France commits 300 mn euros for solar energy development

France will allocate 300 million euros in the next five years for the development of solar energy, French President Francois Hollande said on Monday.

"The French Development Agency will allocate 300 million euros to develop solar energy over the next five years in order to finance the initial projects," Hollande said at a function held to lay the foundation stone of International Solar Alliance (ISA) headquarters and inaugurate an interim secretariat of the ISA.

An initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ISA was jointly launched by him and Hollande on November 30 last year ahead of the Paris climate summit. It is an alliance of some 120 countries situated between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.

"The initial projects must begin quickly," Hollande said on Monday.

"India has offered to set up the headquarters. The first meeting was held in Abu Dhabi a few days ago. The Alliance must begin work without delay in order to achieve tangible results on the ground."

According to the French president, the ISA must act in three ways: pool the demand of high-potential countries and use the resulting mass-effect to bring down the financing costs; harmonise the solar markets and open them up to reduce the cost of investments and for users; and enable the necessary technology transfers between developed and developing countries.