No two towns are identical, but in respect of planning development and implementation of PV projects, the considerations for one urban environment are much the same as the next, particularly within any one country.

This is the thinking behind the EU project ‘Photovoltaic City Guide’ which has drawn on the work of PVPS amongst others to develop a series of concise, simple to use national guides to provide practical advice to those involved in urban PV developments. The guides, which cover issues such as the technology & markets, design & legislation, financing and project implementation & quality assurance, have been tested in ongoing BIPV projects in Belgium, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

The project culminated in an international workshop 'PV Solar Power in European Cities' in Basel, Switzerland in September 2001. The event focused on three critical aspects of urban PV project planning and implementation – the policy and legislative framework, the design environment and project management. The central question under discussion was how to progress from individual projects to programmes for urban PV. As only about 10% of ideas for urban PV projects ever come to fruition it is clear there are some key issues to resolve: either the majority of project proposers do not have a full appreciation of what is involved in seeing the project through to completion, or there are obstacles which prevent the majority of projects being realized. Key amongst the workshop conclusions were the need for properly focused promotional and marketing tools for PV solutions, and a greater emphasis on the added values that PV can offer the urban environment.

The reports and workshop conclusions are available from the project website: http://pvcityguide.energyprojects.net

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