Ticipants at the PV Con- Ference There Was No Jostling at the Spacious Halls of the New Milan Exhibition Centre

PV CONFERENCE O sole mio ... che bella cosa Despite the record at- tendance of 3,000 par- ticipants at the PV conference there was no jostling at the spacious halls of the new Milan Exhibition Centre. 106 Sun & Wind Energy 4/2007 PV CONFERENCE O sole mio ... che bella cosa The »European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC)«, which this year took place for the 22nd time, has become as important as it is vast. With 520 stands covering 30,000 m2, the exhibition was almost as big as this year’s Intersolar in Freiburg, Germany, which is after all one of the world’s largest solar fairs. On top of this was a tightly packed conference programme with over a thousand presentations. And don’t for- get the conversations on the conference fl oor – after all each participant had a choice of 3,000 PV sector colleagues to speak to. nrico Caruso sang about the sun in 1916. »O sole mio, che bella cosa nella giornata è sole.« In English: »What a beautiful thing is a sunny day.« The photovoltaic sector would agree with that. The many days of sunshine in Italy and the revised feed-in law hold the promise of a lucra- tive market. E Growing capacities and fortune hunters A complete overview of the most important event for the European photovoltaic sector aside from the Inter- solar is impossible. Highlights remain – necessarily sub- jective ones. Two of these seem to accurately refl ect the situation in the sector, however: In hall 20 there was a sort of advertising pillar at a crossing of two gangways, with job ads on it. In the past this sort of thing used to be the domain of those solar companies which produced cells or modules. This year the picture was completely diff erent: The purely solar companies involved in cell or module production had 28 job ads, but the suppliers of production equipment had 38. Now this result can in no way claim to be repre- Breuer Wilhelm Photos: Sun & Wind Energy 4/2007 107 PV CONFERENCE Happy faces from the host country: The Italian minister sentative, but it does tally with the core sentiment from to the continuing shortage of silicon. If some of the for the environment, Alfonso many individual discussions on the stands: Growth rates hopeful markets do not develop according to popular Scanio (second from left), in production technology are currently higher than in »accelerated scenarios«, expensive over-capacities could wants to have at least 3 GWp the main PV market itself. Both the expansion of exist- quickly lead to even more expensive over-production. of photovoltaic power in- ing production lines and the setting up of completely In the same hall an experienced marketing woman stalled in the country by new sites are at the moment making full demands on from an equally experienced solar company was 2016. the equipment providers – this is true for engineering amazed. She hadn’t known that so many companies Photos (12): Wilhelm Breuer services just as much as for the supply of production had already been active in the sector for 20 years. She equipment. The service provider IB Vogt of Berlin, Ger- obviously didn’t know many solar pioneers at all. Ok, I’m many, which designs complete solar factories, has tre- being sarcastic – the comment was aimed at several ex- bled its number of employees in just two years to 150, hibiting companies who were indeed also unknown to and once again had ten new job offers going in Milan. long-term observers of the field, but which still insisted Put somewhat acutely you could say that the technolo- that they had decades of experience in PV technology. gy companies were the only ones at the exhibition The only bit of truth here is that the sector is becoming which still actually had something to sell. While order increasingly difficult to keep track of, even for profes- requests to solar cell and module manufacturers as well sionals. There are many newcomers who are entering as wholesalers were answered with a shake of the head, the sector more or less vigorously. Bold visions can be the equipment suppliers were still able to close con- found: Solarvalue AG of Berlin, Germany, for example, tracts for the delivery of new production lines or com- plans to produce 4,400 tons of solar silicon annually ponents – with long delivery times, however. One pos- right from the start in 2008 at a calcium carbide factory sible conclusion is thus as follows. Just as in any other bought up in Slovenia – by upgrading metallurgical sil- industry the state of investments is an early indicator icon. Is the announcement the usual »storytelling« of a for the development of a sector. According to this the newly set up public company, or does it tell of a golden worldwide photovoltaic industry is about to go into eye for business? Why has no-one else come up with overdrive. It is in for one hell of a take-off. But overca- the idea? »There are lots of fortune hunters around«, pacities will be hellish too, as the development of the was the assessment of another sector expert. To put markets in Europe, the USA and Asia has not been able that positively: This too is a sign of a final breakthrough, to keep up so far. The current overdemand is solely down as has been seen in other sectors. 108 Sun & Wind Energy 4/2007 �� FGH_Anzeige_gb_210x297mm_SWE.indd 1 30.08.2007 12:11:08 Uhr PV CONFERENCE It is no longer just cells and modules which come from China: At the group stands companies presented lamina- tors, EVA foil and anti-reflec- tion-coated front panes. Winfried Hoffmann, president of the European Photo- voltaic Industry Association (EPIA). The Italian minister for the environment, Alfonso Scanio, was blowing from the same trumpet. The Italian government has set a target of having at least 3,000 MWp of photovoltaic power installed in the country by 2016. »The solar energy sector is the most important of the renewable energies for Italy«, said the minister. »Not just because Italy lies in the so-called sunshine belt, but because we have solar tradition.« He pointed out that at the beginning of the 90’s Italy was at the European avantgarde of photovoltaics. Then, however, development went into a deep sleep. »Now we are waking up again.« This last statement reflects reality more accurately than the hooray-boom jubilation of many professional optimists in the marketing departments of German PV companies. For the growth rates in Italy may be impres- sive, but they are starting from a low base. Up to the re- vision of the »Conto Energia« only a little more than 60 MWp had been installed – considering the enormous potential in the country one can unreservedly talk of a Political VIPs: The Italian new beginning. And yet all the requirements for a suc- minister for the environment, Italy is starting from a low base cessful reawakening have so far been met. The amount Alfonso Scanio (right), on a of encouragement is huge – there is talk of a market tour at the fair together with Gerhard Willeke, head of the German Fraunhofer Insti- volume of 50 MWp and more for 2007, in the foyer there exhibition organiser Peter tute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, opened the confer- was even talk of over 100 MWp. Helm (centre), head of WIP, ence with the words: »Italy has all the prerequisites not There are still market hurdles to be overcome, how- Munich. just to become football world champion, but also PV ever. The largest is the link between feed-in tariffs and world champion.« This little joke shows that expecta- government coffers. The tariff will be paid for out of tax tions for the country are high. Reasons for this are obvi- revenue, and not as in Germany, where it is passed on ously the climatic conditions on the boot of Italy, but al- to electricity customers.

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