Programma Altener

3b-VT5. DETAILED WORK PROGRAMME FOR THE VERTICAL TASK 5

"PROMOTION OF PV PRIVATE ROOF SYSTEMS THROUGH CREATION  OF LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS IN  SEVERAL EUROPEAN CITIES"

(This work programme is derived from the project proposal No 29 "PV-PROSPECT" considering remarks and budget adjustments out of the evaluation process and adaptation needs to the overall cluster structure)

Strategy
The strategy of the PV-Prospect programme is to create local partnerships in various medium to large European cities that have a local utility company. These partnerships will develop standardised PV roof systems and offer a complete package to local electricity users. The package will include: installation of the standardised PV roof system (for instance a 2 kWp system retrofit), grid connection with installation of the second meter, a net metering contract, maintenance (guarantee of performance), other simple to use, cost effective energy saving tools (such as consumer electronics power meters and highly efficient lamps) and assistance for requesting national subsidy. The partnership will conduct a local market survey, construct a database of potential clients and define the local objectives of number of systems installed in each city and marketing strategy to be used.
The partnership will specify the characteristics of standard systems, which will be offered (technical specifications, maximum price, guarantee of system performance, additional devices) and define a quality control system (control of products and installations) including guidelines for installers. An European Call for Tender will be prepared for producers of PV modules, system components and other energy saving devices. Previous experiences (e.g. the Phoenix campaign and the Munchner Solarstrom project in Germany or the Greenpeace Solaris project in Holland) have shown that bulk purchasing of systems and standardisation may lead to 30% price reduction. The partnership will also develop guidelines and rules for the installers that want to participate in the campaign. On the basis of these guidelines technical courses for installers will be organised and also seminars for architects, engineers and urban planners to introduce them into PV technology and its building integration.

Phase V5.1 - Partnership
The first phase will be used to establish the partnership between the various local actors and the international network. In some cities (Verona), this partnership is phase of creation (see enclosed partnership form). The partnership in the Modena Province will be most probably identified in Modena Municipality, META SpA (local utility), CNA (association of installers) and the Province of Modena. The partnership in Rome, leaded by the Agency for Energy Management in the Rome 5 th District of Tiburtina (the Agency)is intended to promote the PV systems, in order to produce energy for the residential sector, both private and public housing, and for the transportation sector, in the last case to feed the electric vehicles, in use by AMA, the Public Utility for solid waste, and ATAC-Co.Tra.L, the Public Transportation Company, or to feed the electric private cars and scooters, at the service points managed by STA. The use of renewable energy is a strong commitment, both for the Agency and for the City of Rome. The main sector in which the renewable energy systems can be developed in Italy is, at the moment, the residential sector. But a strong commitment is also developed in the transportation sector, for the use of clean energy, particularly by means of electric vehicles. It is then of main importance to develop applications combining both the objectives, that is the use of renewable energy and the development of electric clean vehicles.
In Rome the partners in the partnership will have the following tasks:

Agency for Energy Management in the Rome 5 th District of Tiburtina (the Agency)

• 'Study of the local potential market of photo-voltaic systems (PV systems), by using Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies
• 'Contacts and agreements with Banks and other Financial Institutes for the definition of financial tools, additional to the incentives of the "10.000 PV Roof" National Programme
• 'Information campaign and commercial campaign of PV systems: technical specifications, range of sale prices, costs of installation and maintenance, available incentives and financial tools at national and local level. The campaign will be developed by using media, WEB pages, direct mailing, brochures, conferences and special events
• 'Front-line office for information and collection of purchase demands
• 'Participation, together with the other partners of the Project network, in the definition and publication of the European the Call for Tender for the delivery of the components of the PV systems: product specifications, maximum price, guarantee requirements, number of systems sold locally etc.
• 'Evaluation, together with the other partners of the Project network, of the proposals sent by the participants to the Call
• 'Support of the PV system buyers in the demand of contributions and financements, confirmation of local purchase demands.
• 'Dissemination at local level about the Project results, in term of renewable energy produced, system performance, reduction of CO2 emissions; participation to National dissemination through the network of Italian Energy Agencies (RENAEL); participation to European dissemination through the network of European Energy Agencies and in collaboration with Energie-Citès; monitoring of results by suitable indicators

City of Rome

• 'Definition of new regulations about the integration of PV systems in the building components (i.e. the roof). By this way the PV PROSPECT Project is linked to the other Project "Strumenti di pianificazione urbanistica (Tools for urban planning) energy and environmental conscious", sent by the City of Rome and financed by the National Ministry of the Environment in the framework of the "Programma Stralcio di Tutela Ambientale" (art. 7 L.344/97 and art. 2 L. 662/96, modified by art. 10 L. 30/97)
• 'Collaboration with the Agency in the contacts and agreements with Banks and other Financial Institutes for the definition of financial tools, additional to the incentives of the "10.000 PV Roof National Programme"
• 'Involvement of the citizens, their associations (consumer associations, district associations etc.), and of the most representative organisations of the City, in the Campaign, through the Local Agenda 21 Forum, promoted by the City in 1998 and presently operating, by means of plenary sessions, thematic sessions (among which the Energy session), and of the activity of a standing commission. Dissemination of the results of the Campaign through the Forum
• 'Installation of PV Systems in public service buildings, managed by the City (offices, children schools)
• 'Availability of the roofs of the public housing buildings, belonging to the City of Rome, for the installation of PV systems requested by tenants for the needs of electric power in their apartments
• 'Availability of the roofs of the public housing buildings for the installation of PV systems to supply with electric power the electric private cars and scooters, at the feeding points managed by STA
• 'Establishment of easy procedures for the authorisations managed by the City, concerning the installation of PV roof systems, and technical and administrative assistance in the procedures managed by other institutions

ACEA, the Public Utility of the City of Rome and metropolitan area for water and electricity

• 'Collaboration with the Agency in the study of the local potential market of photo-voltaic systems
• 'Collaboration with the Agency in the information and commercial campaign of PV systems, and in the organisation of the front-line office
• 'Collaboration with the Agency in the technical specifications to be proposed to the partners of the Project network in the definition of the Call for Tender
• 'Suitable adaptation of the electricity distribution network and definition of technical specification of wiring and grid connection
• 'Definition, together with STA, AMA, ATAC-Co.Tra.L., of the technical specifications to be followed for the grid connection of PV systems installed to provide energy to feeding points for electric vehicles
• 'Organisation and management of the courses for installers and of the technical seminars for architects and engineers, designers of building electric equipment
• 'Selection of designers and installers recommended-enabled by the Project because of the know-how, of the quality of services and guarantees offered to the customers, quality control of installation of the PV systems and monitoring of system performance
• 'Technical assistance to designers and installers in the design and in the installation of the systems, in the grid connection , in the system maintenance
• 'Definition of net metering contracts
• 'Advertising campaign of additional energy saving products to advise to the customers

IACP, the Institute for Public Housing of the Rome Province

• 'Availability of the roofs of the public housing buildings, belonging to the Institute, for the installation of PV systems requested by tenants for the needs of electric power in their apartments
• 'Availability of the roofs of the public housing buildings for the installation of PV systems to supply with electric power the electric private cars and scooters, at the feeding points managed by STA

AMA, the Solid Waste Treatment Company; ATAC-Co.Tra.L, the Public Transportation Company

• 'Installation of PV systems to provide energy to feeding points for electric vehicles: such vehicles are both used by AMA to collect solid waste, and by ATAC-Co.Tra.L., which manages a fleet of about 40 electric mini-buses in the centre of Rome, and several hybrid buses (with both electric and gas motor engine) on the semi-peripheral and peripheral lines; such installations will be made on the roofs of the exchange centres and solid waste treatment plants of AMA and of the garages of ATAC-Co.Tra.L., within the Rome 5 th District
• 'Availability of the roofs of the buildings owned the two Companies for the installation of PV systems to supply with electric power the electric private cars and scooters, at the feeding points managed by STA

STA, the Public Company for Transportation Planning

• 'Management of feeding points for electric private cars and scooters, connected with PV roof systems, located as follows:
  • 'on buildings belonging to ATAC-Co.TrA.L. and AMA;
  • 'on public housing buildings belonging to IACP and to the City of Rome

These partnerships will be defined in the first phase of the project. In this phase partnership forms will be created in each city stating the local objectives (in Verona installation of 100 PV roof systems for the residential sector, in Modena 50 systems, in Sevilla 300 systems and in Rome 50 systems in the fifth district), the actions to be undertaken, the commitment of each partners and their financial resources. All actors will undersign these partnership declaration forms. In this phase also the international collaboration between the cities will be activated through a kick-off meeting.

Phase V5.2 - Analysis
The second phase of the project consist in a local market analysis for PV roof systems in each site leading to the definition of the marketing strategy, and an analysis of the product specifications of the package that will be offered during the campaign.

Market survey:
A local survey will be conducted to identify the awareness of the public and their willingness to purchase a system and to estimate the technical and economical potential for roof based PV systems in each site. The Veronese public might quite well be aware of photovoltaics as a new technology, though many people probably have a wrong image of it. The local utility company (AGSM) manages since 1984 a 70 kWp PV pilot plant for water pumping in the hills North of Verona. This project received quite some public attention in local media, but it created the image that this technology is still in the experimental phase and only applicable for special remote applications.
The publicity campaign should be aimed at updating this image. A georeferential database will be constructed, divided per sector (residential, public buildings, and tertiary sector) on energy consumption, type of energy contract, peak load power requirements and type of building. In some cases (Verona) these data are already available. Based an analysis of the type (detached, semidetached, blocks etc.) and number of buildings a first estimate has been made of the number of potential buyers of PV roof systems in the Municipality of Verona: 16.544 potential clients in the residential sector. The local target of 100 PV roof systems corresponds thus to a value of only 0.6% of the potential buyers (those with a (semi)-detached private house). In Modena, the market analysis for private customers of grid connected PV plants will cover the city of Modena and some nearby smaller Municipalities. The analysis will consider the building characteristics, the previous experiences concerning environmental friendly technologies, the mechanisms of information transfer and purchase decision processes in the area of clean energy devices. In Sevilla, an energy audit of municipality buildings has been made and plan to use solar technology has been developed.
Data on the residential sector are still missing. Target groups other than residential sector and public buildings, such as the tourists sector will be identified and the best strategy for marketing the systems developed for each sector. Potential investors may be reluctant to invest in innovative technologies such as PV due to lack of experience and information. Special advertising campaign will be developed to provide such information. The outcomes of this part will be a georeferntial database of potential clients in each site, the target groups, marketing tools and the best strategy to reach these groups. In Rome, the local survey will be conducted by the Agency and ACEA considering the building characteristics, investigated by aerial photos and satellite coverage, the energy consumptions, the peak load power requirements and the type of energy contract, data available by ACEA, the previous experiences of promotion of new technologies among the customers, developed by ACEA.

System specification:
Specifications of products are necessary to arrive at a standardised package. Issues to be resolved within the partnership are the following:

• 'best system size for each sector (for instance a 1 kWp and 3 kWp system for residential sector, and 5 kWp for public and commercial).
• 'best additional energy saving products to be offered for each sector (for instance power meters and high efficient lamps for the residential sector, heat pumps for commercial and public buildings)
• 'type and characteristics of support structure for PV system (on roof, or building integrated)
• 'type and characteristics of modules (monocrystalline, poly, or amorphous)
• 'type of characteristics of inverter (module integrated or single inverter, lifetime)
• 'wiring and grid connection
• 'best system size and type of characteristics of inverter for the implementation in the feeding points for electric vehicles
• 'grid connection allowing easy and safe maintenance operations
• 'safety requirements and national/European norms
• 'guidelines for roof installation (preservation of old supporting structure, avoiding leakage, ensuring back ventilation of modules)
• 'maintenance factors and years of guarantee of performance of total system offered
• 'type of net metering contract and method of payments
• 'monitoring of system performance
• 'quality control programme

Here the experience of external experts that have run successful similar programmes in Germany will be used. International collaboration is important in this phase, since the objective is to arrive at a single European Call for Tender for the delivery of the components of the PV system. Small national differences will exists on what additional devices will be offered along with the system. However through a single Call for Tender for delivery of the standard systems in all cities a large volume is created, which will result in much lower prices (-30%) than on the market with still a maximum of product reliability (bulk purchasing). This is one of the key elements in the PV-Prospect programme. Contracts will be signed between the partnership and the supplier(s) of the
system components for the delivery and the guarantee offered. Special clausules will be included in the Call for Tender in case of malfunction of system components of the package. Final price will depend on the number of systems sold in each city. The outcome of this product specification phase will be a Call for Tender with product specifications, maximum price, guarantee requirements, number of systems to be sold etc, and a contract with a producer. There will be connection with the Altener 1997 project "PERSEUS-Photovoltaic Energy Systems End User Guide", lead by Ecuba srl (Italy) with Rhonalpènergie Environnement and STZ-EGV.

Phase V5.3 - Training
Training courses for installers and electricians will be developed in collaboration with their local associations, using educational material and expertise already developed in other countries. Strong emphasis will be put on the quality control and safety. Also here, the collaboration between the cities has an advantage, because only one course will be developed for installers, which can be held in the various cities. In Verona, AGEVE has already developed in collaboration with the local installers association (UPA) a proposal for a training course on PV installation and has requested financial support from the Chamber of Commerce. AESS will organise training courses in collaboration with the Modena section of CNA (national association of installers). In Rome, on behalf of the Agency, ACEA will organise and manage the courses for installers and the technical seminars for architects and engineers, designers of building electric equipment.

Courses will be devoted to electric plant installers, electrical engineers, sales personnel.
Simultaneously architects and other building professionals will be informed through technical seminars about PV building integration and the local objectives of the partnership. Here educational material and courses developed abroad will be used to facilitate the organisation of such courses.
Presentation and educational material developed in one city in Italy can also be used for the other cities in the project reducing the time necessary for this action. Outcome: technical courses for installers and seminars for architects and city planners, educational material.

Phase V5.4 – Financial tools
In collaboration with banks and other financial institutes, the feasibility of various methods to finance (low interest loans and credits, leasing, hire/purchase models, selling green electricity) rooftop PV systems will be evaluated. These tools can be offered in combination or in substitution of the national incentive along with the package offered to the clients. Before banks put in money in a project some issues have to be clarified first: for how long can the performance of a PV system guaranteed? What are the associated risks for a bank and how to assess them? can a PV system be insured? What is the value of PV system after some years if an owner wants to sell it? are there low interest credits or tax exemptions available for investment in environmental projects? Constructions will be analysed to increase the benefits for banks to offer financial instruments for PV systems (for instance, the possibility to have new clients). Experience will be brought in by the external experts from Germany where loan systems and or leasing constructions have already been developed for PV systems and many of the issues are resolved.

Phase V5.5 - Campaign
In this phase the publicity campaign will be prepared and launched. A front line office with a free phone number will be opened for direct information and consultation on the programme at the energy agencies or utility companies. Internet pages and special brochures on the campaign will be developed. Direct info material will be mailed to target groups along with their electricity bill (for instance, those clients of the utility company that have a domestic contract and live in unifamiliar houses). Here the georeferential database developed during the market survey can be used. Special events (such as exhibitions, seminars such as the SUNDAY event etc.) will be organised to launch the campaign. Local political and cultural people will be involved in the promotion. The first amount of buyers will receive a special benefit. The energy agencies in close collaboration with the utility and trade organisations will be responsible for this campaign. In Modena, AESS has in phase of preparation a WEB site, within the web site of Modena Municipality. The AESS site will be extensively used to present the campaign and diffuse technical and commercial data. The electric bills issued by the electric utility will be used as an advertising tool, and other communications will be sent to the citizens together with it. Special events will be organised (in case of fairs, exhibitions, ecc.). The information desk "InfoAmbiente" of the Municipality Modena will be available for communication with the public. The consumer associations (Adiconsum, Unione Consumatori, etc…) and environmental associations (legambiente,…) will be involved. After identification of the number of people interested, site visits will be made in collaboration with the installers, to evaluate the suitability of the client’s roof (area available, tilt and orientation of roof, any obstacles such as chimneys which might cause shading etc.). In case of a positive evaluation, an estimate will be made of the annual production of the standard system installed. Only after this, an order will be made to the supplier of the number of systems to be delivered and the systems will be actually installed by the specially trained electricians and installers. Simultaneously, the quality control and monitor programme will be activated. Monitoring of the system performance is easily done through yearly meter readings by the utility company (a second meter will be installed measuring the electricity fed in the grid).

In Rome, the energy agency will develop the information and commercial campaign of PV systems: technical specifications, range of sale prices, costs of installation and maintenance, available incentives and financial tools at national and local level. The campaign will be developed by using media, WEB pages, direct mailing, brochures, conferences and special events. The City of Rome will support the Campaign by means of publications, diffusion through the Offices for public information, through the WEB pages managed by "Rome on line"; involvement in the Campaign of the citizens, their associations (consumer associations, district associations etc.), and of the most representative organisations of the City, will be developed through the Local Agenda 21 Forum, promoted by the City in 1998 and presently operating, by means of plenary sessions, thematic sessions (among which the Energy session), and of the activity of a standing commission. In the same way dissemination of the results of the Campaign will be obtained through the Forum. A front-line office will be established by the Agency, for information and collection of purchase demands, and for supporting the PV system buyers in the demand of contributions and financements. Site visits will be made by the Agency and ACEA, in collaboration with the installers, to evaluate the suitability of the client roofs, included the roofs of buildings belonging to IACP, AMA, ATAC-Co.Tra.L., City of Rome. In case of positive evaluation, also from the point of view of the energy production, the Agency will make a closer estimate of the number and the characteristics of the systems to install, and this estimate will contribute to the definition of the conditions of the European Call for Tender. After the results of the Call, the Agency will issue an order to the supplier, of the number of systems to be delivered, and the systems will be installed by trained and recommended installers. On behalf of the Agency, ACEA will develop the quality control of installations of PV systems and the monitoring of systems performance. ACEA will define the type of net metering contracts.

Dissemination of the campaign and its results will be effectuated on European level using the network of European energy agencies and the city network of Energy-cites. A workshop and/or a seminar will be organised. Replication of the PV-Prospect project is possible in other Italian and European cities by promoting it to other local energy agencies and utility companies. The campaign can be easily continued and/or extended in the participating cities after the end of the ALTENER programme, since al necessary conditions have already been developed (call for tender, publicity campaign, courses, additional financement, monitor programme) and the national incentives for PV roof systems will be available in Italy for 5 years. These are the right conditions for a sustainable market growth of PV roof systems and local economic development.