Intersolar North America Highlights Innovations Behind U.S. Solar Market Growth

Intersolar North America, the premier solar industry exhibition and conference in North America for solar professionals to exchange information and develop business opportunities in the U.S. solar market, returns July 9-12, 2012, marking its fifth year in San Francisco. This year’s conference program offers attendees a fresh perspective on the companies and technologies that promise to reduce cost, increase yields and further drive the competitiveness of solar power.

Co-located with SEMICON West, Intersolar North America 2012 is expected to draw about 850 exhibitors and more than 22,000 registered visitors from more than 80 countries to provide a true global perspective of the solar industry. This year’s event will highlight the technology innovations that are contributing to the growth of the industry through interactive exhibits on the show floor and technical sessions during the Intersolar North America Conference in the Intercontinental Hotel. A full list of speakers and presentations is available online.

Cost Concerns, Industry Competition Critical to Driving New Innovation
Improvements in solar technology have continued at a robust pace, amidst module price fluctuations and declining incentives, according to market insight from Solarserver. As emerging PV markets mature, an upsurge in R&D is likely. Developments in crystalline silicon technology, balance of system components, mounting and tracking systems and energy storage are shaping the industry, driving solar closer to price parity with traditional energy technologies by boosting system efficiency, lowering costs, and increasing energy yields.

In particular, crystalline silicon cell producers are focused on boosting cell efficiency now that crystalline silicon has reaffirmed its dominance in global PV markets. Several cell producers have been able to achieve efficiencies of 20 percent or more by employing technology innovations, and leading equipment providers are on the way to 20 percent cell efficiencies from industrial production lines. In addition to the PV Production and Technology Hall, which will feature presentations and exhibits on manufacturing trends, nearly 100 PV cell, module and thin film exhibitors are confirmed for this year’s exhibition, including Jinko Solar, LDK Solar, SolarWorld Americas, Suniva, Suntech, Trina Solar, Yingli Green Energy Americas and MAGE Solar.

Additionally, as panel prices have fallen, balance of system (BOS) advancements have emerged as a key way to reduce the overall cost per watt of solar. Mounting systems have been a crucial point of innovation, as their complexity greatly impacts the amount of time spent installing PV arrays. More than 130 companies will have the latest in mounting and tracking systems and BOS innovation on display, including Schletter, SolarBridge, SolarEdge, Shoals Technology Group, SMA America LLC and Unirac. A full list of Intersolar North America exhibitors is available online. The Intersolar smart phone app is available for download here, and includes a full list of exhibitors and an exhibition floor map and route planner.

The Innovation Exchange stage and the Pratical Point stage will be home to presentations that highlight the groundbreaking technologies on display throughout the exhibition hall. Intersolar AWARD nominees will discuss their innovations in presentations that offer visitors a compact and informative overview of their latest developments at the Innovation Exchange, where the winner of the first-ever Intersolar AWARD for landmark solar projects will be announced during the Award Ceremony on Tuesday, July 10 at 4 PM. Additionally, stages in the PV Production & Technology Hall and PV Energy World will feature free presentations and practical workshops, bringing the total number of exhibition stages to four.

New Exhibitions Spotlight Solar Advances
Several interactive exhibits on the show floor will highlight some of the other exciting new technology trends in the solar industry. Energy storage has also emerged as a key technology to optimize renewable energy generation, and will the focus of this year’s PV ENERGY WORLD exhibit. Located in the Moscone Center North Hall (Booth 5135) and organized in partnership with California Energy Storage Alliance, Fraunhofer ISE, and with leading sponsor KACO new energy, Inc., PV ENERGY WORLD will offer expert presentations on energy storage and grid integration.

Additionally, Intersolar will showcase solar’s connection to sustainable transportation, highlighting the parallels between electric vehicles and the solar industry.

For more information on Intersolar North America please visit: http://www.intersolar.us/

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