THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (EC) DEMONSTRATION AND THERMIE PROGRAMS FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) APPLICATIONS

The PV Demonstration and THERMIE programmes of the European Commission have played a major role in encouraging the application of photovolta ic technology in Europe. The Demonstration programme began in 1979 and both it and the subsequent THERMIE programme have been managed ever s ince by DGXVII, the Directorate for Energy. More than 140 projects hav e been offered support, giving an installed capacity of over 5.7 MWp. The projects have been spread over a range of applications including r ural electrification, telecommunication systems and grid-connected pow er generation. All have been monitored using comparable procedures at either a basic (global) or more complex (analytical) level depending o n the system size. To facilitate the comparison of different systems, the data from all projects are analysed by the EC's Joint Research Cen tre (JRC) at Ispra in Italy. This article discusses the aim and scope of the programmes, and highlights some of the lessons learned in the a rea of rural electrification. The range of projects is described and b roken down into sectors. The future of the programme is summarized and priorities are discussed. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.