INTERSOLAR
Intersolar covers the entire spectrum of solar and photovoltaic technologies. Exhibitors range from materials and research to manufacturing all the way to module manufacturers and application. There was an effort to identify areas of the value chain making it easier for visitors to find their areas of interest. Products and services for all industry disciplines were represented.
”We are delighted to support the development of the industry through Intersolar Europe, and to make a continuous contribution to furthering this development,” affirms Klaus W. Seilnacht, CEO of Freiburg Wirtschaft & Touristik GmbH, Freiburg, which organizes Intersolar Europe together with Solar Promotion GmbH, Pforzheim.
Global desires
Intersolar is no longer confined to Germany and the organisers were keen to impress the growing global reach of the trade show as another event was announced to join North America and India. This time the event will held in China with the current SEMICON China. This will provide a great boost for the semiconductor event which was hit hard by the recent economic crisis.
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“Our joint success with SEMI is based on our overlying goal to organize first-class exhibitions and conferences for the solar industry in the most influential solar-regions around the world,” said Markus Elsaesser, CEO of Solar Promotion International. “The Chinese government, on both a national and provincial level, has begun an ambitious program of incentives to develop the solar energy industry. We are delighted to support and help accelerate the rapid growth of this dynamic market in China.”
The organisers are hoping the solar industry will take a similar track as the semiconductor industry, albeit in a shortened form. As with any new industry, there is an ‘over supply’ of trade events for the solar and photovoltaic markets. Expanding into areas that have a strong manufacturing base makes sense. The organisers do not rule out further expansion for the programme.
The international solar industry has had a better year than many would have imagined twelve months ago. The market forecast from iSuppli predicts significant growth of around 13.5 gigawatts (GW) globally for 2010. The German market continues to see strong development, despite fears of reduced tariffs coming into play.
Maintaining roots
This was the first year that Intersolar in Munich opened with Europe in their branding. This is reflective of their global growth and the need to differentiate between the events in other geographical areas. Despite the European moniker this is still a German show as it has been for 19 years. The German Solar Industry Association (BSW-Solar) presented an exhibition dedicated to products, systems technology and services for the electrification of remote regions.
Considering Germany has led the PV industry for so many years it makes sense for other regions to want to learn from their experiences so these types of events were welcomed by visitors. The show once again contained the Solarhaus 50+, special exhibition that demonstrates the use of solar energy in residential applications. A focus was on the options for supplying 50% of a building’s heating requirements from solar energy.
Competition between options
The mood on the floor represented the market with rumours of Europe banning CdTe but there is growing evidence that this is unlikely to happen. This sort of floor talk is what makes such a large event so interesting. Around the hustle and bustle of the show on the floor there are a number of concerted efforts to ensure the overall industry grows and thus benefit all involved. This individual desire meeting industry need can be interesting to hear but there is a positive sense that the industry understands it needs to create standards for itself before they are imposed. Running concurrently with the exhibition was the Intersolar Europe Conference which saw the industry to discuss industry issues and share ideas. This year’s focus was on photovoltaics, solar thermal technology and solar thermal power plants reflecting the most likely areas of market growth over the next few years.
Lastly Intersolar provided an excellent platform to see how much the industry has grown. There were more technologies and applications than ever before. This stiff competition will propel innovative solutions to perceived problems. The industry does lack specific goals with grid parity not the holy grail that it was made to be, but the pressure of competition and market growth will ensure that the industry will get to grips with overall goals. Events like Intersolar are what create the networking opportunity for the industry.
www.solar-pv-management.com Issue IV 2010
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