Technical and economical analysis of an induced demand in the photovoltaic sector

We analyse the potential economic impact of a demand of photovoltaic (PV) devices in Morocco, in terms of induced production and job creation. In Morocco a high potential for PV installations exists as proved by the number of national and international deployment initiatives currently underway. In our study, we first describe the manufacturing process providing as final output the solar modules and associate the corresponding costs to each step of the process. These costs are needed to determine the technical coefficients of an ad hoc PV sector to be added to the Morocco Leontief matrix. Then, using the input–output methodology, we evaluate the economic impact of the production of 5 MWp modules a year under different hypotheses. A production of 5 MWp PV modules, which require an overall investment of €16.3 millions, increases production of €57.6 millions if cells are locally produced and of €22.3 millions when the cells are imported, creating 2570 and 489 jobs, respectively. These results outline the importance of availability of intermediate inputs in local economical context.