In Copenhagen, solar industry groups release report saying a ramp-up of solar would reduce CO2 emissions by 1 billion tons, create 6.3 million jobs.

Solar power could meet 15% of U.S. electricity needs by 2020. (Photo: Jeff Kubina/flickr CC 2.0)

After a busy day in Copenhagen saw U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu launch a $350 million clean energy technology transfer program, a consortium of solar industry trade groups released a report indicating that solar photovoltaics could provide up to 12 percent of Europe’s electricity and the combination of PV, concentrated solar power and solar thermal could deliver 15 percent of electricity in the U.S. by 2020.

According to the report (pdf), released today in Copenhagen by U.S.-based Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the European Photovoltaic Industry Association and twenty other industry trade groups from around the world, advancements in the solar industry–ones that are ready to take place right now–would reduce CO2 emissions by nearly 1 billion tons annually and create 6.3 million jobs.

“Solar is ready today. It’s not a 2040 technology, it’s a today technology,” SEIA president Rhone Resch told reporters on a conference call from Copenhagen on Monday. “While nations negotiate details of a climate treaty, we need to be sure policies are in place so that solar can get to work now,” added Resch.

Solar growth dependent on advances in policy

Solar, wind and other renewable energy industries have assembled in Copenhagen to advocate for policies that would accelerate deployment of their technologies. The 15% and 12% solar targets outlined in the report for the U.S. and E.U. respectively, are “entirely dependent on advances in policy,” said Resch. “We can be a disruptive technology, but we need policies across the globe that need to be changed.”

To advance those policies, SEIA and EPIA announced the launch of SolarCOP15, a unified industry voice to make the case for solar energy as a simple, practical, and cost-effective solution to reduce carbon emissions now and into the future.

Solar COP15’s s policy imperatives in Copenhagen include: the adoption of binding targets for CO2 emission reductions that entail the uptake of solar power; the establishment of technology transfer mechanisms; and a commitment to finance strategies for solar technology deployment.

The foundation for the policy recommendations needed to reach the targets are outlined in the Solar Bill of Rights, released in late October by SEIA. In essence, the solar industry would like to see a lowering of subsidies to fossil fuel industries, or a raising of subsidies for solar and other renewables; and a streamlining of the grid interconnection process in the U.S. and around the world.

“We want to make solar as easy to connect to your home as it is to connect internet,” said Resch.

Resch said that there was a “tone of cautious optimism” in Copenhagen about reaching binding targets, but that even if binding targets were not agreed upon, “The presence of wind and solar here has never been larger, and it’s a very impressive sight.”

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Photo: Jeff Kubina