On this page you can find an overview of the tours and conferences that were organized by SolarPlaza in the last two years.
In the last 5 years, SolarPlaza organized more than 11 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.

Global Demand Conference III | 22 September 2009 | Hamburg, Germany

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PV Business Tour California | 20-25 January 2008 | California, United States