It is a pleasure for me to write this preface to the IEA PVPS annual report. Since spring of 2001, I have the honour to serve as the new PVPS chairman, following my highly estimated predecessor and friend, Erik Lysen, from the Netherlands. During the years I have worked with Erik, I have experienced his deep commitment to our common goals and his continuous effort for the sake of our cooperative agreement. On behalf of the Executive Committee and the Operating Agents, I would like to express my gratitude to Erik Lysen for leaving our Implementing Agreement in such a healthy and well-structured state. Together with Erik, the PVPS Executive Committee also had to say good-bye and thank you to the former Executive Secretary, Mrs. Hester Pruiksma. Her invaluable support for PVPS remained constant throughout the year and I would like to thank her for this flexible availability in the transition phase which made my first months much easier.
I was very happy to have found the support of Harry Schaap from Australia who was readily available to work with me as the new deputy chairman. With the new Executive Secretary, Mrs. Mary Brunisholz, we were finally successful in completing the new team chairing IEA PVPS. We are happy to have the strong and continuous support from the members of our Executive Committee as well as the Operating Agents and their expert groups.
As we all know, 2001 has been a difficult year with unexpected tragic events which have once again revealed the vulnerability of our society. As for many others, our common work also suffered from the consequences of these events as national security reasons had implications on foreign travel for a number of our members. However, I am convinced that our work is even more important as it seeks to provide contributions to solutions for a sustainable energy supply, to energy security and to electrical energy provided to those who lack this fundamental need.
By the end of 2001, two very productive projects came to their formal closing: Task 5 on the design and grid interconnection of building integrated and other dispersed photovoltaic systems and Task 7 on photovoltaic power systems in the built environment. Both projects have resulted in a wealth of new information and experience which can make important contributions to the deployment of grid-connected photovoltaic systems. The results of these, as well as the ongoing Tasks are described in the following pages. As in previous years, the development of photovoltaics in our member countries is described in the country sections, providing the latest information on the national framework, specific initiatives and particular experiences. This country-specific information is now also available from the PVPS-website.
Increasingly, PVPS is called to interact with other implementing agreements
and energy technologies. This is a clear sign of a market oriented transition
where energy solutions prevail the technology. The most recent work within PVPS
is concerned with follow-up activities in the field of building integrated applications
where a new project, Task 10, is presently being discussed. In the sequence
of the Photovoltaic Executive Conferences, a further issue of these conferences
is presently being planned for spring 2003, to be hosted by Japan.
Stefan Nowak
Chairman
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