Measurements of microclimatic factors inside the oasis: interception and sharing of solar radiation

The oasis climate must be given prime consideration when new cultivated land is laid out and also when attempting to increase the yield of palm groves. Measurements of the microclimatic factors at different heights in the traditional oasis (multi-storey exploitation) have been made for a period of 1 month (October 1995). We have been able to bring out the share of intercepted global radiation between the three production levels inside the oasis, so we can have an approximation of the photosynthetic efficiency. The vertical net radiation profiles give us an approximation of the evapotranspiration for the total oasis and for every storey. We have also accentuated the role of a windbreak played by the oasis and we have studied the incidence of a canopy with three storey exploitation on relative humidity and air temperature profiles.     

The market of solar panels in the United Kingdom

The aim of this paper is to provide a ‘current picture’ of renewable energy markets in the UK focusing on the market of solar panels. This issue is vital for engineering manufacturing companies to provide some recommendations for their solar investment depending on the future potential market demand, identify their competitors and initial customers and financially demonstrate the effect of the market on their investment. The study is supposed to help in making a decision whether to move forward with further investment into solar installation or not. Throughout this paper, the term PV (photovoltaics) will refer to the technology for solar energy conversion to electricity.     

Local market of solar water heaters in Taiwan: Review and perspectives

For promotion of solar water heaters in Taiwan, incentive programs were first initiated from 1986 to 1991 and re-initiated from 2000 to the present. The subsidies create an economic incentive for the end users and have been rather instrumental at the initial stage of each program but lost their significance thereafter. To analyze the behavior of the major actors in the local market, two questionnaires were developed. One was addressed to sales and distribution agents while the other one consisted of person-to-person interviews with household owners. The market-driven mechanism is a multi-parametric phenomenon. Other than the capital cost and energy price (cost to benefit), architectural type of buildings (or degree of urbanization) and household composition play the major roles in market diffusion.     

从统计数字看德国太阳能利用现状与发展趋势

德国的太阳能利用规模巨大,特别是在利用太阳能发电方面居世界领先地位。根据德国太阳能协会2010年8月发表的最新统计数字,截止2009年底,德国太阳能企业(包括供货商和手工业者在内)共约1.5万家,其中生产企业约350家,从业人员约8.3万人。2009年德国全国太阳能设备超过     

Green energy market development in Germany: effective public policy and emerging customer demand

This paper reviews the development of renewable energy in Germany from 1973 to 2003. It investigates the relative importance of energy policy and green power marketing in shaping the renewable energy market. More than a decade of consistent policy support for renewables under the feed-in law (StrEG) and its successor (EEG) has been an important driver for increasing renewable electricity generation to date, putting the country in a better position than most of its peers when it comes to achieving European Union targets for renewable energy. Green power marketing driven by customer demand, on the other hand, is growing, but has had limited measurable impact so far. We discuss potential intangible benefits of green power marketing and scenarios for future market development. The paper concludes with lessons that can be learned from the German case for policy design and market development in other countries.     

A discussion on recent developments in Turkey's emerging solar power market

Market reform, energy security and environmental protection are three primary energy policy goals of Turkish government. Although Turkey's abundant solar energy resources can directly address the government's energy policy goals, Turkey has not utilized solar power yet. Utilization of country's huge solar energy potential would decrease dependence on imported fossil fuels and contribute to fulfill environmental commitments. However, lack of regulatory and financial support for the development of solar power has considerably delayed the utilization of country's huge solar potential. The government has taken only modest steps to promote investment in solar power until the end of 2010 when a new feed-in tariff policy was adapted. Turkey's solar energy potential, PV technology status and prospect for concentrating solar power in Turkey have been explored in a number of studies; yet literature dealing with recent policy developments, associated investment environment and opportunities for solar power investors are limited. The aim of this paper is to set out the latest legal framework for investment in Turkey's emerging solar power market and to provide some guidelines to potential investors who appreciated country's huge solar energy potential.     

Status of thin film solar cells in research, production and the market

Photovoltaics is one of the fastest growing industries at present. Over the last five years, the production of photovoltaic solar cells has steadily increased at an annual average of 40%, driven not only by the progress in materials and processing technology, but by market introduction programmes in many countries around the world. This growth is mainly being attained by an increase in manufacturing capacities based on the technology of crystalline, single junction devices. Consistent with the time needed for any major change in energy infrastructure, another 20–30 years of sustained and aggressive growth will be required for photovoltaics to substitute a significant share of conventional energy sources. The question is whether a switch will be possible with the current technologies alone or whether this growth will only be possible with the continuous introduction of new technologies. It leads us to the search for new developments with respect to material use and consumption, device design and production technologies as well as new concepts to increase overall efficiency. This paper analyses the current status of thin film solar cells and their outlook for future developments.     

Price dynamics and market relations in solar photovoltaic silicon feedstock trades

The paper intends to provide empirical evidence on silicon feedstock price dynamics to assess the way that major photovoltaic countries—the United States of America, Germany, Japan and South Korea—are related in trade competition to China. This issue is explored by addressing the following questions: How have feedstock prices transmitted between geographically separate and contractually different markets? How have different country markets been positioned in feedstock trades by contract? What causes the failure of full price transmission or perfect market integration? Based on a careful examination of China's status in feedstock trades, the price series by country and by contract are measured with the series by country and trade pattern over a reasonable period from 2007 to 2010. The dynamic price relations are analyzed with causality, cointegration and equilibrium tests. The results exhibit dominant but differential market relations by contract. The speed and extent of price transmission are substantially higher in spot trades. The failure of perfect market equilibrium is due to the material heterogeneity and contract arrangements. These findings imply that sufficient attention should be paid to the way that different photovoltaic silicon feedstock countries have competed and the factors that work to explain price inefficiency, but not price manipulations.     

Market power in the Nordic electricity wholesale market: A survey of the empirical evidence

We review the recent empirical research assessing market power on the Nordic wholesale market for electricity, Nord Pool. The studies find no evidence of systematic exploitation of system level market power on Nord Pool. Local market power arising from transmission constraints seems to be more problematic in some price areas across the Nordic countries. Market power can manifest itself in a number of ways that have so far escaped empirical scrutiny. We discuss investment incentives, vertical integration and buyer power, as well as withholding of base-load (nuclear) capacity.     

A survey of the market for nuclear power in developing countries

The Fourth International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy and the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency both produced recommendations in 1971 that efforts should be intensified to assist developing countries in planning for nuclear power. The IAEA undertook in 1972-73 the specific analysis of the possible long-range economic justificaiton for nuclear power plants in 14 of the developing countries. In this article, Mr Falls reviews the methodology and procedures used in carrying out the analytical work; briefly describes several computer programmes that were specifically developed for the Survey; and summarises the overall results which indicate essentially no market, for nuclear power plants to be commissioned in 1980-89, of less than 200 MWe but a substantial market for sizes in the range of 200–600 MWe.     

On the impact of FIT policies on renewable energy investment: Based on the solar power support policies in China's power market

In 2013, the feed-in tariff (FIT) policy was issued in China to promote the investment in renewable technology, but then it was revised because this policy brought a heavy financial burden to the government. By considering the intermittence of renewable resources, we model the implemented Chinese FIT policies and analyze their impact on renewable energy investment in the power market. The open-loop model is employed to simulate the China's power market organized with Power Purchase Agreement, and the closed-loop game is used to characterize the spot power market. Meanwhile, the strategic capacity choices of power generators in two games are compared under four different policy schemes: (i) free competition, (ii) FIT via fixed subsidy, (iii) FIT via price premium and (iv) Chinese FIT by cross control (CFCC). The results show that the CFCC policy is a good alternative to well control the investment in renewable technology, as it can be seen as a comprise between free competition and FIT via fixed subsidy policy. Furthermore, compared with the other three policy schemes, the CFCC policy is capable of keeping renewable power generators from deviating the equilibrium, which implies higher robustness in regulating the electricity spot market.     

Frameworks for modeling learning on the supply side of solar technology market penetration studies

We have previously suggested that the concept of learning is critical for determining the expected future market penetrations of solar technologies. This article presents economic frameworks suitable for analytic examinations of learning. Learning is considered within the context of economic production and supply functions for solar technology firms. Such functions are important for economic analysis of such issues as the expected future price of solar technology products and the expected future demand for capital and labor inputs by solar technology firms.     

The merit-order effect: A detailed analysis of the price effect of renewable electricity generation on spot market prices in Germany

The German feed-in support of electricity generation from renewable energy sources has led to high growth rates of the supported technologies. Critics state that the costs for consumers are too high. An important aspect to be considered in the discussion is the price effect created by renewable electricity generation. This paper seeks to analyse the impact of privileged renewable electricity generation on the electricity market in Germany. The central aspect to be analysed is the impact of renewable electricity generation on spot market prices. The results generated by an agent-based simulation platform indicate that the financial volume of the price reduction is considerable. In the short run, this gives rise to a distributional effect which creates savings for the demand side by reducing generator profits. In the case of the year 2006, the volume of the merit-order effect exceeds the volume of the net support payments for renewable electricity generation which have to be paid by consumers.     

Pros and cons of exposing renewables to electricity market risks—A comparison of the market integration approaches in Germany,Spain, and the UK

The article examines how renewable electricity (RES-E) producers are integrated into the electricity market under the support legislations and regulatory frameworks of Germany, Spain, and the UK. Focus is on wind power, which faces the highest market integration challenge of all RES-E. The analysis shows that the three countries follow contrasting approaches of exposing RES-E producers to the market risks of forward electricity markets, balancing markets and system planning requirements. Risk exposure is highest in the UK and lowest in Germany. From a policy maker's perspective, there is a trade-off between a “high risk” and a “low risk” approach. When RES-E face high market risks, a higher level of financial support is required to stimulate RES-E development than in a low risk environment, but the exposure to market risks may also give an incentive to make efficient use of the respective market, thus limiting the indirect costs to society. The special characteristics of wind energy, however, put natural limits to the response of wind power plants to market prices and locational price signals and will increasingly influence electricity markets and grid infrastructure. These interdependencies should be recognised in the design of RES-E policies and market regulations.     

提高平板型太阳热水器产品性能扩大平板型太阳热水器市场份额

在分析我国太阳热水器技术与国际先进水平存在差距的基础上,阐述了平板型太阳热水器的技术优势,指出了提高平板型太阳热水器产品性能与质量的主要方法,认为大力推广使用平板型太阳热水器是缩小我国与国际先进水平差距的一条重要途径。     

A survey on control schemes for distributed solar collector fields. Part I: Modeling and basic control approaches

This article presents a survey of the different automatic control techniques that have been applied to control the outlet temperature of solar plants with distributed collectors during the last 25 years. Different aspects of the control problem involved in this kind of plants are treated, from modeling and simulation approaches to the different basic control schemes developed and successfully applied in real solar plants. A classification of the modeling and control approaches is used to explain the main features of each strategy.     

A survey on control schemes for distributed solar collector fields. Part II: Advanced control approaches

This article presents a survey of the different advanced automatic control techniques that have been applied to control the outlet temperature of solar plants with distributed collectors during the last 25 years. A classification of the modeling and control approaches described in the first part of this survey is used to explain the main features of each strategy. The treated strategies range from classical advanced control strategies to those with few industrial applications.