Following the environmental conference held by the government last month – which left many in the renewables business underwhelmed by its lack of specifics – the administration of President Francois Hollande has at last shown its hand as to the sort of policies it believes will re-ignite the flat-lining French solar industry.

As many in the industry had predicted, most of the changes are aimed at spurring growth of small residential systems – a jobs-rich part of the PV value chain – rather than the ground-mounted arrays favoured by many developers and module suppliers.

Among