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13The Magazine for Renewable energies ISSN 1861-2741 74714 www.sunwindenergy.com € 12.00 • international issue

Solarexpo 2013

New business models

in attesa della svolta

photovoltaIcS

Solar thermal

aspettando le tariffe incentivantiapproaching a feed-in tariff

Waiting for a turnaround

Nuovi modelli di business

Editorial

Sun & Wind Energy 5/2013 3

Development rarely occurs in straight lines, but rather more in spirals. This can be seen well in the example of

photovoltaics. At the beginning of its develop-ment you had ecologically motivated citizens who were shaken into action by warnings from the Club of Rome and others. They want-ed to do something to counter the limits of growth and the limited nature of resources. Their idea was of the environmentally friendly and unlimited energy source of solar power. With a lot of individualism and without think-ing much about the economic viability, they installed the first photovoltaic and solar ther-mal systems. With the introduction of cost-covering compensation in the form of feed-in tariffs, the spiral underwent a further half-turn. Yields became the main motivation amid the turbulent development of the whole field of renewables worldwide. Thinking in straight lines, then this development could have con-tinued like this for a while longer. Indeed, the hectic expansion of (over)production capaci-ties suggests that many thought that too. But due to the non-linear path of developments, these companies are not doing any better to-day. As a reaction to this, new business models are now being sought. Storage solu-tions and independence from rising electricity prices are the prevailing buzzwords right across the sector now – and once again cus-tomers are required who have high ideals rather than exclusively economic motivation. If a new growth market is to develop from this in the near future, then other clear advan-tages must be added in. Italy could develop as a testing ground for the future here, in which exactly such solutions may be found – quickly implementable, with the accustomed level of comfort for the users, and with advantages that are easy to identify and are independent of government support. The foundations for this – a developed industry, high solar irradi-ation and an affinity of the population to-wards independent solutions – are good here. We shall see how the spiral continues to turn.

D i rado il progresso avanza in modo li-neare, e di solito il suo è piuttosto un andamento a spirale. L’esempio del

fotovoltaico lo dimostra in maniera chiara. Alla base del suo sviluppo vi furono cittadini motivati da uno spirito ecologista, risvegliati dai moniti lanciati, fra gli altri, dal Club di Ro-ma. Per contrapporsi a problemi quali i limiti della crescita e l’esauribilità delle risorse, si affidarono all’idea di una fonte energetica ecologica e a disponibilità illimitata come quella solare. Con molte iniziative individuali, e senza riflettere troppo sulla convenienza economica, furono così installati i primi im-pianti fotovoltaici e solari termici. Con l’intro-duzione di misure per la compensazione dei costi quali le tariffe incentivanti, la spirale è cresciuta di un altro mezzo giro. Il rendimento economico è diventato il motivo principale di uno sviluppo repentino dell’intero complesso delle rinnovabili a livello mondiale. In base al modello lineare, il progresso avrebbe dovuto avanzare ancora un po’ in quella direzione. L’espansione impetuosa di (eccessive) capaci-tà produttive è un’indicazione inequivocabile del fatto che erano in molti a pensarla così. Tuttavia, poiché la situazione non si è evoluta in modo lineare, oggi le imprese non stanno affatto meglio di ieri, e per reagire si muovono alla ricerca di nuovi modelli di business. L’im-portanza dei sistemi di stoccaggio e l’indipen-denza dai crescenti prezzi dell’energia elettri-ca sono i concetti chiave che prevalgono nel settore: si cerca di nuovo una clientela mossa da una buona dose di idealismo e non spinta esclusivamente da motivazioni economiche. Affinché nel prossimo futuro si sviluppi una nuova fase di crescita del mercato, dovranno tuttavia aggiungersi altri vantaggi tangibili. L’Italia potrebbe, in questo senso, diventare un laboratorio per il futuro dentro al quale scoprire soluzioni di questo tipo, che siano cioè facilmente applicabili, nonché dotate di un certo confort per l’utente e di vantaggi che siano immediatamente percepibili e indipen-denti dall’incentivazione statale. I presupposti favorevoli ci sono: l’industria ben sviluppata, il forte irraggiamento solare e l’affinità della popolazione alle soluzioni indipendenti. Ve-dremo in quale direzione continuerà a girare la spirale.

Dr. Volker BuddensiekEditor-in-chief volker.buddensiek@sunwindenergy.com

Italy – testing ground for the futureItalia – laboratorio per il futuro

Sun & Wind Energy 5/20134

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The Magazine for Renewable energies ISSN 1861-2741 74714 www.sunwindenergy.com € 12.00 • international issue

5/20

13

Solarexpo 2013

New business models

in attesa della svolta

photovoltaIcS

Solar thermal

aspettando le tariffe incentivanti

approaching a feed-in tariff

Waiting for a turnaround

Nuovi modelli di business

/ Battery Charging Systems / Welding Technology / Solar Electronics

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Solarexpo 2013: New business models Nuovi modelli di business

With fresh concepts and a new location Solarexpo confronts the global crisis in the solar industry in general and the Italian PV industry in particular. The motto is simple: perseverance. There is life after the crisis. The same applies to the companies, who exhibit in Milan. A lot of them have announced products and package solutions specially tailored to the Italian market.

Page 6 - 15

Solar industry in Italy L’ industria solare in Italia

Italy’s Conto Energia V will expire in the course of the year and a sixth version of the incentive law is not in sight. It’s time for the PV companies to develop business models that work without subsidies. The solar thermal industry ist hop-ing for new incentive programmes that will have a positive effect and allow renewed growth. S&WE reports on a mar-ket with high potential and gives you an overview of the market participants in Italy’s solar industry.

Page 20 - 43

Table of conTenTS

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Politics in Italy: Unpredictable Politica in Italia: Imprevedibile

Italy is in trouble. The economic situation is deteriorating rapidly and the desperate need for political stability has been negated by the outcome of the elections in February. The sub-sequent insecurity about the incentives for solar installations takes its toll on the solar market.

Page 16

Sun & Wind Energy 5/2013 5

Solar stations:High-efficiency pumps carry the day

Whether in heat transfer stations with heat exchangers or solar stations without them, it is getting harder to find pump assemblies that do not include high-efficiency pumps.

Page 44

Module logistics: The global flow of goods

The percentage of Chinese mod-ules in photovoltaic installations is increasing rapidly. The demands on logistics experts are also in-creasing. The direction of the flow of goods makes no difference for them. Page 64

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SoLarexPo 6 Realignment: Staying the course Bisogna tenere duro 10 Product preview: System solutions and self-consumption Soluzioni complete e autoconsumo ITaLy 16 Politics: Unpredictable Imprevedibile 20 Conto Energia: What next? 24 PV market assessment: Wanted – new business models 28 PV market: Waiting for a turnaround In attesa della svolta

38 Solar maps: Solar industry in Italy L’industria solare in Italia 40 Solar thermal: Approaching a feed-in tariff Aspettando le tariffe incentivanti

SoLar THerMaL 44 Solar stations: High-efficiency pumps carry the day 52 Absorber tubes: A tube is not tube 56 ISH post-show report: Brussels pushes efficiency

PHoTovoLTaIcS 62 Trade tariffs: Hardly negative effects expected

64 Module logisticts: The global flow of goods 68 PV investments in Greece: Means to fight the crisis

coMPaNy ProfILe 11 Danfoss: La strategia globale crea eccellenze locali 31 Photon Energy: Complete solutions for peace of mind

DeParTMeNT 73 Directory 81 International events 82 Preview and imprint

Sun & Wind Energy 5/20136

Realignment

With fresh concepts and a new location Solarexpo confronts the crisis in the global and the Italian

solar industry. The motto is simple: perseverance. There is life after the crisis.

Staying the course

After 13 years in Verona, Solarexpo has moved to Milan. Solarexpo is expected to get a boost from its new home in the northern Italian business centre. Photo: Fiera Milano

Solarexpo has developed into by far the most important solar trade fair in Italy and one of the largest worldwide. The catalyst of this suc-

cess was primarily the boom in photovoltaics in Italy. Alas, the boom has passed and with it Solarexpo’s trajectory of growth. For now, at any rate.

The development of Italy’s PV market is sobering. Not long ago it was for a brief period the largest in the world. In 2011 alone, 9 GW of PV capacity was in-stalled. A year later only 3.2 GW was installed, and in 2013 the market will shrink to an estimated 2 GW or less. The brutal collapse following a comparatively short solar rush has affected the whole Italian PV in-dustry and by extension Solarexpo as well. After host-ing more than 1,000 exhibitors last year, Solarexpo’s organisers will consider the event a success if exhib-itors number more than 600 this year. The trade fair has taken some steps to counteract this trend which had already started to emerge in 2012. For instance, the organisers banded together with Solar Power International in the USA and China’s SNEC PV Power Expo in Shanghai to establish the Global Solar Alliance, an international series of trade fairs.

Global Solar Alliance

“The Global Solar Alliance is a network of leading ex-hibitions and conferences aiming at the global devel-opment of the solar markets and industry,” explains Luca Zingale, Founder and Scientific Director of

Negli anni passati Solarexpo è cresciuta fino a diventare di gran lunga la più importante fiera solare in Italia e una delle maggiori a livello

mondiale. A fare da catalizzatore a questo successo vi era soprattutto il boom che il fotovoltaico stava vi-vendo in Italia. Ma adesso il boom si è spento, e con esso si è esaurita anche la fase di crescita di Solarex-po. Almeno per il momento.

Il mercato italiano del fotovoltaico si è svegliato dal sogno: solo poco tempo fa l’Italia era stata per un breve periodo il più grande mercato fotovoltaico al mondo. Nel 2011 vennero installati impianti fotovol-taici per una capacità di 9 GW. L’anno dopo tale cifra era scesa ad appena 3,2 GW e per il 2013 ci si deve attendere un’ulteriore contrazione fino ai 2 GW, o ad-dirittura di meno. Il crollo verticale, seguito ad un pe-riodo di sviluppo prodigioso ma durato relativamente poco, ha coinvolto l’intero settore fotovoltaico italiano, e con esso anche Solarexpo. Se l’anno scorso erano stati oltre 1.000 gli espositori presenti, quest’anno gli organizzatori di Solarexpo hanno individuato già a quota 600 il numero oltre il quale potersi ritenere soddisfatti. La fiera ha deciso quindi di prendere alcu-ni provvedimenti per invertire un trend che aveva già cominciato ad emergere nel 2012. È per questo motivo che è stata creata la Global Solar Alliance, un circuito di fiere a livello mondiale, in collaborazione con la statunitense Solar Power International e la cinese SNEC PV Power Expo di Shanghai.

Global Solar Alliance

“La Global Solar Alliance è una rete composta dalle principali fiere e conferenze del mondo con l’obiettivo di sviluppare a livello globale l’industria e il mercato fotovoltaici”, spiega Luca Zingale, fondatore e diret-tore scientifico di Solarexpo: “L’alleanza punta a promuovere l’energia solare come soluzione princi-pale per un’economia low-carbon, creando centinaia di migliaia di contatti commerciali e diffondendo al tempo stesso consapevolezza, informazione e soste-

Bisogna tenere duro

Dopo 13 anni Solarexpo si è trasferita da Verona a Milano. La nuova sede, nella capitale economica del Nord Italia, dovrebbe dare nuovo slancio a questa manifestazione.

Con nuove idee e in una nuova sede, Solarexpo prova ad opporsi alla crisi globale che sta colpendo tutta l’industria solare, ed in particolare il settore del fotovoltaico italiano. Il messaggio è semplice: tenere duro. C’è vita dopo la crisi.

Sun & Wind Energy 5/20138

Realignment

Solarexpo. “The alliance strives to promote solar en-ergy as a mainstream solution for a low-carbon econ-omy, creating hundreds of thousands of business contacts, while spreading awareness, information and advocacy among the professional community, public opinion and political decision makers.”

To better achieve these goals, the Global Solar Alliance will soon be expanded. In an interview with SUN & WIND ENERGY, Zingale said that as early as Solarexpo the alliance will announce new events that have joined forces with the Global Solar Alliance. The organisation is focusing particularly on emerging mar-kets. “We look forward to working together with events that might be smaller but have a leading character in key countries to further increase the magnitude of our global reach.” The Global Solar Summit, the annual international conference on solar energy promoted by the Global Solar Alliance, will open the exhibition on May 8th and 9th.

In addition to its integration into a global net-work, Solarexpo wants to raise its profile as part of an event which aims to promote a comprehensive renewable energy supply and a significant reduction in carbon emissions. This gave rise to The Innovation Cloud, the new trade fair concept surrounding Solarexpo. “Hybridisation and synergy among renewables and between renewables and energy efficient technologies are trends that emerge with full strength in all advanced energy markets,” explains Zingale.

gno tra la comunità dei professionisti, l’opinione pubblica e chi ha il compito di prendere decisioni a livello politico”.

Per raggiungere più facilmente questo obiettivo la Global Solar Alliance ha bisogno di espandersi in maniera rapida. Secondo quanto affermato da Zingale in un’intervista a SUN & WIND ENERGY, già a Solarexpo dovrebbero venir resi noti i nomi di nuove fiere che entreranno nel circuito Global Solar Alliance. L’atten-zione in questo senso è rivolta particolarmente ai mercati emergenti: “Puntiamo a lavorare in sinergia con eventi magari più piccoli, ma che abbiano un ruolo di primaria importanza in alcuni paesi chiave, in modo da allargare ulteriormente la portata della no-stra dimensione globale”. Il Global Solar Summit, la conferenza internazionale annuale sull’energia solare promossa dalla Global Solar Alliance, aprirà i battenti l’8 e il 9 maggio.

Accanto a questa integrazione in una rete globale, Solarexpo, sul piano dei contenuti, intende distin-guersi in maniera sempre maggiore come parte di un’organizzazione che si pone l’obiettivo di rendere preponderante l’utilizzo delle energie rinnovabili e di ridurre fortemente le emissioni di CO2. Così è nata “The Innovation Cloud”, il nuovo concetto fieristico che ruota attorno a Solarexpo. “L’ibridazione e la si-nergia tra le diverse rinnovabili e tra tecnologie ad alta efficienza energetica e le rinnovabili sono dei trend che emergono in tutta la loro forza in tutti i mercati energetici avanzati”, spiega Zingale.

Luca Zingale, the Founder and Scientific Director of Solarexpo Photo: The Innovation Cloud

Luca Zingale, fondatore e diret-tore scientifico di Solarexpo

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Italy PolItIcs

Italy is in trouble. The economic situation is deteriorating rapidly and the desperate need for

political stability has been negated by the outcome of the elections in February. The subsequent

insecurity about the incentives for solar installations takes its toll on the solar market.

Unpredictable

Italy’s President Giorgio Napolitano (left) appointed the so called 10 “wise men” to draft a pro gramme of reforms that could get cross-party backing after Democratic Party leader Pier Luigi Bersani was unable to end the political stale-mate to form a govern-ment. Photos (2): dpa

The results of February’s elections in Italy have not been a big surprise for the common Italian citizen. Everyone expected the Five Star

Movement, founded by the comedian Beppe Grillo, to collect plenty of votes from youths, from voters disap-pointed by a starched left coalition, and from many of the small and medium business entrepreneurs, who are the crucial piece of the Italian economy. Neither surprising is the inextricable political situation, from which the only way out could possibly be new elections.

The only really unexpected result is Silvio Berlusconi’s resurrection, unanimously considered in decline, plagued by judicial troubles and unappreci-ated in Europe because of the terrible economical performances of Italy in these last years. Neverthe-less, he surprised everyone and his coalition received almost 30 % of votes. This premise of the political sit-uation is necessary for the better understanding of the tricky path on which the world of renewable ener-gies has been forced.

Aiding Enel and Terna?

The government of Mario Monti did not stand out in terms of supporting renewable energies. It is true that the so called “Conto Termico” (Thermal Account) was born thanks to the work of the Minister of the Environment Corrado Clini, and we will talk about that later. But the very negative effects of the introduction of Conto Energia V, with the serious problems related to the obligation of installing an inverter interface in all systems bigger than 6 kW, are pretty evident to everyone. In the second semester of 2012 the medium-sized enterprises have encountered sudden

I l risultato delle elezioni politiche dello scorso febbraio non è stato una sorpresa per i cittadini comuni: non era un mistero che il Movimento 5

Stelle del comico Beppe Grillo fosse in grado di atti-rare a sé moltissimi voti dei giovani, dei delusi di una sinistra ingessata e sicuramente di moltissimi im-prenditori di aziende medio-piccole (l’ossatura dell’economia italiana). Non era un mistero neanche la percezione che si sarebbe entrati in una fase buia e paludosa da cui probabilmente si sarebbe usciti con nuove elezioni.

Il vero mistero invece è quello legato a Silvio Ber-lusconi, che tutti ormai davano sul viale del tramonto, circondato da guai giudiziari e poco stimato in Europa date le performance economiche pessime dell’Italia negli ultimi anni. Invece lui ha stupito tutti raggiun-gendo quasi il 30% dei voti. Questa premessa politica che purtroppo non appassiona più gli Italiani, strema-ti dalla crisi economica e desiderosi di avere un gover-no in grado di fare le riforme, anche indigeste, che da anni sono in embrione, è necessaria per meglio com-prendere il terreno insidioso su cui è stato spinto il mondo delle energie rinnovabili.

Un aiuto per Enel e Terna?

Il governo Monti non ha brillato per sostegno alle energie rinnovabili. È vero che, grazie all’intervento del ministro dell’Ambiente Corrado Clini, il Conto Termico – di cui parleremo più avanti – ha visto la luce. Ma gli effetti nefasti dell’introduzione del 5° Conto Energia, con le forti problematiche legate all’adozione obbligatoria dell’interfaccia degli inver-ter per gli impianti sopra i 6 kWp, sono sotto gli occhi di tutti. Nella seconda metà del 2012 imprese medio-

Imprevedibile

Il Presidente della Re-pubblica Italiana Giorgio Napolitano (a sinistra) ha incaricato i cosiddetti “10 saggi” di redigere una bozza di programma su riforme che possano essere approvate tras-versalmente dai partiti, dopo che il leader del Partito Democratico Pier Luigi Bersani non è stato in grado di risolvere lo stallo politico e di forma-re un nuovo governo.

L’Italia è nei guai. La situazione economica sta peggiorando rapidamente e il disperato bisogno di stabilità politica è rimasto insoddisfatto dopo il risultato delle elezioni di febbraio. La conseguente incertezza sugli incentivi per le installazioni solari si sta facendo fortemente sentire sul mercato.

17Sun & Wind Energy 5/2013

and huge difficulties since they had their warehouses full of inverters that could not be used because of the rigorousness of the legislator, in this case the Ministry of Economic Development.

One could consider this strategy simply as an aid for Enel and Terna: an expedient that technically does not have any actual reason to exist, but that can be helpful to keep delaying the modernization Terna should provide to the medium voltage pow-er lines and to slow the PV market down. This would allow Enel, and particularly its subsidiary Green Power, to prepare invad-ing the residential market, the only promis-ing market sector left.

To make the picture complete, GSE is now requiring to obtain the incentive rate for an amount of documents that is more or less double than the past. The requests present-ed by GIFI and other professional associa-tions that asked loudly that the reduction of the incentive should go along with the reduc-tion of the bureaucracy on the single sys-tems, have been left unheard so far. Unfortu-nately, the rising number of documents re-quested by GSE seems to be necessary to re-duce the number of frauds as much as possible, which have never fallen since the introduction of the Conto Energia I.

Scepticism and resignation

The reactions of the professional associa-tions are almost all alike and they go from scepticism to resignation. Valerio Natalizia of GIFI expressed over and over his disap-pointment about the fact that the negotiat-ing tables between Monti’s government and the stakeholders have never been realized. The bilateral meetings have always involved only personnel of Ministry of Economic Development, without any real decisional power. Minister Corrado Passera and his closest co-workers have never been seen, but their position was pretty clear: renew-ables, and first of all photovoltaics, are too expensive for Italian taxpayers, and so they must be limited. This position alone already damaged the public perception. The gov-ernment followed that up with yet another overhaul of the Conto Energia and gave way to version number V.

The decision has been to not follow the path of Germany, where an automatic mecha-nism to reduce the incentives when a certain amount of installed MW has been reached al-ready has proven to be a successful strategy. In Italy, they have preferred to “guarantee” the incentives, but simultaneously to create a bureaucratic obstacle course in order to obtain them. So there has not been any

grandi si sono trovate immediatamente in difficoltà con magazzini pieni di inverter resi inutilizzabili dall’intransigenza del legi-slatore, in questo caso il Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico.

Difficile non ravvedere un aiuto per Enel e Terna: un espediente che di fatto non serve tecnicamente a nulla se non a procrastinare il ritardo nell’ammodernamento delle linee di media e alta tensione da parte di TERNA e rallentare fortemente il mercato del fotovol-taico permettendo ad Enel, in particolare la sua divisione Green Power, di prepararsi ad invadere il mercato del residenziale, il vero segmento strategico rimasto.

A completare il quadro, il GSE ora richie-de per l’ottenimento della tariffa incentivata una mole di documenti pressoché raddop-piata rispetto al passato. Non sono state dunque ascoltate le istanze del GIFI e di altre associazioni di categoria che avevano chie-sto a gran voce che la riduzione dell’incenti-vo andasse di pari passo con la riduzione della burocrazia sui singoli impianti. Pur-troppo il GSE risponde con l’aumento dei documenti richiesti per restringere il più possibile il numero di frodi mai diminuito sin dall’introduzione del I Conto Energia.

Scetticismo e rassegnazione

I commenti da parte delle associazioni di categoria sono tutti molto simili tra loro e oscillano tra scetticismo e rassegnazione. Valerio Natalizia, del GIFI, più volte ha espresso perplessità sul fatto che i tavoli di trattativa tra il governo di Monti e le parti in causa non si siano mai realizzati. Gli incon-tri bilaterali si sono sempre svolti con diri-genti del Ministero dello Sviluppo Economi-co non in grado di decidere. Corrado Passe-ra e i suoi più stretti collaboratori non si sono mai visti. Ma la loro posizione era chiarissima: le rinnovabili, fotovoltaico in testa, costano carissime al contribuente italiano. Quindi bisogna porre un freno. Il danno all’immagine ormai era già avvenuto. A ciò il governo ha fatto seguire l’ennesima revisione del Conto Energia, dando vita alla sua versione numero V.

Non si è voluto proseguire sulla strada già sperimentata con successo in Germania di riduzione automatica degli incentivi al raggiungimento di un quantitativo di MW installato. Si è preferito “garantire” gli in-centivi creando, tuttavia, una gara ad osta-coli burocratici per il loro ottenimento. Dunque nessuna procedura di snellimento burocratico, confusione tra gli operatori e un profondo senso di stanchezza in particolare da parte di operatori medio-piccoli che hanno visioni di mercato di medio e lungo

Ad_Sun_Wind_Energy_Magazine_issue_May_en_paths.indd 1 4/9/13 5:16 PM

Sun & Wind Energy 5/201344

Solar thermal Solar StationS

High-efficiency pumps carry the day

Whether in heat transfer stations with heat exchangers or solar stations

without them, it is getting harder to find pump assemblies that do not

include high-efficiency pumps.

The European Ecodesign Directive (ErP Directive) for glandless circulation pumps looms large over the industry. Starting in August 2015 so-

lar stations in Europe must be equipped with energy-efficient pumps. After 2020, defective solar pumps may only be replaced by high-efficiency pumps. But the new stations of today are already ErP-ready. “We are ready to fit the high-efficiency pumps,” says Claudio Bertolini, who works in the R&D department of Italian manufacturer Tiemme Raccorderie S.p.A. Both solar stations designed for systems with heat exchangers built into the tank (see table 1) and those designed for heat transfer systems (see table 2), which separate the solar circuit from the tank with a plate heat exchanger, are ErP-ready.

The market too is already demanding high- efficiency pumps. Some 60 % of the manufacturers surveyed agree. The remaining manufacturers have

not registered this trend so keenly, but none of the manufacturers denied that high-efficiency pumps are clearly trending. These pumps are generally con-trolled via a PWM signal. Only the German companies Meibes System-Technik GmbH and KaMo Frischwarmwassersysteme GmbH prefer a 0 to 10 V signal. For some of the larger stations in its SolarBloC line, Germany’s PAW GmbH & Co. KG uses both 0 to 10 V control signal and PWM.

Stations without heat exchangers

The German manufacturer Oventrop GmbH & Co. KG has introduced a new solar station called the Regusol ELH-130-B with a high-efficiency pump and a new generation of controller.

Tiemme launched its new single- and dual-line solar stations with high-efficiency pumps (see

Three-line solar station by Barberi Photo: Jens-Peter Meyer

The R586S-1 by Giacomini is equipped with an HE pump and an electronic flow sensor.

Resol’s FlowSol B HE WMZ has its own heat meter.

New solar stations

Photos supplied by manufacturers, unless otherwise indicated.

Sun & Wind Energy 5/2013 45

S&WE 6/2012, p. 58) last year. The company offers its customers the choice between four high- efficiency pumps, the Grundfos Solar PM 15/85, Wilo Stratos TEC ST 15/7, ITT-Lowara Ecocirc EA 15/6 e and the Halm HEP 15/7.0. However, the pump assembly will also ac-commodate conventional solar pumps made by Grundfos und Wilo. The Italian manufacturer has also been refining the details of its systems. “The safety as-sembly has been revised. The connection for the expan-sion vessel is now located on the side,” says Bertolini. This was done to make it easier for installers to attach the pipe connection to the expansion vessel. In addi-tion, the fill and drain assembly is now connected to the flow meter. The compact design is also intended to make life easier for the installer. Most of the other man-ufacturers connect just one of the two valves needed to fill and drain the system to the flow meter. The second valve is then connected to the safety assembly.

The German company Gebr. Tuxhorn GmbH & Co. KG has adapted all of its stations to operate with Wilo’s Yonos Para high-efficiency pump. The compa-ny also has a new single-line solar station called the Tubra-PGS 01. PAW is another company that has in-troduced a new single-line station, the SolarBloC maxi Basic return station. Customers have the choice between either a Grundfos or Wilo pump.

The German solar controller manufacturer Resol GmbH introduced its FlowSol B two years ago. It now of-fers a new HE version with the new DeltaSol CS Plus controller equipped with two PWM outputs. “The DeltaSol CS Plus offers an inexpensive way to operate systems requiring a standard controller without the need for external accessories, such as interface adapt-ers,” says Resol’s Marketing Director Gerald Neuse. Steca Elektronik GmbH is another solar controller manufacturer from Germany that offers its own solar station. Until now, Steca’s station has had a totally unique design.

The new versions of the controller, however, the TPS A20 AFR52 and TPS A25 AFR52 equipped with the TR A502 TT multifunctional solar controller appear to be patterned after the PAW SolarBloC. Steca is one of the few providers of solar stations not to have integrated high-efficiency pumps into their stations yet.

Integrated heat meters

SUN & WIND ENERGY also asked companies if they saw a trend toward solar stations with integrated vol-umetric flow sensors for heat metering. About half of the respondents answered in the affirmative; 20 % said that, while they had noticed the trend, they did not consider it a strong one. Still, 30 % of companies did not see much demand for these devices in the market. The Austrian firm Technische Alternative GmbH was among the companies offering stations that included heat metering but without an external volumetric measuring device. The company intro-duced such a station a year ago. Now Resol has caught up with the trend with its FlowSol B HE WMZ. Resol uses a Grundfos direct sensor which measures volumetric flow using the vortex principle. Technische Alternative also uses a vortex sensor supplied by Swiss manufacturer Huba.

PAW takes a different approach. The new Solar-BloC midi Premium and SolarBloC maxi Premium models also have integrated heat metering. The volu-metric flow in these units is measured by a rotor whose number of rotations is measured using the Hall Effect. Unlike vortex sensors, rotors can also measure very slight volumetric flow.

Italy’s Barberi Rubinetterie Industriali s.r.l. is working on a sensor which uses ultrasonic measurements to determine volumetric flow. Like the vortex, this measurement process does not require

Sun & Wind Energy 5/201362

Photovoltaics trade tariffs

Europressedienst surveyed European PV install-ers on their opinion regarding the solar indus-try and cheap imports from China. The survey

shows that many of the installers agree with the European Commission’s current investigations con-cerning the alleged price dumping and unfair subsi-dies from Chinese solar manufacturers. 66 % of the respondents believe that the EU proceeding is justi-fied. 65 % of the installers would agree with protec-tive measures and countervailing duties, if the allega-tions against Chinese manufacturers of unfair trade practices are confirmed by the European Commission. Only 18 % of the installers are against imposing pro-tective tariffs, which would lead to price increases for Chinese-made solar panels. If, as a result of protec-tive measures, the prices of Chinese modules rose in Europe, the installers would be affected in very differ-ent ways: around 57 % of the respondents state that the higher prices would not have any immediate ef-fect on their business. 15 % would change their prod-uct portfolio and buy fewer modules from China. 7 % of the installers in the 27 EU member states would

Hardly negative effects expected

PV installers want to be able to choose between products from Europe and Asia.

Photo: Europressedienst

Europe’s PV installers hope for the

survival of the European solar

manufacturing industry. This is the

result of a survey conducted by

Europressedienst in the 27 EU

member states. 84 % of the

participating installers consider it

“very important” or “important”

that European solar modules

continue to be available to them as

an alternative to the products from

Chinese competitors.

pursue a different strategy and try to lower the pur-chase prices of other components such as solar in-verters and mounting systems. 15 % of the installers see the danger of more drastic consequences: 10 % expect lay offs whereas around 5 % fear that they would have to shut down their business.

Labour costs not really relevant

Solar panels from China are significantly cheaper for the European PV installers than those offered by their competitors based in Europe. However, the price dif-ference cannot be explained by lower labour costs in China, since worldwide, the share of labour costs lies only between 7 and 10 %. In the survey, the opinions of the installers as concerns the reasons for the low-er prices differ widely. When asked what gives China that price advantage, 68 % of respondents men-tioned state subsidies. 65 % of installers believe that the Chinese manufacturers have to fulfil less regula-tory requirements at their production sites than in Europe. 63 % presume that the Chinese manufactur-ers have better access to fresh capital, whereas 60 % believe that the Chinese cost advantage is a result of the lower energy costs. In the survey, the majority of installers indicate that they do not think that the price advantage of Chinese companies is due to better pro-duction facilities or more efficient research and de-velopment. 60 % do not see any advantages in R&D. 57 % believe that the production facilities in China are no more modern than in Europe.

Responses vary markedly

Importantly, the responses of the PV installers vary greatly by country. The complaint filed against Chinese dumping prices is believed to be justified by 80 % in

Italy

Austria

Germany

Belgium

France

60 % 62 % 64 % 66 % 68 % 70 % 72 % 74 % 76 % 78 %

65.6 %

66.7 %

71.3 %

75.0 %

76.3 %

Agreement with justification EU complaint

Source: Europressedienst

Sweden, 76 % in Italy, 75 % in Austria, and 71 % in Germany. In Spain, only 22 % agree with the proceed-ing. In the UK, the rate is higher with 46 %. 83 % in Belgium and 79 % in France and Italy state that pro-tective tariffs against cheap Chinese products would be appropriate. In Bulgaria and the UK, the rate is only 43 % while Germany arrives at 64 %. 91 % of the in-stallers in France and 83 % of respondents in Italy say it is “very important” to have a European solar indus-try. In Germany, 68 % of the installers give the same answer. In the UK, only 39 % of the installers and in Sweden only 40 % consider a European industry to be “very important”. However, the opinions differ also when assessing the Chinese market, for example, whether companies from China have to fulfil less regu-latory requirements than their European competitors. In Austria, Slovenia and Sweden 100 % of the re-spondents answered with “agree” or “fully agree”. In the UK and in Bulgaria only 50 % shared this view whereas slightly more than 60 % of the respondents gave this answer in Italy, France and Germany.

In March this year, Europressedienst contacted a total of 2,303 PV installers in the 27 EU member states to see in advance where the decision of the European Commission on June 6th will be leading. 532 installers participated in the survey. The number of the compa-nies interviewed in each country was proportional to the newly installed capacities in these countries in 2012. Most of the installers were therefore based in the largest European markets Germany, Italy and

France. Overall, the participating companies had in-stalled a PV capacity of more than 1.1 GW in the last year. Approximately 16.5 GW were newly installed in Europe in 2012. Experts estimate that thin-film tech-nologies – which are not part of the EU complaint – contributed about 8 % to the total PV growth. The re-maining 15.2 GW comes from installations using crys-talline modules. Europressedienst’s survey shows that the perspectives of the European installers on the Euro-pean solar industry and the import of cheap modules from China differ widely by country. Installers in PV core markets hold quite a different view than those based in countries where solar power still plays a minor role.

Michael Forst

Approval of possible protective tariffs

Source: Europressedienst

Belgium

Italy

France

Spain

Germany

0 % 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 60 % 70 % 80 % 90 %

64.4 %

77.8 %

78.1 %

78.5 %

83.3 %

/ Battery Charging Systems / Welding Technology / Solar Electronics

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