Saturday, August 3, 2013

5th Edition of SOLARCON India 2013 concludes today

SOLARCON India 2013, the fifth edition of India’s premier solar focused business and technology event, organized by SEMI and supported by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd. (KREDL), and the Government of Karnataka concluded today. The event focused on the need to build a strong local manufacturing and supporting ecosystem to sustain market momentum. SOLARCON India 2013 was inaugurated in the presence of Shri Amita Prasad (IAS, Principal Secretary, Energy Department, Govt. of Karnataka) and Shri Tarun Kapoor (IAS, Jt. Secretary, MNRE) on August 1st at the KTPO Exhibition Complex, Bangalore. Prof. Dr. Roland Schindler (Executive Director, Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems), Prof. Chetan Singh Solanki (National Center for PV Research & Education at IIT Bombay), Mr. K. Subramanya (Chairperson, SEMI India PV Advisory Committee) and Sri. M.B Dyaberi (IAS, Managing Director, Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd.) also graced the ceremony.

Inaugural keynotes were presented by Dr. Harish Hande - Managing Director, SELCO and Ramon Magsaysay Awardee & Prof. Pradeep Haldar – Professor, at the State University of New York at Albany & COO/CTO of US PV Manufacturing Consortium.

SEMI, the organizer of SOLARCON India, said that this year’s conference, themed on "Balancing Energy Supply & Demand in the Region-The need for a complete PV eco-system from materials to power generation” held along with a Workshop on PV Standards, in association with IEC and IEEE and a Tutorial on PV System sizing, held in technical collaboration with NCPRE at IIT Bombay was well received by the solar community, the government and other stakeholders.

SOLARCON India 2013 witnessed high quality business visitors with a substantial number of CXOs, senior level professionals, government officials and board level executives.
Speaking on the success of SOLARCON India 2013, Ms. Bettina Weiss, President, SEMI India said, “I am happy to see that the fifth edition of SOLARCON India has been well received, once again, by the solar community with strong participation from all segments of the industry.  We believe that globally PV supply and demand will rebalance in 2015, which will allow for margins to grow and manufacturing to start again. Demand is set to reach 31 GW worldwide and will provide a boost to installers and project developers. We are confident that through innovation, collaboration, networking, and developing solutions that would speed up recovery, the solar industry will flourish in the coming years with innovative technologies and approaches and aided by central and state policies.”

SOLARCON India 2013 hosted discussions on Opportunities for independent power producers under India’s REC mechanism, Balancing PV supply and demand in India: Re-invigorating Indian Manufacturing, Assessing the Indian Solar Market: Development Prospects and Problems — the Big Picture, Perspectives on building a complete solar PV eco-system in India, Role of States in PV Market Growth in India;  Financing Solar – issues, options, perspectives,  Rooftop Solar: The next big driver in India,  Structures, safety, performance, reliability of PV installations and Energy conversion, storage and efficiency. Industry participants shared the view that such year on year business and networking events help discuss challenges and explore solutions and help keep the flame of positivity alive in the solar community.

The conference featured high profile speakers including Prof. Dr. Roland Schindler, Executive Director, Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems, Prof. Richard Corkish, Head, School of PV and Renewable Energy Engineering, UNSW, Australia & COO, Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics and Dr. Bill Tumas of the US NREL who addressed current and emerging trends in cell and module technology and manufacturing besides Indian industry leaders. Also present at conference were senior government representatives including Shri. Tarun Kapoor, IAS, Jt. Secretary, MNRE, Dr. Ashvini Kumar, Director, Solar Energy Corporation of India, Shri Amita Prasad, IAS, Principal Secretary, Energy Department, Govt.of Karnataka, Sri. M.B Dyaberi, IAS, Managing Director, Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd.

About SOLARCON® India 2013: SOLARCON India, now in its fifth year, is the event of choice for the solar industry in India. It brings together the entire supply chain with a focus on PV manufacturing and technology and attracts equipment and materials suppliers; cell and module manufacturers; balance of systems (BOS) suppliers (inverters, batteries, tracking and mounting systems, integrators); project developers; academia and researchers; utility-scale developers and government agencies. SOLARCON India visitors are influential: on an average, 89% of visitors are involved in the evaluation, recommendation, and final purchasing of PV manufacturing materials, equipment, and services and 81% of visitors are management level or above providing an excellent platform for product announcements and launches via exhibition presence or sponsorships with over 5,000 focused visitors expected at the event. For more information, visit:  www.solarconindia.org

About SEMI: SEMI is the global industry association serving the nano- and microelectronics manufacturing supply chains. The SEMI PV Group represents SEMI member companies involved in the solar energy supply chain. SEMI’s 1,900 member companies are the engine of the future, enabling smarter, faster and more economical products that improve human lives. SEMI maintains offices in Bangalore, Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Grenoble, Hsinchu, Moscow, San Jose, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.semi.org