TECH MONITOR z Nov-Dec 200929Photovoltaic technology and solar energydevelopment in Viet NamTrinh Qung DungViet Nam has potential solar energy for sustainable development. The year-round high solar radiation of 5.2 kWh/m 2 per day is a basic factor to develop solar electricity on an industrial scale for Viet Nam. New technologies not only allow solar electricity produced to be fed to the grid, but also guarantee sustainable local power supply at low prices. In the face of increasing demand and market for power, exploitation of Viet Nam’ renewable energy sources is very urgent. A mega solar programme for long-term sustainable energy development is under preparation, and it will be submitted for the government’s approval,after discussion in a Joint Ministerial Meeting.Solar radiation in Viet Namolar radiation is a very important natural resource in Viet Nam. At an average total solar radiation of about 5 kW/h/m 2/day in most of the middle and the southern provinces and about 4 kW/h/m 2/day in the north-ern provinces, solar radiation is better in Viet Nam than in most other parts of the world (Dung, 2005). Below the 17th parallel, the radiation is not only plentiful but also steady for most part of the year, reducing about 20 per cent from dry season to rainy season.1 The solar energy potential is estimated at 43.9 billon tonnes of oil equivalent(TOE) per year. Figure 1 shows the average total solar radiation in Hanoi,Danang and Ho Chi Minh (HCM) city,which are typical for the northern, mid-dle and southern regions of Viet Nam.The average solar radiation is better in the middle and southern regions.The northern provinces receive poor sunshine in the first quarter of the year;there are only two hours or less of sun-shine during January, February and March and the average solar radiation is 50-60 per cent less. The average sunshine hours per year in the North-eastern zone range between 1,500and 1,700 hours, while the Southern and Central Viet Nam clocks between 2,000 and 2,600 sunshine hours per year. These data, measured over a period of 10 years, were taken from the weather station at HCM City.1In North Viet Nam, the solar radiation is not continuous in winter and autumn.SMr. Trinh Qung Dung Director, Solarlab-Institute ofPhysics, HCM CityVietnamese Academy of Scienceand Technology01 Mac Dinh Chi Street, 01 District,HCM City, Viet Nam Tel: +84 (8) 3822 2028Fax: +84 (8) 3829 5905E-mails:trinhqdungvn@solarlab@nam.vn30TECH MONITOR z Nov-Dec 2009Renewable energy status and development needPresent situationA general view of the development of photovoltaic (PV) installations in Viet Nam in the last decade can be seen in Figure 2 and Table 1. PV develop-ment has been realized in applications such as battery charging centre, com-munity centre, telecommunications,satellite receiver-transmitter, naviga-tion beacons, etc.Following several national and in-ternational projects, most of the civil use of PV is in solar villages, which have in solar home systems (SHS),covered community centres, battery charging centres (BCC), cultural halls,schools, medical centres, etc. Almost all models of PV applications – suchas SHS, BCC, medical and commu-nity centres, solar ambulance, satel-lite receiver-transmitter, etc. – have been designed and developed in Viet Nam. During 20 years of development,about 70 solar villages, 30 BCCs,thousands of navigation beacons,several telecommunication stations and more than 4,000 SHS have been installed across the country.Among civil applications, SHS is the most basic; it started in 1990 and gradually developed. Its growth is spurred by government-sponsored PV projects as well as private installa-tions (Dung, 2008). The demand for SHS is very large, covering over 5million farming families, which could not be connected to the grid for a long time. An SHS project was the first 100per cent electrified village in Viet Nam,in Buon Cham, wherein 180 familieswere provided solar electricity at their homes (Dung, 2003). The cultural-cum-battery charging centre (CBCC)is a typical Vietnamese innovation,which has shown 20 per cent more efficiency than other similar installa-tions in the region. Each CBCC is de-signed to produce 300-1,500 Wp per station, and a 1,000 Wp CBCC can provide electricity for 40-50 houses.From 1990 up to the present, more than 1,000 families have started using solar electricity from the CBCC. In the night, a CBCC doubles as a local cultural centre for viewing television programmes and video movies, and for Karaoke singing. This is a new and highly effective model of PV use invented by Viet Nam’s Solarlab (Dung and others, 2003).In 1999, thanks to the cooperation between New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organiza-tion (NEDO) of Japan and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environ-ment (MOSTE) of Viet Nam, the first solar power plant was installed at the Muang Giang district of Gialai pro-vince in Central Viet Nam. The plant is a hybrid renewable energy model,with 100 kWp of solar power and 25kW of micro hydropower. It is the first solar plant in Viet Nam and South-East Asia working for a local grid. The big-gest solar installation is the National Conference Hall, with 154 kWp of solar power using grid-connected technol-ogy, financed by Germany’s official development assistance (ODA). Red Sun, the first factory to manufacture PV modules, was opened in March 2009 at Long An province. Its annual capacity is about 3-5 MWp. Only five companies in Viet Nam are doing busi-ness in the PV field: too meagre a number considering the solar energy potential of the country.The main Vietnamese partners for international collaboration until now are Solarlab, Institute of Energy (IE),Renewable Energy Research Centre (RERC) and Women’s Union. Coop-eration has been established with NEDO of Japan, Fondation Energies pour le Monde (FONDEM) of France,Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Nord-rhein-Westfalen (NRW) of Germany,Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) ofFigure 1: Solar radiation in the north, middle and south of Viet Nam10234567123456789101112MonthsS o l a r r a d i a t i o n (k W h /m 2/d a y )Ho Chi Minh city Hanoi DanangFigure 2: Development of photovoltaics in Viet Nam (1989-2008)P h o t o v o l t a i c c a p a c i t y (k W p )408012016024019892001991199319951997199920012003200520071990199219941996199820002002200420062008YearsTECH MONITOR z Nov-Dec 200931the United States, Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) of the Repub-lic of Korea, Atersa of Spain, and some other institutions from the European Union countries. Total international investment on PV in Viet Nam was about US$50 million (Table 2). Inter-national cooperation has been a major catalyst, spurring renewable energy development, promoting local technol-ogy and building up human resource skills in Viet Nam. The Government of Viet Nam has always provided budg-etary support of up to 30 per cent for such cooperation activities.Government policy and Master Plan VIA government policy on renewable energy is taking shape in Viet Nam at present. The government plans to increase budget for renewable energy projects in rural areas and establish a renewable energy fund for invest-ment support. It is already supportingPV research at the Semiconductor-Nano Laboratory in the high-tech park at HCM city (US$11 million) and the semiconductor laboratory of the Na-tional University (US$5 million). The government supports transfer of the latest PV technologies to Viet Nam,and encourages foreign investment for local PV manufacture.At the present, import is duty-free for solar modules and for all solar pro-jects. The government is encouraging banks to provide investment capital for PV industries. On other hand, the government has decided to use ODA fund for developing grid-connected solar plant and large solar power projects. During 2009-2012 about 3-5 MWp of PV power will be added using ODA from Japan. In July 2007,the Vietnamese government approved Master Plan VI, which envisages rural electrification using renewable energy.Viet Nam generates 68,699 GWh of electricity and consumes 57,366Year Photovoltaic applicationNumberInstalled Total capacitycapacity (Wp)(KWp)1989-2008Solar home system 4,00022-100314,0101989-2008Public systems 152100-30030,3941989-2008Medical centre24150-3003,4501990-2008Telecommunication systems 2,000500-3,0001,000,0001996-2000Radio telephone 275-1000,1751995-2008Forest guard station90100-1,00032,0001989-2008Cultural & battery charging centre 80300-3,20052,0001990-2008Navigation beacon 1,30050-15045,0001995-2008Satellite receiver 50500-4,000100,0002000-2003Solar boat 2250-6400,8902002-2006Solar power plant 2100-154254,0002005-2008Solar villa/house roof 71,000-4,00011,2001999-2008Solar school 23200-1,00012,2501989-2008Street lamps 20050-16050,0002001Solar ambulance 15000,5001990-2008Water pumping 3100-5001,9001989-2008National park 12200-1,0005,0001989-2008Solar lantern 4210-2003,3.562004-2008Public lighting 10050-2008,000TOTAL8,0902,407,175Table 1: Development of photovoltaic applications in Viet NamSource: Dung, 2009aCultural-cum-battery charging centreSolar ambulance32TECH MONITOR z Nov-Dec 2009GWh annually. The growth in the rate of consumption is about 15-20 per cent per year and the country will need to import energy beyond 2010(Figure 3). The energy sharing pat-tern is: industry 49.9 per cent; civil and services 41.0 per cent; agricul-ture 0.97 per cent; and others 9.0 per cent.According the Master Plan VI, re-newable energy in Viet Nam is envi-sioned to develop in two stages to reach the total of 4,050 MW by 2025:2015 MW during the period 2006-2015; and 2026 MW during the period 2015-2020. Rural households are expected to be electrified by 2020using renewable energy sources.Photovoltaic project Sponsor Implementing Budget (US$)Years organization Energy solidarity Fondem, France &Solarlab 1,000,0001989-2000Vietnam - FranceDostes, Viet Nam Solar lighting for Women by SHS SELF, United States Wu - Solarlab 150,0001995-1998RET’s PV ProjectSIDA, Sweden Solarlab 170,0001997-2004RET’s Biomass Briquetting SIDA, Sweden IE170,0001997-2004Solar Hybrid Plant NEDO, Japan &Fuji Electric 3,500,0001999-2002MOST, Viet Nam Decentralized Energy for Fondem, France &Solarlab 1,200,0002000-2003Rural Development DI, Viet Nam Solar Electricity NRW, Germany &Solarlab, RERC 200,0002001-2002Viet Nam-GermanyMOSTE, Viet Nam Solar VillageKIER, Rep. of Korea Solarlab 80,0002002-2005Viet Nam-Republic of Korea & Solarlab, Viet Nam National Conference Hall Viet Nam & Germany Lilama2,000,000 -2006Rural electrification SIDA, Sweden &Ha giang, Quang Nam unknown 2005-2008MOIT, Viet Nam provinces Semiconductor Lab National University,University of 5,000,0002004-2006HCM City Natural Science Semiconductor Nano-Lab HCM City High Tech Park 11,000,0002006-2008Rural electrificationAtersa, Spain &Solarlab-VAST 200,0002006-2009MOST, Viet Nam PV plant 28 KWp at Cham island SIDA, Sweden &DOIT,600,0002008-2010MOIT, Viet Nam Quang Nam province Grid-connected PV Japan’s ODA Japanese companies 15,000,0002009-2010Others CDG, CORE,Solarlab, IE, RERC,3,200,0001995-2010World Bank, etc.CODEV, etc.TOTAL50,000,0001989-2010Collected by Solarlab from different sources (2009)Table 2: International projects and total investments on PV in Viet NamFigure 3: The structure of energy balance of Viet Nam by 201528.5%32.0%31.6%4.9% 3.0%Hydro powerThermal powerGas powerRenewable energyImported electricityPhotovoltaic technology in Viet NamSince 1975, PV has been studied at the Centre of Physics, HCM City, of the Viet Nam Academy of Science. The first solar cell was made in 1976 on monosilicon crystal of 5 cm diameter. During 20 years of research, different types of solar cells – such as thin film solar cell, mono-silicon solar cell (η=13 per cent), polysilicon solar cell (η = 12 per cent) and amorphous sili-con solar cell (η = 7 per cent) – have been developed at Solarlab, the Viet Nam Academy of Science & Technol-ogy. In 2000, the first prototype solar module has been developed to inter-national quality standard (Dung, 2005). PV energy saving technology A photovoltaic energy saving technol-ogy (PVEST) has been researched and developed for improving the ef-ficiency of PV systems (Dung, 2008). All kinds of PV equipment – such as solar regulator, true sine inverter and DC compact energy-saving lamps –have been manufactured in Viet Nam. Except for the solar module, 80 per cent of PV equipment are provided by local manufacturers. Most of them still follow analog technology, with only a small part utilizing digital tech-nology for monitoring and manage-ment systems.True sine inverters up to 10 kVA and solar chargers with 10-12 chan-nels have been developed. In a joint venture with SPI GmbH of Germany,solar generators have been manu-factured under the brand of ‘SmartGreen Power’ and exported to Africa,Europe, Iran, etc. In general, the PVequipment technology is well devel-oped in Viet Nam, and it can well servethe domestic market with competitiveprice and quality. Three years ago,Solarlab had successfully designedMadicub, an integrated solar-local gridmanaging system suitable for expand-ing PV power anywhere, any time. Thismode is being further developed forrural electrification, as a “mini solarpower plant”, in the range of a fewkWp up to little less than 100 kWp.Figure 4 shows the block diagram.The integrated system is designedon the basis of hybrid technology,which is flexible and easily modifiedto meet local conditions in differentconfigurations, as follows:For mountainous area: Solar energy+ micro-hydro energy/MadicubFor coastal and island area: Solarenergy + wind energy/MadicubFor inland area: Solar energy + Dieselgenerator or biomass energy/MadicubFor towns and cities: Solar energy +power grid/MadicubMadicub is available from 1 kVA to10 kVA – basic for a solar array of avariable power range between 500 Wpand 10 kWp.The development of DC compactenergy saving lamp (CESL) was beenin 2000. While the cost of this lampis slightly higher than the traditionalfluorescent lamp, the advantages itoffers are enormous. It has about 10times higher lifetime, bright and softlight, and consumes much less powerthan traditional lamps. The last fea-ture allows the use of more CESLsthan the fluorescent lamps with asimilar PV system. CESL lamps arealso aesthetically pleasing. It is a verypopular accessory for PV develop-ment. The 12 Vdc CESL saves 70 percent energy, helping to reduce thecost of an SHS by 5-10 per cent in VietNam. Adaptive research on CESL wascompleted under the RET project andpilot manufacturing is in the offing.However, as CESLs are less energy-saving than LEDs and harmful to theenvironment, they are being gradu-ally limited. The popularity of LEDlighting is growing fast in Viet Nam,and it features in CDM project, solarstreet lamps and “fish luring LED”.Smart IntegratingPV Technology (SIPV)The Smart Integrating PV Technology(SIPV) is a complete solution for grid-connected renewable energy sourcesand does not waste any electricitygenerated from renewable energysources (Dung, 2009b). It is veryefficient in its usage of PV and otherrenewable energy sources, and isuseful against black out and duringerratic grid power supply as well. Theblock scheme of SIPV is presentedin Figure 5. All local renewable energysources, mainly a PV array, could beused to feed the local network withelectricity. The shortfall in the energy Figure 4: The block diagram for MadicubRural electricityEnergy securityWindGridDiesel generatorHydroelectricStandby equipmentSupport gridContinuous sourceCheap grid power priceTECH MONITOR z Nov-Dec 200933supply will be drawn from the grid auto-matically. When the power from PV array is inadequate, a battery bank will kick in to prevent black out. Similarly, when the grid is off and solar power is insufficient, Madicub will switch over (switching time 30 ms) to battery mode and supply power to the local network. This operation will also commence when the battery bank is too full and needs to be partially discharged.When the solar electricity load is above 10 per cent of the set value, the PV Madicub (true sine; standard fre-quency ±1 per cent) will automatically switch off partly to regulate power supply to the local network. The addi-tional solar electricity generated will be used to charge the battery bank for energy storage.The system helps reduce expense towards power purchase by tapping grid electricity only from 22:00 PM to 04:00 AM.2 The grid-charger is pro-grammed to jump in to buy power for charging battery bank for storage, and use that power in peak times when grid power is at the highest price. SIPV works in fully automatic mode and all operations are monitored and man-aged. The SIPV technology won the Gold Cup at the Asia Tech-Mart Plus3 (Asian countries plus Japan, Chinaand the Republic of Korea) in 2009.The first solar roof (12.6 kWp) usingSIPV technology has been displayedby Solarlab and Tuan An Group atTuan An headquarters in HCM City.Mega Solar Programme2010-2025Solar electricity industry is expandingaround the world. It has several ad-vantages over other energy sources:it is endless and clean, and has nowaste, noise or negative environmen-tal impact. It is expected to be thenumber one energy source by 2100,meeting up to 75 per cent of the globalenergy demand (Dung, 2009c).ObjectivesThe demand and market for renew-able energy exploitation in Viet Namis very high and urgent, as reflectedin Master Plan VI. In recognition ofthis, a Mega Solar Programme (MSP)is under preparation for discussionin a Joint Ministerial Meeting beforesubmission for government approval.MSP has the following main goals:z Increase the competitiveness ofViet Nam’s solar electricity indus-try to world level by 2025;z Raise the country’s position in theregion to the top in PV technologydevelopment and PV productioncapacity;z Effectively exploit solar electricityto secure national energy supply,and national socio-economic dev-elopment in general, by providingthe country 250 MWp, which isequivalent to 1.25 billion kWh/dayor 456.25 billion kWh/year by 2025;z Decrease the price of solar elec-tricity by 30 per cent by 2015, andto the level of the price of tradition-al electricity by 2040; andz Ensure that the national grid, in-cluding solar electricity, will fullyelectrify the entire country by 2025.Programme contentMSP will be implemented with the co-operation of both public and privatesectors. Three groups of projects areplanned as the following:A. Public welfare projects: This groupof projects will play a crucial role inpushing the development of solarelectricity in Viet Nam. It will establishsolar electricity projects and collectreliable data on the development pro-cesses and for proof of solar energypotential. The data will be submittedto the government in order to improvethe legal foundation – by way of poli-cies, regulations and legislations –to promote research, investment andmanufacture of solar energy.B. Core technologies projects: Thisgroup of projects aims to develop VietNam’s photovoltaic industry to worldlevel.C. Fiscal stimulus projects: This groupof projects, which will be tied to theoutput of the core technologies pro-jects, are investment projects for theconstruction of establishments thatuse solar electricity.Kim Dinh International Group JointStock Company, Tuan An Group JointStock Company and many other localcompanies in the energy businessare very interested in participating inthe development of solar electricity.The private sector is looking forwardto a long-term, comprehensive nation-al solar energy programme. Four bigprojects have been already plannedand are awaiting macro policy supportFigure 5: The block scheme of SIPV 2 Electricity Viet Nam’s tariff is the lowestfrom 22:00 PM to 04:00 AM.34TECH MONITOR z Nov-Dec 2009TECH MONITOR z Nov-Dec 200935from the government: 10,000 solar roof project (Tuan An Group); 2 MWp local,grid-connected solar plant project (Tuan An Group); 10,000 solar and renewable energy public lighting pro-jects (Kim Dinh International Group);and renewable energy demonstration park project. Besides these, two core technologies projects have also been planned: project for building a factory to produce 15 MW/year of solar cells and solar modules (Tan Hiep Phuc Joint Stock Company), project for building a factory to produce 10 kW and 25 kW solar thermal parabolic dishes using Stirling technology [co-operation between Germany’s Stirling Sun Power International GmbH (SSPI)and three Viet Nam companies].Solar roof projectPotential investors: Tuan An Group Joint Stock company and Viglacera Group.Details: 10,000 solar roofs from 1 kWp to 100 kWp, using SIPV technology with total capacity of 10 MWp will be built across the country. The project aims to effectively use solar electricity to balance the national grid supply in urban areas and to electrify remote inland/island/border areas. This pro-ject will lay a foundation for the devel-opment of solar electricity in Viet Nam.Technologies and human resource for solar industry will be also devel-oped through the project.Renewable energy public lighting projectPotential investors: Kim Dinh Interna-tional Group Joint Stock Company Details: Public lighting shares a big portion in the national energy balance.However, the existing public lighting systems in Viet Nam are obsolete, and cause enormous energy loss. Thenew public lighting project goal is to produce and install 10,000 efficient lighting systems using light emitting diode (LED) and high intensity dis-charge (HID) technologies, which may save up to 70 per cent of energy, to replace the existing high voltage light bulb systems, and employ renewable electricity source instead of grid for public lighting. Besides supplying for the local market, the project also looks forward to exporting to international market. Kim Dinh International Group has plans to build a high-tech factory for manufacturing lighting devices.With 10,000 new public light systems to be installed across the country, the initiative will be a full-scale demon-stration project for renewable energy.Local grid-connected solar plant projectPotential investors: Tuan An Group Joint Stock company, ODA capital from Spain and othersDetails: This project will build the first local grid-connected solar plant on a remote island of Viet Nam. It will lay the foundation for exploiting solar energy to support coastal and remote island communities, and in supporting na-tional security and defence capability.Manufacturing accessory devices projectPotential investors: Tuan An Group Joint Stock companyDetails: With technology transferred from Germany, Tuan An Group will con-struct a factory in Long An province for manufacturing smart PV devices.The factory will produce devices and equipment for solar industry such assolar chargers and solar inverters. At the first step, this factory will provide devices for a 2 MW grid-connected local solar plant. In the long run, the factory is expected to produce high quality PV devices for local market and gradually extend to international market.Manufacturing solar cells and solar modules projectPotential investors: The General De-partment of Defence Industry, Tan Hiep Phuc Joint Stock companyDetails: Tan Hiep Phuc has brought out a feasibility study report for a pro-ject to build a factory with capacity of 15 MW per year solar cells and solar modules. The project is seeking for cooperation with Taiwanese compa-nies and other local companies.Renewable energy demonstration park projectPotential investors: RCEEDetails: This project will build a dem-onstration park to demonstrate all kind of renewable energies in the “World Biosphere” area Can Gio, HCM city. In the park, the most advanced technol-ogies in renewable energy industry will be demonstrated. Besides a 200kWp solar farm, wind, biogas and bio-mass farms are also planned to be built.Electric and solar taxi project Potential investors: Mai Linh Energy Joint Stock CompanyDetails: Mai Linh has brought out a feasibility study report about using electric taxies in Lao Bao Special Eco-nomic Zone of Quang Tri province. The company is working to transfer the technology into Viet Nam. The success of this project will be a starting point for using electric cars in ecotourism zones, export processing zones, in-dustrial zones, etc.Manufacturing solar thermal para-bolic dishes projectPotential investors: SSPI, Germany,and 3 local companiesDetails: The project is about building a factory to produce 10 kW and 25 kW solar thermal parabolic dishes in Tay Ninh Industrial Zone. The plannedcapital investment is US$20 million.Solar roof on a villaSolar street lightsSolar fishing boats project Potential investors: Kim Dinh Interna-tional Group Joint Stock Company Details: Solar power will provide elec-tricity for modern facilities aboard the boat as well as promote the living standards of fisherfolk. GPS systems and fish sensor on the boats would be solar-powered. HID lamps and CESL lighting will be used during fishing. Programme managementand operationThis programme, a pioneering effort in Viet Nam, would face many man-agement and technological obstacles. It urges strong cooperation among policy-makers, researchers, enter-prises and the government to orient towards a sustainable development of the solar industry of Viet Nam. The Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Science and Technol-ogy, and the Ministry of Natural Re-source and Environment, as well as the Academy of Science and Tech-nology are involved in managing the programme. The Academy is respon-sible for establishing the programme. The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Academy will directly manage MSP.MSP will have two stages. Stage 1 (2010-2015) will establish and dev-elop the national solar industry. The Institute of Science and Technology will manage this stage, building the bridge between enterprises and gov-ernment. Stage 2 (2015-2025), which involves mass production and com-petitive trading in domestic and the world markets, will be managed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The 200 MWp solar electricity project to support the national grid and rural electrification will be in this stage. Programme structure Government bodies:z Representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Natural Resource and Environ-ment, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance; z Representatives of the Academy of Science and Technology and the General Department of Defence Industry; and z Representatives of the communityof HCM city, the Centre of Scienceand Technology of HCM city.Enterprises:z Representative of EVN, PetroVN;z Kim Dinh Group International JointStock Co, Tuan An Group JointStock Co., Mai Linh Corporationand Viglacera Group; andz Tan Hiep Phuc Joint Stock Co.,Tan Ky Nguyen Ltd. and Selco-Viet Nam Ltd.Finance:z Viet Nam Environment ProtectionFund;z HCM city Technology DevelopmentSupporting Fund;z The National Bank;z Dragon Capital Investment;z Indo-China Investment; andz Other joint stock banks and otherfunds.Financial mechanism of theprogrammez Estimated total capital of the pro-gramme: US$1.5 billionz Average annual capital investment:US$100 million/yearz Share proportions in the capitalinvestment:•National budget: 20 per cent;•Enterprise: 40 per cent; and•FDI and ODA: 40 per cent.National budget: This is the budgetfrom the ministries, government of-fices and National Science Fund. Itwill be used mainly for public welfareprojects, technology transfer and hu-man resource training. Besides, whensuitable, this budget can also be usedto partially support other non-welfareprojects.Enterprise investment: The potentialcapital source for Core TechnologiesProjects and Fiscal Stimulus Projects.However, this capital source is lookingfor encouragement from governmentpolicies and support from the banks.Foreign ODA fund and foreign directinvestment: The government shouldhave detailed policies to allow CoreTechnology Projects and Fiscal Sti-mulus Projects to use ODA funds. Thissource of capital is mainly used forFiscal Stimulus Projects. The govern-ment should have detailed policiesto encourage foreign investments, aswell as to encourage local enterprisesto join in projects supported by for-eign investment and non-governmentorganizations’ funds to attract moreinternational support.ConclusionViet Nam is a very potential country forrenewable energy development andfor establishing PV technology andindustry. The most important factorthat can boost PV energy in Viet Namis good government policies.References1.Dung, T.Q. (2003). Electrificationof the high-land village by solarpower: an effective cooperationbetween Vietnam and Germany.Paper presented at the 3rd WorldConference on Photovoltaic EnergyConversion, Osaka, Japan. Insti-tute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers, Kurokawa, Japan.2.Dung, T.Q., Anisuzzaman, M.,Kumar, S., Bhattacharya, S.C.(2003). Demonstration of multi-purpose battery charging stationfor rural electrification. RenewableEnergy, 28, December 2003, 2367-2378.3.Dung, T.Q. (2005). Developmentof Solar Electricity in Viet Nam.Science & Technology PublishingHouse, HCM City, Viet Nam.4.Dung, T.Q. (2008). PV researchand effective exploitation of solarelectricity in Viet Nam. Paper pre-sented at APEC Photovoltaic Con-ference, October 2008, Taiwan.5.Than, H.H. (2008). Replacingenergy sources in the period ofgrowing oil prices. Paper pre-sented at the 5th Workshop, 11August 2008, HCM City, Viet Nam.6.Dung, T.Q. (2009a). The 2ndGreater Mekong Sub-region Con-ference, 8-9 September 2009,Thailand.7.Dung, T.Q. (2009b). Workshop onScientific Cooperation betweenViet Nam and the United States ofAmerica, 24 September 2009,HCM City, Viet Nam8.Dung. T.Q. (2009c). CDM ProjectsForum, 27 August 2009, Saigon,Viet Nam.36TECH MONITOR z Nov-Dec 2009。