21st European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference 4-8 September 2006

Update:

The participation capacity at the 21st European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference reached with 2.500 registered delegates its limits.

Press release

Scientists expect quantum leap in solar power generation

Dresden is expecting 2,500 scientists, industry representatives and politicians from 93 countries for the world's leading solar energy conference at the beginning of September.

Munich / Dresden, 21.08.2006 – For the 21st time, scientists, politicians and industry representatives will be meeting for the European solar energy conference at the beginning of September. After Rome, Paris and Barcelona, this year's European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC) will be taking place in Dresden. Holding the exhibition in Germany has great symbolic power, as Germany presently accounts for 60% of the worldwide market. The organiser of the conference, which is supported by various bodies including UNESCO, the European Commission, the German Ministry for the Environment and the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA), is expecting 2,500 participants from over 90 countries.

"The drastic increase in oil prices and the growing awareness of business, politics and consumers with regard to the limited availability of fossil fuels has given the photovoltaics sector enormous momentum and has also greatly accelerated the innovation loop," explains Dr Heinz Ossenbrink, Technical Programme Chairman of the Conference and Head of the Renewable Energy Department of the Institute for Environment and Sustainability at the EU's Joint Research Centre in Ispra, near Milan. The boom in the sector, which brought about worldwide turnover of EUR 5.8 billion last year with a growth rate of 40%, has most recently led to a global shortage of the raw material, silicon.

This year's conference programme reflects latest developments in research and on the market. Technological progress with higher levels of efficiency, a reduced demand for silicon for the manufacture of solar cells, and a lower overall use of materials in the manufacturing process form some of the main themes of this year's conference. Scientists around the world are working on solar cells which can be produced entirely without silicon, which is a scarce commodity.

Germany is a heavyweight on the international solar energy market. As early as 1989, the first promotional programme was launched there. Germany's decision to stop using nuclear power and the determination to meet the Kyoto goals on climate protection, were the framework conditions under which for example the german Renewable Energy Sources Act came into being. Research institutions and industry have achieved a leading international position in this area. According to Dr Ossenbrink, there are few research programmes which can demonstrate comparable scientific and economic success.

For a long time, solar energy was reputed to be too expensive. However, surge current is meanwhile being sold on national energy exchanges at prices above the legally guaranteed feed-in tariffs. This was the case for the first time on the Leipzig energy exchange on 27th July. On that day, a kilowatt hour of peak load electricity cost 54 eurocents. In Germany, under the terms of the Renewable Energy Sources Act, a kilowatt hour of solar energy costs 40.6 - 51.8 eurocents. According to Dr Ossenbrink the viability threshold has already been reached in southern Europe. The continuing rise of energy prices will reinforce this development. Dr Ossenbrink is convinced that "in five to ten years, regarding surge current solar energy will be cost-effective". He sees this year's solar energy conference in Dresden as a turning point in the industry's development.

Overall, seven Topics will be addressed at this year's European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition: fundamentals, new components and Materials; crystalline silicon solar cells and material technologies; matters relating to the use of amorphous and microcrystalline silicon; thin-film technology; components of PV systems; grid-coupled systems and applications, and global aspects of solar energy generation. The latest trends in the photovoltaics industry will be explored within a PV Industry Forum, which is being organised by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association EPIA and WIP Renewable Energies on the third day of the EU PVSEC conference.

The biggest photovoltaics exhibition in the world to date will be taking place parallel to the Conference. Around 400 exhibitors from 29 countries, in a show space of 16,000 sqm will be showing research findings, new production techniques and new products in the area of solar energy generation. Explaining the positioning of the exhibition, Peter Helm, Managing Director of the project developer WIP-Renewable Energies, which has been organising the EU PVSEC since 1986, says that the exhibitors are "manufacturers of photovoltaic components such as ingots, wafers, cells and modules". He goes on to mention "the group of leading system suppliers. The second group of exhibitors, almost the same in number as the first, comes from the supply industry and plant construction, who build the production facilities for the manufacture of components. As such, the EU PVSEC covers all links on the value chain from basic research to the finished product, in a single exhibition."

The EU PVSEC 2006 is supported by the UNESCO, the World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE), the European Commission, the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA), the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, the German Solar Industry Association (BSW e.V.) and the City of Dresden.