With 30% annual market growth Europe’s photovoltaic dynamic is very much a reality, blessed with a promising future. What is more Grenoble-Isere is actively involved. With direct contacts with microelectronics equipment manufacturers, the National Solar Energy Institute (Ines) just up the road in Chambery, and support from Tenerrdis, the renewable energies competitive cluster, Grenoble-Isere is a major power base for PV technology in France. The year 2007 brought a big step forward with the launch of PV Alliance, a partnership involving Photowatt Technologies (France’s only manufacturer of PV cells), EDF Energies Nouvelles and CEA. PV Alliance aims to develop and produce high-efficiency PV cells, thanks in particular to the Solar Nano Crystal R&D programme. This programme, which enjoys European Union support, aims to manufacture solar-quality silicon directly and boost the efficiency of PV cells by integrating micro and nanotechnology.