The Forum is a knowledge sharing and communication platform that is expected to help stakeholders identify the best business models for mainstreaming solar power use in Asia.
14 October 2010: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a US$2 million technical assistance grant to establish the Asia Solar Energy Forum, a knowledge sharing and communication platform for sector stakeholders to exchange information on how to accelerate and expand the use of solar power.
The Forum is expected to help stakeholders identify the best business models for mainstreaming solar power use in the region, and the financing mechanisms needed to develop the industry in the face of high capital costs. It will also fund a meeting to discuss measures to overcome barriers for solar photovoltaic, concentrated solar power and rooftop solar power projects, as well as off-grid and mini-grid projects using batteries that synergize electric vehicle development. This will include examining mechanisms that address high project and capital cost risks, to make them bankable. The technical assistance is part of ADB’s Asia Solar Energy Initiative, which aims to generate 3,000 MW of solar power in Asian developing countries by mid-2013. [ADB Press Release]