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26th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition concludes: Photovoltaics becomes a major Electricity Source
09.09.2011 + + + After five inspiring and busy days, this year’s 26th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (26th EU PVSEC) closed its doors today at the CCH Congress Centre and International Fair Hamburg. The global PV community gathered in Hamburg, Germany, to conduct business, to network and to present and discuss the latest developments and innovations in Photovoltaics. 4,467 Conference Delegates from around the world attended 1,500 scientific and technical presentations, covering the entire scope of PV technologies. During four exhibition days, 999 international exhibitors from along the PV value chain presented the latest products and services on 80,000 square metres in nine exhibition halls. Over 40,000 PV professionals from more than 100 countries visited this show. The EU PVSEC constitutes once more the world’s leading science-to-science, business-to-business and science-to-industry forum for the global PV Solar sector.
Conference General Chairman Dr. Heinz Ossenbrink, European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre, concluded at the EU PVSEC Closing: “We can see from the EU PVSEC Programme that there are many exciting developments in the field of photovoltaics and that the PV industry is ready to meet the global demand for PV modules worldwide. Alone in Europe we are looking to install 45,000 MW PV to meet the renewable energy targets which is a doubling from today. The PV industry has shown that it will be robust enough to deploy large scale PV and PV in buildings to meet the targets. Bankers say that it does not look good for the PV industry in times of crisis, the Greek government, however, says the Helios Solar energy project will help out of the crisis! The conference also highlighted how to overcome issues related to the large scale deployment in the near future, such as smart grids and public acceptance. Photovoltaic technology becomes a major electricity source.”
Technical Programme Chairman Dr. Arnulf Jäger-Waldau, European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre, highlighted in his summary: “The scientific programme of this week has provided valuable news on research, development and application trends. In the field of advanced photovoltaics we can see that numerous companies and research centres are focusing to improve concentrator PV technology. CPV cells with laboratory efficiencies of over 41 % and close to 40 % in production are now a reality. In the field of nano-technology significant advances have been made, which will have a major impact on future cells. Organic PV is a fast growing research topic with the first companies producing products for building integration and for consumers. Silicon modules are the major PV products in the market. Replacing silver plating with copper plating will be core technique of future cells and we will see cells achieve similar efficiencies with this new technique. Advances in back contacted cells and efficiencies in silicon heterojunction cells was a highlight of the week. In those fields we saw record efficiencies in Europe and in Japan. Thin film still remains a smaller part of the overall PV production, but it is growing. Advances in CIGS, in flexible CIS and in CdTe were reported. Inverters are adding new features for grid management and stabilisation. System output forecasts are increasingly reliable. Sustainability and environmental issues are at the core of proactive PV industry activities. At the conference new approaches to PV architecture were presented and discussed. PV is increasingly being seen as an effective way to fight the current recession. Forecasts for 2011 are reported to be above 20 GW, driven by the increasing number of markets in the GW range.” Dr. Arnulf Jäger-Waldau concluded that, “so far each PV forecast has underestimated the growth of PV worldwide and future PV scenarios will have to be continuously readjusted to reflect the great advances of the sector.”
Chairman Scientific Advisory Committee Prof. Wim Sinke, Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands ECN, stated during the 26th EU PVSEC Closing session: „European research institutes team up to accelerate the development of PV in the framework of EERA, the European Energy Research Alliance.“
Winfried Hoffmann, Vice President, European Photovoltaic Industry Association – EPIA, highlighted in the Closing Session the new understanding in the European Commission on the equal importance of keeping high-volume production of important future Key Enabling Technologies in Europe besides continued R&D and piloting. This includes the provision of necessary financial budgets for the investment in large production
lines.
The 27th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition will take place in Frankfurt, Germany,
from 24 to 28 September 2012
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Background EU PVSEC
For many years, the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition has combined a renowned international scientific conference with a leading PV industry exhibition and trade fair. Every year, during 5 days of conference and 4 days of trade fair, new products and technical innovations from all areas of photovoltaics and from all over the world are on show.
The EU PVSEC is supported by European and international organisations such as the European Commission, UNESCO – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Natural Sciences Sector, WCRE – World Council for Renewable Energy, IPVEA – the International Photovoltaic Equipment Association and EPIA – the European Photovoltaic Industry Association. The Technical Programme is coordinated by the European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre.
For further information please visit:
www.photovoltaic-conference.com
www.photovoltaic-exhibition.com
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