Solar power in France

Solar power in France had been growing steadily and reached a cumulative photovoltaic capacity of 6.6 GW by the end of 2015, producing 6.7 TWh of electricity during the year. In 2015 France was the country with the seventh largest solar PV installed capacity in the world. As of 2016 the largest completed solar park is the 300 MW Cestas Solar Park.

The solar power capacity is set to continue expanding with a target of around 18-20 GW installed by 2023. However, an oscillating political support for new installations slowed down PV deployment since the record year of 2011, when 1,700 MW had been installed. In its 2014 report "Global Market Outlook for Photovoltaics", the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) not only blames the French government for a lack of support, but also criticizes it for having "hastily freeze or reduce support mechanisms" for further photovoltaic deployment. The EPIA also asserts that opposition from the conventional energy sector led to a negative image of PV technology in the public opinion. The French solar association SOLER urged the French government for more support and submitted a five-point plan in Spring 2014.

In January 2016, the President of France, François Hollande, and the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, laid the foundation stone for the headquarters of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in Gwalpahari, Gurgaon, India. The ISA will focus on promoting and developing solar energy and solar products for countries lying wholly or partially between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The alliance of over 120 countries was announced at the Paris COP21 climate summit. One of the hopes of the ISA is that wider deployment will reduce production and development costs, and thus facilitate increased deployment of solar technologies, including in poor and remote regions.

The insolation in France ranges from 3 sun hours/day in the north to 5 sun hours/day in the south. The output of a solar array is a function of age, temperature, tilt, shading, tracking, and insolation.

Mnistère de l'Environnement, de l'Energie et de la Mer.

Cumulative PV capacity in megawatt-peak (MW_p) since 2000

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