Avoid the mistakes of the past: ensuring quality in Australia's booming solar market
>>Download the presentation from the event here<<
The latest regulations, testing and due diligence in in the residential, C&I and utility scale
With booming installation rates across all market segments, 2018 will be a record-breaking year for PV in Australia. But are the quality issues that have damaged solar’s reputation during previous high-demand times, particularly in the rooftop segment, being addressed? What can be done to ensure that utility-scale projects are grid connected and final acceptance completed on time? And with the battery storage market heating up, what quality checks can be done to ensure cell and system safety and performance?
All of these questions will be investigated at the Quality Roundtable at All Energy.
What: Quality Roundtable at All Energy Australia
When: October 3, 9:30am – 12:30pm
Where: All Energy Australia, Expo Floor Theatre 2
Register now
Full Program
9:30 – Announcement: Michelle Crosbie, Managing Director, Clean Energy Regulator
Solar Panel Validation Initiative, from pilot to full-industry rollout
9:45 – Presentation of DG quality case studies: Geoff Bragg, NSW Chairman, Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), Director, Smart Energy Council
Presentation of distributed generation poor-quality case studies I and II – ‘One dissatisfied homeowner’, non-compliant C&I array installation & safety risks
10:00 – Quality Panel Discussion I:
i) Durmus Yildiz, Managing Director, BayWa r.e. Solar Systems
ii) Ryan Desharnais, Head of Engineering – Labs, DNV GL
iii) Thomas Bywater, Regional Sales Manager, Jinko Solar
iv) Sebastien Ng, Application Engineer, Fronius
Discussion of the case studies: What went wrong? Why did it go wrong? And how can mistakes be avoided in the future?
10:35 – Presentation 1: Dr. Oakland Fu, Technical Manager, DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions
DuPont Global Field Survey – 2018 findings (first time in Australia!)
10:45 – COFFEE BREAK: Barista coffee provided
11:00 – Presentation 2: Warwick Johnston, Managing Director, SunWiz
Australian large-scale market update & trends 2018
11:15 – Presentation 3: George Touloupas, Director of Technology & Quality, Clean Energy Associates
Battery cell technology & supplier risk assessment, quality assurance
11:25 – Presentation of utility-scale quality case study: Aaron Zadeh, Product Marketing Manager – Utility Solar, ABB
What's with the delays? How poor modelling leads to costly hold-ups of AEMO acceptance & full commissioning
11:35 – Quality Panel Discussion II:
i) Marty Rogers, VP of Global Asset Management and Support, NEXTracker
ii) Daniel Parsons, Business Development Manager, BayWa r.e. Projects
iii) Anika Giller, Senior Business Development Manager, Clean Energy Associates
iv) Hugh Carr-Harris, CEO, E2E Quality
Discussion of the case study: What went wrong? Why did it go wrong? And how can mistakes be avoided in the future?
12:15 – 12:30: Final takeaways and networking
Invited experts
Durmus Yildiz
Managing Director
BayWa r.e. Solar Systems Pty Ltd
Durmus Yildiz worked as a solar installer for several years in Germany before moving to Australia in late 2000. Since then he has been at the forefront of Australia’s solar industry, working for Solar Sales before eventually starting his own company, Solarmatrix in 2007. Solarmatrix merged into the BayWa r.e. group in late 2016 and now trades under BayWa r.e. Solar Systems Pty Ltd. Durmus attributes the exceptional growth and success that the company has seen over the past two years to his highly experienced team and high-quality, reputable product portfolio.
Marty Rogers
VP of Global Asset Management and Support
NexTracker
As Vice President of Global Asset Management and Services at NEXTracker, Martin (“Marty”) Rogers oversees worldwide service and support for the rapidly growing company, and oversees the NX Nashville, Tennessee regional office.
Ryan Desharnais
Head of Section, Engineering
DNV GL Energy Labs
Mr. Desharnais is an established PV professional focused on performance & reliability engineering. Since March 2016, he has worked in roles of increasing responsibility at DNV GL Energy Labs where he now heads a team of solar PV engineering experts.
Prior to starting at DNV GL, Mr. Desharnais was the Director of Technical Operations at Amplify Energy/Yingli Solar’s US-based PV Testing Laboratory. He holds an Engineering Degree from Northeastern University.
George Touloupas
Director, Technology and Quality
Clean Energy Associates (CEA)
George Touloupas is the Director of Technology and Quality at the solar PV quality assurance, supply chain management and engineering services firm Clean Energy Associates. At CEA he leads projects centered on developing CEA’s internal quality standards, researching new production technologies, and developing new services. George has an extensive background in PV manufacturing, as well as downstream experience, working among others, prior to joining CEA, as the Chief Operating & Technical Officer at Philadelphia Solar in Jordan and Technical & Operations Director at Recom.
Michelle Crosbie
General Manager
Clean Energy Regulator
Michelle Crosbie is a General Manager at the Clean Energy Regulator. Michelle has worked for the Clean Energy Regulator since 2012 administering the Australian Government’s climate change programmes. Michelle has built a career across a variety of public and private sector roles and disciplines, and has most recently been managing the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme under the Renewable Energy Target.
Geoff Bragg
Director of the Smart Energy Council &
NSW Chairman of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)
Geoff Bragg has lived with off-grid solar since the mid-90’s and has been active in the industry since 2001. Working with a PV retailer in regional NSW, he is accredited for both on and off-grid design and installation. Geoff is NSW Chairman of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), and a director of the Smart Energy Council.
Oakland Fu
Technical Manager, Tedlar product and Advanced Materials for China
DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions
In this role, he is active in raising the awareness about the critical role of materials in the solar industry both in China and worldwide. From year 2011 to 2014, Dr. Fu led the DuPont Photovoltaic Fluoromaterials China technical team and was involved in developing solar Panel backsheet applications and Building up the national standard to support greater durability for solar panels. He has conducted extensive research on failure mechanisms of solar panels, especially related to the durability of backsheets, and initiated field studies of large-scale solar farms in China to evaluate long term materials performance. He joined DuPont in 2006 and has held a variety of roles in R&D, technical and marketing.
Warwick Johnston
Founder and Managing Director
SunWiz
Warwick Johnston is the founder and managing director of SunWiz, a solar energy consultancy firm, founded in 2009. SunWiz delivers a range of highly valuable intelligence and consulting services to solar industry delegates, government and the broader business community.
Warwick is at the forefront of innovation in solar, having worked on some of Australia’s largest and most innovative solar installations, and has received awards for his contribution to the PhotoVoltaic industry. He is a Board Director of the Clean Energy Council, the Australian representative to the International Energy Agency’s Photovoltaic Program, and a long-standing member of the Distributed Energy Leadership Forum.
Daniel Parsons
Director of Solar Projects Pty Ltd
Baywa r.e.
Daniel is a director of Baywa r.e. Solar Projects Pty Ltd, based in Melbourne and is responsible for the commercial side of the business, which includes finance and sale, as well as PPA origination. He has joined the Australian BayWa r.e. team a year ago and has nine years’ experience in the RE industry with roles in business development, project management and C&I/PPA. Throughout his professional career Daniel has maintained a focus on large scale Solar PV. Before Daniel joined BayWa r.e. in 2014, he worked five years for juwi Solar Projects in Germany & the UK and holds a Master of Economic Geography from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich.
Hugh Carr-Harris
Solar Module Quality Expert and PV value chain Procurement Specialist
E2E Quality SA
Hugh Carr-Harris is the Founder Director of E2E Quality SA – a company focused on end-to-end Quality Assurance of solar modules and inverters. His PV module QA work entails both pre-construction QC on panels from, in-factory QC right up to on-site lab testing with a A+AA+ lab. E2E Quality has quality assured over 2.5GW or $800m worth of solar panels including negotiation of the Sales Agreement and/or warranty claims. Hugh has over 25 years of experience in leading environmental businesses with the last 14 years dedicated to the solar PV sector. Hugh has worked across key parts of the solar PV value chain including sales of modules, project development, EPC and now quality control and purchasing advice. He has also assessed over 600MW of existing solar assets on behalf of owners.
Aaron Zadeh
Product Marketing Manager, Utility Scale Solar
ABB Australia
Aaron Zadeh is a Solar Engineer with more than 12 years of experience in product management, project realisation, sales and business development in the solar industry across Europe, UK, the Middle East and Australia. In his current role at ABB Australia, Aaron is the Product Marketing Manager for utility-scale solar projects in Australia and New Zealand assisting local and global solar developers and EPCs to choose the right solution according to the Australian grid requirements and market conditions.
Before starting at ABB, he was a Senior Sales Lead at AGL Energy supporting the building of the world’s largest virtual power plant in South Australia in collaboration with Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). Aaron has also worked for Scheuten Solar, British Photovoltaic Association and the British Energy Storage Industry Association.
Anika Giller
Senior Business Development Manager EMEA & APAC
Clean Energy Associates
Anika leads Clean Energy Associate’s (CEA) business development initiatives for clients in over 15 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as in the Asia Pacific region. She manages a cross-function team in Italy, Spain, India, China and the Philippines to execute client engagements. Prior to joining CEA, Anika worked in a cleantech startup and at IT and marketing advisory firms in Germany. She holds a BS Business Administration from the Free University Berlin, and a MS International Business Administration.
Sebastien Ng
Application Engineer
Fronius
Sebastien Ng joined Fronius Australia in 2015. Today Sebastien is one of Fronius’ Application Engineers. He provides technical assistance to installers, designs solar systems for complex projects and is available for on-site support to some of Fronius’ biggest customers. Sebastien also conducts Fronius trainings, hosts webinars and provides technical assistance to Fronius partners. He graduated from RMIT University with a Bachelor of Advanced Manufacturing and Mechatronics Engineering (Honours)
Help make quality in installation and componentry a priority in Australian solar today. Join the first Quality Roundtable Australia!
