EDITORSVIEW
Regional race good for industry
W
ith a global financial crisis dominating recent news it would be no surprise for
participants in the photovoltaic world to feel that the brakes had been put on
the promising growth the industry had seen in the last few years. Although factors such as
consumer spending may have slowed impacting on many of the industry drivers, there are a
number of very promising signs that may boost the industry in an entirely different way. Good
news for companies working in the PV industry is the fact that much of the potential growth will
be driven by politician’s egos.
Government input into the PV industry has always been a major factor for growth and innovation. Without the
foresight of the German, Japanese and later Spanish governments, the world would not be as advanced in PV
manufacturing as it is today. The commitment these governments made to solar energy production provided the
impetus that industry and entrepeneurs were unwilling to make on their own. We are now facing the second wave of
government support and the good news for the industry is that it is already shaping into a race of the biggest and
the best. Much like the ego driven announcements that has been seen in skyscraper size, recent announcements
from all around the world lately increasingly includes buzz words such as largest, fastest, first, premier and best of
all is government driven initiatives.
Many analysts focus on USA, China and Europe as the only regions of growth. To follow this limited view would be
to miss the growing opportunities in areas like Australia, Czech, Turkey and Brasil. All of who have recently
announced new governemnt supported PV projects. In most industries government subsidies would be attacked at
3
all levels but so far it is only those dissenting voices of individuals worried they will miss out on the profit rather than
see the broader benefits that complain.
www
.solar
Many of the projects announced are industrial scale power supplies that cover a broad section of the industry and it
is good to see the positive moves towards a rational energy approach continues regardless of the financial crisis.
-pv-management.com
Much of the credit for the continued government support around the world must be made to the Obama
administration whose strong committment to energy sent a stern message around the world. As is often the case,
when the big boys make a noise, everyone else follows. In this case that is a great thing for the PV industry and
eventually the world.
David Ridsdale
Editor-in-Chief
Issue II 2009
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