NEWS I REVIEW German market potential of 200GW
NOBODY had expected that the German solar market for 2011 would turn out so well. This was the unanimous verdict of those on the “2nd inverter and PV System Technology Forum 2012”. At the end of the year, of the total installed capacity of 24 GWpeak in Germany, 7.5 gigawatts were added in just the last year. This doesn’t only bring new challenges for the grid infrastructure - as extensively discussed in the media - but also for the entire photovoltaic system. Technical solutions for dealing with the rapid growth of solar energy were discussed by around 200 experts in Berlin.
“In the future we need to be smarter about designing both the transmission lines as well as the photovoltaic systems”, was the view of Karl-Heinz Remmers, CEO of organizer Solarpraxis in his opening speech. He considers that from an economic standpoint, owing to the steep falls in price of the modules, it will be important in the future to take one´s chance in being more efficient both in matching system configurations and in the systems themselves. For a long time grid parity has been the long-term goal of the industry, but now it makes more sense to use the generated power directly rather than feeding it into the grid. “Bye-bye to grid parity”, is the new motto.
Hans-Josef Fell, MP for the Green Party, noted that the industry is running far ahead of the much less ambitious goals of the German government – to supply 35% of power from renewable energy sources by 2020. He believes that a 100% renewables-based supply can be achieved as soon as 2030. Thereby, according to a study by the International Energy Agency, energy will become even cheaper than from fossil-based sources.
“There is a potential of 200 GWp for PV in Germany” said Prof. Dr. Volker Quaschning of the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin. He is assuming that the feed-in tariff for solar power will only be required over the next three to four years; after that the cost of solar- produced power will be lower than that for conventional electricity. He also pointed to the potential of about 100 GW for home installations in 2020.
Smart PV systems and power grids can help prevent the scenario so often presented in the media - of a collapse or
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www.solar-international.net I Issue I 2012
the need for a billion-dollar reconstruction of power grid network owing to the huge expansion of solar power. This was the topic taken on by Prof. Dr. Bernd Engel and Professor Gerd Becker in their lectures. Cost effective solutions include the feeding of reactive power, through which the network performance can be increased by between 20% and a maximum of 100%, and also an increase in direct, private consumption.
Declining battery and PV system costs coupled with rising energy costs will quickly make the private use of solar energy combined with the purchase of a battery for storage into a financially attractive proposition, according to Link.
On the second day, Ash Sharma of IMS Research noted that 2011 - although it was largely seen by the industry as a bad year – actually, with an increase in installations of 34% worldwide, was a pretty remarkable year for the solar industry. Following on from 2010, which was marked by shortages in the inverter market, there was over-capacity in 2011 leading to large price reductions. For 2012 he predicted stagnation in the number of installations globally: the declining numbers in Europe would be offset by an increase in construction in the U.S. and Asia. Moreover, large quarterly variations can be expected. The big challenge for manufacturers and suppliers will be to adapt to the further differentiation of markets; it is expected that 21 countries will each install more than 100 MW in 2012.
Whether in grid network infrastructure, energy storage, inverters, or by considering the PV system as a whole - the coming year will be marked by great challenges for the solar industry. The conference clearly showed that the industry is heavily engaged in finding practical solutions to these.
MTPV get $10M Series B Financing
MTPV, a clean energy semiconductor chip company, has announced that it raised an additional $3.25 million in the final closing of its series B financing. The funding, provided by Northwater Capital Management, Inc. and a follow- on investment from Applied Ventures, LLC, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, Inc., completes the round that started with a $6.75M closing in August of last year.
The initial closing, which was led by pre- existing investor Spinnaker Capital, LLC of Boston, also included investments from Applied Ventures, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Austin-based Ensys Capital, LLC, the Clean Energy Venture Group, and several others.
MTPV creates semiconductor chips that convert heat directly into electricity. Similar to a solar panel that converts sunlight into electricity, MTPV chips are
able to convert any source of heat into electricity with breakthrough efficiency and power. As part of this financing MTPV, LLC changed its corporate structure and is now MTPV Power Corporation.
“Our fund specializes in companies with strong intellectual property.” said Frank Egan, Managing Director of Northwater Capital. “We are excited to join this dedicated group of investors committed to bringing this impressive technology to the world.”
“Northwater Capital brings significant experience and many industry relationships to MTPV that will greatly benefit us as we begin to commercialize our technology,” said David Mather MTPV’s President and Chief Operating Officer. “We look forward to partnering with Northwater and their impressive network of potential customers and collaborators.”
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