Perspectives and assessments of solar PV power engineering in the Republic of Serbia

The purpose of this paper is to review some key issues and prospects related to solar photovoltaic (PV) power engineering in the Republic of Serbia. The solar PV energy sector in the Republic of Serbia is poorly developed, despite the very good geographical position of Serbia and recent introduction of feed-in-tariffs (FITs) by the Serbian Government. This paper is aimed at analysing and assessing the potential, status and perspectives of solar PV power engineering in the Republic of Serbia. Solar radiation maps for the territory of Serbia using PVGIS (c) software are presented and discussed. Some practical data and considerations are given from the point of view of a customer or company keen to invest in the solar PV electricity production in Serbia. The importance of the research and educational support in the field of solar PV power engineering is emphasised. The aim of this paper is to encourage further analyses and eventually investment in the PV energy sector in Serbia. It is expected that the Serbian authorities will refine and improve their regulatory policy in the field of renewable energy sources (RES) particularly within solar PV power engineering sector. The results of this study show that the Republic of Serbia has great potential for utilizing stand-alone and grid-connected solar PV energy systems and can seriously rely on this important RES sector in the future. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.