The conflict in Europe’s east has resulted in unprecedented action being taken in energy marketplaces. What are the roles of solar and energy storage in delivering conflict-free clean energy and how can roadblocks to deployment be overcome by smart strategies and policies? Session 1, A clean and free Europe sought to answer these questions.
We were joined by Pablo Collado, CEO of Renovables Europa Norte&Centro at Iberdrola, which is not only a global energy supplier from Spain but also a global player in PV expansion; Dries Acke, Policy Director at Solar Power Europe; and Moritz Borgmann, CCO at Meyer Burger, one of the pioneers in new generation European cell and module manufacturing.
Questions addressed the roadblocks existing in the EU in general and in Spain, France, Italy, and Germany in particular. How can they be removed? How can module supply be secured? And how can the solar industry contribute to energy security in Europe? Find out more by watching the video above.
Sustainability in practice: Raising the corporate solar bar
Until now, corporate sustainability has been measured by the voluntary triple bottom line approach of people, profit, and the planet. With the formation of the EU sustainable taxonomy, ESG or Environmental, Social, and Governance, however, a new framework has been devised with the aim to hold companies more accountable when it comes to the effects of their operations on the wider world.
This shift is seeing record levels of cash injected into “green” finance with investors starting to call for more concrete proof of a company’s sustainability operations, as the first speaker, Maia Godemer, sustainable finance associate at BloombergNEF attested to.
A panel of experts – Adele Zhao, Head of Product Solutions & Marketing, Europe, Trina Solar; Inés Monroy, Global Business Development & Brand Manager, Steag Solar Energy Solutions; Maria Franco, Associate Professor, Circular Economy, Bern University of Applied Sciences; and Alison Lennon, Chief Scientist, Sundrive Solar, Adjunct Professor, UNSW – then joined us for a discussion on how solar companies can meet ESG criteria and prepare for increasingly rigorous standards, and circularity in manufacturing and pathways to overcome material bottlenecks.
How to decarbonize homes today
Electrifying homes has become a powerful lever in the decarbonization toolkit. How can solar suppliers and businesses meet the complex needs of fully electric households and what needs to change? The third session on How to decarbonize homes today addressed these questions.
In addition to presentations by Jaron Schächter, Vice President Strategy at SolarEdge on Unlocking the home as a decarbonization hub, and Insan Boy, Vice President Global Sales at Seraphim Solar on Modules to meet the residential customer needs, we also hosted a panel with Schächter, Boy, Syavash Kazemi, Data Scientist at Tibber, and Wolfgang Gründinger, Chief Evangelist at Enpal looking at energy management across segments and as solar penetration grows.
Made in Europe: Bulking up, building out
The themes addressed during the fourth pv magazine Roundtables Europe session, Made in Europe addressed:
- The size of the opportunity: Meeting local demand and establishing a vertically integrated PV supply chain in Europe.
- How the latest technologies in cell manufacturing and quality assurance can create anadvantage for Europe.
Sebastian Gatz, Vice President Photovoltaics at Von Ardenne; Peter Handschack, Managing Director at ISRA VISION; Walburga Hemetsberger CEO at SolarPower Europe; Nicola Rossi Head of Innovation at Enel Green Power; Carsten Rohr Chief Commercial Officer at NorSun; and Žygimantas Vaičiūnas, Policy Director at ESMC joined us for discussions on producing the PV cells to power Europe’s solar manufacturing future, the PV manufacturers already underway in Europe, implementing a European solar supply chain, and European PV manufacturing projects in 2022.
PV on wheels: Solar electric vehicles are growing in number and sophistication
The prospects for vehicle-integrated PV to provide meaningful benefits for electric cars, trucks, and buses have never been higher. Increasing solar cell efficiency means generating more power from a smaller surface area and at lower cost, resulting in opportunities from sectors further afield: High-efficiency cell makers, custom module manufacturers, testing equipment and inverter manufacturers, and more are all eyeing up the VIPV space.
The final session of day one, PV on wheels, looked at:
- From early applications of vehicle-integrated PV to the latest approaches.
- How the shift to EVs is changing the future of solar electric vehicles (SEVs).
- Beyond the car: premium SEVs, trucks, buses, scooters, and bikes.
- The extent to which vehicles can integrate solar cells, glass, and what the unexpected opportunities are for the solar industry as solar electric vehicles become established.
Joining the session were: Torsten Brammer CEO at Wavelabs; Robert Händel, CEO & Founder of OPES Solutions; Martin Heinrich, Head of Group Encapsulation and Integration at Fraunhofer ISE; Emanuele Cornagliotti, Lead Solar Engineer at Lightyear; and Rupert Kogler, Development Engineer at Webasto Group.
Watch out for the rundown and videos from day two of the pv magazine Roundtables Europe event on Wednesday and view our photo gallery.
Finally, pv magazine would like to extend a huge thanks to all of our sponsors for helping to make the 2022 event such a success!
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