Introduction
The European Union's (EU) main long-term goal in the field of energy is the conversion of the existing EU energy system, which is heavily dependent on fossil fuels, to a sustainable energy system based on differentiated energy sources of higher energy efficiency. This will enable the EU to face the challenges posed by the security of the energy supply and the climate change while, at the same time, increasing the competitiveness of the European energy industries.
Recent concerns on environmental protection and sustainable development resulted in the critical need for a cleaner energy technology. This is leading to the use of renewable energy sources (RES) and to an alternative to large scale source of energy production, known as distributed generation (DG) technologies.
Solar potential is an abundant commodity in the Mediterranean region and, therefore, RES-DG technologies for electricity production from solar energy (photovoltaic and/or solar thermal concentrating systems) are attractive. Nevertheless, such systems are not deemed commercially viable, neither profitable, unless strong subsidies are available within the Mediterranean countries. An immediate conclusion from concerted European research, however, is that solar thermal systems and PV systems are reliable and technically feasible for installation and operation in the Mediterranean region. It still remains, though, to develop strong financial incentives that RES-DG becomes viable on technical and economic terms. Persistent obstacles are the technology cost, the stability issue for isolated power systems and the Mediterranean countries energy policies.
A European Commission project, namely DISTRES (www.distres.eu), funded under the Framework Program Six International Corporation (INCO) aims (a) to promote the electricity generation from solar energy, photovoltaic (PV) systems and solar thermal systems, paving the way for pilot systems and products, (b) to produce capacity building methodologies and (c) to disseminate the results as widely as possible in the Mediterranean countries and in the EU. The results from DISTRES will pave the way for pilot systems and products, meeting different needs and climate conditions under the specific socio-economic conditions of Mediterranean countries and will contribute to the development of appropriate RES-DG policies.