Solar power by country

See Main article Solar power.

Deployment of solar power depends largely upon local conditions and requirements. But as all industrialised nations share a need for electricity, it is clear that solar power will increasingly be used to supply a cheap, reliable electricity supply.

Africa

There are no significant grid-connected solar arrays or reflector arrays connected in Africa at the present time.

Australia

The largest solar power station in Australia is the 400kWp array at Singleton, New South Wales. However, a 154MWp Solar power station in Victoria will soon begin construction. Other significant solar arrays include the 220 kWp array on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Lands in South Australia, the 200kWp array at Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne and the 160kWp array at Kogarah Town Square in Sydney. A building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) installation of 60kW in Brisbane (at the Hall-Chadwick building) has an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) which gives around 10-15 minutes worth of emergency power in the event of the loss of electricity supply. Any power not used by the UPS is connected to the grid and goes towards reducing the building's overall power bills. Numerous smaller arrays have been established, mainly in remote areas where solar power is cost-competitive with diesel power.

Asia

As of 2004, Japan had 1200 MWe installed. Japan currently consumes about half of worldwide production of solar modules, mostly for grid connected residential applications.

In terms of overall installed PV capacity, India stood fourth after Japan, Germany, and the United States (Indian Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources 2002). Government support and subsidies have been major influences in its progress. India's very long-term solar potential may be unparalleled in the world because it is one of the few places with an ideal combination of both high solar power reception and a large consumer base in the same place. India's theoretical solar potential is about 5000 TW·h per year (i.e. 600 GW), far more than its current total consumption.

In 2005, the Israeli government announced an international contract for building a 100 MW solar trough plant to supply the electricity needs of more than 200,000 Israelis living in southern Israel. The plan may eventually allow the creation of a gigantic 500 MW power plant, making Israel a leader in solar power production.

Europe

Completed in 2006, the 12 MW Solarpark Gut Erlasse photovoltaic system, near Arnstein in Bavaria, Germany, is currently the world's largest PV system . The 10 MW Solarpark Bavaria in Germany was also the largest PV installation when completed in 2005, covering 25 hectares (62 acres) with 57,600 photovoltaic panels .

A large solar PV plant is planned for the island of Crete. Research continues into ways to make the actual solar collecting cells less expensive and more efficient.

The Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA) in Spain, part of the Center for Energy, Environment and Technological Research (CIEMAT), is the largest center for research, development, and testing of concentrating solar technologies in Europe.

In the United Kingdom, the second tallest building in Manchester, the CIS Tower, was clad in photovoltaic panels at a cost of £5.5 million and started feeding electricity to the national grid on November 2005.

On April 27, 2006, GE Energy Financial Services, PowerLight Corporation and Catavento Lda announced that they will build one of the world’s largest solar photovoltaic power projects. The 11-megawatt solar power plant, comprising 52,000 photovoltaic modules, will be built at a single site in Serpa, Portugal, 200 kilometers (124 miles) southeast of Lisbon in one of Europe’s sunniest areas.

North America

A laundromat in California supplements water heating with solar panels on the roof.

The world's largest solar power plant, the solar trough-based Solar Energy Generating Systems, is located in the Mojave Desert. Solel, an Israeli company, operates the plant, which consists of 1000 acres (4 km²) of solar reflectors and produces 354 MW (compared to the largest PV plant of 12 MWp). As of 2005, this plant produced an estimated 90% of the world's commercially produced grid-connected solar power.

In some areas of the United States, PV electric systems are already competitive with utility systems. As of 2005, there is a list of technical conditions that factor into the economic feasibility of going solar: the amount of sunlight that the area receives; the purchase cost of the system; the ability of the system owner to sell power back to the electric grid; and most important, the competing power prices from the local utility. For example, a photovoltaic system installed in Boston, Massachusetts, produces 25% less electricity than it would in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but yields roughly the same savings on utility bills since electricity costs more in Boston.

In addition to these considerations, many states and regions offer substantial incentives to improve the economics for potential consumers. Congress recently adopted the first federal tax breaks for residential solar since 1985 -- temporary credits available for systems installed in 2006 or 2007. Homeowners can claim one federal credit of up to $2,000 to cover 30% of a photovoltaic system's cost and another 30% credit of up to $2,000 for a solar thermal system. Fifteen states also offer tax breaks for solar, and two dozen states offer direct consumer rebates.

Solar One was a pilot solar thermal project in the Mojave Desert near Barstow, California. It used heliostats, and molten salts storage technology, to achieve longer periods of power generation. It was rebuilt as Solar Two, which elaborated on the success of Solar One. It was an R&D project, partly financed by the US federal Department of Energy. Solar Two used liquid salts as a storage medium in order to continue to provide energy for much of the time when sunlight is not available. Its success has led to the larger Solar Tres project in Spain.

Nevada Solar One will be the third largest solar power plant in the world, generating 64MW. It is being built in Boulder City, Nevada. Nevada Solar One will use parabolic troughs as thermal solar concentrators, heating tubes of liquid (solar receivers), instead of the power tower concentrator (as Solar One used).

On August 11, 2005, Southern California Edison announced an agreement to purchase solar-powered Stirling engines from Stirling Energy Systems over a twenty year period and in quantities (20,000 units) sufficient to generate 500 megawatts of electricity. These systems — to be installed on a 4,500 acre (18 km²) solar farm — will use mirrors to direct and concentrate sunlight onto the engines which will drive generators. Less than a month later, Stirling Energy Systems announced another agreement with San Diego Gas & Electric to provide between 300 and 900 megawatts of electricity.

On January 12, 2006, the California Public Utilities Commission approved the California Solar Incentive Program, a comprehensive $2.8 billion program that provides incentives toward solar development over 11 years.

Spain

Main article: Solar power in Spain

In March 2007, Europe's first commercial concentrating solar power tower plant was opened near the sunny southern Spanish city of Seville. The 11 megawatt plant known as PS10, produces electricity with 624 large heliostats. PS10 is the first of a set of solar electric power generation plants to be constructed in the same area that will total more than 300MW by 2013. This power generation will be accomplished using a variety of technologies. [5]

Two 50 MWe solar thermal trough power plants, AndaSol-1 and AndaSol-2, are being built in the region of Andalucia, each with a 510,120 m² solar collector field and six hours’ thermal storage. The AndaSol-1 project obtained financial closure in May 2006 and has received a €5 million grant from the European Commission’s (EC) Fifth Framework Programme, along with financial support from the German Federal Ministry for Environment. Construction started in July 2006 and will be completed in 2008. [6]

A 15 MWe solar-only power tower plant, the Solar Tres project, is in the hands of the Spanish company SENER, employing United States molten salt technologies for receiver and energy storage.

See also

• Nevada Solar One
• Renewable energy commercialization
• Solar power
• Solar thermal energy
• Stirling Energy Systems
• Trough concentrator