Local PV sector regresses to levels registered in 2008, association notes

The downward trajectory experienced by Greece’s troubled photovoltaic sector continued in 2015 as a result of erroneous and catastrophic policies that have stagnated the market over the past three years, HELAPCO, the Hellenic Association of Photovoltaic Companies, locally acronymed SEF, stressed in an announcement released today.

The sector regressed to levels registered in 2008, as hardly any photovoltaic systems were installed during 2015, the association observed, while noting that business activity last year represented just one percent of the figure generated in 2013. Consequently, job losses in the sector continued in 2015, the association noted.

The delay in adopting a new institutional framework for the sector in 2015, which obstructed the development of medium and large-scale projects, as well as the imposition of capital controls last summer, a detrimental development for the installation of small-scale PV systems used in self-production, were the main reasons for the poor showing in 2015, the association pointed out.

Despite the photovoltaic sector’s latest lackluster results, PV systems covered 7.1 percent of the country’s electricity needs in 2015 courtesy of stunning growth figures achieved by the sector in previous years. Last year, Greece was ranked second, internationally, for the third successive year, in terms of PV contribution to total energy consumption.