The PV Summit is now history. I don’t know if actual history was made, but it was a thoroughly informative and well-organized conference. Kudos to IntertechPira, the organizers. They produce about 20 conferences a year, each focused on a rapidly-changing high tech industry.
Organizers Anneke Mueller and Laura Limoge snagged a number of luminaries for the PV summit, including Dr. Tom surek of Motech America, Dr. Jean Prosbic of BP Solar, and Paul Maycock of PV Energy. High profile executives from major players like SoloPower and SunEdison were there.
For my money, the most exciting news was the announcement by Richard Lewandowski of Prism Solar regarding their hologram-enabled photovoltaic array. I hadn't heard of this technology before and i was struck by the utter beauty and simplicity of the technology. Each panel has alternating strips of PV cells and transparent holographic plastic. The holograms concentrate a specific light spectrum on the PV cells for increased efficiency, but direct the infrared (heating) parts of the spectrum away from the cell. As a result the PV cells stay cooler and more efficient than regular concentrating PV cells.
The key take-away points I gleaned from the conference:
Grid parity (the point at which solar PV electricity is produced at a cost equal or less that the cost of traditional power) is expected to be reached by 2012. This is driven both by cutting the manufacturing costs of PV panels and the rise of traditional utility fuels costs.
Thin film PV has lower production costs than traditional crystalline PV. The technology uses far less materials, has fewer steps in manufacturing and the manufacturing cycle is shorter. Though it currently has the approximately half the efficiency of traditional crystalline PV, the efficiency is expected to rise steadily over the next few years. Thin film PV also has a greater potential for a breakthrough technology to occur.
Federal leadership is needed for the solar industry to grow at greater rate. The speakers mentioned a number of significant proposals; however two were identified as key items: a long-term, dependable federal investment tax credit for purchasing renewable energy systems and a significant increase in the federal renewable energy R&D budget.
My thanks to Sheri Bonnell at IntertechPira for facilitating as press liason!
Tomorrow: more insights from the conference
