The French Photovoltaic Market 2007/08 - Another Path for Photovoltaics

Obwohl er sich mit einer jährlichen Wachstumsrate von über 100 Prozent unter den Top Ten der Photovoltaikmärkte weltweit befindet, ist bisher nur wenig über den französischen Photovoltaikmarkt bekannt. Die neue Marktstudie von EuPD Research, die in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Solarverband ENERPLAN herausgegeben wird, liefert erstmals umfassende Primärdaten.

Neben einer detaillierten Analyse der aktuellen Marktstrukturen beinhaltet die Studie grundlegende Informationen hinsichtlich verbauter Systemgrößen, Kundengruppen, Preisen und Preisentwicklung sowie Vertriebskanälen in Frankreich. Angesichts der besonderen Förderung von gebäudeintegrierten Systemen stehen darüber hinaus die Produktanforderungen sowie die angebotenen Produktportfolios der Unternehmen im Zentrum der Untersuchung. Über die gesamte Studie hinweg werden zudem die Unterschiede zwischen Kontinental- und Überseemarkt herausgearbeitet. Als besonderes Highlight enthält die Studie Profile französischer Firmen, die im PV-Segment tätig sind. Damit klärt der Bericht alle möglicherweise vorher bestehenden Unklarheiten bezüglich des französischen PV-Marktes und gibt Aufschluss über seine Strukturen und Potentiale.
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Contents 6
Figures 10
Executive Summary 13
Part A – The Position of Photovoltaics in France 19
1. French Renewable Energy Policy 20
1.1 European and French Environmental Targets 20
1.2 Recent Developments in French Government Policy 21
1.3 The Current French Energy Mix 22
1.4 Electricity Prices 22
1.5 The Attitude of the Public towards Photovoltaics 23
1.6 The General Strategy for Photovoltaics 24
2. Photovoltaic Promotion in France 25
2.1 The Feed-in Tariff 25
2.1.1 History and Current Basic Conditions 25
2.1.2 The Definition of BIPV 26
2.1.3 Outlook 29
2.2 Tax Incentives for PV 30
2.2.1 The Tax Credit Scheme in Continental France 30
2.2.2 The Tax Credit Scheme in the DOM-TOM Regions 30
2.3 Overview of Regional PV Promotion 32
2.4 Summary: Profitability of PV in France Today 34
Part B – An Empirical Analysis of the French PV Market 37
1. Photovoltaic Industry 38
1.1 Production Industry 38
1.2 Distribution Companies 39
1.3 Installation and Project Planning Companies 39
1.4 Other Relevant Stakeholders for Photovoltaics in France 40
2. Specifics of the Continental and the Overseas Market 42
2.1 The Overseas Market 42
2.2 The Continental Market 43
2.3 Market Volume 45
3. Sales Market 48
3.1 System Sizes 48
3.2 Excursus: Big Photovoltaic Plants in France 48
3.2 Customer Groups 51
3.3 Delivery Times 53
3.4 Distribution Structure 54
4. Supply Market 55
4.1 BIPV Products Available 55
4.2 Prices and Price Development 59
5. Potential of Photovoltaics in Comparison to Solar Thermal 62
5.1 Employment 62
5.2 Turnover 63
5.3 Point of Market Entry 65
5.4 Potential Evaluation by Market Participants 67
6. Future Market Development 69
6.1 Problems Hindering Market Growth Seen by the Respondents 69
6.2 Further Problems of the French Market 71
6.2.1 Advancing PV installers 71
6.2.2 Financing Offers 72
6.2.3 Technical Product Innovations and Certifications 72
6.3 Market Segments with Biggest Potential 74
6.4 Forecast 75
Part C – Conclusions and Outlook 79
Part D – Appendix 83
Method and Composition of the Sample 83
Part E – Company Profiles 91
List of Abbreviations 125
Bibliography 126
Credits 129
Picture Credits 129
Editorial 131
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Figure 1: Breakdown of energy sources used in the production of electricity in France 2004 22
Figure 2: Remuneration for PV electricity fed into the grid in France from July 2006 (in Euros) 25
Figure 3: Examples of different types of PV module installation with regard to the BIPV premium 26
Figure 4: Applying for the documentation necessary to receive the feed-in tariff 29
Figure 5: Average annual energy received by an inclined south-facing surface on mainland France 31
Figure 6: Overview of maximum regional promotion available 32
Figure 7: Simplified profitability calculations for selected systems 35
Figure 8: Overview of players at the different levels of the value-added chain 39
Figure 9: Type of surveyed installation companies 40
Figure 10: Overview: The French overseas territories 42
Figure 11: Installed capacity in 2006 – regional allocation 44
Figure 12: Newly installed on-grid capacity in continental France and the DOM TOM 45
Figure 13: Sold capacities in 2006 and capacities expected to be sold in 2007 – All companies 46
Figure 14: Sold capacities in 2006 and expected capacities to be sold in 2007 – Installers 47
Figure 15: Share of following sizes in installed systems in 2006 – All companies 48
Figure 16: Overview of large-scale projects in France 49
Figure 17: End customer structure of surveyed installers 52
Figure 18: Average waiting times for systems in weeks 53
Figure 19: Distribution channels of PV modules in France 54
Figure 20: Share of BIPV in sold capacities 2006 and 2007 55
Figure 21: Offered BIPV products by following companies 56
Figure 22: Offered BIPV products – Weighted according to the companies’ sold BIPV capacity in 2007 57
Figure 23: Share of technologies in sold or installed capacities in 2006 58
Figure 24: Current prices for small-sized PV systems in France 59
Figure 25: Development of prices for photovoltaic modules in the past twelve months 60
Figure 26: Development of prices for photovoltaic modules in the next twelve months 61
Figure 27: Turnover of surveyed companies in PV in 2006 and expected turnover for 2007 63
Figure 28: Turnover in solar thermal in 2006 and expected turnover 2007 64
Figure 29: Entry into photovoltaic market of surveyed companies 65
Figure 30: Entry into solar thermal market of surveyed companies 66
Figure 31: Do you see a higher potential for photovoltaics or solar thermal in France? 67
Figure 32: Reasons given for seeing a higher potential in photovoltaics (open question) 68
Figure 33: Hindrances for photovoltaics in the French market 69
Figure 34: Evaluated attitude of the grid operator towards photovoltaics 70
Figure 35: Fields of potential for photovoltaics 74
Figure 36: Estimated future market development 76
Figure 37: Spreading of company types in the universe and in the sample 84
Figure 38: Business fields of surveyed companies 85
Figure 39: Core business of surveyed companies – Unaided question 86
Figure 40: Is your company a subsidiary of another company? If so, of which company? 87
Figure 41: Operational area of surveyed companies 87
Figure 42: Operational area of surveyed installers 88
Figure 43: Turnover of questioned companies in 2006 and expected turnover for 2007 89
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