C.
SUGGESTED POLICIES
C.1.
National Governments, Commission of the European Union etc. should
finance the necessary research and piloting phase still needed for the aforesaid
technologies.
C.2
An EU-Warranted Rotational Fund could be set-up as a new tool
towards So-G-Si Photovoltaics self-sustainability. The “formula” is quite similar to those already
successfully implemented in several EU-Countries to incentivate electricity production from NRES and cogeneration plants. A
new public/private Funding Agency should be set-up to offer “special”
project financing schemes to all So-G-Si producers. The Agency will ensure, for
a number of years, to the So-G-Si
producers the purchase of their
whole production at a pre-agreed price list, established
taking into account the
different product characteristics and
supplying to the producers, whenever required and appropriate, some loans for
the production in the form of an
advance for the purchase itself. The
Agency will resell the products to the market (Si-users), with a minimum gain,
to regenerate the Rotational Fund and
to ensure a minimum profit to the Agency itself.
Only in the case of some failures in the circular scheme above (lower
quality or quantity of the products with respect to the agreed standards,
refuse of the product on the market, etc.) the European Union
- possibly through the European Bank – will warranty the Agency
repaying the possible Agency economic losses. The “formula” above should be
capable to incentivate at the same time, both the So-G-Si producers, sharply
reducing their own risks – by means of the warranted
sale of their whole production -
and to ensure to the EU
Commission a strong leverage – by means of the repayment to the Agency only of
the losses due to the, probably , very few
not successful project financing
contracts.
The
Funding Agency should involve several European Banks,
European Photovoltaics Associations – such as EPIA and PV-INGRID –
representing in a whole the PV European Actors , JRC-Ispra Renewable Energies
Unit as the advising European Commission Body neutral expert in photovoltaics
and some specialised engineering and PDM (Project
Development and Management) companies for Projects Evaluation, Appraisal and
Control. In this last role and during Sahara, LIFE has already set-up
preliminary positive contacts with several banks in Europe
and above main actors delivering an
“expression of interest” to the EU within
the VI Framework Programme.