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France Photovoltaic technology status and prospects André Claverie and Fabrice Juquois French Agency for Environment and Energy Management (ADEME), Renewable Energies Department |
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The French Agency
for Environment and Energy Management (ADEME) is a public organization responsible,
under French government supervision, for the national sustainable policy in the
five following intervention areas: energy management, waste management, conservation
of soils and air quality. The energy management aspect involves energy efficiency
and renewable energies. Solar photovoltaic electricity is one of the activity
lines covered in this policy.
A new framework law on energy is going to be submitted to the Parliament during the year 2005. The text of the law is focusing on energy efficiency and the promotion of renewables: the use of bio-resources and the recourse to thermal solar energy will be high on the agenda. Photovoltaic solar electricity (PV) will come under the research section of the law, similar to hydrogen and carbon dioxide sequestration.
ADEME is the only public establishment with a promotion role in photovoltaics at the national level. ADEME co-finances research and technological development projects and allocates grants designed to facilitate the opening up of the market for photovoltaic applications.
In order to implement its market opening policy, ADEME participates in the operations in cooperation with regional agencies (regional
councils) and the European Commission's structural funds. Since
some of these regional councils are very active, this allows some
French regions to be better equipped with solar systems than some
others. And it is from a local initiative that the idea of creating a solar energy institute (INES) at Chambéry was born. The preliminary studies for this new research and solar energy promotion tool were performed during the year 2004. The French Atomic Energy Commissariat (CEA) and the National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS) are very present in the development of this project, and plan to bring together a large part of their PV research teams within the INES.
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ADEME is also a body in charge of information dissemination (www.ademe.fr) and training: training of installers and PV project managers and the training of young engineers through research. That's why ADEME/DER is running four annual training sessions on photovoltaic systems at the Sophia-Antipolis centre. Two sessions are particularly dedicated to photovoltaic grid-connected systems. Concerning training through research, ADEME finances Ph.D. students; grant-holders who for three years participate in the applied research projects carried out in public or industrial research laboratories.
ADEME is also involved in several types of international cooperation. For example, in 2004, two of its managers have contributed to high-level PV-TRAC working group under the aegis of the European Commission (DG Research). The aim was to define a development strategy for photovoltaics in Europe. The excellent study report, “A Vision for Photovoltaic Technology for 2030 and Beyond,” was presented in Brussels on 28 September 2004 (http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/energy/photovoltaics/). ADEME is also a partner in the new European project which was launched October 2004. This project, named PV-ERA-NET, brings together the national and regional coordinators of photovoltaic programmes. With the aim of bringing consistency in the different policies and research actions conducted by the Member and Associate States. ADEME is also active in the International Energy Agency (IEA) Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme through a direct or subcontracted participation in task working groups n° 1, 2, 3, 9 and 10. Regarding the standard aspects, ADEME contributes through its various partners to studies carried out by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC, Technical committee 82, www.iec.ch).
ADEME is also sponsoring events with international exposure, such
as the 19th European Photovoltaics Exhibition and Conference held
in Paris from 7 to 11 June 2004. This event broke every attendance
record, with 1 800 people registered.
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The RÉDUCOP project, which is conducted by the manufacturer Photowatt International, is aiming at a 25 % cut in the direct manufacturing costs of the photovoltaic modules within 4 years. This industrial project benefits from partnerships forged by public research bodies such as CEA and CNRS.
The second project, SiNERGIES, is carried out by the CEA/GENEC laboratory of Grenoble, in cooperation with the CNRS. The project seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of photovoltaic conversion efficiencies of 20 % on large crystalline silicon cells (up to 20 cm x 20 cm) with cost-competitive processes that can be transferred to the industry. It is based on the RESTAURE technology platform installed in Grenoble during the year 2003.
The third project concerns feedstock silicon. The PHOTOSIL project brings together two companies, Invensil and Apollon Solar, as well as the CEA. The project is aimed at building a pilot for the manufacturing of solar photovoltaic grade silicon (capacity of 200 tonnes per year). The metallurgical route associated to inductive plasma purification should allow developing feedstock silicon at the production cost of 15 EUR/kg. The pilot will be installed at Savoie Technolac (near Chambéry). This project comes under the future INES Institute mentioned earlier.
The second technology sector that has been selected is the thin film approach based on polycrystalline Cu-In-Ga-Se compounds. An electrodeposition process on glass substrate has been chosen for its low-cost potential. The RTD project named CISEL is led by EDF R&D. Among the partners are the CNRS/LECA and glass manufacturer Saint-Gobain Research. A new technology platform that brings together the research teams of EDF and the CNRS has been opened in Chatou, and the IRDEP (R&D institute on photovoltaic energy) has been instituted in early 2005 by combining the interests of the various partners. In 2004, a PV cell with a conversion efficiency of 11,4 % was elaborated through the novel electro-deposition process. The third phase of this project will go on over the 2005-2007 period with the demonstration on the feasibility of 30 cm x 30 cm PV modules at a manufacturing cost below 0,7 EUR/W.
In the balance of system components sector, financial efforts made by ADEME are focusing on studies on ageing of storage electrochemical batteries and their management of the charge/discharge protocols. The SAFT Company and the CEA/GENEC have launched a study in 2004, with the objective of demonstrating that lithium-ion batteries could be of technical, as well as of economical interest in photovoltaic applications.
The RTD effort was increased in photovoltaic materials meant for the construction industry associated with larger involvement from construction and photovoltaic professionals under the aegis of the ADEME-Ministry of Equipment Programme, “Buildings by 2010.” The selected projects of this programme are under realization and concern the following themes:
The scientific community gathers once a year at the ADEME
Centre of Sophia Antipolis. 130 people have thus been able to get
acquainted with the ongoing PV RTD projects on the occasion of
this seminar co-hosted by ADEME, the CNRS and the CEA on
15-17 November 2004.
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Over the year 2004, ADEME has maintained its investment grant programme designed
for the building integrated grid-connected PV (BIPV) systems by mobilizing complementary
public funds from the regional councils. The two new contracts that have been
approved in 2003 by the Energy Regulation Commission (CRE) - the connection contract
and the distributor purchasing contract - have allowed launching PV projects with
enhanced efficiency. Regarding the private individuals that are willing to install
a grid-connected PV generator, ADEME has limited their PV system power to 5 kW
while pointing out the benefits of a global energy-efficiency based approach.
For more ambitious projects, ADEME has given priority to solutions with integration
into the built shell associated to architectural quality. Public subsidies in
2004 amounted on average to 4,6 EUR per watt of which 3 EUR granted by ADEME and
1,6 EUR by the regional councils. Partnerships forged with the local communities
have facilitated the appearance of new quality projects namely in regions such
as Rhône-Alpes, Provence - Alpes - Côte d'Azur, Languedoc-Roussillon and Pays-de-la-Loire.
In December 2004, the Finance Law has modified the income tax allowance for private individuals willing to install a photovoltaic system in their home. This income tax allowance amounts to 40 % (previously was 15 %) of the investment cost, outside installation expenses, within the limits of 16 000 EUR per household. ADEME has consequently revised downwards its grants for 2005.
The Construction Industry Scientific and Engineering Centre (CSTB) has implemented the technical approvals procedures (ATex and ATec) that are to be met by the photovoltaic modules meant to be integrated into the built environment. To date the Apex-BP Solar Company has been involved in this approach.
European projects benefiting from ADEME funds have continued over the year 2004. The PV-STARLET project, in partnership with the Hespul Association and Imerys Toiture Company, plans to install 420 kW of photovoltaic systems based on 'SUNSAT' PV tiles over some 200 homes: late 2004, 72 projects were completed for 162 kW (see Figures 1 and 2). The UNIVERSOL project coordinated in France by Hespul plans the installation of 345 kW over 15 buildings of educational type, 8 installations (128 kW) have already seen the light of day (see Figure 2).
The “Photovoltaic Architecture Day in France,“ was held in parallel with the 19th European Photovoltaic Conference, in Paris, June 2004, and has enabled many of the attending players to exchange their experiences and participate in the debates.
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Emix Company has just begun the production of multicrystalline silicon ingots using a continuous electromagnetic cold crucible casting. Products made by this new production tool are currently undergoing validation with the company's customers.
Invensil and Apollon Solar companies have launched the construction of a manufacturing pilot of feedstock photovoltaic grade silicon (capacity of 200 tonnes per year) and should be operational in 2007.
Total Energie Company has announced in 2004, the construction of a photovoltaic modules production unit in Toulouse, based on crystalline silicon with a capacity of 15 MW per year. Production could start in April 2005 in rented premises, with the plant opening planned for early 2006.
In the field of photovoltaic components destined for the construction industry,
Imerys Toiture Company has presented its new solar tile, which is marketed in
the form of a complete 1 kW kit (inverter, cabling and modules), on the occasion
of the 19th European PV exhibition. Interestingly, partnerships that have been
forged within photovoltaic and construction industries and which were still
in their infancy in 2003, became more and more extensive in 2004. Some of the
partnerships and products are described in the Research
and Development section above.
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In 2004, the power of the grid-connected photovoltaic systems was of about 4,2 MW equally distributed over mainland France and the overseas “departements.” Public grants to investment amounted globally to 15,7 MEUR for these sole operations. Investment grants allocated by ADEME, the regional councils and the European Commission can reach 80 % of the installed cost of the investment. In 2004, grants allocated were on average of 4,6 EUR per watt. Purchasing prices of PV solar energy electricity were set for 2004 at 0,14 EUR/kWh in mainland France and 0,28 EUR/kWh in the overseas “departements” and Corsica. For the 20 year purchasing contract, prices remain constant. In contrast, these purchasing prices decrease by 5 % a year inflation adjusted.
Off-grid domestic applications which up to now accounted for an
important part of the market have shown an average annual decrease
of about 30 % per year since 2002. This decrease was attributed to
the saturation of the market in the overseas “departements.” These
installations benefited from grants that could reach up to 95 % of
the installed cost. However, regarding the overseas “departements,” installations benefiting from tax exemption measures for investments were subsidized up to 7,68 EUR per watt in 2004 (6,17 EUR/W in 2005, covered by EDF, ADEME and the regional councils).
These measures have allowed financing in France, in 2004, for
some 600 kW of off-grid domestic photovoltaic systems (outside
professional applications of the telecommunication relays type
which account for up to 1 500 kW per year).
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In the field of research and technological development, ADEME continues to support
targeted projects undertaken by consortia of industrial and public partners. Three
new RTD projects on materials, processes on silicon photovoltaic cells have been
implemented in 2004 and will last four years. A new phase in the development of
thin film copper-indium-diselenide cells will start in 2005.
Concerning the off-grid PV systems for rural electrification, the slowdown noticed in 2003 and 2004 should be confirmed all the more now that the grants allocated to the installations benefiting from tax exemption measures are decreasing.
Regarding the building integrated grid-connected PV installations, the regional councils and the European Commission have contributed to financing 5,1 MW, in 2004, which is a significant increase when compared with the previous year.
In 2005, ADEME has reduced its system of investment grants to
1 EUR/W for taking into account the new income tax allowance
for private individuals (40 % of the equipment investment cost).
Regional councils will continue co-financing operations with variable grant amounts. This new measure constitutes a turning point in the development of the grid-connected BIPV market and it is difficult to predict its future evolution. For the BIPV systems installed by private companies and public operators not eligible for the income tax allowance, ADEME will maintain an investment grant scheme by contributing 2,8 EUR/W to operations with good visibility and considered to be particularly exemplary, with regard to architectural integration and the rational use of energy.
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