Europe-wide campaign promotes solar technology

摘要

The main ambition of the first European Solar Days, which took place on 16 and 17 May has been to demonstrate to the public how solar energy, whether solar thermal, solar thermal power plants or pho-tovoltaics, can be a 'normal' alternative to fossil fuels. The events, coordinated by the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF) together with the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA), also aimed at drumming up political support for the technology. First celebrated in Austria in 2002 as a 'Tag der Sonne', the solar energy campaign now sees over 4,000 events planned in ten countries. Speaking at a dinner in the European Parliament to launch the two-day event, MEP Britta Thomsen (PES, Denmark) calmed solar industry participants' worries at any revival of a full-blown renewables trading scheme. "A consensus is growing that trading should be based on an opt-in system. Member states could choose to trade if they see ben- efits in this. We need to ensure member state control with trading. At the same time, trade has to be mainly company-driven," said Thomsen. "It is the same principle for children and for member states. They should only be allowed to play or to trade if they have done their homework," said Gerhard Raben-steiner, president of the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF).