Are solar PV projects suited to project financing?

Solar PV projects have historically been well suited to project financing because many sell power at a fixed tariff (as opposed to a fluctuating price on a merchant market) and often on a “take-or-pay” basis whereby the off-taker purchases whatever volume of power is produced, thus mitigating both price and volume risk.

Are solar photovoltaic power plants the future of power generation?

Although it currently represents a small percentage of global power generation, installations of solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants are growing rapidly for both utility-scale and distributed power generation applications.

What is a solar PV power plant?

The PV effect is a semiconductor effect whereby solar radiation falling onto the semiconductor PV cells generates electron movement. The output from a solar PV cell is DC electricity. A PV power plant contains many cells connected together in modules and many modules connected together in strings8 to produce the required DC power output.

Are solar PV power plants a good investment?

Solar PV power plants represent a large financial investment. The PV modules are not only valuable, but also portable. There have been many instances of module theft and also theft of copper cabling. Security solutions are required to reduce the risk of theft and tampering.

How can a capital grant help a solar PV project?

Capital grants awarded through a tender or application process have also helped support solar PV projects, especially in the early stages of PV power commercialization when its costs were very high, the awareness of its characteristics limited, and the perceived risks high.

Is solar PV a strategic renewable technology?

This report clearly points out that solar PV is one of the strategic renewable technologies needed to realise the global energy transformation in line with the Paris climate goals. The technology is available now, could be deployed quickly at a large scale and is cost-competitive.