FRENCH SUN BOOMING

French Solar PV Installations Now Rival those in California; Double Per Capita Those in USA, Predominantly Rooftop Distributed Generation
Paul Gipe, October 31, 2011 (Wind-Works)

"Once a laggard in renewable energy, France now rivals California in total installed capacity of solar photovoltaics (solar PV)…France, on a per capita basis, has installed more than twice the solar PV as the United States through mid year…California is currently North America's leader in solar PV development…

"…France, like its European counterparts in Germany and Italy, use a differentiated system of feed-in tariffs to pay generators for their solar electricity. California and the United States use a complex mix of tax credits, grants, and net-metering…The mid-year report by Soler, the French association of solar professionals, found 1,473 MW of solar PV operating in Metropolitan France, and another 200 MW in former French colonies."

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"The population of California is fast approaching 40 million people. France has a population of about 60 million inhabitants…The California Public Utility Commission calculates that there is about 1,000 MWAC through September. This is equivalent to 1,176 MWDC…One-third of [French] total capacity has been installed on home rooftops. Nearly half…has been installed by farmers and homeowners. Three-fourths…has been installed in distributed applications, mostly on rooftops…

"…There are 1,800 MW of new solar PV projects awaiting grid connection…substantially from more than 3,500 MW last year…At the current rate, France will install 1,300 MW of solar PV in 2011…France now has the seventh-largest installed solar PV capacity in the world, after Germany, Spain, Japan, Italy, the USA, and the Czech Republic."