The overall goal of the PV LEGAL Project is to overcome legal-administrative barriers during planning and installation processes (including grid connection) of photovoltaic (PV) systems. The project consortium aims at improving the framework conditions for PV in Europe and to allow for faster and more efficient market development in the various countries.

Legal-administrative barriers are among the main obstacles in several European countries impeding a quicker PV technology deployment. Although many countries have already implemented favourable PV support policies, when it comes to constructing PV projects, bureaucracy and highly complex procedures and requirements (i.e. notification, registration, licensing, environmental impact assessment, etc.) hamper installation processes significantly. As a result, the development and the sustainable establishment of solar markets in many European countries is unnecessarily delayed.

The PV LEGAL project will analyse these bureaucratic processes and their barriers and subsequently work actively with the major sector actors to remove and simplify them.

This will lead to:

• more transparency with regards to administrative roadblocks in the participating countries
• significant improvements by streamlining the procedures for PV system planning, constructing and operating
• a considerable cost reduction potential for PV investors during the planning procedure of a PV system.
• an expansion of PV markets

The removal of legal-administrative barriers is considered key by both the industry as well as the European Commission, which supports the endeavour under the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme.