International Workshop on Large-Scale Integration of Wind Power and Transmission Networks for Offshore Wind Farms

From October 26th to 28th, 2006, Delft University of Technology will host an International Workshop on Large-Scale Integration of Wind Power and Transmission Networks for Offshore Wind Farms organised by the German energy consulting company Energynautics in cooperation with the Technical University Delft, Netherlands, and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden. The sixth edition of this workshop again focuses primarily on the technical aspects of the large-scale integration of wind power and transmission networks for offshore wind farms. The workshop has developed into the premier workshop in its field in Europe, a regular forum to exchange knowledge and ideas and share experiences.

Previous venues were Stockholm (Sweden), Billund (Denmark) and Glasgow (Scotland), host of the 5th workshop in April 2005 with 180 participants from 18 countries and 5 continents.

This year's workshop includes a field trip to the 108 MW Egmond aan Zee offshore wind farm. Picture Source: NUON.

Stimulating interdisciplinary thinking among wind energy industry, network operators and research facilities

The workshop offers participants from leading international research facilities as well as the wind energy and power transmission industries a platform for discussing technical and economic aspects of the large-scale integration of wind power and for presenting results from ongoing research. The 50 presentations from speakers from 15 countries focus on current experience regarding the system integration of wind power, recent advances in grid connection technologies, power management systems for offshore wind farms, production forecast and control systems for wind power as well as on regulations and standards for the grid connection. The workshop intends to stimulate interdisciplinary thinking among the wind energy industry, transmission/distribution network operators and research facilities in order to identify topics for further research.

Field trip to the 108 MW Egmond aan Zee offshore wind farm

This year’s workshop includes a field trip to the 108 MW Egmond aan Zee offshore wind farm that is currently nearing completion. On this special trip, participants will be able to see the latest offshore wind power technology. The preliminary program and the registration details are available at the workshop homepage: http://www.offshoreworkshop.org/. Shortly after the 6th Workshop, the European Wind Energy Association will organise the Large Scale Integration of Wind Energy Conference in Brussels on 7-8 November 2006, see http://www.ewea.org/integration. The conference primarily addresses policy and business aspects of the large-scale integration of wind power in Europe. Both events complement each other. A technical overview and conclusions of the Delft workshop will be presented.

Energynautics GmbH (09/25/2006)

top

European Solar Energy Conference establishes itself as a world leading event

The 21st European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (EU PVSEC) closed on September 15th with a record-breaking number of visitors. 2,700 scientists, industry representatives and politicians from 95 countries and around 3,600 visitors to the parallel trade exhibition informed themselves on the latest developments in solar energy generation. The EU PVSEC has positioned itself as a platform for exchange between research and industrial application, the organizers emphasize in their press release. The figure of around 6,300 participants and specialist visitors from all over the world showed how far this transfer has expanded. The European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference is supported by various bodies including UNESCO, the European Commission and the Federal Ministry for the Environment. Dr. Jef Poortmans, Program Director Photovoltaics at the Interuniversity Microelectronics Center (IMEC) in Leuven, Belgium, described the positioning of the conference and exhibition from the scientist´s perspective: "The EU PVSEC is the world´s most important event for the exchange of scientific, technical, strategic and economic information in the area of photovoltaics," he explained during his opening speech as Conference Chairman.

"Business-to-Business-to-Science", was the brief formula used by Dr. Winfried Hoffmann, General Manager of SCHOTT Solar and President of the European Photovoltaic Industry Association, EPIA in his opening speech to describe the conference and exhibition´s positioning and significance.

Vice-Minister Nerantzis comments the Feed-in-Tariff adopted by the Greek Parliament. Picture Source: EU PVSEC

Hoffmann said that at no other conference and exhibition is there such a lively exchange of research, industry and politics. The entire spectrum of solar energy generation from the basics in the area of silicon to the global aspects of photovoltaics in the context of energy supply was explored in over 900 speeches and presentations.

EU PVSEC as a symbol of change

In his welcome speech, Michael Müller, the parliamentary secretary of state at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety described energy and raw materials as the key issue of the 21st century. Müller sees the EU PVSEC as a symbol of the change which is currently taking place. Germany represents about 60% of the world photovoltaics market and there are around 3,500 companies operating in this branch of industry, many of whom are world market leaders.

Enormous cost reductions for Japanese solar energy

Setsuo Luchi, the head of department at the Japanese Ministry for Economics, Trade and Industry (METI) described Japan´s solar energy strategy. He said that the production of solar-generated electricity has been promoted by the state in Japan since 1974. Since 1997, the promotion of renewable energy sources has been anchored by legislation. According to Luchi, this has been a dramatic success: thanks to effects of scale, the costs of solar-generated electricity dropped in Japan by over 80% between 1993 and 2002. The METI believes that a further cost reduction of 85% by 2030 is realistic. There are plans to quadruple the 2004 production level of 1.13 gigawatts to 4.82 gigawatts by 2010.

Paradigm shift in the USA

Michael Eckhart, President of the American Council on Renewable Energy, gave an impressive description of the change in thinking, which is currently taking place in the US. He said that it is not just the cost of petrol, which has recently doubled for US consumers, that has given rise to this paradigm shift. Broad sections of the public are also becoming aware of the dangers of climate change. Politicians have recognised the risk of increasing reliance on oil imports. In the USA, the promotion of renewable energy sources is under the authority of the Federal States. One major breakthrough in this regard is the Million Solar Roofs programme, initiated by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California, under which solar power plants with a capacity of around 3 gigawatts are to be built over the next few years with an investment of .2 billion. The USA was represented at the EU PVSEC with 18 speeches in the fields of research and industrial application.

Presentation of the European Commission´s 14th Becquerel Prize

A highlight of the EU PVSEC was the presentation of the Becquerel Prize, first awarded by the European Commission in 1989 to mark the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the photovoltaic effect by the Frenchman Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel. This year the prize went to the American, Dr. Richard Swanson. Dr. Swanson, who founded the company SunPower in 1991, after spending twenty years in research, was distinguished for his groundbreaking work in the development of high-efficiency silicon solar cells. Using SunPower solar cells, NASA´s solar-powered research aircraft, Helios, reached an altitude of just under 30,000 metres in 1999 - an altitude which had never before been reached by a non rocket-powered aircraft.

With a total of 6,300 participants and specialist visitors, the EU PVSEC broke visitor records. Of the total, around 2,700 were registered as participants at the conference. Around 3,600 specialist visitors attended the parallel industry exhibition. According to Peter Helm, Managing Director of the Munich project developer, WIP-Renewable Energies, "the participant and visitor structure reflects EU PVSEC´s function as an interface for research and industry. At the same time, it impressively underlines how conference and exhibition complement each other". WIP-Renewable Energies has been the organiser of the EU PVSEC since 1986.

WIP-Renewable Energies (09/19/2006)

top

Solar cell producer DayStar expands purchase agreement with german system integrator Blitzstrom

DayStar Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:DSTI), a developer and manufacturer of Photovoltaic Foil products, announced on september 7th 2006 it has reached an agreement with Blitzstrom GmbH, a german photovoltaic system integrator, to extend and expand its 2005 purchase agreement for the Company’s TerraFoil-solar cells. The agreement was fixed at the 21st European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, held in Dresden. In June 2005, DayStar and Blitzstrom signed an agreement for Blitzstrom to purchase up to 30 megawatts (MW) of TerraFoil solar cells through the end of 2008. The amended agreement calls for the purchase of up to 130 MW of DayStar’s TerraFoil product through the end of 2010. In addition, DayStar has resumed commercial shipments of TerraFoil solar cells to Blitzstrom, DayStar reports in a pressrelease. This cells are destined for Titan Energy in India, Blitzstrom’s contract module manufacturer, where they will be used as an alternative to silicon wafer cells to produce traditional flat-plate PV modules. Blitzstrom plans to use the finished modules for their worldwide solar energy system sales.

Under the amended agreement with Blitzstrom, DayStar will continue shipments of its TerraFoil solar cells which are manufactured using its CIGS technology.

Photo: DayStar production line. Picture Source: DayStar Technologies, Inc.

Unlike other thin-film PV products, DayStar’s TerraFoil is manufactured on unbreakable metal foil as discrete solar cells that can be interconnected and packaged similar to silicon wafer cells. This approach will allow significantly better product yields and lower potential product costs, DayStar emphasizes. In response to the opportunity afforded by the recent supply shortage of silicon wafers, DayStar has initiated the aggressive expansion of its Gen III manufacturing platform development, targeting 20 MW of capacity by the end of 2007.

Daystar Technologies, Inc. (09/11/2006)

top

SunPower President Swanson awarded European Becquerel Prize for Merits in Photovoltaics

Dr. Richard Swanson, president and chief technology officer of SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq: SPWR), on September 4th 2006 received the prestigious Becquerel Prize for Outstanding Merits in Photovoltaics at the 21st European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition in Dresden (Germany). Swanson is the second American, and 14th recipient, to receive this honor bestowed by the Commission of the European Communities. Swanson receives this year's Bequerel Prize for his contributions to the development of high-efficiency solar cells. He is one of the world's most-recognized leaders in the advancement of photovoltaics (PV) and a pioneer in commercializing cost-effective PV power systems. In 2002, Dr. Swanson was presented with the William R. Cherry Award by the IEEE for outstanding contributions to the photovoltaic field. The Becquerel Prize was established in 1989 to mark the 150th anniversary of French physicist Alexandre-Edmond Bequerel's experiment, laying the foundation of both photovoltaics (PV) and photography, by detecting the PV effect. Swanson received this distinguished award during the opening session of today's conference.

"I am deeply honored to receive the Becquerel Prize for 2006", Swanson said. "It is even more special to me because it comes from colleagues who reached out across the Atlantic, showing the true global spirit of our wonderful PV community," said Swanson. "Solar power is within five to ten years of becoming mainstream in most of the developed world. The work of my friends and colleagues from around the globe is bearing fruit and creating the fastest growing energy industry world-wide ", he added.
Picture source: Sun Power Corporation

From Stanford to SunPower

Swanson graduated from Ohio State University in 1969, with his bachelors and masters degrees in electrical engineering. He then earned his Ph.D. at Stanford University, where he received a post-doctoral fellowship to study techniques for solar-electric power generation. Swanson then joined the faculty at Stanford as an assistant professor of electrical engineering where he obtained funding from the U.S. government's Electric Power Research Institute to investigate thermophotovoltaic energy conversion for solar applications. In 1991, Swanson resigned from his faculty position to focus his attention to SunPower Corporation, a company he founded in 1985 to develop and commercialize cost-effective, high-efficiency photovoltaic power systems. SunPower's all-back contact solar cells powered Honda to victory in the 1993 World Solar Challenge, and were also used to power Helios, NASA's high- altitude solar powered airplane to a world-record altitude of 96,500 feet. Swanson received the IR100 Award in 1995 for providing Honda and NASA with these record-setting solar cells.

SunPower: high-efficiency solar cells with all-back contact

SunPower Corporation designs and manufactures high-efficiency silicon solar cells and solar panels based on an all-back contact cell design. SunPower's solar cells and panels generate up to 50 percent more power per unit area than conventional solar technologies and have a uniquely attractive, all-black appearance. SunPower is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: CY).

SunPower Corporation (09/06/2006)

top