“The President of the Government has a progressive approach to solar energy", says Antonio Luque in the second of our vREM video interviews, but not the Ministry of Industry. “Unfortunately, the Ministry of Industry has not understood the problem (faced by the PV sector) and has introduced a cap which has left 25,000 workers on the streets.” Furthermore, “this cap has greatly cooled production of this technology in Spain, which was booming. Sometimes, people talk about whether Spain wants to be like California or Florida. Well, in terms of solar energy, we [Spain] were the European equivalent of California,” continues Luque.
But it is not all bad news. Spain continues to occupy a leading position in PV plant management and research. One example of this is the Instituto de Sistemas Fotovoltaicos de Concentración or ISFOC (Institute of Concentrating Photovoltaic Systems) located in Puertollano in Castile La Mancha. The objective of this institute is to analyse the performance of very high performance concentrating cells, although it is not yet fully operational. “It still has to be connected to the national electricity grid and, until then, we cannot verify the performance of the cells,” explains Luque.
“The decision to locate ISFOC in Puertollano was political. The president of Castile La Mancha must speak to the president of Unión Fenosa (the electric utility managing the grid in the area) and resolve this situation as soon as possible”. If not, Luque fears that America, which is very interested in having its own ISFOC, will beat Spain to it, and companies wanting to test their technology will go to the States rather that Spain.
Centesil, his latest project
It does not appear that this expert has lost any of his enthusiasm for solar energy. Centro de Tecnología de Silicio Solar or Centesil (Solar-grade Silicon Technology Centre), an R&D company dedicated to purifying polysilicon. "In this way, Spain will be able to offer the entire value chain", he explains.
The plant is being built in Getafe near Madrid and will draw on the support of two universities (Complutense and Autónoma de Madrid) and three companies (Isofotón, Técinas Reunidas and DC Wafers). Luque expects that it will be operational by the end of 2010 and will enable “any PV company wanting to avoid relying on silicon suppliers to be vertically integrated using the technology offered by Centesil”.
Will this project help Isofoton survive the “eclipse” from which it is currently suffering? This company was actually incorporated by Luque in 1981, although he now longer is connected to it, and he believes that it has committed several errors, such as: "not wisely investing the credit it obtained and taking on more staff than was prudent”.
Furthermore, as it does have a full chain of production, “it has been profoundly affected by the recession". If one also considers market slowdown, competition from other manufacturers and the inability to offer competitive prices, it is easy to understand why a company which was placed seventh worldwide at the start of the century is now fighting for its own survival.
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