GUNTHER Portfolio: 22nd EU PVSEC Closing Session

[Milan, Italy]

And Visual Presentation (“Poster”) Winners

Dr. Wolfgang Palz delivered an upbeat Closing Session Keynote Speech following the Quo Vadis PV thread begun by Conference Chairman Prof. Dr. Gerhard Willeke who is the Manager Photovoltaics at the Fraunhofer Institute für Solar Energy Systems ISE. Dr. Palz noted Photovoltaics continue to decrease in price per Watt while conventional electricity increases because of rising fossil fuel prices as supplies approach or reach extraction peaks for oil, natural gas, uranium, and, yes, even coal. On the debit side, Dr. Palz observed PV could not achieve 100% market share (barring a breakthrough in storage technology) because of lack of solar resource or winters or both in certain regions around the globe.

However, Dr. Palz opined one third of global electricity demand or several hundred GigaWatts could be addressed by PV over the next 50 to 100 hundred years. What at Challenge! Indeed (regards to Teal’c)!

While he warned 40-50% compound annual growth rates for PV could not continue without bumps in the road or bubbles, Dr. Palz concluded:

The trend is upward. Photovoltaics will be a winner.

Next up, the Robert Hill Award was presented to Dr. Wang Sicheng. It is difficult to find online English references to Dr. Sicheng, so here are two articles/studies Current Status and Future Expectation of PV in China and Mongolia: Taking a Steppe Forward. The Award was accepted in absentia by Steve Zhu of Trina Solar. Here is my video of the initial introduction:

Dr. Heinz Ossenbrink, the Technical Programme Chairman, European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy, presented the 22nd EU PVSEC Technical Highlights which I posted yesterday.

Peter Helm, the Executive Conference Director, discussed the selection of Valencia, Spain, for the 23rd EU PVSEC in 2008, and the issues with distance between venues will be resolved. This was my only complaint about the 22nd EU PVSEC. It was much easier to dash between the Conference, Visual Presentations, the Exhibition, and the Press room in Dresden even considering the bratwurst gap. Did I mention Valencia has a beach?

The Visual (Poster) Presentation winners are as follows. Busy categories have both a winner and a runner up. All the poster awardees showed up for the Closing Session. Go figure!

Topic 1 (T1) Advanced Photovoltaics

#1
VISUAL PRESENTATIONS 1DV.3
Solar Cells, Modules and PV Systems for Space Applications
Terrestrial Concentrator Systems
1DV.3.38 B. Browne, J.P. Connolly, I.M. Ballard, K.W.J. Barnham, D.B. Bushnell, D.C. Johnson, M.C. Lynch & R. Ginige
Imperial College London, United Kingdom
G. Hill, C. Calder & J.S. Roberts
University of Sheffield, United Kingdom
Deep Strain Balanced Quantum Well Solar Cells Under Concentrator
Conditions

#2
VISUAL PRESENTATIONS 1CV.1
Fundamental Studies
1CV.1.47 E. Pink, T. Trupke, R.A. Bardos, M.D. Abbott & Y. Augarten
University of NSW, Sydney, Australia
Fast Series Resistance Imaging Using Photoluminescence

Topic 2 (T2) Wafer-Based Silicon Solar Cells and Materials Technology

#1
VISUAL PRESENTATIONS 2DV.2
Mono-and Multicrystalline Silicon Cells, Materials, Processing Technology of Wafers, Sheets and Ribbons
Handling Issues and Manufacturing Automation
2DV.2.24 H. Nordmark, M. Di Sabatino & R. Holmestad
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
E.J. Øvrelid & J.C. Walmsley
SINTEF, Trondheim, Norway
TEM Characterization of a Multicrystalline Si Material for PV
Applications

#2
2DV.2.14 S. Olibet, E. Vallat-Sauvain, C. Ballif, L. Fesquet & F. Freitas
University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland
High Quality Surface Passivation and Heterojunction Fabrication by
VHF-PECVD Deposition of Amorphous Silicon on Crystalline Si: Theory
and Experiments

Topic 3 (T3) Thin Films

#1
VISUAL PRESENTATIONS 3AV.1
Thin Film Crystalline Silicon
Amorphous and Microcrystalline Silicon
3AV.1.15 V. Depauw, I. Gordon, G. Beaucarne, J. Poortmans & R. Mertens
IMEC, Leuven, Belgium
J.P. Celis
Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
Anodic Bonding and Heterojunction-Emitter for Thin-Film Silicon Solar
Cell: Two Steps Towards an Epitaxy-Free Lift-Off Cell

#2
VISUAL PRESENTATIONS 3AV.2
Amorphous and Microcrystalline Silicon
3AV.2.23 Y. Huang, A. Gordijn, F. Finger, A. Dasgupta, J. Hüpkes & R. Carius
Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany
N-Side Illuminated Nip Microcrystalline Silicon Solar Cells With
Microcrystalline Silicon Carbide Window Layers Grown Via HWCVD at
Low Temperature

Topic 4 (T4) Components for PV Systems

VISUAL PRESENTATIONS 4AV.3
PV Modules
4AV.3.50 J. P. Silva, F. Chenlo & J.L. Balenzategui
CIEMAT, Madrid, Spain
Experimental Measurement of Working Temperature of PV Modules
Considering Electrical Performance and Proposal of a New Indoor
NOCT Determination

Topic 5 (T5) PV Systems

VISUAL PRESENTATIONS 5BV.3
PV Systems in Grid-connected Applications
PV Applications in the Built Environment
5BV.3.1 M. Zehner, G. Becker & G. Wirth
University of Applied Sciences, Munich, Germany
M. Schroedter-Homscheidt
DLR, Wessling, Germany
C. Vodermayer & G. Wotruba
BEC-Engineering, Poing, Germany
The Identification of Snow Through the Analysis of Satellight Data and
Its Impact on the Operation of Grid Connected PV Systems

Topic 6 (T6) PV Deployment

VISUAL PRESENTATIONS 6DV.5
PV in the Developing World
S. Bechis, D. Ricauda Aimonino & A. Vilianis
DEIAFA, Grugliasco, Italy
Set Up and Monitoring of a Mini-Grid PV System in a Nigerian Village

Winning a Visual Presentation Award is a great honor and a number of the winners this year were younger researchers representing the next generation of Photovoltaic experts. The only downside was having to lug the framed award certificate and a bottle of sparkling wine back from the FIERA MILANO / Rho to one’s hotel and home.

Presentations were made regarding the upcoming PVSEC-17 in Fukuoka, Japan, from December 3-7, 2007, and 33rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC 33) in San Diego, California, USA, May 11-16, 2008.