Trends of Research and Dissemination for PV Systems in Korea

Korea strategically selected PV as one of the major renewable energy technologies and thus rapidly expanded PV program both for R&D and dissemination since 2004. The Korean Government established Korean Photovoltaic Development Organization in 2004 and commissioned it with planning and managing R&D program. The R&D program focuses on manufacturing technologies necessary for reducing the system cost and improving the reliability. Dissemination continued to grow with a strong feed-in tariff program, public building obligatory installation program, and renewable portfolio agreement programs as well as the existing subsidy programs. It is tentatively decided that about 6 MW of PV was installed in 2005, a 140% increase from 2.5 MW in 2004

1. Photovoltaic Program Overview

Before 1980s, photovoltaic (PV) activities in Korea were in an embryonic stage. It was December 1987 when the Korean Government announced the “Promotion Act for the New and Renewable Energy (NRE) Development” that some sizable budget started to support PV R&D. In 1997, the Government formulated “Ten-year National Plan for Energy Technology Development (1997–2006)” which included renewable energy, energy saving and clean energy technology. However, the economic crisis in late 1997 forced the funding to remain at an insufficient level. A renewed effort is initiated in 2001 by the “ Basic Plan for Renewable Energy Development and Dissemination.“ The Government magnified the effort in 2003 by enacting” Basic Plan for Renewable Energy Development and Dissemination” which contained an ambitious plan for PV dissemination of 1.3 GWp by 2012. Table 1 summarizes the Korean policy history. Table 1. History of Korean new & renewable energy policy

1980s	Basic R&D in National Research Institutes
1987	Promotion Act for the New and Renewable Sources of Energy Development
1997	Ten-year National plan for Energy Technology Development Promotion Act for NRSE Development, Utilization & Dissemination
2001	Basic Plan for Renewable Energy Technology Development and Dissemination