As the planet's largest continent, Asia covers about 30 percent of the world's landmass and includes 44 countries and assorted islands and/or dependencies. There are several promising, fast growing solar markets with excellent solar opportunities in Asia. Let’s get ready to see the latest in China, Japan, Russia and Singapore!

Traveling tips: Asian Solar/PV Summit 2009 in Korea 10/13-14

Our next solar destination: Middle East!

Questions? Contact Your Local Solar Destination Astralux and discover why nobody comes close to our dedication to accuracy, integrity, and technical expertise.

China
China is a country with an ambitious solar agenda. When reducing its dependence on coal and oil imports as well as infamously high greenhouse gas emissions, demand for new solar modules in China could be as high as 232 MW each year from now until 2012. China installed about 50MW of solar capacity last year, strong growth from the 20 MW in 2007.

PV companies have been hard hit by the drop in foreign demand due to the current global financial turmoil when exports account for about 98 percent of Chinese photovoltaic (PV) companies' revenue. One study showed that there were 350 Chinese PV companies doing business in mid-2008, but at least 200 of those companies had stopped production or folded altogether by the end of the year. But at the same time, some solar companies are doing extremely well in global platform: “We are very proud to become the world's first PV solar company to achieve 1GW of solar cell and module production capacity,” says Dr Zhengrong Shi, Suntech's Chairman and CEO.

The Chinese government is actively investing in clean energy and in upgrading its national electricity grid for renewable energy offering the most aggressive and generous solar power subsidy in the world. According to a report by the Center for American Progress, China's green stimulus spending is six times higher than the equivalent amount that the U.S. government is investing as a percentage of their respective economies.

Japan
Thanks to local and central government subsidies, the Japanese have one of the biggest solar power sectors in the world. Japan is expected to increase its solar power capacity 20-fold by 2020 from 2005 levels and to generate up to $105 billion of “economic benefits” in the year 2020 (up from the current $1 billion). 100,000 new jobs in the solar power industry are estimated to be available in the 2020, up from the current 12,000.

The Japanese government said solar energy and electric cars are the two key areas to focus on on the path to achieving a low-carbon-emission society.

Toyota introduced in Japan the new Prius model with and optional solar ventilation system. The system ventilates the air inside of the car by using the electricity generated by the solar module on the rooftop to drive the fans while the car is parked during the daytime.

Attending” PV Japan 2009” Jun. 24 – Jun. 26 in Makuhari Messe? Let us know about your experience!

Russia
The regions with the best solar radiation potential are the North Caucasus, the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea areas, and the southern parts of Siberia and the Far East. This potential is largely unused, although the possibilities for off-grid solar energy or hybrid applications in remote areas are huge. But construction of a single solar power plant at Kislovodskaya SPP (1.5 MW) has been delayed.

In October 2008, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin supported a proposal made by the state corporation Rosatom to invest in polysilicon production and to construct a solar equipment plant in Krasnoyarsk Region to produce solar modules.

The Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies (Rusnano), which was created by the Russian government in 2007, plans to set up a plant to produce 120 megawatts of solar panels per year. It plans to buy the factory equipment from Oerlikon in Switzerland.

Solar destination in Russia: “Photovoltaic Market Forum 2009”: June 1, 2009, World Trade Center, Moscow

Singapore
The Singapore government recently released its Sustainable Development Blueprint, outlining key initiatives for sustainable development through year 2030. Installing the 3.1 MW panels and equipment for the 30 public housing precincts nationwide is scheduled over a five-year period, according to the plan.
Being located on the sunbelt, which gets 50% more radiation than temperate regions such as Germany and Japan, helps Singapore’s efforts.

Yaacob Ibrahim, minister for environment and water resources said, “The government will play a catalytic role through setting aside 1 billion Singapore dollars [$680 million] to implement the recommendations.”

These projects will create opportunities for players in the cleantech industry - such architects, engineers, developers and technology providers - to hone their expertise and track record which can position them for entry into the global energy market.

The cleantech industry is expected to generate 3.4 billion dollars in value-added and create 18,000 jobs by 2015.

Solar Outlook – EUROPE

As promised, this time I will take you to a nice solar tour to Europe-For Free! With all that saved money, consider our Astralux May Special with the best SolarCare Plan in the industry! Next time, get ready to ASIA Outlook!

In Europe, new installations roughly tripled last year, according to Emerging Energy Research, an independent research firm. The most important markets in Europe are Germany and Spain, followed by France, Italy and Austria. At a recent meeting of the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA), more than 4000 scientists from 750 companies across Europe agreed on what they believe to be realistic goals for photovoltaic energy production: photovoltaic industry could provide 12% of European electricity demand by 2020. Grid-parity (that is the point when PV is as cheap as conventional grid power) could be reached in southern Europe by 2015 and in most of the rest of Europe by 2020.

Germany

Germany is at the same latitude as southern Alaska, has cloudy skies and is a much smaller country than the United States. Yet the number of installed solar panels is more than three times the amount in the USA, and even more than twice that in any other country, impressive! Germany has been the top solar energy market thanks to a reliable feed-in tariff program that requires utilities to pay high prices for solar energy. The trick was that they had vision, and policy followed the vision, and industry growth followed the policy. The country is not a natural for solar, not the sunniest place on Earth, still Germany has around 49% of the world’s market for photovoltaic systems.

The construction of what could be the biggest solar boat in the world began in Germany in January 2009. The solar-powered boat will make a round-the-world trip in 2010 with stopovers along the equator, (and N.Y and S.F.) Mark the calendars!

If you are planning to visit Germany this spring, do not miss these excellent events:

5/26/2009 SolarPlaza is organizing a top-level conference - "The Solar Future - at the Kempinski Four Seasons in Munich. CEOs and experts from the world's leading PV companies and leading experts from industry and finance will be discussing the solar related topics. http://events.solarplaza.com/thesolarfuture/

5/27-29/2009.The world’s largest solar technology trade fair and the annual meeting place for everyone interested in the international solar industry. InterSolar 2009 in Munich Germany.http://www.intersolar.de

Spain

Spain is now the world's second largest PV producer after Germany with some 3,200 MW installed, which supplied 3.2 percent of the country's electricity in April 2009. In 2008, sunny Spain proved to be a gold mine. The country saw its PV market grow almost fivefold in one year from 560 MW in 2007 to more than 2,511 MW as a result of a generous feed-in tariff, representing more than 45% of the global PV market during that year, according to the EPIA. Grid parity could be reached as early as 2012 according to EPIA.

Spain, the NO8DO city of Seville, is also home for PS 10 and PS 20- solar power towers. 20 MW-capacity PS-20 begun commercial operation just recently; in April 2009. It has 1255 reflective mirrored devices called heliostats, each with a surface area of 1291 square feet. PS10 and PS20 are part of larger project, which will eventually generate 300 MW of energy and serve over 10,000 homes.