Iranian Gov’t Eying Production of 30,000 MW of Solar Energy

At the first meeting of the Renewable Energy Council of Iran, which was held in the presence of the First Vice-President, the Head of the Environmental Protection Organization, and the Head of the National Standards Organization, Afshin presented a report on the prospects for solar energy in the next 10 years, the use of rooftop solar energy, the pursuit of the 30,000 MW target for solar energy in the 14th government, and indigenization and development of silicon chain technology.

Also, an official of the Renewable Energy and Electricity Efficiency Organization of Iran elaborated on the organization's activities, and announced a program for developing solar power production systems and chains in the industrial sector, establishing and expanding the capacity of solar energy-related manufacturing plants, supporting indigenization and domestic manufacturing in the Ministry of Energy, and signing memoranda of understanding with universities.

The head of Iran’s specialized training group of renewable energies and electricity efficiency announced last year that potentials existed in the country to supply materials needed for production of solar panels.

“Due to the existence of mines with a total capacity of 80 million tons of silicon materials across the country, Iran can become one of the key players in production of the main sources for making solar panels,” said Behrouz Dashti.

“Of course, in addition to silicon mines to build solar power plants, other main and important equipment like solar inverters, structures, cables, etc. are also needed and we need a lot of infrastructure that should be created and developed in the country over time,” he added.

Dashti also announced compilation of the document of the national technology development program for the value chain of silicon-based solar power generation systems to determine the tasks of different institutions to produce 8,000 megawatts of solar power in the next five years.

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