to-understand language, so to promote the interest of the general public for PV technology in ten "Photovoltaic Fact Sheets" tackling misperceptions bout PV technologies and answering common questions : www.eupvplatform.org/publications/misperceptions-fact-sheets-.
The first draft of updated "Photovoltaic Fact Sheets" will be ready for discussion at the middle of October and the new factsheet should be printed in December. Besides the ten updated fact sheets, the consortium will include two new ones: "Grid Integration" (by WIP) and "PV Competitiveness" (by EPIA).
During the second reporting period (from 01.09.2010 to 31.08.2011) a new section of the PV TP website has been implemented by EPIA. This section is dedicated to updates and news on the Solar Europe Industry Initiative (SEII) and to the ERANET call for solar electricity. General information and news on the evaluation of the SEII can be found on:
http://www.eupvplatform.org/news/solar-europe-industry-initiative-seii.html
Morever, the Platform is actively using and disseminating the previously created
"Solar Europe Industry Initiative - Implementation Plan" (www.eupvplatform.org/about-pv-platform/major-achievements) and "Solar Europe Industry Initiative - Realising the vision of the Photovoltaic sector" brochure (www.eupvplatform.org/publications/brochures) these serving as reference documentation.
The Platform, and WG3 members specially, are putting a extensive and thorough work in the preparation of the new Strategic Research Agenda (SRA 2) for the Photovoltaic Solar Energy Technology (to be published on 5 September during the 26th EU PVSEC in Hamburg). This will be presented in next year's report as required deliverable (D.4.1).
Potential Impact:
The project PV TP - SEC will lead to an increase of the efficiency and competitiveness of the research in the field of photovoltaics giving a fundamental contribution to the binding and mandatory European target for the year 2020, named 2020 targets:
* Renewable energy consumption to represent 20 % of the total energy EU consumption, with bio-fuel to supply 10% of all transport fuel
* GHG emissions reduced by 20%
* Energy efficiency increased by 20%
This project will foster the cooperation among all the relevant stakeholders of the PV sector and therefore optimize the coordination of the research work in various technology areas in line with the R&D targets of the new Strategic Research Agenda (SRA2). The SRA 2 is developed by the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform (EU PV TP) and will be published to the general public on 5 September 2011 during the 26th EU PVSEC. The Implementation plan of the SRA will lead the European research towards the development of the most promising technologies and as a consequence it will improve the competitiveness of the European research in the world.
Moreover, the project PV TP - SEC will give a fundamental contribution in carrying forward the proposal for the Solar Europe Industry Initiative (SEII), which is driven by the PV industry, in the framework of the SET Plan, and its implementation plan in order to reach the following targets:
* up to 12% of PV electricity produced by 2020
* the grid parity in most Europe by the 2020
* a competitive position of the EU PV Industry by 2020
The contribution of the technology and R&D to reach the targets mentioned in the SEII will be focused on the alignment of the academic research needs with the industry priorities. This will be done by splitting the responsibilities between industry and academic research and by classifying the R&D priorities depending on the time and exploitation in the short and medium / long terms.
The role of the PV TP - SEC secretariat will be fundamental for obtaining the alignment of the academic research needs with the industry priorities; indeed, this alignment can be reached only by supporting the communication and cooperation between the PV academic research and the PV industry.
In the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform, PV industry and research community will interact in one body having also the opportunity to exchange relevant information and obtain support from the market players and government representatives members of the EU PV TP. Position statement and recommendations regarding the Framework Programmes, EC Directives and SET Plan, will be done with one voice within the EU PV TP. Only through this process of optimisation, which is based on the fact that the all the relevant stakeholder interact in one body, it will be possible to achieve a clear and common EU PV research path towards the European 2020 targets and the target of SEII. This work will be done in line with the Implementation plan of Strategic Research Agenda (SRA), which is actually under development by the EU PV TP.
List of Websites:
http://www.eupvplatform.org
