Prospects for thin-film PV in Germany

Due to the German Energy Supply Act the photovoltaics market will continue to grow in Germany. The predicted fall in costs will require companies to implement a continuous improvement in efficiency while at the same time reducing process costs. This must be achieved by a constant increase in research performance. The aim here is the fastest possible reduction in power generation costs into or below the range of costs which can be reached with conventional energy carriers. In this respect the German industrial and research landscape is very well set up. Industry aspires to covering 12% of power requirements throughout Europe in by 2020 by means of photovoltaics [5]. At the present time in Germany less than 1% of power requirements is covered. For Germany the prospects are very good for taking up a leading role globally in thin-film photovoltaics alongside the established crystalline silicon technology.