The largest renewable energy business conference and exhibition ever held in the US, took place in Washington DC at the Convention Center. Hosted by the US government, it attracted energy ministers, professionals, exhibitors, and media reporters from more than 80 countries. In the framework of the conference, twelve sessions on renewable energies were held by approximately 250 expert speakers.

Experts from industry (SCHOTT Solar, BP Solar, SunPower Corp., IBC Solar), associations (BSW) and consultancies evaluated the global development of PV, problems of oversupply and demand, the success of the feed-in tariff in Europe and its suitability for the US American market in the session “Global PV & Policy Drivers”, co-chaired by Daniela Schreiber; Head Research Operations at EuPD Research.

The panel agreed on the necessity of promotion as a means to foster solar energy globally, and to push the development in new country markets such as Australia or India. “Subsidizing PV by means of a feed-in tariff has proven to be successful in European country markets, however the US market still relies on the federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC), which expires at the end of 2008”, sums up Schreiber. Moreover, one of the core findings of the conference regarding the US solar energy promotion is the general demand for the extension of the ITC: for commercial customers it is to be enhanced to a duration of eight years, and for private end users to six years, with the abolishment of the current cap of 2,000 USD.

In case of any specific question, please contact d.schreiber@eupd-research.com.		  
   
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