A group of international experts from governments, power utilities, PV industry and academia met in Utrecht, the Netherlands, in mid-June, at the invitation of IEA  PVPS Task 1, to attend a workshop on Environmental Aspects of PV Power Systems.

The workshop had five main goals:

• To review issues and approaches regarding environmental aspects of PV power systems
• To come to a consensus on important aspects such as Energy Pay-Back Times
• To identify issues of environmental importance relating to PV Power systems ('hot spots')
• To identify issues requiring further attention ('white spots') and
• To establish a network of researchers working on PV environmental issues.

A report including transcripts of all the papers presented at the workshop is currently in preparation, and is expected to be available later in December (see Task 1 report IEA  PVPS TI 1998 4). Following one particular recommendation made at the workshop, an internet discussion group has been formed. Subscription to the list is open to anyone who is actively involved in photovoltaic research or management related to Health, Safety and Environment. Anyone interested in subscribing to this discussion group, should send a description of their work to: Alsema@chem.ruu.nl.

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