Dörrich, J. (2010). Current trends and long-term perspectives of grid-integrated PV systems [Master Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://resolver.obvsg.at/urn:nbn:at:at-ubtuw:1-48351
PV technology has highly developed over the last years. There has been a steady increase of cell efficiency and nowadays test cells reach an efficiency of more than 40 percent already. Although these modules are not produced in a large scale the developments look promising and many new technologies having its advantages and disadvantages are being developed. Today, large scale production is done with monocrystalline and multicrystalline silicon but thin film modules could be next soon. Looking at the market developments Germany will have the biggest PV market in 2010. An ambitious feed-in tariff and political commitment brought Germany the first place by far. Other countries like USA, Japan and Spain are catching up fast, although announced subsidy caps in certain countries could change the picture significantly within the next years. At the moment it seems the USA has the most ambition to support its PV sector in the long run. Big question marks are China, India and Turkey. One has to see how the national supporting schemes work out there but irradiation and demand potentials are enormous in those countries. The worldwide PV production was booming in the last years. The overall global capacity increased from 1,166 MW in 1999 to 14,370 MW in 2008 that is a capacity increase of more than 12 times in 10 years. Module costs have decreased over the last years and will continue decreasing. Best-practice production costs for c-Si modules under one Dollar per Watt could be possible by 2012. Generally the prices are still high above other energy sources but in some countries, with good pre-conditions, grid parity seems possible in the near future. Despite the bright future, PV has to master many challenges on the way to a major player on the electricity market. High production prices, shortage of raw materials, increase of efficiency and cost of research and development are just a few of them.