Presented at the PennSolar Forum, University of Pennsylvania on Feb. 24, 2011

1. Solar Government Policy
Viraj Kalyani (vka@wharton.upenn.edu)
PennSolar Forum
February 24, 2011
University of Pennsylvania
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2. Germany: Renewable Energy Law
• Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz (EEG)
• Origin: 2000, modified in 2006, 2008
• Feed-in-tariff: 16 c/kWh paid to investors for
electricity they produce
• Gradual reduction

3. USA: Sun-Shot Initiative
• Today’s version of the 60’s Moon-shot
• bringing down the cost of solar power generation
to equal that of conventionally produced
electricity by 2020.
• a 75% reduction in the cost of utility-scale solar
generating stations, to $1 per watt, which would
correspond to 6 cents per kilowatt hour
• http://blogs.physicstoday.org/politics/2011/02/o
bamas-initiatives-to-spur-ele.html

4. Sun-Shot Initiative
• focusing on four pillars:
– improving technologies for solar cells and arrays.
– optimizing performance of the systems with
power electronics.
– increasing the efficiency of manufacturing
processes.
– bringing down the cost to install, design and
permit, and all other costs of solar energy
systems.

5. Case Study: USA vs. Deustchland
1650 MW 9785 MW

6. Sun-shot Initiative Feed-in-Tariff
Technological Advancement Policy Deployment Oriented Policy
Venture-cap model Pure economics model
Picking winners? Building capacity, competition
More independent companies Companies at the mercy of
government?
Long term lead Short term lead

7. Weekend Update: DOE Loan
Guarantee Cut
• On Saturday, 19 February, the US House
passed a resolution which includes significant
cuts to the DOE Loan Guarantee Program that
will affect the solar industry.
• The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)
worked intensely to oppose the proposal.
• The action now shifts to the Senate where
SEIA is much better positioned than it was in
the House.