Page 467 - A Comprehensive Guide to Solar Energy Systems

480 A ComPREhEnSIVE GuIdE To SolAR EnERGy SySTEmS

models, such as self­consumption will drive large and small consumers to embrace solar.
Government policy is also more likely to favor rooftop solar, even in unlikely solar markets,
such as Poland rooftop incentives remain available today [23]. Governments see solar as
a natural roof top technology, and with a new range of building integrated solar products
likely to be reaching the market at scale in the next 5 years, the last few remaining criti­
cisms of the aesthetics of solar will be gone [1].
Alongside the development of solar on traditional terrain, solar is also beginning to be
deployed in more unconventional ways. Floating solar is becoming a new opportunity for
solar developers using water as a host for new solar parks. In just 10 years, the value of the
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market is expected to jump from $13.8 × 10 in 2015 to $2.7 × 10 by 2025 [24]. In Europe,
the largest floating solar panel array is installed on london’s Queen Elizabeth II reservoir
and consist of over 23 000 panels [25]. This development clearly offers another route for
the development of solar, and another important market.
The technology is not limited to calm water conditions. In the netherlands, in 2017, the
feasibility of floating panels in rough water conditions is being tested [26]. If these tests are
positive it could be imaginable that small island countries, such as malta, that have huge
solar potential, but limited land space to install arrays, could find the perfect way to har­
ness the energy of the sun for their societies. Clearly the development of floating solar is
in its early stages, but the potential for the market to grow in the coming years is already
well recognized.
Ground mounted solar dominates the global deployment activities today, but it is
likely that more markets will follow the lead of Europe and therefore in the 2020s, we
will witness the emergence of the domination of roof top systems across the world. This
is, of course, subject to the caveat that governments embrace solar power, rather than
trying to kill it as demonstrated in countries, such as Spain, Romania, and Bulgaria. At
the present time, utility scale solar offers good return on investment at the utility scale,
much higher than that which can be achieved on rooftop solar [27]. This is in part due
to scale, but as new business models, such as self­consumption, grow across the world
the role of rooftop solar is set to equally grow and offer good return on investment for
developers.

24.5 Industrial Growth

Solar is also offering the world a huge bonanza in clean jobs. IREnA estimates that more
than three million jobs existed in solar in 2016 [28]. This is the largest employer of any
renew able technology and of any traditional energy source. In terms of the upstream
growth in solar power, it is clear that different regions of the world dominate different seg­
ments of the value chain. It is also clear that China has a strong desire to dominate most of
the segments, as well as associated sectors, such as battery storage [29].
Currently, Europe is leading in raw materials, particularly the production of polysilicon,
although China is developing its own providers [30]. The market for modules is dominated
by China, although notable companies continue to compete in specific segments, such as