The switchover process must be clear and short

Wolfram Sparber, vice president of EUREC and head of the Institute for Renewables Energy at Eurac Research cites the flow of innovation as another challenge to adopting solar power.

There are two major obstacles standing in the way of solar power becoming Europe’s main energy source. So says Wolfram Sparber, the vice president of EUREC and head of the Institute for Renewables Energy at Eurac Research. The first pertains to its implementation, not directly as relating to its economic aspect, but rather to the switchover. “It must be made clear when, on which surfaces, and how solar power can be used. The switchover process must be clear, and preferably short.”

According to the researcher, the second challenge is the flow of innovation in applied research, so that over the next few years we can have a European base of companies with new products and systems to leverage energy transformation and innovation.

He highlights the fact that in the field of photovoltaics, the cost has tumbled over the last 20 years by over 80%, as it has with batteries. “In future we will see large-scale batteries alongside solar facilities. In tandem with this, we will see strong growth in electromobility, which means many batteries distributed along the grid. If they are smart charging batteries or even ones which can interact with the grid, they will be able to boost renewable energies.”