Photovoltaic Conference and Exhibition Preview 2008 – Part 2

Incremental updates to photovoltaic conferences and events in 2008

This update supplements the original post, Photovoltaic Conference and Exhibition Preview 2008.

Intersolar 2008
June 12-14, 2008 (PV Industry Forum 2008 June 10-11, 2008)
Munich (München), Germany

The detailed two day program for the PV Industry Forum is now available. In addition, Solar Promotion has added the 1st Solar Thermal Industry Forum (http://www.solarthermalindustry.de) on June 11, 2008, although the afternoon program is still being flushed out.

SEMICON West 2008 / Intersolar North America 2008
July 15-17, 2008 Exhibition
San Francisco, California USA

Intersolar North America Draws International Participation cites the success of the exhibition in attracting international exhibitors. In order to free up additional exhibition space, the comprehensive conference program has been moved to the InterContinental Hotel adjacent to the Moscone West Convention Center. Besides the “very special symposium session”, "Solar Gigawatts for Europe – Status Perspectives European Solar Markets and Industries", the conference program includes the following topic areas:

PV Technology
Solar Thermal Technology
Building Integrated Technologies

External partners will also cover additional topic areas. The conference program is being finalized by Solar Promotion and should be rolled out on the Intersolar North America 2008 website in early May.

21st NREL Industry Growth Forum
October 21-23, 2008
Denver, Colorado USA

Per the NREL Public Affairs team, the dates for the 21st NREL Industry Growth Forum have been set for October 21-23, 2008, at the Renaissance Hotel in Denver. Further information and details will be posted to the www.cleanenergyforum.com website in the near future.

9. Forum Solarpraxis
November 20-21, 2008
Berlin, Germany

The dates have also been set for the 9^th Forum Solarpraxis (Deutsch), and this year it is one week before the Thanksgiving Day holiday in the United States. Here is the announcement (Deutsch).

I plan to attend the 33rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC 33) from May 11-16, 2008, in San Diego, California USA, even though I will be hobbling or wheeling to get around.

Photovoltaic Conference and Exhibition Preview 2008

Significant photovoltaic conferences and events in 2008

In chronological order, here are the conferences I am interested in covering or following in 2008. The schedule is packed with three new conferences and events versus last year, and my focus remains technical conferences and business to business trade shows, not regional marketing or sales events. Location alignment results in two events each for San Francisco, San Diego, and Munich.

Concentrated Solar Power USA
January 28-29, 2008
San Francisco, California USA

As I mentioned in Photovoltaics: 2007 Post Review and 2008 Trends to Watch – Part 2, Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) is the hottest solar power segment. Second in a series, the Event Overview is titled:

How to build - and run - a profitable Concentrated Solar Power plant
Everything you need to know to turn your CSP project into reality

This looks like the perfect event to smarten up on CSP and network with Who's Attending.

Clean Technology & Renewables Conference
February 20, 2008
New York City, New York USA

This Piper Jaffray & Co. (NYSE:PJC) invitation only event caught my attention last year with Solaria spills low concentration photovoltaic technology at Symposium. With Sr. Research Analyst Jesse Pichel and team doing great Photovoltaic (PV) Industry research, this is one of the best investor conferences to attend =if= you can wrangle an invite.

Concentrated Photovoltaic Summit ‘08
April 1-2, 2008
Madrid, Spain

This Concentrator PhotoVoltaics (CPV) summit, “CPV goes commercial – how to build, maintain and run a profitable CPV plant”, has an impressive speaker list and is realized by First Conferences Ltd. who are also the folks behind the above mentioned Concentrated Solar Power USA. However, the timing conflicts with…

Photovoltaic Technology Show 2008 Europe
April 2-4, 2008 (Conferences April 1-4, 2008)
Munich (München), Germany

While the Photovoltaic Technology Show is a photovoltaic production equipment exhibition, this show is a nexus for four distinct PHOTON EXPO conferences held during the first four (4) days of April:

6^th Solar Silicon Conference - April 1, 2008
3^rd PV Production Equipment Conference - April 2, 2008
3^rd PV Investors Conference - April 3, 2008
2^nd PV Glass Conference - April 4, 2008

The sister Photovoltaic Technology Show 2008 Asia event is being held this week on January 16-18, 2008, in Shenzhen, China, with the same four (4) day conference schedule from January 15-18, 2008, including the debut of the PV Glass Conference. PHOTON claims the 5^th Solar Silicon Conference in Shenzhen will cover “Chinese and Eastern European projects” while Munich’s 6^th Solar Silicon Conference will focus on established industry leaders.

33rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC 33)
May 11-16, 2008
San Diego, California USA

This conference could create some US based competition for the 23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC).

Intersolar 2008
June 12-14, 2008 (PV Industry Forum 2008 June 10-11, 2008)
Munich (München), Germany

In order to expand, this year Intersolar moves from Freiburg im Breisgau to the New Munich Trade Fair Centre. Per Quantum Leap for Intersolar Trade Fair, this big trade fair goes huge with an over 80% increase in exhibition area. The Solar Promotion sponsored PV Industry Forum expands to cover the two days before Intersolar 2008 opens.

SEMICON West 2008 / Intersolar North America 2008
July 15-17, 2008 Exhibition
San Francisco, California USA

Please see Intersolar North America 2008 for my write up on this new event. The SEMICON West conference program and events run from July 14-18, 2008.

23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition
September 1-5, 2008
Valencia, Spain

The 23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition continues as my must cover conference selection for 2008. With the comprehensive conference program, EPIA’s 5th European PV Industry Forum, and the expanded trade exhibition, this is the best annual technical and business to business solar conference and exhibition.

Solar Power 2008
October 13-16, 2008
San Diego, California USA

The Solar Power Conference and Expo has established itself as the premiere US solar business to business event attracting well over 10,000 visitors in 2007. Intersolar North America 2008 will look to mount a challenge to this position.

21st NREL Industry Growth Forum
Fall 2008 (specific date not announced)
USA (location not announced)

A great two day conference about technologies the latest solar startups are developing for commercialization and pitching to venture capitalists and investors.There was dearth of NREL Forum press coverage in 2007 despite the rising interest in renewable energy technologies. Although I did not attend, I managed to post Wakonda Technologies wins at the 20th NREL Industry Growth Forum. NREL's 20th Industry Growth Forum Presentations are available here.

9. Forum Solarpraxis
November 2008
Berlin, Germany

I had a productive 8. Forum Solarpraxis leading to the post, Solarvalue AG Analyst Conference at the 8. Forum Solarpraxis, and the impromptu site visit In Search of Nanosolar GmbH.

Honorable mention:
PV TECH MILANO 2008
November 25-28, 2008
Milan, Italy

The 5th INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION ON THE PHOTOVOLTAIC INDUSTRY AND TECHNOLOGIES lands in the Fiera Milano. Although this exhibition may have a regional focus, it is hard to ignore a photovoltaic production equipment trade fair.

Of course, I plan to cover the 2008 California Clean Tech Open (CCTO), and I await details on the event schedule and the regional expansion plans for the competition.

I decided to skip the 2008 International CES (Consumer Electronics Show) from January 7-10, 2008, in Las Vegas, Nevada USA. Instead of the CES consolation prize, I will be attending the Macworld Conference & Expo tomorrow. I’m not sure there will be anything solar, but I will keep my eyes open.

Intersolar North America 2008

Intersolar joins SEMICON West next year in San Francisco

Intersolar North America 2008 (http://www.intersolar.us/) will be co-hosted by SEMICON West 2008 from July 15-17, 2008, at the Moscone Center West Hall, Level 3, in San Francisco, California USA.

Solar Promotion GmbH and the Freiburg Wirtschaft Touristik und Messe GmbH & Co (FWTM), the organizers of Intersolar, and SEMI, the organizer of SEMICON said:

The new exposition will be the largest trade event serving the full solar energy supply chain in the United States.

Intersolar North America is expecting about 10,000 visitors for over 200 photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal exhibitors covering 100,000 square feet (9290 square meters) of exhibition space or more.

Exhibit sales for Intersolar North America 2008 will open Thursday, November 15.

SEMICON West photovoltaic alumni exhibitors should note:

SEMICON West remains the venue for exhibitors focused on manufacturing equipment, materials and services.

Here are the respective press releases: Intersolar and SEMICON West to form largest solar technology exposition in North America and SEMI® Partners to Co-host Intersolar North America in Conjunction With SEMICON West.

Visitors registered for SEMICON West or Intersolar will be able to attend both exhibitions without paying extra fees or separate badging. Intersolar North America plans to hold a day and a half PV technology conference during the event at additional cost. I expect to see a North American version of the PV Industry Forum on the conference program.

It looks like Solar Power 2008 will have some competition starting next year. I first heard about efforts to organize an American version of Intersolar following the opening day press conference at the 22nd EU PVSEC in Milan. Intersolar 2008 Europe will be held a month earlier from June 12-14, 2008, in Munich, Germany, at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre after making the move from Freiburg im Breisgau.

PV Industry Forum 2007

[Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany]

Solar Systems Victorian Project presented last but still best of Forum

There were about 300 participants at the PV Industry Forum 2007 on June 20, 2007, in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, organized by Solar Promotion GmbH and PSE GmbH. As I mentioned before, this year’s program emphasized Thin films and Concentrating PhotoVoltaics (CPV). The Forum was a bit dry this year since the interactive peanut gallery comments of Prof. Dr. Peter Woditsch, Deutsche Solar AG CEO, were absent.

As I did last year (PV Industry Forum 2006 in Freiburg Part 1), I want to highlight the most compelling presentation first. Mr. Dave Holland, Solar Systems’ Managing Director and CEO, presented Experience in concentrator technology.

After reviewing the Solar Systems mainstay solution, the CS500 dish concentrator PV unit, Mr. Holland discussed how Solar Systems partnered with the Australian Federal and Victorian governments to accelerate HCPV (Heliostat Concentrator Photovoltaic) Getting to mainstream by subsidizing the 154MW Victorian Project as announced in World-leading mega scale solar power station for Victoria. Maybe it is better to let Mr. Holland speak for himself in this video clip:

The 154MW Victorian Project will use heliostats or sun tracking mirror collectors to reflect sunlight onto solar modules mounted atop fixed receiver towers about 40 meters in height. An active water (even high salinity water) cooling system will be used to keep the multi-junction III-V photovoltaic cells operating at 60ºC in order to optimize energy output and generate 270,000 MWh (MegaWatt-hours) of electricity per annum upon project completion.

The Victorian Project has grant funding totaling $125 million AUD (about €80 million Euros). $75 million AUD was provided by the Australian Federal Government under the Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund (LETDF) while the Victorian Government provided $50 million AUD. Project financing for the remaining $295 million AUD will be sourced from the private sector.

In numbers, the Victorian Project requires: 19,250 Heliostats, 246 Receivers, 62,976 PV Modules, and 600 to 800 hectares of land. The project will be constructed over six and a half years in three phases: 2MW Phase 1, 100MW Phase 2, and 50MW Phase 3.

In the following video clip, Dr. Winfried Hoffmann, Applied Materials GmbH & Co. KG, asks how HCPV stacks up versus large scale Solar Thermal plants, and Mr. Holland tips plans to split the heated water to create hydrogen for energy storage.

And for those folks who believe the PV Industry can be covered from a cramped desk on Wall Street, Jesse W. Pichel, Sr. Research Analyst, PiperJaffray, attended this year’s PV Industry Forum although his name was absent from the attendee roster.

As you can see, the PV Industry Forum 2008 will be held on June 10-11, 2008, at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre.