Germany, Korea eclipse California in solar

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It’s a sunnier climate for solar equipment makers in Germany and South Korea than in the beach state of California, according to presentations from leaders of the three hot spots competing for global investment from the emerging green tech industry.

“You guys have really gotten ahead of us and I will do my best to catch up,” said Sue Kateley, executive director of the California Solar Energy Industries Association (CalSEIA) after presentations from representatives from Germany and Korea at a conference here sponsored by market watcher Displaybank (Seoul).
Korea aims to get five percent of its energy needs from all alternative sources by 2011. Last year the country consumed an estimated 43.7 MW of solar energy.

The country will spend about 5.3 billion Won to develop and deploy alternative energy sources in 2008 more than double the amount it spent in 2004. It aims to have 100,000 homes outfitted with solar panels by 2012. It also aims to carve out a seven percent share of the world market for producing solar panels.

For its part, a representative from Germany noted the country is home to six of the world’s best known solar photovoltaic producers including First Solar, Nanosolar and Signet Solar. The country has already installed 3.8 peak Gigawatts of solar power in some 430,000 facilities, a market that has been growing rapidly since Germany passed renewable energy legislation in 2004.

EE Times