PV IMPACT

PV Impact will try out a variety of approaches to stimulate the private sector to spend more on PV research, development and innovation in Europe. The part of the project will focus on inviting companies to matchmaking events so they can make new connections and find partners with whom to work on their plans. The project will also target two specific industrial companies: one, ENEL Green Power, will try to make progress on the Implementation Plan by coordinating the many different PV actors in Italy; the other, Photowatt, will work mostly privately but tap the consortium's expertise and those of scientists whom it will select to help it make the right strategic technical choices to be a serious competitor in PV manufacturing.

Another important part of the project is to monitor progress in PV. Data will be collected on public spending in the EU, on private spending, on the kinds of projects being funded and on the overall performance of PV technology. Forecasts for future spending will be made according to various scenarios. The project will track whether improvements in the performance of technology are keeping pace with expectations. It will make recommendations to European funding authorities on how they can play their part in putting European PV technology back the top of the class if it is falling behind.