The PV Solar Conference is expected to attract some 4000 participants, and the accompanying industry exhibition around 40,000 visitors. 943 exhibitors will be presenting new products and technical solutions for solar PV.
Peter Helm, Executive Conference Director, says: “The high number of bookings by exhibitors from all over the world reconfirms that PV Solar has developed into a viable future-oriented industry with substantial growth potential. PV solar power will represent an important and competitive part of the European and also the international power market.”
A new record number of 1580 papers from 72 countries has been submitted for the Conference of the 24th EU PVSEC, which represents a 20% rise compared to the number of papers submitted for 2008. An international Scientific Committee, comprising 135 experts in their respective fields, has evaluated the submitted papers and decided for 1300 Plenary, Oral and Poster Presentations.
The Conference Programme covers:
- PV Markets and Deployment
- PV Systems and Power Plants
- Advanced Photovoltaics, including new Cell and Module Concepts
- Thin Film Solar Cells, including Cells on Glass and Flexible Materials
- Silicon Solar Cells and Silicon Feedstock
- Components for PV Systems, Engineering and System Integration
- PV Manufacturing
One of the highlights of the 24th EU PVSEC will be the PV Policy Debate about the EU Renewable Energy Directive (Tuesday, 22 September 2009, 10:30-12:00). For the first time, the EU Renewable Energy Directive defines a pan-European binding approach to speed-up the implementation of renewable energy within the European energy mix. Representatives from the European Commission, Germany, France, UK, USA and international industry associations will discuss the EU Renewable Energy Directive`s impact on the European solar PV industry and PV markets.
The European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) reports in the 2013 study that the USA will emerge as one of the top PV markets worldwide by 2013. The immense potential of USA territory and strong commitment of President Obama, the USA could represent a multi GW market by 2010 already. The expected growth of Solar PV Energy in India and large PV projects in China are further examples. Experts believe that even with the currently difficult market environment the total worldwide market could reach up to 6.8 GW in 2009.
Until 2013, EPIA foresees the global market to reach 22 GW by 2013 under the policy-driven scenario which would mean a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 32% over the period 2008-2013. For the moderate scenario, the annual market is expected to range just above 12 GW with a CAGR of 17% over the period 2008-2013.