Quality assurance plays a crucial role in achieving a robust photovoltaic (PV) market and confidence from investors, policy makers and consumers, according to a new report launched by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).The report was released in Santiago, Chile, at the Forum on Regional Cooperation: Developing Quality Infrastructure for Photovoltaic Energy Generation. The event, organised by IRENA, the German National Metrology Institute and Solar Committee of the Chilean Economic Development Agency, and funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, focused on engaging policy-makers and regulators in the Latin America and Caribbean region, in the development and implementation of quality infrastructure for solar PV systems. The forum has attracted representatives from ministries and technical agencies from thirteen countries in the region. “We are experiencing a solar revolution in Chile, and this is the result of the policies that we have implemented in the last three years,” said Mr. Andrés Rebolledo, Chile’s Minister of Energy, at the three-day forum aimed at supporting the establishment of a collaborative network between quality infrastructure institutes in the region. “This Forum supports policy-makers and industry across Latin America to implement the quality assurance instruments needed for the successful deployment of PV technology,” said Mr. Adnan Z. Amin, IRENA Director-General. “Through success stories from frontrunner countries, IRENA shows in its recent report that the benefits of providing quality infrastructure services result in substantial additional revenues for PV markets and are essential for the continued expansion of renewables  in the region and beyond.” “The implementation of quality infrastructure can enable an effective route to achieve policy objectives of renewable energy, as it has a positive impact in each of the stages of the technology lifecycle,” the Director-General added. Mr. Ulf Hillner, the German National Metrology Institute’s Head of the Department for Technical Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean, said, “What makes this event so important, is that stakeholders from different implementing backgrounds come together to share their experience, and to make use of knowledge from international and regional experts. As a result, an adequate quality infrastructure, matched with appropriate government policies, can contribute to significant improvements in the performance and longevity of solar PV systems.” Titled Boosting Solar PV Markets: The Role of Quality Infrastructure, the report describes how a quality infrastructure can support the uptrend of newly installed PV capacity, which is expected to be maintained in the years to come as new markets in Latin America, the Middle East, North Africa and Southern Asia continue to expand. IRENA projects that by 2030 total installed PV capacity could range between 1,760 gigawatts (GW) and 2,500 GW.

Continue reading