INDUSTRYNETWORKING
Integrated Future
Germany leads the world in the solar and PV industry and have instigated a special exhibition, “PV ENERGY WORLD” to look at the
26
country’s future plans to
integrate PV into the national energy mix.
T
he share of photovoltaics in German electricity supply continues to grow and is set to rise from 3% to 10% by 2020. However, in order for the power supply system to smoothly accommodate this level of solar power, it needs to become more sophisticated and flexible. The “PV ENERGY WORLD” Special Exhibition at Intersolar Europe in Munich has been designed to reflect the importance of this issue in the future development of photovoltaics. This exhibition will highlight the growth potential of solar power in the German energy mix and also illustrate the measures, technological advances and political conditions necessary to achieve the set targets.
Between 2009 and 2010, the German market for solar power installations almost doubled. According to estimates from the German Federal Network Agency, more than 240,000 new photovoltaic installations with a total output of 7.25 gigawatts (GW) were connected to the grid in 2010. By the end of the year, the total installed PV capacity had therefore increased to around 17 GW. The percentage of solar power in the German energy mix is anticipated to rise from the current share of 3% to approximately 10% by 2020.
The German Solar Industry Association (BSW- Solar) expects the total installed PV output to be between 52 and 70 GW by then. Solar power will therefore continually evolve into a mainstay of a sustainable energy system. Developments in German power supply Solar power installations in Germany already generate a considerable share of electricity within the German energy mix.
In the future, these installations will therefore also need to actively help stabilize the power network. Inverters will therefore be used in the future to stabilize the voltage and frequency, for example by feeding reactive power into the grid. According to recent studies, this measure alone will allow up to 200% additional solar power to be connected to the grid. Owners of photovoltaic installations using more of their own solar electricity is another way of taking the burden off the infrastructure. To increase the ratio of on-site consumption, manufacturers have started offering more and more solutions which move power consumption to times of the day when solar power is produced, or which store solar power until the evening.
As the production of solar power is decentralized and fluctuates depending on the level of solar irradiation, the power supply system also needs to be adapted to these new requirements. For example, intelligent electricity grids, known as “smart grids” could be established by further developing communications equipment. The exhibition will demonstrate which concrete steps are necessary to increase the market share of solar power. The exhibition will present the energy mix of the future and illustrate the size of the role that PV can play in it. The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE will be responsible for managing and designing the exhibition’s content. The four thematic areas of “Smart Grid”, “Smart PV Building + E-Mobility”, “Smart PV Cities” and “Smart PV Technology and Economy” will illustrate the measures, technologies and political conditions necessary to increase PV generation.
© 2011 Angel Business Communications. Permission required.
www.solar-pv-management.com Issue V 2011
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48