Here you can find an overview of the tours and conferences that are scheduled for the coming year and the events that were organized by SolarPlaza in the last two years.
Upcoming Solarplaza events
Global Demand Conference IV | 6-7 September 2010 | Valencia, Spain
Following the success of the previous three Global Demand Conferences, Solarplaza has extended the conference to a two-day event, which will take place on September 6 and 7 in Valencia, during PVSEC 2010. The first day of the conference will focus on the most promising emerging markets, while the second day will be all about the world's current Top 10 solar PV markets.
www.globaldemandconference.com
The Solar Future: France | 9-10 November 2010 | Marseille, France
After four successful editions of 'The Solar Future' in both Germany and the Netherlands, Solarplaza will be taking this event to French soil. On November 9 and 10 they will host The Solar Future: France. This two-day event will incorporate a full-day conference and an optional visit to a French PV project.
The Solar Future: Belgium | 25-26 January 2011 | Brussels, Belgium
In 2011 Solarplaza will be organizing their first Belgian Solar Future conference. As one of the world's top markets with a highly attractive system of government incentives, Belgium offers many interesting business opportunities. During this two day event, which will include a full-day conference and an optional project visit, expert speakers will shine their light on the situation in the Belgian PV market and its future prospects.
The Solar Future: Israel | 8-9 March 2011 | Tel Aviv, Israel
Israel can rightly be considered one of the most promising emerging solar PV markets with lots of new initiatives and opportunities, empowered by government support. Solarplaza will host a conference in Israel and organize a project visit to explore the country's possibilities and analyze its 'Solar Future'.
The Solar Future NL III | 21 April 2011 | Utrecht, The Netherlands
After two very successful editions, Solarplaza will, for the third time, organize their Dutch solar PV conference focusing on the status of solar energy in the current economical, political and practical climate and the opportunities that will arise in the near future. The conference will maintain its formula including plenary sessions, several side-sessions and general discussion.
The Solar Future: Emerging & New PV Technologies | 7 June 2011 | Munich, Germany
For the fourth time now, Solarplaza will be organizing a high level conference on the day before the InterSolar, the World's largest trade fair. In response to popular demand and the rise of new innovations, we will be focusing entirely on new and emerging photovoltaic technologies; technologies that will affect the solar energy industry and shape the market prospects.
The Solar Future: UK | 29 June 2011 | London, United Kingdom
Solarplaza will be returning to London for the second edition of the UK PV Conference. The successful first conference focused on the new FIT in the United Kingdom and the new opportunities it will create. The Second UK PV Conference will analyze the first year after the introduction of the FIT and adjust the future perspectives on the UK solar PV market.
Previous Solarplaza events
In the last 5 years, SolarPlaza organized more than 13 international PV trade missions to: China, Spain, Italy, Greece, California, Taiwan and India. We organized solar PV conferences in all of the forenamed countries and the PV expert conferences The Thin-film Future, The Solar Future and its yearly Global Demand Conference.
The slideshow below provides a small overview of some of the most prominent speakers we've had contributing to our conferences.
UK PV Conference (UK) | 22 June 2010 | London, United Kingdom
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Summary
New Feed-In Tariffs in the UK: Where do opportunities for the PV industry lie? How will the UK PV market develop over the next three years?
The conference was designed to kick-start the newly developing market for solar PV in the UK after the introduction of feed-in tariffs by the UK government.
This conference provided an overview of where the opportunities lie, and which segments of the market are most likely to benefit in the short term. Conference participants learned what the conditions are like in the UK for the development of large-scale solar and residential projects. Furthermore, this event offered insight into the question of which business models are most likely to benefit from the improved framework conditions for solar energy in the UK.
Speakers
Hermann Scheer (German Parliament, World Council Renewable Energy), Jeremy Legett (Chairman Solar Century), Edwin Koot (CEO Solarplaza), Ben Hill (Director Sales & Marketing Trina Solar Europe), Ray Noble (PV Specialist REA), Philip Wolfe (Managing Director Ownenergy), Teun Bokhoven (CEO Zen International), Paul Lewis (CEO Self Energy), Thomas Wedde (Sales Manager SMA Technology), Bruce Huber (Managing Director Jefferies), Clive Collison (Owner South facing), Giuliano Digilio (Executive Officer ECA), Stefanie Rief (Project Officer NEF), Faried Muscati (CSO Thermovolt), Keith Duncan (Senior Manager Renewable Compliance Ofgem), Michael Pitcher (Managing Director BFC Solutions)
Sponsors
ZEN Renewables (Main sponsor), Emerson Control Techniques (Co-sponsor), Thermovolt (Co-sponsor), Goldbeck (Co-sponsor), Trina Solar (Co-sponsor), Resonates (Co-sponsor)
The Solar Future Conference (DE) | 8 June 2010 | Munich, Germany
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Summary
SolarPlaza´s second “Solar Future Conference” offered a platform to hear and meet business leaders in the global solar PV market. The conference focused on vision and strategies related to solar industry supply, market demand, technology, business strategy, cost, and financial trends. It took place in the same city as the world´s largest trade fair for solar technology - the Intersolar Europe.
At this top-level conference, the world’s leading CEOs, gurus, experts and analysts will provided valuable insights in how the PV industry and the PV market will look in 2013. The one-day conference was subdivided in four sessions: the gurus and analysts´ visions, the upstream and downstream players´ visions and a session on the large-scale use of PV.
The speakers explained, for example, how crystalline silicon can compete with thin-film technologies, which business model will survive, when inverter shortages will be overcome and if feed-in tariffs will still be necessary in 2013. In addition, they discussed what the cost per kWh will be for solar electricity and what will be needed to realise the global mass introduction of PV. In the afternoon, there was a panel discussion with the audience.
Speakers
Bruce Sohn (President First Solar), Xiaofeng Peng (CEO LDK Solar), Ingmar Wilhelm (VP Enel, President EPIA), Karl Kuhlmann (CEO Solarstrom), Manfred Bächler (CTO Phoenix Solar), Christoph von Bergen (Managing Director Sputnik Engineering), Christer Tryggestad (Partner McKinsey&Co.), Henning Wicht (Director iSuppli), Ben Hill (VP Europe Trina Solar), Jesse Pichel (Head Cleantech Jefferies&co.), Shyam Mehta (Senior Analyst Greentech), Matt Cheney (Former CEO Renewable Ventures), Uttam Reddy (Chairman Solar Energy Manufacturers Association India)
The Solar Future Conference II (NL) | 22 April 2010 | Utrecht, Netherlands
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Summary
On 22 April 2010 some two hundred people gathered in the Mediaplaza (Utrecht, Netherlands) to discuss the chances that are open in the Dutch PV market. These chances have changed drastically: six years ago the Netherlands were still the fourth market in the world, but since then this position is steadily decreasing and the Netherlands have been passed by neighbors like Belgium.
Optimism however dominated the day: local governments stimulate solar initiatives where the national government is reluctant to do so and entrepreneurs believe that now is the time to build a Dutch solar PV industry, if the Netherlands want to play a role in the energy-revolution. Thanks to an excellent line of speakers and great networking opportunities this conference was valued very high by its participants!
Speakers
Ruud Lubbers (Former minister president of the Netherlands), Jacqueline Cramer (Former minister of housing and environment), Edwin Koot (CEO Solarplaza), Dennis Gieselaar (Managing director & co-founder Oskomera Power Solutions), Prof. Wim Sinke (Unitmanager solar-energy ECN & International PV expert), Ashok Balotra (Architect & directeur Kuiper Compagnons), Bouke Siebenga (General Manager Mastervolt Solar), Henk Roelofs (Director Solland Solar), Frans van den Heuvel (CEO Scheuten Solar), Gert-Jan Jongerden (Director Nuon Helianthos), Frits Verhoef (Director Energieker), Jadranka Cace (Director RenCom / senior PV consultant), Esther Zumpolle (Director Your Business Duurzame Dienstverlening & Chairwoman PV sectie ODE), Bouwe de Boer (Energycoördinator Leeuwarden), Jeroen Roos (Senior Consultant / Business Developer Builddesk), Ir. Richard Kooloos (Chairman Fortis Groenbank), Rob van Rees (Director and founder Greenchoice)
Sponsors
Solar NRG (Main sponsor), Green Loans (Co-sponsor), Parkstad Limburg (Co-sponsor), Scheuten Solar (Network sponsor), Mastervolt (Network sponsor)
Global Demand Conference III | 22 September 2009 | Hamburg, Germany
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Summary
The third edition of the international Global Demand Conference discussed the demand dynamics in the world's major PV Markets. This event provided a platform for exchanging crucial market information with leading experts, creating a real global market demand-side overview. This one-day event organised by SolarPlaza for the third consecutive year, took place on 22 September in Hamburg (Germany), during the 24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (21 to 25 September 2009).
Speakers
Richard Loyen (Enerplan), Paula Mints (Navigant Consulting, Joe Berwind (Alternative Energy Investing), Gerhard Stryi-Hipp (BSW-Solar), Javier Anta (ASIF), Stelios Psomas (HELAPCO), Gert Gremes (GIFI), Henk Vanderhaeghen (Enfinity), Prof. Donghwan Kim, Dr. Hiroshi Matsukawa (RTS Corporation), Vishal Shah (Barclays Capital), Rajiv Arya (Moserbaer), Bronislav Bechnik (CZREA), Stephen Cai (CEEG), B.V. Naidu (ISA)
The Solar Future Conference (DE) | 26 May 2009 | Munich, Germany
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Summary
‘The Solar Future’ conference offered a great platform for high-level networking and anyone interested in learning about the next big global industry. An industry that will create more than 50 billion dollars of annual revenues in 2012. For a single day, the world’s top minds came together to discuss the future of the fastest-growing renewable energy at a critical time for the industry.
Speakers
Bruce Sohn (First Solar) , Lynn Sha (QS Solar) , Peter Fath (Centrotherm) , Barry Cinnamon (Akeena Solar) , Zhengrong Shi (Suntech Power) , Anton Milner (Q-Cells) , David Rubin (SEPA) , Stephen O'Rourke (Deutsche Bank) , Travis Bradford (Prometheus Institute) , Edwin Koot (SolarPlaza)
The Solar Future Conference (NL) | 22 April 2009 | Rotterdam, Netherlands
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Summary
The themes of The Solar Future Conference were: technology, industry, market, investing and vision. Dutch solar-entrepreneurs from all over the world talked about how the international industry and market will develop. They also discussed new technologies, investment opportunities and of course the Dutch PV market.
Speakers
Hermann Scheer (Eurosolar and member of German Parliament), Jos van der Hyden (First Solar) , Albert Krikken (Good Energies) , Ewout Krijger (Rabobank) , Ralf Bauer (Enfinity) , Wim Sinke (ECN) , Harold Hoskens (SolarFun) , Frans van de Heuvel (Scheuten Solar) , Martin Fleuster (Solland Solar) , Benno Wiersma (Sunergy Investco) , Paul Lubbers (Energes) , Steven Pleging (Ecostream), Dennis Gieselaar (Holland Solar) and Michiel van Drunen (Roderick Investments).
International PV Trade Mission India | 16-20 February 2009 | Bangalore, New Delhi, Hyderabad, India
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Summary
During the India tour the delegation explored business opportunities, met emerging PV companies, visited thin-film silicon solar cell manufacturers, learned about the global PV market dynamics and learned about the PV government policy, business and investment opportunities. Furthermore there was enough time to establish new international business relations with fellow participants, enjoy discussions and discover the Indian culture with other committed solar energy business people.
Factories visited
Moser Baer, XL Telecom & Energy and Solar Semiconductor
Companies presented
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, ISA, First Solar, Solar Semiconductor, SMA, Astonfield Renewable Resources, IREDA, SriPower, Gujarat Energy Development Agency, Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation, DPSCL, Orb Energy and Energy Group of IT Power India
Testimonials
"Thanks again for a great tour! Extremely thorough and great access to very relevant companies, it was very valuable." - Marie Fazio (REC Solar)
"Congratulations. You have done a very good job organizing this tour. Preparation, contacts, information were all excellent. It opened new perspectives for us."
- Maria Lahuerta (ADES)
International PV Trade Mission China | 24-28 November 2008 | China
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Summary
The third International PV Trade Mission to China was held from 24 to 28 November 2008. This open trade mission, dedicated to solar PV and organized by SolarPlaza, included visits to major and emerging manufacturers of crystalline and thin-film solar modules in the Shanghai and Shenzhen regions.
Factories visited
Solarfun Power, QS Solar, Trina Solar, Astronergy and Sunergy
Companies presented
Suntech Power, Yingli Solar, SUNGEN, BLD Solar, Amplesun, ET Solar, XinAo, CSI Solar
Testimonials
"The PV tour of China was a great way to get an overview of the key developments underway in China in the field of solar energy." - Atul Vijaykar (Solaria)
"Please do not let my fellow PV system integrators know about how great your China Tour was. The insights I gained about the future of Chinese manufacturing were terrific. Moreover, the networking with other international PV leaders that I enjoyed during informal times of the tour were indispensible."
- Barry Cinnamon (Akeena Solar)
Second Global Demand Conference | 2 September 2008 | Valencia, Spain
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Summary
On 22 September 2009, the international solar expert conference - Demand Dynamics in the Major PV markets - provided a platform to exchange crucial market information with leading experts, creating a real global market demand-side overview.
Speakers
Travis Bradford (Prometheus Institute), Gerard Stryi-Hipp (BSW), Javier Anta (ASIF), Jigar Shah (SunEdison), Richard Loyen (Enerplan), Peter Lorenz (McKinsey), Stelios Psomas (HELAPCO), Hiroshi Matsukawa (RTS Corporation), Gerardo Montanino (GSE) and Stephen O'Rourke (Deutsche Bank)
Testimonials
"It was a great opportunity to make contacts and getting a picture about the market trends and interest from different industry partners." - Francisco Conesa(Phoenix Solar)
"I was really impressed which additional business contacts rised because of my participation. I can really recommend to join these tours. It was not only perfectly organised but also very fruitful business wise."
- Andreas Fankhauser (Sputnik Engineering)
The Thin-film Future | 11 June 2008 | Munich, Germany
Summary
Will the cost price reductions announced by several manufacturers provide a shortcut to reaching 'grid parity' sooner than with crystalline solar technology? On 11 June 2008, the international solar energy conference took place in Munich entitled "The Thin-film Future". Almost two hundred attendees coming from 27 countries were given an expert breakdown of the latest developments in the field of thin-film technology.
Speakers
Martin Roscheisen, Nanosolar, Charles Gay (Applied Materials) , Stephan Hansen (First Solar) , Charlie Han (NexPower) , Chris Constantine (Oerlikon Solar), Travis Bradford (Prometheus Institute), Ravi Khanna (MoserBaer), Manfred Baechler (Phoenix Solar), George Hanna (Q-cells), Fumihiro Tanikawa (Kaneka), Romain Henricart (QS Solar) and Edwin Koot (SolarPlaza)
Testimonials
"It was great. Very well organized, good speakers, excellent topics. This gave me a good introduction into the Thin-Film solar business/market."
- Marcel Verschuur
(Fluor Corporation)
"It was a unique conference on the hot topic of Thin Film."
- Fumihiro Tanikawa
(KANEKA Belgium)
Solar Energy Investment opportunities in Italy | 27-28 March 2008 | Rome, Italy
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Summary
The purpose of this international event was to explore investment opportunities and to match the Italian PV project developers with the growing group of national and international investors and renewable energy equity funds.
Speakers
Gerardo Montanino (GSE), Marco Ghirardello (Enerray), Domenico Inglieri (RED2002), Manfred Baechler (Phoenix Solar), Michele Appendino (Solar Ventures), Jamie Richards (Foresight Venture Partners), Alex Sorokin (InterEnergy), Lorenzo Podesta (Sunnergy), Domenico Sartore (SOLON), Mr. Franconi (Dexia Bank), Nicolaus Von Einem (Epuron), Salvatore Cristofori (Soluxia), Andrea Brumgnach (Ecostream), Marco Burini (Energia Sviluppo), Lucca Miotti (REN Electron), Felice Nicola Covelli (Merloni Progetti)
Testimonials
"The event in Italy once again proved SolarPlaza tours are not to be missed. There is no other way to gather essential market info in such a brief period of time." - Martin Meijers (Enfinity Italia)
PV Business Tour Taiwan | 17-21 February 2008 | Taiwan
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PV Business Tour California | 20-25 January 2008 | California, United States
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