![Romania GHI Solar-resource-map GlobalSolarAtlas World-Bank-Esmap-Solargis](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Romania_GHI_Solar-resource-map_GlobalSolarAtlas_World-Bank-Esmap-Solargis.png)
Solar power in Romania had an installed capacity of 1,374
megawatt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...
(MW)
[
] as of the end of 2017. The country had in 2007 an installed capacity of 0.30 MW, which increased to 3.5 MW by the end of 2011,
[Photovoltaic barometer]
/ref> and to 6.5 MW by the end of 2012. However, the record year of 2013 was an exception, and new installation fell back from 1,100 MW to a moderate level of 69 MW in 2014.
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
is located in an area with a good solar potential of 210 sunny days per year and with an annual solar energy flux between 1,000 kWh/m2/year and 1,300 kWh/m2/year. From this total amount around 600 to 800 kWh/m2/year is technically feasible. The most important solar regions of Romania are the Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
coast, Northern Dobruja and Oltenia
Oltenia (, also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions, with the alternative Latin names ''Wallachia Minor'', ''Wallachia Alutana'', ''Wallachia Caesarea'' between 1718 and 1739) is a historical province and geographical region of Romania ...
with an average of 1,600 kWh/ m2/year.
Romania was a major player in the solar power industry, installing in the 1970s and 1980s around of low quality solar collectors that placed the country third worldwide in the total surface area of PV cells. One of the most important solar projects was the installation of a 30 kW solar panel on the roof of the Politehnica University of Bucharest
Politehnica University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea Politehnica din București) is a technical university in Bucharest, Romania. 200 years of activity have been celebrated lately, as the university was founded in 1818.[Mangalia
Mangalia (, tr, Mankalya), ancient Callatis ( el, Κάλλατις/Καλλατίς; other historical names: Pangalia, Panglicara, Tomisovara), is a city and a port on the coast of the Black Sea in the south-east of Constanța County, Northern ...]
, Constanța County
Constanța () is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in the Dobruja region. Its capital city is also named Constanța.
Demographics
In 2011, it had a population of 684,082 and the population density was 96/km2. The degr ...
making the city self-sufficient in terms of heated water during the summer months and providing around 70% of heated water in the winter months and another 1,150 solar panels used for the generation of electricity spread over an area of . Another Romanian city, Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia (; german: Karlsburg or ''Carlsburg'', formerly ''Weißenburg''; hu, Gyulafehérvár; la, Apulum) is a city that serves as the seat of Alba County in the west-central part of Romania. Located on the Mureș River in the historica ...
, installed a total of 1,700 PV cells on several public buildings that have a rated power of 257 kW. Other cities include Giurgiu with 174 solar panels and 391.5 kW installed capacity and Saturn with 50 panels and 112 kW installed capacity.
Installed PV capacity and Yearly production
Projects
Many photovoltaic projects are planned for Romania, totaling over 200 MW, and of these, about 61 MW were expected to be completed by 2012. The first two industrial scale solar power plants in the country are the Singureni Solar Park completed in December 2010, and the Scornicesti Photovoltaic Park, completed 27 December 2011. Each is 1 MW. The Covaci Solar Park will be Romania's largest solar power plant at completion having a total of 480,000 solar panels with a combined capacity of 35 megawatts, and will be located in Timiș County
Timiș () is a county ('' județ'') of western Romania on the border with Hungary and Serbia, in the historical region of Banat, with the county seat at Timișoara. It is the westernmost and the largest county in Romania in terms of land area. T ...
. Another important site is the Gura Ialomiței Solar Park in Ialomița County
Ialomița County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Slobozia.
Demographics
In 2011, the county had a population of 258,669 and the population density was 58.08/km2.
Romanians make up 95.6% of the popula ...
which will have a capacity of 10 megawatts. Other solar parks include the Satu Mare Solar Park located in Satu Mare County
Satu Mare County ( ro, Județul Satu Mare, ) is a county (județ) of Romania, on the border with Hungary and Ukraine. The capital city is Satu Mare.
Name
In Hungarian, it is known as ''Szatmár megye'', in German as ''Kreis Sathmar'', in Ukrain ...
which will have a capacity of 5 to 8 megawatts and the Sfântu Gheorghe Solar Park located in Covasna County
Covasna County (, hu, Kovászna megye, ) is a county ( județ) of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Sfântu Gheorghe.
Demographics
In 2011, it had a population of 210,177, making it the second least populous of Romania ...
that will have a capacity of 2.4 megawatts. A 32 MW project in four sections of 8 MW each is planned for Gătaia
Gătaia ( hu, Gátalja; german: Gataja, archaically ''Gotthal''; sr, Гатаја, Gataja) is a town in Timiș County, Romania. It administers five villages: Butin, Percosova, Sculia, Șemlacu Mare, and Șemlacu Mic. Declared a town in 2004, it a ...
, and a 48 MW solar park is planned for Segarcea. A 1 GW project is planned to be constructed in 2023-2025.
Government support
The Romanian State supports the production of solar / PV energy by offering six (6) green certificates for each MWh produced and injected into the grid. One green certificate will be traded on a regulated market (i.e. OPCOM) with a price that varies between EUR 27 to EUR 55 per green certificate, subject to indexation with the Euro zone inflation rate. However, due to the reduction of the cost of technology, the Romanian Energy Regulatory Body (i.e. ANRE) considers reducing the number of green certificate in the first half of 2012. In order to protect the interest of the solar / PV producers and for an appropriate guidance through the Romanian RES-E issues, the Romanian Photovoltaic Industry AssociationWebsite
/ref> was created. Solar / PV energy is expected to be the second most active developed source of energy, after wind.
See also
* Photovoltaics
Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially ...
* Growth of photovoltaics
Worldwide growth of photovoltaics has been close to exponential between 1992 and 2018.
During this period of time, photovoltaics (PV), also known as solar PV, evolved from a niche market of small-scale applications to a mainstream electricit ...
* Solar power by country
Many countries and territories have installed significant solar power capacity into their electrical grids to supplement or provide an alternative to conventional energy sources.
Solar power plants use one of two technologies:
* Photovoltai ...
* Solar power in the European Union
Solar power consists of photovoltaics (PV) and solar thermal energy in the European Union.
In 2010, the €2.6 billion European solar heating sector consisted of small and medium-sized businesses, generated 17.3 terawatt-hours (TWh) of energy, ...
* Energy in Romania
* Wind power in Romania
* Geothermal power in Romania
* Hydroelectricity in Romania
* Renewable energy by country
References
External links
Romania Solar and Renewable Energy
Renewable energy guide published by Wolf Theiss
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