Photovoltaic Conference and Exhibition Preview 2010

Significant photovoltaic (PV) conferences and events in 2010. Suffering from PV conference overload?

In chronological order, here are the PV conferences I am interested in following or covering in 2010. As in the past, my focus remains technical conferences and business to business trade shows, not regional marketing or sales events. I am biased towards the United States and Europe and really need to branch out and explore events in Asia and Japan. Maybe I will find an opportunity in 2010. Read More >>

Solar Polysilicon Oversupply until 2013?

Hemlock Semiconductor forecasts Global Polysilicon Supply capacity will exceed Solar Demand until at least 2013. “There will be a surplus of silicon supply for the next several years.” From Intersolar North America Hemlock Semiconductor Group Vice President Gary Homan presented “The Silicon Supply Chain” just after CaliSolar at Intersolar North America last month. Beginning with a quip, Mr. Homan said: After that last presentation maybe I should just say we’re closing up shop because there’s no future for polysilicon. But I won’t do that. The above slide, HSC's Global

SolarMagic: “How does it work?”

The Solar Magic explained. [San Francisco, CA USA] At Intersolar North America, Ralf Muenster, Director Renewable Energy Segment, National Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE:NSM) presented “Maximizing PV Output with Power Optimizers” in the program session: Photovoltaic Technology (3): System Technology, Inverters & Off-grid Systems Large Scale PV Power Plants & Concentrating PV Perhaps bucking to competitive pressure, Mr. Muenster addressed the perennial SolarMagic question, “How does this device work?” Please see SolarMagic, Solar Magic for background. I didn’t catch the presentation, so I asked Mr. Muenster for the correct description of nominal operation and with SolarMagic installed

CaliSolar to ramp 50 MW UMG-Si Solar Cell Plant

[Sunnyvale, California USA] 50 MW (MegaWatt) plant under construction and online by September 2009. 16% and above efficiency solar cells processed from 100% Upgraded Metallurgical Silicon (UMG-Si) material. Plans to achieve below $1/Watt UMG-Si Solar Cells in the next 18 months. CaliSolar Sunnyvale plant reconnaissance. From CaliSolar Sunnyvale plant At the Intersolar North America Challenges in Crystalline Silicon Manufacturing program session last week, CaliSolar, Inc. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Roy Johnson presented Upgraded Metallurgical Silicon (UMG Si). In the first slide, Mr. Johnson revealed:

• CaliSolar

Concentrix Solar installs UCSD test system

From Intersolar North America 5.75 kiloWatt (kW) Concentrator PhotoVoltaic (CPV) system with new, optimized CX-75 modules. Part of Concentrix Solar’s US market entry strategy. Although I tweeted about the development last week, the cooperation with the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), was disclosed earlier by Concentrix Solar in a presentation at the 5th Germany California Solar Day. “Concentrix Solar introduces new module generation CX-75 in the USA” states the joint project was installed

Intersolar North America

[San Francisco, California USA] Observing the obvious. I managed to spend some time at Intersolar North America 2009 this week in San Francisco. Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) From Intersolar North America The big news was US President Barack Obama somehow finding the time to visit Applied Materials before the Major League Baseball 2009 All-Star Game in St. Louis, Missouri. A crowd formed to understand how AMAT is driving down cost per watt. From Intersolar North America Solyndra, Inc. I noticed Michael Kanellos take a cameraperson over to

Close to the SolarEdge

Holistic approach improves Photovoltaic (PV) system energy yield by up to 25% while reducing BoS (Balance of System) and installation cost. Mass production slated for September 2009. It has been a while since Intersolar 2009: My Photovoltaic Top 10 List honored SolarEdge Technologies Inc. with the first place ranking,1. (tie) Best Start-up. My interaction with SolarEdge started before Intersolar 2009 during the PV Industry Forum 2009. I decided to skip the Arima EcoEnergy Technologies Corp. presentation (which I wanted to hear) at the Concentrating

State of the CPV Consortium – Part 2

“Is the CPV (Concentrator PhotoVoltaics) Industry Ready to Ramp?” More CPV Myth Busting plus CPV Environmental Positives. Even as I finished the “State of the CPV Consortium” post, I knew a follow up was required to complete the State of CPV address. I begin here with the CPV forecast from the presentation by CPV Consortium Chairman/Director Nancy Hartsoch. From PV Industry Forum 2009 As you can see in the above Picasa photo, PHOTON International claims 10 MW (MegaWatts) of CPV was installed in 2008. However, Ms. Hartsoch thought this was not all High Concentration PhotoVoltaics (HCPV) but was dominated by silicon based concentrators. For instance, “Opportunities and Challenges for

State of the CPV Consortium

“Is the CPV (Concentrator PhotoVoltaics) Industry Ready to Ramp?” LCOE (Levelized Cost of Energy) but what does it cost to install capacity? From PV Industry Forum 2009 On the second day of the PV Industry Forum 2009, SolFocus VP Marketing Nancy Hartsoch, in her role as CPV Consortium Chairman/Director, presented “Concentrator PV Advanced Technology Becomes Commercial Energy Solution” to kick off the misnamed Session 6: Silicon PV Outlook – Concentrating PV. While I was irked (it wasn’t just me) by the three CPV PR movie clips, Technology Overview

SolarMagic, Solar Magic – Part 2

SolarMagic Outside Demo on the Freigelände at Intersolar 2009. After visiting the SolarMagic stand, I managed to swing by the SolarMagic outside demo opposite Hall B5 before the National Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE:NSM) Intersolar 2009 SolarMagic press event (please see SolarMagic, Solar Magic). I received a cordial reception in contrast to my previous experience as the Photovoltaic Blogger banned from SolarMagic "Sneak Peek" Show. From Intersolar 2009: SolarMagic Outside Demo on the Freigelände After waiting for a group to finish (yes, I can be patient at times), I got the demo run through by Ms. SolarMagic herself