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The world's biggest scientific conference for photovoltaics started in Hamburg, Germany

The 31st European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC 2015) opened its doors on Monday, 14 September 2015 and welcomes photovoltaics (PV) experts to the CCH Congress Center in Hamburg, Germany. The scientific conference takes place from 14 to 18 September 2015, with a three-day industry exhibition taking place in parallel from 15 September 2015. The EU PVSEC is regarded as the world's leading platform for exchanges between the worlds of PV research and industry in the global PV solar industry sector. The EU PVSEC 2015 scientific conference started on Monday at 8.30 am with three keynote scientific papers on latest global developments on nanostructured solar cells. Highlights are announcements on the first hybrid device with 40% efficiency of Direct Sunlight and towards Ultra-High Efficient Photovoltaics based on Perovskite/crystalline Silicon Tandem Devices.

The following political opening ceremony is chaired by Conference General Chair Dr.-Ing. Stefan Rinck, CEO of SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES, Member of Main Executive Board VDMA and Chairman Committee for Research and Innovation, and Technical Programme. Dr. Rinck:" We need to take PV to the next level in terms of cost-effective, integrated electricity supply solutions. Evolutionary improvement in cell concepts like PERC (PERL/PERT), bifacial devices, n-type material, IBC and heterojunction cells as well as high efficiency thin films like CIGS will drive the future of solar systems further. Europe has cutting-edge R&D and we can leverage this with industry to achieve a significant future market share in PV products".

Dr. Heinz Ossenbrink, Institute for Energy and Transport JRC, European Commission, during the opening of the EU PVSEC:" The total capacity in Europe is now with 87 GW above the 2020 target of the renewable energy directive, even if only 8% (6.9 GW) of this value has been installed in 2014. One reason for this development is the increase in non-technology costs, such as connection, administrative and operational fees. Europe role should take the lead in grid-integration technologies, by intelligent inverters, battery systems and smart metering. It should establish technology solutions which maximise the value of PV, including storing in heat and cold. As a market driver, Europe would create the innovation for such systems and ensure by an active standards policy the inter-operability across different supplier, effectively reducing the cost of such relatively complex systems".

Prof. Dr. Carsten Ager, EWE-Forschungszentrum für Energietechnologie e. V., Oldenburg, Germany: "The photovoltaics community has been extremely successful in developing a solution to the world's energy challenges: Photovoltaics is nowadays an economical, reliable, and readily available technology. In the future, our R&D attention needs a stronger focus on the system integration of PV power".

Prof. Dr. Eicke Weber, President ISE Fraunhofer Institut, Germany, stated during his presentation: "The experience of the last five years in Germany has shown that the new grid of the future with strong renewable energy is providing more stability in our electricity system". Dr. Paolo Frankl, Head of Renewable Energy Division, IEA International Energy Agency, France, moderated the Opening Panel with the Topic: "Europe's role to take PV to the next level – Focusing on cost effective integrated supply solutions". One of his concluding comments was "PV is the most important energy source in the future. But a challenge for Europe is the Grid integration".

European Becquerel Prize for Outstanding Merits in Photovoltaics

The panel discussion was followed by the presentation of the European Becquerel Prize for Outstanding Merits in Photovoltaics. The Winner 2015 is Prof. Andrés Cuevas, Australian National University (ANU). He is the twenty-third Becquerel Prize winner. Prof. Cuevas receives the award in honour of his outstanding scientific achievements covering the design and processing of solar cells, their fundamental material characterization, and the modelling of photovoltaic energy conversion. For further information, please visit: https://www.photovoltaic-conference.com

EU PVSEC Background

EU PVSEC – at different venues in Europe since 1977. As the world's leading R&D conference, it serves as the international meeting point for PV experts from research, development and from industry, with presentations dedicated to photovoltaics of the future, addressing the latest technologies and most innovative materials, the policy framework, and the medium and long-term strategies and potentials. EU PVSEC is the interface between science, industry and policy makers. The EU PVSEC is supported by European and International Organisations such as UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Natural Sciences Sector, WCRE - World Council for Renewable Energy, Solar Power Europe (formerly EPIA), SOLAR UNITED - Global Solar Business and Technology Association, ESA - European Space Agency, EREF - European Renewable Energies Federation, EUFORES - The European Forum for Renewable Energy Sources, REN21 - Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century, IEA-PVPS - International Energy Agency - Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme, EU PV TP - European Photovoltaic Technology Platform, EUREC - The Association of European Renewable Energy Research Centres, ARE - Alliance for Rural Electrification, AIE - European Association of Electrical Contractors, CABA - Continental Automated Buildings Association, EPIC - European Photonics Industry Consortium, SASIA - Saudi Arabia Solar Industries Association. The Conference Programme is coordinated by the European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre.



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