Italian authorities investigate alleged illegal waste disposal at SunEdison PV power plant

PHOTON Info
Italian authorities have launched an investigation to determine whether an 11 MW PV power plant in the central Italian region of Lazio was used as an illegal dump site. According to newspaper Il Messaggero, local police and environmental authorities suspect the power plant site hosts illegal waste after they found non-compliant materials during an initial site survey.

The power plant in question, located in the municipality of Montalto di Castro, is owned by SunEdison Italia Srl, a subsidiary of US solar developer SunEdison. A press officer for SunEdison told PHOTON that the company was unaware of any wrongdoing, but she said if violations had occurred during construction, it would be the responsibility of Spanish construction company Montealto, whom SunEdison contracted to build the power plant: Until today, SunEdison was not aware of any violation of any environmental or other law in connection with the construction of the plant. SunEdison will do everything in its power to promptly correct any violations that may be identified. SunEdison will explore legal action against its former contractor or any of the subcontractors that may have breached any law during the construction of the plant.

100 GW of Solar PV Now Installed in the World Today

Renewable Energy News Article
Cumulative global installed [grid connected] solar PV capacity has topped the 100-gigawatt (GW) milestone, according to preliminary numbers from the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA). (...) Europe's 69 GW of total installed capacity is enough to produce roughly 2.6% of the region's electricity demand this year, and about 5.2% of peak electricity demand, according to the EPIA.
There's another important milestone in the EPIA's tally of solar PV. Countries outside of Europe connected 13 GW, up from 8 GW in 2011 and just 3 GW in 2010; at the same time Europe's PV installations fell from 23 GW in 2011 to 17 GW in 2012, its first decline since 2006. (...) Eight nations added at least a gigawatt of grid-connected capacity in 2012: Germany, China, Italy, the U.S., Japan, France, the U.K., and India. Thirteen nations (up from 8 in 2011) are in the gigawatt-club of cumulative solar installations: Germany, Italy, the U.S., China, Japan, Spain, France, Belgium, Australia, the Czech Republic, the U.K., Greece, and India.

 

Photovoltaics in Italy: more than 6,000 jobs at risk

GIFI
The Italian photovoltaic industry is in the balance: economic crisis, unstable political situation and new legislation  don't favor the growth and competitiveness of the PV companies. The regulatory changes that occurred in 2012 have challenged a sector that, until 2011, employed more than 100,000 people with an average age of less than 35 years. There are already many signs of downsizing and closures.
A survey conducted among 200 member companies of the Italian association of photovoltaic industry ANIE / GIFI, representing a turnover of 13.5 billion euro in 2011, concludes that the employment in the Italian photovoltaic industry has dropped  24% in 2012 , to which must be an expected decline of 7% in 2013 should be added .
"We are worried - explains Valerio Christmas, President of ANIE / GIFI - that over 6 000 workers will lose their jobs. Engineers and technicians are in danger. Highly qualified personnel for which companies have invested heavily in their training."

Global PV market reaches 27.7 GW in 2011

SolarServer
European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA, Brussels, Belgium) announced the release of a new report which finds that 27.7 GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity was commissioned globally in 2011, with 75% of the new global capacity in European nations. (...) "The PV industry is at a crossroads," said EPIA President Ingmar Wilhelm. "Whilst European markets have always outpaced home production, this will presumably no longer be the case in the years to come."
"New markets around the world will have to be opened up to drive PV development in the coming decade just as Europe accounted for it during the last decade."
These new capacities bring the world to an estimated 67.4 GW of global PV capacity at the end of 2011.
Contrary to the findings of other researchers, the EPIA ranks Italy as the world's largest market in 2011, followed by Germany, China, the United States, France and Japan, all of which installed more than 1 GW of new capacity.
EPIA states that the diversification of the global PV market can be considered the single most important achievement in the PV industry, but that many of these markets have addressed only a small part of their potential.

Italy Passes 7,000 MW of Total Installed Solar PV

Renewable Energy News
The interactive web page Atlasole created by Italy's Gestore dei Servizi Energetici (GSE) indicates that the country surpassed 7,000 MW of total installed solar photovoltaics (...) In 2009, Italy became the world's second largest market for annual installations of solar PV capacity, a position it held in 2010 and will likely hold again in 2011. Italy has quickly overtaken total installed capacity leaders Spain and Japan. (...) In 2010, solar PV generated 1.9 TWh of electricity. Solar PV currently installed may generate as much as 10 TWh in 2011 or three percent of Italy's 320 TWh annual consumption.

European PV markets to decline in 2011 despite PV price decreases

Solarbuzz
Solarbuzz announced a new report which (...) predicts that the aggregate European PV market will contract 14% in 2011 from 2010 levels, and that Italy will replace Germany as the continent's largest market by 2015.(...) The report estimates that crystalline silicon (c-Si) module prices from manufacturers reached record low prices of 0.75 €/Wp in the first half of 2011, as a result of excess inventories spreading upstream.
(...) Solarbuzz notes that the 169% growth of European PV markets in 2010 was driven by Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic, which represented 89% of the continent's demand [and due to] Italy's generous tariff rates, its market share will rise to 39% by 2015.
The report also predicts that over the next five years, the residential segment of European PV markets will double its share, while investor's groups fall, and commerical and agricultural customers remain the largest market segment.

Solar's Outlook Dazzles

RenewableEnergyWorld.com
At the end of last year, the global photovoltaic market hit a cumulative installed capacity of 40 GW, of which 16.6 GW was added during 2010. A year of unprecedented growth saw new capacity more than double from 7.2 GW in 2009. Worldwide, solar PV already produces some 50 TWh each year. By 2015, though, capacity could climb to range from 131 GW to 196 GW. (...) Germany continued to lead the PV market worldwide, with 7.4 GW installed over the year, while Italy added a substantial 2.3 GW. Other countries with significant growth included the Czech Republic, which saw a 1.5 GW expansion in 2010, a rise unlikely to be sustained in 2011. Japan gained 990 MW, the United States 900 MW, and France 700 MW. Spain regained some ground by installing 370 MW after two years of strongly adverse conditions. Belgium connected more than 420 MW of PV.

Worldwide Solar PV Market Reaches Record High of 6.43 Gigawatt in 2009
Worldwide solar photovoltaic installations reached a record high of 6.43gigawatt (GW) in 2009, a 6%Y/Y growth, according to the latest Marketbuzz 2010 Report from Solarbuzz, an international solar energy market research and consulting company, and a division of The NPD Group. In addition, the company reported that the PV industry generated $38billion in global revenues in 2009, while successfully raising more than $13.5billion in equity and debt, up 8% on the prior year. (...) European countries accounted for 4.75GW, or 74% of world demand in 2009. The top three countries in Europe were Germany, Italy and Czech Republic, which collectively accounted for 4.07GW. All three countries experienced soaring demand with Italy becoming the second largest market in the world. In contrast, Spanish demand in 2009 collapsed to just 4% of its prior year level. The third largest market in the world was the US, which grew 36% to 485MW. Following closely behind was a rejuvenated Japan, ranked fourth and growing 109% Y/Y.
Worldwide solar cell production reached a consolidated figure of 9.34GW in 2009, up from 6.85GW a year earlier, with thin film production accounting for 18% of that total. China and Taiwan production continued to build share and now accounts for 49% of global cell production. Of total European demand, net cell imports accounted for 74% of the total. The top seven polysilicon manufacturers had 114,500 tons per annum of capacity in 2009, up 92%Y/Y, while the top eight wafer manufacturers accounted for 32.9% of global wafer capacity in 2009. Solar cell production exceeding the market demand caused the weighted crystalline silicon module price average for 2009 to crash 38% from the prior year level. This reduction in crystalline silicon prices also had the effect of eroding their percentage premium to thin film factory gate pricing.