14 September 2012: The most recent newsletter of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Photovoltaics Power Systems Programme (PVPS) looks back on IEA PVPS’s progress over the last five years and highlights changes to the global market for photovoltaic (PV)-generated electricity.

Achievements noted include the establishment of new PVPS task groups, increased interest in PV solutions from industry associations, and the addition of five new IEA PVPS member countries. The newsletter also makes reference to new publications on hybrid systems and mini grids, and improving sustainability of rural water systems. The newsletter points to examples of PV technology entering the mainstream, noting several global market trends, for example, PV as a percentage of newly established electricity power generating capacity in France (57%), Italy (over 60%) and the US (nearly 10%).

The newsletter also emphasizes that the decreasing costs of PV power will soon allow it to be fully competitive in areas of high solar irradiation and where the price of electricity to consumers is high. The newsletter says that these new market conditions will be contribute to the PVPS’s new strategy for its 2013-2017 programme period. [Publication: IEA PVPS Power Update 37]