News

Renewables 'help jobs and growth'

Edwin Koot — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:31:58 +0000

BBC - The renewable energy industry supports 110,000 jobs in the UK and could support 400,000 by 2020, a report says.

The Renewable Energy Association (REA) and consultants Innovas conclude that the industry is worth £12.5bn per year to the UK economy.
Last week the European Commission said low-carbon generation and energy efficiency could generate five million jobs across the EU by 2020.

Read full article online

UK tops 1 GW of installed solar capacity

Edwin Koot — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 13:02:27 +0000

26.02.2012: The UK now has more the 1 GW of installed solar capacity, according to the Guardian newspaper. The newspaper notes that when the UK introduced the solar feed-in-tariff (FIT) scheme in Aug. 2010, the country only had 26 MW of solar capacity. Earlier this month, UK Minister of Energy Greg Barker said he wants the FIT scheme to deliver 22 GW of installed photovoltaic capacity by 2020. … Source: The Guardian; Summary: PHOTON

More info:

http://www.guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/23/feed-in-tariff-solar-breakthrough

Britains energy ministry submits new plan to cut feed-in tariff

Edwin Koot — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:52:11 +0000

19.01.2012: The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has announced contingency plans to delay the cut to the country’s solar feed-in tariff (FIT), in the event that it loses a legal case at the Court of Appeal about the tariffs. DECC wrote in a statement that it is laying before Parliament draft license modifications that make provisions for a reduced FIT rate from April 1, 2012, onward for new photovoltaic (PV) installations with eligibility dates from March 2012 or later. DECC Minister Greg Barker said, “I know this is a difficult time for the sector and I want to do as much as I can to end the current uncertainty created by the legal challenge. We must reduce the level of FITs for solar panels as quickly as possible, to protect consumer bills and to avoid bust in the whole feed-in-tariff budget." The Court of Appeal recently postponed making a decision on the DECC’s challenge to a December High Court ruling that questioned the legality of the government’s proposed changes to the solar FIT scheme. The High Court said that bringing forward the cutoff date to Dec. 12, which fell in the middle of an ongoing public consultation on changes to the FIT scheme, would be unlawful. ... Source: DECC; summary: PHOTON

More info:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/fits_jan12upd/fits_jan12upd.aspx
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/wmsch_fits/wmsch_fits.aspx

Feed-in tariff rates will not be further reduced before April 2012

Edwin Koot — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:43:21 +0000

At a meeting with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) the BPVA were told that there is a “high level of certainty” that the proposed feed-in tariff rates of 21p and below will remain unchanged until April 2012. This news casts aside fears that Government will further reduce the already slashed feed-in tariff rates for solar before April 2012.

On October 31 this year DECC revealed plans to reduce the feed-in tariff incentive rates for solar installations below 250kW. At the residential level, these cuts would go as deep as 50 percent, chopping the rates down from 43.3p per kilowatt hour down to just 21p. These new rates were said to take effect from April 2012, with a cut-off deadline of December 12 (today) for installations which were to receive the higher rates – despite the fact that the consultation would not end until December 23.

Outrage begun to spread through the UK solar industry as the legality of imposing an installation deadline weeks before the consultation on the policy ended, prompting yet more uncertainty in the already concerned industry.

While there was a great amount of backlash in response to the proposed feed-in tariff cuts, many found that the new rates were acceptable, especially with the falling cost of solar photovoltaic technology. However, those rushing to install systems before the cut-off point begun to worry that the incentive rates could again be reduced, with the principle ‘nothing is certain’ saturating the market.

However, we can reveal today that the Department has sought legal advice on how it can now proceed. According to our source, the Government hopes to respond to the consultation in January 2012 and will need to do so by February 8, 2012 at the latest, if rates are to be changed from April 1, 2012 as proposed. Government is aware that the industry needs certainty as soon as possible and says that it “will strive to announce a decision quickly.”

Government would “almost certainly” not be able to set a tariff below 21p (or the other tariffs proposed in the FiTs Phase 1 consultation) without a further consultation. If this were the case, changes could not be implemented on or before April 1, 2012, as there is simply not enough time to launch a new consultation between now and then.

This news provides at least four months of assurance for an industry which has to date experienced nothing but uncertainty. The ongoing level of tariffs for solar PV, together with proposals for a cost control mechanism for feed-in tariffs, will be part of the feed-in tariff Phase II consultation, which will be published some time in January 2012.

Source: BPVA

FITs cut "unlawful" says Judge

Edwin Koot — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:41:18 +0000

In a dramatic judgement yesterday at the High Court, Mr Justice Mitting found Government Ministers had acted unlawfully in cutting feed-in tariffs from the 12th December. After a two day hearing closely examining the law, he decided that Ministers were not following the correct legal process, and were wrong to reduce tariff rates without first laying regulations before Parliament.

Mr Justice Mittings finding was so emphatic that he went on to refuse the Government the right to appeal, saying they stood little chance of overturning it. This does not stop the Government asking the Appeal Court to hear their case - but in an unusual move Mr Justice Mitting even reduced the time available for them to make this request, saying they must file legal arguments with the Appeal Court by 4th January.

As things now stand therefore, the "eligibility date" of 12th December is unlawful, and Government will have to table new proposals. A new date is likely to be around the end of February - this would give time for the 40 day period of consideration the law requires which Ministers ignored this time around. However if the Government do appeal the finding - as they have said they will - and successfully overturn it, they will be able to re-impose the 12th December date. This means that while there is a good chance of a later eligibility date, it will not be possible to guarantee the higher rates to customers until the legal process has finished.

Clearly this adds to the uncertainty for the next few weeks - but the longer-term effect of holding the Government to account and insisting on due process ought to reinforce the demands that Government must never again throw the solar industry - or indeed any part of the new environmental industries - into the kind of turmoil solar has faced in the last couple of months. The finding is also intensely embarassing for Ministers, as it once again throws the spotlight on their botched handling of the entire policy.

What is now needed is for Ministers to take the criticism on the chin, and start afresh from here, drawing up a sensible path forward that takes solar from current levels of subsidy to grid parity in a predictable way that allows the industry to develop. It is time for Ministers to recognise that the fact solar prices have fallen faster than expected is a good news story, not a reason to shrink the industry. It is disappointing that despite the Judge warning they are unlikely to succeed, Ministers are still proposing to drag the process out further - but it is worth keeping fingers crossed that a break over Christmas, and some fresh legal advice will cause them to think again. They can be assured that if they take the sensible path, the solar industry will be with them.

UK government seeks appeal against High Court ruling

Edwin Koot — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 08:40:14 +0000

04.01.2012: Yesterday the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was to submit the grounds for an appeal against a ruling on solar energy by the country’s High Court, according to a DECC spokesperson. Last month, the High Court concluded that cuts to the UK’s solar feed-in tariffs were illegal – a decision that followed a legal challenge by the Friends of the Earth association and the solar firms HomeSun and Solarcentury. Friends of the Earth stated that an appeal by the government “means solar businesses can't be sure what tariff payment solar projects installed now will receive” and added that “the uncertainty is crippling businesses and costing jobs.” A DECC spokesperson says that the government hopes it can secure a hearing “as soon as possible” and notes that the government “disagrees with the court's decision.” Friends of the Earth is also calling on the government to increase the budget for solar in order to allow more people to benefit from the technology. … Source: UK Department of Energy and Climate Change, Friends of the Earth, PHOTON; Summary: PHOTON

More information at:

www.foe.co.uk
www.solarcentury.co.uk

Declining solar module prices offer great opportunities in endangered UK PV market

Edwin Koot — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 09:49:43 +0000

London, UK, 21 June 2011 – Keynote speakers from “The Solar Future, UK” have shared their insights into the future of the UK solar photovoltaic (PV) market, following the Government’s announcement to slash feed-in tariff (FiT) rates by up to 72% for solar arrays over 50kWp.

Commenting on the current state of the UK solar PV market Edwin Koot, Chief Executive of Solarplaza, said: “There are two sides to the UK market today: a buoyant market for domestic and smaller commercial installations that is very competitive, but which will undoubtedly be subject to a reduced tariff from next year; and a large-scale market that’s in a state of shock and depression. But with module prices falling so rapidly, the economics of even large-scale projects can change very quickly. The UK is an interesting place to be involved in solar right now. Manufacturers, installers and investors need to be prepared to react quickly to the opportunities that arise, and to do that they need a very good understanding of the business context.”

Responding to the outcome of the fast-track FiTs review, Shadow Energy Minister Huw Irranca-Davies said: “The announcement on the FiT smacks of a Government strong on words, lacking in action and at odds with its stated aim of being ‘the greenest Government ever’. Minister Greg Barker’s decision to go ahead with the proposed tariff reductions for solar PV installations larger than 50kW hammers a nail into the coffin of many future modest medium-scale community, school and hospital schemes, risking thousands of jobs in an industry that was beginning to flourish, and shows there is no coherent strategy for decentralised energy.”

Meanwhile Ray Noble, solar photovoltaic (PV) specialist at the Renewable Energy Association, blames the Treasury for the outcome of the review. He said, “The UK Government appears in total chaos relating to the future of solar energy all as a result of calamitous mistake by DECC in its previous Comprehensive Spending Review submission to the Treasury. The Treasury will not allow DECC to correct its error and this could seriously affect the rate of growth of solar in the UK. The solar industry is calling on the Prime Minister to intervene.

“The solar industry is reducing prices significantly and is playing its part in moving solar energy in the UK towards being a mainstream electricity generator, the latest predictions show grid parity could be reached before 2017.”

Speaking of what needs to happen now, Juliet Davenport, CEO and founder of 100% renewable electricity supplier Good Energy, said, “Good Energy thinks the Government needs to do a lot more to recognise the important role solar has to play in Britain’s future energy mix. One of the casualties of the FiT review will be community-sized schemes, as well as others involving public buildings such as libraries, schools and hospitals, which all have the potential to contribute to a low-carbon future. Other countries with a similar climate to the UK, such as Germany, have placed solar at the heart of their renewable energy policy and Britain is in danger of being left behind. What is important now is that the Government learns the lessons from the FiT review and develops a clear strategy to support decentralised energy in the UK.”

“The Solar Future, UK” takes place on 29 June at Central Hall, Westminster. It will bring together more than 150 industry experts to analyse the future of the UK solar PV market; featuring presentations from DECC, Ofgem, the NFU and many others. For more information and to register, please visit: www.thesolarfuture.co.uk/registration

Notes to the editor
Solar PV installations under 50kW will remain unaffected, but for larger installations, the tariffs are as follows:
•   >50 kW – ≤ 150 kW – 19.0p/kWh
•   >150 kW – ≤ 250 kW – 15.0p/kWh
•   250 kW – 5 MW and stand-alone installations – 8.5p/kWh

Solarplaza (www.solarplaza.com) is an international platform which organises top-level conferences, seminars and trade missions around the globe. Its mission is to empower the solar industry. The platform www.solarplaza.com provides and shares knowledge, networking opportunities and information. Solarplaza firmly believes in a renewable future: a future built upon the power of solar energy. Since the founding of Solarplaza in 2004 it has built up an extensive network of valuable friends, associates, business contacts and solar experts.

Price of solar panels to drop to $1 by 2013, report forecasts

Edwin Koot — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 09:46:55 +0000

Ernst & Young analysis suggests that falling solar and rising fossil fuel prices could make large-scale installations cost-competitive without government support within a decade.

Prices of solar panels are falling so fast that by 2013 they will be half of what they cost in 2009, according to a report from Ernst & Young that argues solar electricity could play "an important role" in meeting the UK's renewable energy targets.

The average one-off installation cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels has already dropped from more than $2 (£1.23) per unit of generating capacity in 2009 to about $1.50 in 2011. Based on broker reports and industry analysis, the report forecasts that those rates of decline will continue, with prices falling close to the $1 mark in 2013.

At present, solar PV is economically viable in the UK for homeowners, businesses and investors only because of government subsidies given out via feed-in tariffs (Fits). But the new analysis suggests that falling PV panel prices and rising fossil fuel prices could together make large-scale solar installations cost-competitive without government support within a decade – sooner than is usually assumed.

The report was commissioned by the Solar Trade Association (STA) from Ernst & Young's energy and environmental infrastructure advisory unit in response to the recent shake-up of Fits, which saw government support for large solar systems significantly reduced. This was a result of the government's decision to cap the total that could be spent via Fits and weight the limited budget in favour of domestic and other small-scale installations.

Read the full article at Guardian.co.uk

Solar module prices come down another 20% in just five months

Edwin Koot — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 10:07:05 +0000

Growing industry and government budget cuts force prices to drop

Solar modules prices have dropped by another 20% during the first five months of 2011. Top-brand modules are now available at $1,40 per watt and sometimes even less. Half-way through 2008, the sales price still stood at around $4 per watt. Why are prices plummeting and where will this end?

A decade of continuous growth
Last year, the global solar PV market grew an astonishing 100%. For any industry in the midst of a global economic crisis, this is not a bad result. And it was not the first time this spectacular growth had occurred - it first happened back in 2008. Only in 2009 did the global crisis hit the PV market, slowing growth down to around 15%.
Since 2001, the global PV market showed an average growth rate of 50% of new installations per year. No wonder the solar industrial players invested heavily in capacity expansion. After a decade of continuous growth, it does not look as if there is any turbulence ahead for the solar PV market. After all, governments will continue to seek sustainable energy solutions and fossil fuel independence. And as for the end user, the majority would definitely prefer clean solar energy if available at competitive prices.

Still more industry entrants
Even more stimulated by the glorious market demand figures we saw in 2010, the solar industry invested heavily in capacity expansion. This will bring down cost and sales prices, helping it to reach the holy grail of grid parity even sooner.
But, besides the rapid growth of the existing industry leaders, many new players have been attracted too by the growth figures and market forecasts. New small companies and very large (Asian) corporations have started to produce silicon, cells and solar modules. And why not? Market saturation is nowhere to be seen. It does not look as if the solar energy market will stop growing some day - apart from the odd temporary slow-down.

Government budget cuts
At the same time, governments of leading markets saw budget claims for Feed-in-Tariffs in 2010 go through the roof. In the light of general budget cuts and economic problems, Germany, France, the Czech Republic and Italy therefore decided to cut back the FiTs and other grants for 2011. The purpose of this move is to cool down the explosive market growth and excessive budget claims. Not only did they lower the tariffs (subsidies); the revised schemes mean that smaller and roof systems are favoured over big ground-mounted power plants.
The subsidy reductions are forcing the solar industry to reduce cost and system prices in order to remain attractive to its customers, ensuring it still provides an attractive return on investment. Besides, the shift from fewer large-scale power plants to more smaller-scale systems will be a more costly job in terms of sales efforts.

Governments cutting budgets to cool market growth
The result of a rapidly expanding industry on the one hand, coupled with budget cuts on the other have led to a rapid fall in prices. The industry is growing at full speed, and facing more competition in the major leading markets. Germany, France, the Czech Republic, Italy, etc. are being cooled down with seriously lower incentives. This parallel development produces a cocktail which will bring about a rapid price decline for solar modules, inverters and total solar PV systems....
In order to control further budget cuts, these countries will calculate their FiT levels for 2012 in accordance with market growth in 2011 or on solar module price development. It is even possible that these leading markets will (slightly) shrink in 2011 (Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy) compared to the record year of 2010. Although the dynamics are hard to forecast, the promising emerging markets (India, China, etc) are yet not big enough to make up for any slower growth in these leading markets. Nevertheless, with system prices going down rapidly, it might very well be that we can expect another year of global growth.

Spiral of declining prices
Of course, new markets are popping up. But governments closely follow the leading markets, introducing FiTs and incentives according to the latest market prices. In the UK, the incentives for large-scale power plants were drastically cut, even less then a year after their introduction.
Inevitably, this spiral of developments leads to (rapidly) falling system and component prices. And the dynamics are hard to control. The existing leading industry players will fight hard (i.e. lower their prices) to capture and increase their share of the market. New players will fight hard to enter the market. And if the market continues to grow substantially, governments will lower the FiTs even more in order to control the overall budgets.

Where and when will this spiral end? Well, not until solar system prices have reached a point where subsidies, grants or FiTs are no longer necessary to make solar energy competitive with other energy sources. And in some markets, this is already a close call for certain market segments. Germany and Italy, with high electricity prices, are serious candidates to reach grid parity for residential customers next year.

New era of strong growth on the horizon
Industry leaders and experts forecast that solar modules will be sold for under $1 per watt three years from now. An average decline of module prices of around 7-10% per year. Large solar PV systems and power plants could then become feasible at $2 per watt. This will lead to competitive prices for solar electricity, without any government support.
Inevitably, this development will change the business models. In the near future, solar PV systems will be sold as energy and cost saving devices - whereas currently they are sold as profit generators based on government subsidies. With regular electricity prices likely to increase, and as solar system prices continue to decline in the near future, an infinite market is appearing on the horizon. The solar industry can prepare itself for an era of continuous tremendous market growth. But first it needs to fight to get itself through the coming years.

Edwin Koot is CEO of Solarplaza, organiser of The Solar Future: UK Conference on 29 June 2011 in London. More info can be found at www.thesolarfuture.co.uk and www.solarplaza.com

10 Myths Surrounding Solar Energy

Edwin Koot — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 12:27:06 +0000

“Solar panels are unsightly, have low efficiency, cost tons of subsidy money and have a high carbon footprint."
Edwin Koot addresses the 10 major myths surrounding solar energy.

1. Generating solar energy is only possible in countries with an abundance of sunshine
The fact is, the sun's energy is the most evenly-spread source of energy in the world. In any part of the world where there is light, solar panels will work. The world’s largest market for solar energy is Germany, a country not particularly blessed with long sun-filled days, but a country with a smart government nonetheless. In the summer, almost 10% of the household electricity in the south of Germany is generated by solar panels.

Of course, when you’re developing systems in the Sahara region, your return on investment (ROI) will be higher - but many other factors come into play, such as the presence of a grid, the local consumer price for electricity, your energy usage pattern, the political stability in your country, your need for independence from external sources of energy, and much more. As an example, in Northern Alaska it is smarter to invest in solar energy than to pull a cable from a far-away power plant or grid connection point.

2. Solar panels are only attractive in niche markets
Solar energy is an attractive product in any place in which people need electricity - which nowadays is anywhere in the civilised world, globally. That is a much larger market than just large-scale solar plants in desert areas, which are very competitive markets because they require the creation of new grids, are competing with wholesale electricity prices and are crowded with many other power-generating enterprises.

When you focus on solar panels that can be mounted on a rooftop, for household or entrepreneurial use, you can compete against the local consumer and corporate rates for electricity. You can compare this with the market for compact fluorescent lamps, where the consumer saves money on a longer term by investing a small sum of money. The ROI is made at the end-consumer level: the cost of the electricity bill. The investments are very simple, and no new grids or other types of costly infrastructure are needed.

3. Solar energy needs a lot of public financial support and could never become competitive
“People will never buy laptops.” “Flat-screen televisions are too expensive for the general consumer market.” “Mobile communication is too expensive in comparison with landlines.” These are some of the opinions that we have heard in the past - and how untrue they are! Laptops, flat-screen televisions and mobile phones are now everywhere, because people wanted them and were willing to pay for them - with the result that in the end prices fell due to mass production methods that could be applied for these innovative products. The same is now happening with solar energy systems.

In the past three years, the prices of solar panels have dropped by half, as a result of the introduction of large-scale production methods. Market research shows that innovative consumers want solar energy now. In five years’ time the masses will also switch over, as throughout Europe solar energy will have become cheaper than the polluting electricity from the grid.

Public funding was created in the past to accelerate this process of acceptance by the general consumer. In the largest markets, subsidies are now in the process of being terminated. By next year, Italy and Germany will see their non-subsidised solar energy already proving cheaper than electricity from the grid. The other European countries will soon follow this trend.

And further countries will follow worldwide, for the simple reason that the global market is growing bigger and solar systems are being produced on a larger scale, resulting in cheaper modules. That is one thing that’s for sure. The other side is that nobody knows what the costs for traditional energy will be 10 years from now. Today, new nuclear plants are not even being built without substantial government funding because their future is so insecure.

4. The efficiency of solar panels is still too low
True, there’s room for improvement. Like cars getting more economical every year, solar panels are getting more efficient every year. Does this mean that the current panels aren’t good enough? No, the technology is mature. What is at stake now is not the efficiency of panels, but the price per generated kilowatt-hour. Just as it is no longer about the type of motor in a car, but rather about how much fuel the motor consumes per mile.

There will still be new types of solar panel developed, with improved efficiency, but the real success of solar energy in the future will lie in large-scale production and the growth of the global market. A low purchasing price for a solar panel will be the determining factor for low-cost generation of solar energy for the consumer.

Are you waiting before buying a car because the models will be better, faster and greener in two years' time? Not if you need a car right now… In the same way, people need solar panels right now and buy them now, because they help them realise certain goals, such as independency from the grid, lower electricity costs and a carbon footprint shift. No new technologies are needed to create a breakthrough for solar panels. Solar panels are the breakthrough.

5. Solar panels have a high carbon footprint and are not sustainable
Solar panels are usually made from silicon. Silicon is found in sand, one of the most widespread natural elements on earth. The ovens used to transform the sand into silicon use a lot of energy - that is true. But the payback time for the energy used to produce a solar panel is only one to two years. This means that in this time the panel generates the total amount of energy that has been used in its entire production.

All power generated after the payback time is pure green profit, while solar panels can last 25 to 40 years! Other sources of energy have much longer payback times. Specifically, nuclear power plants have extremely long payback times - so long in fact that it is questionable whether all the power that generated during their lifetime is enough to pay for the energy used to build and disassemble them.

6. Solar panels are unreliable because they do not work on cloudy days or during the night
Right now, the wind energy market is (still) bigger than the solar energy market, although the sun is a more reliable source of energy than the wind. But solar energy will soon surpass wind energy - firstly because solar panels can be used anywhere, and secondly because they can be implemented in a modular way. This means that it is very easy to expand the solar energy system over the course of months or years.

The combination of solar and wind energy is a nice option, but the future lies in the combination of solar energy with energy storage at both the local and central levels, especially now that the market for transport of electricity is set to develop further.

The market for decentralised energy storage is also going to be a phenomenal growth market. Decentralised energy storage in batteries makes it possible to store the power generated during the day and use it in the night. An example is charging your electric car at night. Energy storage is already a hot item - you only have to think of laptops, iPods, iPads and electric scooters and bicycles - but solar energy will give this market a massive boost. The combination solar power generation and energy storage for later use is a perfect one.

The central energy storage market and solar energy systems market will stimulate each other mutually because when storage gets cheaper, it becomes cheaper to generate solar energy with the purpose of storing it and using it at a later stage.

7. The major energy corporations do not believe in solar energy and thus it cannot be good
Shell has ended their engagement with solar energy. Exxon does nothing with solar energy. Many of the large energy corporations prefer to invest in coal power plants. But, don’t expect a wholesale slaughterhouse to specialise in gourmet green meat products. Shell has oil in its blood and their business is based on it. Large multinationals are like large tankers on the ocean: they are very difficult to manoeuvre and cannot make quick changes in their course.

Solar energy is a sport for fast and flexible entrepreneurs, with a preference for innovation and sustainability. The market is volatile and ever-changing, like the wind in the sails of an elegant and fast-sailing ship. An entrepreneur in solar energy has to be like the shipper of such a sailing ship, sometimes tacking in headwind, sometimes sailing with ease down the wind - but never windless…

And in this light, the electronics market giant Sharp, a worldwide market leader in solar panels, has shown us that some large companies do believe in solar panels. Sharp has understood that the mass production of solar panels would lower their price, and that ‘mass = cash’. The mass market for solar panels is about to enter the playing field – and not just in Japan.

Shell has predicted that in 2040, 50% of worldwide energy will be generated by sustainable sources. Chances are big that sooner or later Shell will buy one of the consolidated winners in the solar energy market. Some of the ‘small’ solar panel-producing companies have already grown into large corporations, with thousands of employees and turnarounds of a few billion dollars per year.

Google grew in ten years to become one of the largest companies worldwide - so why not a company in solar energy systems?

8. Solar energy has no role in global energy generation
Today, solar energy provides only 1% of the worldwide energy needs. But this contribution could be growing surprisingly fast. Germany is the guiding country, where it is expected that in five years' time, 10% of all energy used will come from solar panels.

And what Germany can do, other countries can do too. For emerging economies, building large coal or nuclear power plants has already become redundant, as solar panels are becoming so cheap so quickly. You can compare this with the introduction of the mobile phone in India and other countries that didn’t even have a mature landline grid. Those grids were never further developed and never will be, because they were made redundant by the introduction of the mobile technology. The same thing could happen with the introduction of solar energy in emerging countries' markets. The building of new, large power plants will become redundant, because individual, decentralised power generation is cheaper, more efficient and much more flexible.

The photovoltaic world market has grown by over 100% in 2010, compared to 2009, and it already started to grow in this way in 2009. If this logarithmic growth percentage of 100% continues, then solar energy will cover the entire global energy needs in less than ten years' time!

9. Solar panels are unsightly and take up a lot of space
That really depends on personal taste. Of course, there will always be people who believe a smoking chimney of a coal power plant is the apex of industrial technology and aesthetics. Other people don’t mind showing that they are generating their own electricity and therefore have solar panels on their roofs. Anyway, there will always be enough space on earth for all the solar panels ever needed.

Mind you, only a relatively small desert area of 200 by 250 kilometres (125 by 155 miles) filled with today's solar panel technology would be needed to fulfil Europe's entire electricity requirements. But, luckily, we don’t have to enter into those beautiful desert landscapes because there is enough roof area available in Europe to realise this supply. And on a lot of roofs, the panels won’t even be visible.

Also, more attractive panels will be introduced on the market as production methods and innovations progress. Compare this with modern-day cars, which are so beautiful, compared to the vintage cars of the ‘sixties and seventies… or not?

10. Solar energy systems are unreliable and require maintenance
Solar energy systems do not have moving parts and therefore require no or hardly any maintenance. The most fragile part in a grid-connected solar energy system is the inverter, which converts the DC from the solar panels into AC equal to the voltage of the grid.

An inverter costs about 10% of your total energy system cost. It consists of some pieces of micro-electronics, can last about ten years, and can easily be replaced - and by then probably at an even lower price.

Only in dry and dusty climates can it become necessary to clean the panels regularly with a little water. If you live in an environment where it rains often, you don’t even need to do that.

A solar panel recycling programme has already been implemented in many countries, so if, after 25 years of loyal service you need to replace your solar panel, the solar energy sector has processes to recycle all panels 100%. And no coal power plant can beat that.

Edwin Koot is CEO of Solarplaza, organiser of The Solar Future: UK Conference on 29 June 2011 in London. More info can be found at www.thesolarfuture.co.uk and www.solarplaza.com