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Draft summary, October 2013 (awaiting Top Team Energy priorities and decisions)
PV in the Netherlands
The PV systems market in the Netherlands grew explosively in 2012, with the capacity added in one year being bigger than the cumulative capacity of the two decades before. The combination of net metering and low prices makes PV an attractive investment for all consumers and for a growing number of SMEs. By the end of 2012, some 345 MWp was installed. 2012 was great year for the upstream part of the Dutch PV sector with almost 1000 companies active in installation (most of them have PV as a side business). The upstream part of the Dutch PV sector, mainly focused on manufacturing equipment & technology and materials, is strongly dependent on export and therefore suffers from the global situation. Companies spend their reserves and their time on preparing for better times, which hopefully will arrive soon. In concrete terms, this means that companies develop low cost, but
particularly high-efficiency technologies that are expected to be the focus of capacity expansions in the future.
TKI Solar Energy Program Lines and their contributions to the targets The TKI Solar Energy program is organized along the following Program Lines: 1. Integration 1a. Physical integration (buildings, infrastructure, landscape) - Solar Energy for the Built Environment ('ZEGO'; programming jointly with TKI EnerGO) Integrated PV - BIPV and I2PV. PV landscape architecture - maximizing output, minimizing impact. 1b. Electrical integration (grid) - Smart solar energy solutions Concepts for a very high degree of grid penetration (incl. storage and joint approaches with Wind Energy, Smart Grids and (power to) Gas) and fundamental development of future smart energy systems and system integration concepts.
Smart modules - integrated functionality for integration and yield maximization Production forecasting and virtual power plants 1c. Smart Energy City Initiative (with TKIs EnerGO and Switch2SmartGrids) 2. Generation 2a. Generic (enabling) technology development and combinations of PV technologies Development of generic and cross-cutting solutions for different PV technologies and production processes. Development of very high efficiency PV concepts based on crystalline silicon PV, thinfilm PV and combinations of different PV technologies. 2b. Thin-film PV technologies Increasing output and decreasing costs of thin-film PV concepts, by improving related production processes and equipment and by application of new materials. 2c. Wafer-based silicon PV technologies Increasing output and decreasing costs of wafer-based crystalline silicon PV cells and modules, by improving related production processes and equipment and by application of new device architectures and materials. 2d. Application-specific developments and demonstration Building a dedicated facility for pilot production and demonstration of integrated, high-performance PV products based on Dutch knowledge. Development of application-specific materials and PV product designs (e.g. for extreme operating conditions) and large-scale field testing and demonstration thereof.
3. Organisation 3a. Human Capital Agenda 3b. Internationalisation Agenda (including participation in EU programs) 3c. Further strengthening SME participation and business development (jointly with Syntens and Agency NL) 3d. Organising the Dutch PV sector, TKI program development, Top Sector-wide initiatives Program Line 1 contributes directly to the TKI deployment target in GWp, since it addresses the advanced system hardware needed for large-scale deployment in a densely populated country at very high degrees of grid penetration. Program Line 2 contributes indirectly to that volume target, by developing cost-competitive cells and modules that may be manufactured abroad, but will also be used in the Netherlands (note that approximately 50% of all solar modules produced worldwide contain Dutch technology). Program Lines 1 and 2 both contribute directly to the TKI employment target. Program Line 3 is supportive to the other two Program Lines.
ECN Solar Energy contributions to the TKI Action Plan 2014 ECN Solar Energys 2014 R&D plan closely follows the TKI priorities. The scope of ECNs plan, however, is narrower, because the TKI Plan describes R&D by all partners in the Netherlands, of which ECN is one, although an important. ECN priorities are highlighted in red in the TKI priorities. 1. Integration 1a. Physical integration (buildings, infrastructure, landscape) - Solar Energy for the Built Environment ('ZEGO'; programming jointly with TKI EnerGO) Integrated PV - BIPV and I2PV (application-related aspects of module technology). PV landscape architecture - maximizing output, minimizing impact. 1b. Electrical integration (grid) - Smart solar energy solutions Concepts for a very high degree of grid penetration (incl. storage and joint approaches with Wind Energy, Smart Grids and (power to) Gas) and fundamental development of future smart energy systems and system integration concepts. Smart modules - integrated functionality for integration and yield maximization Production forecasting and virtual power plants 1c. Smart Energy City Initiative (with TKIs EnerGO and Switch2SmartGrids) 2. Generation 2a. Generic (enabling) technology development and combinations of PV technologies Development of generic and cross-cutting solutions for different PV technologies and production processes including ECNs part in Solliance. Development of very high efficiency PV concepts based on crystalline silicon PV, thinfilm PV and combinations of different PV technologies including ECNs participation in the NWO-program supporting the Top Sector Energy. 2b. Thin-film PV technologies Increasing output and decreasing costs of thin-film PV concepts, by improving related production processes and equipment and by application of new materials ECNs part in Solliance. 2c. Wafer-based silicon PV technologies Increasing output and decreasing costs of wafer-based crystalline silicon PV cells and modules, by improving related production processes and equipment and by application of new device architectures and materials. 2d. Application-specific developments and demonstration Building a dedicated facility for pilot production and demonstration of integrated, high-performance PV products based on Dutch knowledge ECN as technology partner in a Dutch industry consortium. Development of application-specific materials and PV product designs (e.g. for extreme operating conditions) and large-scale field testing and demonstration thereof.
3. Organisation 3a. Human Capital Agenda 3b. Internationalisation Agenda (including participation in EU programs) 3c. Further strengthening SME participation and business development (jointly with Syntens and Agency NL) 3d. Organising the Dutch PV sector, TKI program development (ECNs contribution to TKI management), Top Sector-wide initiatives