Page 56 - A Comprehensive Guide to Solar Energy Systems

Chapter 3 • Solar Power in Europe: Status and Outlook 51

assets, which will not be in line with the EU decarbonization objectives and might
further distort market price signals.
• A modernised framework for renewable energies is needed, which supports the uptake
of new business models and puts prosumers (because they both consume and
produce electricity) at the core of the energy transition. Large-scale solar generation
is increasingly being deployed via tendering mechanisms across the globe and also
in Europe. The extensive experience gathered over the last years in tenders should
be used now to enshrine high-level principles on the design of such mechanisms in
the upcoming Renewable Energy Directive. The right for EU member states to run
technology-specific tenders needs to be recognized.
In the small-scale solar segments, self-consumption business models emerge in an
increasing number of European countries. Self-generation and consumption is a
very concrete lever for households and businesses, who want to control their energy
costs. The proposal for a revised Renewable Energy Directive recognizes for the first
time at the EU level the right to self-generate, store, and consume, either individually
or collectively. All the models, which will make solar accessible to a larger number of
citizens (e.g., joint purchasing, cooperatives, leasing) need to be promoted as well,
notably by building on the mechanisms for collective self-consumption very recently
adopted in France, Germany, and Austria.
Long-term signals for ensuring a vibrant home market, adjusted market rules for
unlocking new business models and an enabling framework for renewables: these are
three prerequisites for ensuring a strong industrial basis for solar in Europe. Going
forward, it will be important to ensure that any policy intervention will benefit the full
solar European value chain, which is currently diversifying into new areas, such as
storage, buildings, or digitalisation. An industrial policy for solar in Europe should be
developed with the support of the European Commission, the European Parliament,
and the Member States to capture, in a dynamic perspective, the future growth, and
job potential.

3.5 Conclusions

As a solar pioneer, Europe has been experiencing the winds of sudden subsidy changes for
years, the latest example was the United Kingdom slashing its solar incentive programs,
which was the main reason for the continent’s more than 20% market contraction in 2016.
now, the bottom seems to have been reached, and it looks like a new growth phase is be-
ginning. Brussels and several EU member states are progressing in their efforts to address
the challenges of the energy transition from a large centralized system to a distributed one
based on a flexible energy market with a high penetration of renewables. In addition, there
are many new markets in Europe and many other regions that finally expand into solar to
profit from its attractive price offering.
What Europe and other early solar markets are experiencing is something that most
emerging solar countries won’t be spared: At a relatively early point in the development