PHOTON International The Photovoltaic Magazine

PV lobby groups UVS and BSi plan to merge

The German PV industry has long enjoyed the luxury of having two large lobby organizations. That era has now come to an end. The boards and management of the German Solar Energy Business Association (UVS) and the Federal Solar Industry Association (BSi) want their organizations to merge. The new association will be up and running by the middle of next year.

	© Michael Hughes for photon.pictures.com
»... and this time, let's make the merger works!« hopes BSi-managing director Gerhard Stryi-Hipp.

The German Solar Energy Business Association (UVS) and the Federal Solar Industry Association (BSi) are already neighbors in the Energieforum building in Berlin. But that's not enough. In the near future, the lobby groups not only want to share the same address, but the same name, too. On Nov. 17, the BSi's general meeting approved the management and board of directors' plans to merge with UVS. On the same day, the plans were made public in a press release. All that's left is to get the approval of UVS members. This should happen in mid-January at a general meeting. If the general meeting votes in favor, the merger could be completed as early as mid-2005.

The new association's name will be Federal Solar Business Association (BSW), with headquarters in Berlin. Members will include companies active in the field of solar technology (PV and solar thermal). Companies and institutions from other fields can participate as sponsoring members.

The goal is to unite all German solar companies – PV and thermal – under one umbrella group, thereby increasing that organization's ability to represent industry interests to policymakers and the public. Expectations of growing resistance to preserving and/or expanding support instruments for solar energy are at the heart of the logic behind this merger. Moreover, national elections are in two years – and in case a coalition of Conservatives and Liberals takes all, some extra lobby power may be needed to defend PV incentives.

By combining their resources, the two organizations hope to increase the effectiveness of their lobbying. The current association general managers, Gerhard Stryi-Hipp (BSi) and Carsten Körnig (UVS), will serve as the new organization's managing directors (on equal footing). To ensure parity between representatives of each lobby group, the new BSW's board of directors will consist of four board members each from the BSi and UVS during the first two years of the organization's existence.

If all of the members of the old lobby groups join the new Federal Solar Business Association, the membership numbers will be well over 500. The lion's share will come from the UVS, with 414 members. BSi currently consists of 147 members, though there is some membership overlap between the two organizations. Although UVS is generally considered an organization for installers and BSi is looked upon as the representative of manufacturers and suppliers, the boundaries between the organizations have become rather fluid. For instance, whereas 281 members from UVS came from the field of trade and installation, 51 members came from the area of manufacturing.

But it was exactly these boundaries that led to the failure of BSi and UVS to merge two yeas ago. At that time, there were actually three organizations: UVS, founded in 1998; the Federal Solar Energy Association (BSE), founded in 1975; and the German Professional Association of Solar Energy (DFS), founded in 1979. Talks between UVS and DFS pointed to a merger of the two associations, if not all three organizations. But in Nov. 2002, only DFS and BSE joined forces to form today's BSi. Apparently, said Stryi-Hipp, the organizations wanted to increase their profile as an association for manufacturers. That was the reasoning behind continuing the division between DFS and BSE circles on the one hand, and UVS on the other. The imminent merger should overcome this final hurdle, as the BSW intends to represent the economic interests of the entire solar industry, from manufacturers to traders, from craftsmen to planners, and from operators down to service providers.