Denmark, PV technology status and prospects - Contribution to the Annual report 2001

Denmark
PV technology status and prospects
Flemming Kristensen, Energimidt, Denmark
Peter Ahm, PA-Energy A/S, Denmark

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Fig.1 - 4 kWp system from Sol 300 (village).

General Framework

Renewable energy technologies are a high priority in the national Danish energy plan, Energy 21. The goal is partly to reduce the emission of CO2 by 20% before year 2005 and partly to diversify the energy sector now being based on fossil fuels. At present, about 10% of the gross national energy consumption originates from renewable energy sources. Energy 21 outlines scenarios, where i.a. photovoltaics (PV) may contribute to about 7-10% of the national electricity consumption of Denmark in year 2030. However, no specific goals for PV deployment have yet been set, but this can be expected to change in the near future, as public perception of building integrated PVs constantly increases.
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National Programme

PVs have been included in the action plan of the Danish Energy Agency (DEA) since 1992 and have received increasing attention in the consecutive three-year Solar Energy Action Plans. Since 1992, the Renewable Energy Development Programme of the EA has supported about 120 PV projects, and by the end of 2001 about 1,5 MWp had been or were being installed in the context of demonstrations plants. A 300 rooftop’s project including 750 kWp was launched early 1998 and was completed by end of 2001. A 1 000 rooftop programme has been launched late 2001 as a follow up; this programme targets a mix of general cost reductions, increase in end-user payment and promotion of small rooftops. Only a few weeks after the announcement of the project, the SOL 1 000 project, more than 3 000 house owners had registered their interest.

Fig. 2 - 2,55 kWp system from the Danish BIPV programme A special support programme for PV applications in the commercial sector, funded by the CO2 tax on electricity, was set up early 1998. The support includes a subsidy of up to 40% for the turnkey costs. The calculation of the actual subsidy will be in favour of high yield installations. This programme has so far not been very successful, as the commercial sector seems to regard an incentive of 40% as inadequate, and during 2001 only very few projects have been implemented using this support mechanism.

Net metering for privately owned PV systems was established mid-1998 and at that time for a pilot-period of four years. Work is ongoing to make this system more permanent. A small project has been launched to identify the best possible institutional arrangements around PV systems on multi-family buildings and housing.
In late 1999, the parliament allocated 30 mio DKK for a new three-year programme, 2000 – 2002, to promote building integrated PVs in apartment buildings and institutions. The programme includes both development of new integration methods, new components and demonstrations. A small PV cell R&D activity is included as a well targeting PEC technology. At the end of 2001, four calls for proposals had been carried out in this programme resulting in 52 proposals of which 23 have received support corresponding to about 14 mio DKK. The programme has created interest for PVs in Danish building industry.

Efforts to establish a unified PV programme as a replacement for the so far fragmented approach with separate, consecutive narrow-focused programmes have been started, but no immediate results are expected.
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Research, Development and Demonstration

R&D on PV cell manufacturing (mono-X Si) has taken place at the Technical University of Denmark for more than a decade. This R&D effort led to the establishment of the first Danish PV cell/module manufacturer in 1992. The company folded mid-1996 after a period in receivership, and has now been reconstructed as a module assembling plant. Research into Si cell production with focus on surface layer structure and contacts at the Danish Institute of Microelectronics has been stopped. However, as part of the new 3-year programme mentioned above, R&D activities into PEC cells (Grätzel type cells) has been initiated at the Danish Institute of Technology. This initiative received additional support from the Public Service Obligation (PSO) of the Transmission Systems Operator (Eltra) in 2001.

In mid-1995, the Photovoltaic System Laboratory (PVSyslab) was established in collaboration between Risoe National Laboratory and the Danish Institute of Technology. The main function of PVSyslab is to certify the quality of PV systems and to help industry develop better products, systems and recommended practices for design and installations. The PVSyslab has established R&D PV plants and has put examples of building integrated PV technology on display. The PVSyslab has established a national database for demonstration systems and operational data from these systems are published regularly. The PVSyslab, which is now integrated into the Solar Energy Centre Denmark, is active as the group leader in the CENELEC & IEC TC 82 work and participates in the GAP initiative. The Solar Energy Centre Denmark has recently entered the field of technology cooperation with developing countries and is presently engaged in Nepal and Malawi.

Inverter technologies are being R&D'd for both fuel cell and PV applications. Efficiencies of up to 98 % have been reported using transformer-less, high integrated designs, and efforts to develop smaller units, about 2 kW and smaller, are ongoing.

Stimulated by the above mentioned three-year programme 2000-2002, which supports up to 40% of R&D costs, the Danish building industry has exhibited increasing interest in the integration of PV’s in existing and new building components, and a few new products have emerged.
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Fig. 3 - 4 kWp system from Sol 300. (village)

Implementation

The potential for wide deployment of PVs in Denmark has been identified as building integrated systems.

Several grid-connected, building integrated PV systems were commissioned in 2001, including some of the last installations in the Sol-300 project (see Fig. 1 and Fig. 2).

Both the Sol-300 and the SOL 1 000 projects intend to demonstrate highly visible and architectural acceptable integration of PV technology on existing single family houses, to reduce costs and to increase end-user payment; thus preparing the introduction of a standard subsidy for PVs initially of about 35%. A secondary objective has been to disseminate information and experience on PV rooftop deployment to the Danish distribution utilities.

Several projects for building integrated PV systems including commercial buildings, apartment buildings and schools have been implemented, typically in the range of 2-15 kWp.
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Industry Status

PV cell production stopped in Denmark in 1996. A single Danish module manufacturer (Gaia Solar) with an annual capacity of about 1 MWp per shift has existed since 1996. A few other companies producing tailor-made modules such as window-integrated PV cells can be found.

Some medium to large-scale industrial corporations long established in the building industry, such as Velux Industries and Dansk Eternit, continue and increase their R&D into how to integrate PVs in their mainstream products. The products are currently under field tests in the context of demonstration projects. New companies are also exhibiting interest in this field.

There is no PV relevant battery manufacturing in Denmark at present. A few companies develop and produce power electronics for PVs, mainly for stand-alone systems for the remote-professional market sector.

A number of companies are acting as PV system houses, designing and supplying PV systems to the already competitive international market sector of remote stand-alone applications.

Consultant engineering companies specializing in PV application in developing countries report a slowly growing business area. Total PV business volume was estimated to be about USD 15 mio in 2001; a reduction compared to 2000, mainly because of the Sol-300 project having finished and the SOL 1000 project having just stated up ultimo 2001.
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Fig. 4

Market Development

Market development incentives already in place are mentioned above under the National Programme. A standard incentive for privately owned rooftops are not yet in place, but a subsidy for PVs on apartment houses is part of the new three-year programme.

Utility PSO (Public Service Obligation) support for PVs was first used in the Sol-300 project. The frame for PSO funding for PVs was about in 15 mio DKK in 2001.

The cumulative installed PV capacity in Denmark (including Greenland) by end of 2001, was estimated to be about 1,5 MWp.
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Future Outlook

The new SOL 1000 project and the ongoing three-year programme targeting building integrated PVs on single-family houses, respectively apartment houses and institutions, are expected to lead to the future availability of increasing Government funds for PVs.

However, a constant development towards commercial sustainability for PVs is seen as critical for continued support from the Government and the utilities. Danish efforts to promote PVs have so far been rather fragmented, and there is now a growing understanding of the need to establish a more concerted effort in order to underpin and consolidate the growing but still very weak commercial PV sector.
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