The Future of Solar Power at the World’s Largest Exhibition for the Solar Industry
Munich, May 18, 2011. Technological developments in the area of photovoltaics are advancing daily. As a result, the cost of solar power is falling and new concepts are being developed for generating electricity in the future. Photovoltaics plays a major role at the world’s largest exhibition for the solar industry, Intersolar Europe in Munich. From June 8-10, 2011, around 2,000 companies will showcase the latest trends and developments in this field alone, with photovoltaics once again occupying a large part of the exhibition. Approximately 300 of these companies work in both photovoltaics and solar thermal technology. In an exhibition space covering 165,000 square meters, a total of 2,200 companies from around the world will present their products and services in the areas of photovoltaics, PV production technology and solar thermal technology.
Faced with the environmental challenges that go hand in hand with supplying energy to an increasing global population, numerous incentive programs across the globe have emerged for developing renewable energy – most recently in India and China for example. At the same time, the German feed-in tariff is falling. Therefore, researchers and industry are working against the clock to achieve grid parity – the point at which electricity from photovoltaic installations can be sold at a competitive price.
Greater efficiency for greater performance
The rise in solar module efficiency is particularly encouraging as regards improving the performance of solar installations. As recently as February, researchers at Freiburg’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE posted a new record for the efficiency of large-area, easy-to-manufacture silicon solar cells, reaching 19.3% – these cells could soon emerge on the market.
