Final report -

• Opening event with 230 high-profile participants from 23 different countries 
• Excellent quality of presentations 
• Great interest shown in support programme  

The international conference series Solar Summits Freiburg celebrated its première in the Freiburg Konzerthaus (Freiburg Concert Hall) from 22 to 24 October 2008.
230 distinguished photovoltaics experts from 23 different countries attended the lectures featuring high-profile speakers and participated in the numerous round table discussions held on the subject of “Silicon Materials for Photovoltaics”.
The countries providing the most visitors apart from Germany were – in the following order – the Netherlands, Norway, the USA, Italy and Austria. Moreover, the number of participants coming from India, Taiwan and Japan was particularly pleasing.
 
Leading photovoltaics experts from the fields of science, research and industry presented the latest developments and solutions for obtaining and processing silicon for the purposes of solar cell production in more than 20 lectures of outstandingly high quality. Above all, the presentations and discussions ensured that the scientists and industry representatives in attendance were provided for the first time with an optimum platform for exchanging scientific results and details of practical implementation.
 
“The kick-off event to the Solar Summits Freiburg series was an outstanding success,” Norbert Bargmann, managing director of Messe München GmbH (Munich International Trade Fairs) stressed. “It was our aim to set up a high-profile discussion platform for the solar sector at which new approaches and practical experience could be brought together harmoniously, and I think we made a big success of it. The solar city of Freiburg was the ideal venue for such a top class event.”
 
Dr. Bernd Dallmann, managing director of Freiburg Wirtschaft Touristik und Messe GmbH & Co. KG: “The new conference series ‘Solar Summits Freiburg’ sees us establishing a further high-profile event in Freiburg and marks the further development in the profile and significance of ‘Freiburg Green City’ as a solar and ecological centre. Freiburg has become a key location for international exchange and know-how in the field of environmental technologies and science.”
 
Klaus W. Seilnacht, managing director of Freiburg Wirtschaft Touristik und Messe GmbH & Co. KG.: “The Solar Summits are in addition to the highly successful INTERSOLAR event a further example of our excellent cooperation with Messe München, a partnership that is sure to bear fruit in the future too.”
 
Prof. Eicke R. Weber, head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), was extremely pleased with the conference as a whole and gave a brief résumé of the key results: “The first Solar Summit 2008 in Freiburg brought together 230 participants to discuss the latest state of photovoltaic technologies and their prospects for the future. There was a broad consensus that the price of the dominant silicon technology in particular would fall and efficiency improve in the course of the next few years so that parity with the price of household electricity would be reached by no later than 2015. The aim was to generate more than 10% of electricity via photovoltaic systems by 2020. A great deal of attention in the discussions was focused on the question as to the extent to which alternative, relatively low cost silicon would replace the ultra-pure, expensive silicon used today over the course of the coming years. The expectation that the former material would already appear on the market in considerable quantities in 2009 and very soon reach a market share of 20% and more was one that was shared by many participants.
Interesting progress was also reported in the field of thin film photovoltaics. This segment of the photovoltaic market will exert very useful pressure on the price of photovoltaic systems.
Solar energy-efficient buildings will be the focus of the presentations at the next Solar Summit in October 2009.”
 
The conference also received top marks from the participants with 85 percent of visitors rating the quality of the lectures and the up-to-date nature of their content as excellent or very good (Visitor Survey, Opinion Research Institute Softway AG).
 
This was also endorsed by Hans Joachim Fröhlich, the director of strategy development at SGL Group – The Carbon Company: “A very compact, highly relevant and up-to-date overview of the amazing scope of development work that is going on in the PV industry.”
 
In addition to the high quality of the presentations, Solar Summits Freiburg was above all able to ensure that an excellent basis for exchange and networking was established - 96 percent of the participants rated the conference as good to excellent with regard to the networking options it offered. Thus Dr. Carsten Herweg, Corporate Sector Research and Advance Engineering, Robert Bosch GmbH, commented: “Solar Summits is a technically high-quality conference with coordinated content promoting and improving networks and, as such, an enhancement to the PV events calendar.”
The possibilities for discussion within the framework of the various presentations and beyond were the main reason for this.
 
Of particular interest were the numerous round-table discussions at which current issues in the sector and future developments were debated. This was confirmed by Dr. Joris Libal, Project Developer HYSYTECH Srl.: “A highly interesting conference with competent speakers. A feature particularly worthy of note was the scope left for discussion between the speakers among themselves as well as with the audience. The discussions were very helpful in supplying us with more information on corporate opinions and strategies and enabling us to assess new trends. The presentations provided an excellent overview and good summary of the subjects covered.”
 
The speakers too appeared to be very satisfied with the Solar Summit 2008 conference.
Dr. Florian Holzapfel, CTO Q-Cells AG, drew the following conclusion: “Freiburg is the birthplace of solar; hence I appreciate a conference here, and especially a conference with such interesting discussions as seen in 2008. I am looking forward to come again in 2009 to the place of sun and solar.”
 
Dr. Stefan Reber, Group Leader Crystalline Silicon Materials and Thin Film Solar Cells, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), praised the quality of the presentations and underlined the pleasant nature of the atmosphere in general: “A very useful congress with good presentations and refreshing, lively discussions, in a very relaxed atmosphere. I will be here next year too.”
 
The attractive support programme featuring a specialist poster exhibition, a guided tour of the institute and the sixth “Freiburg Solar Night”, to which all conference attendees were invited, proved to be extremely popular among all participants with above all the Freiburg Solar Night enabling participants to get to know each other better and intensify existing contacts above and beyond the content matter under discussion.
 
Next year sees the Solar Summit conference taking place in the Konzerthaus Freiburg (Freiburg Concert Hall) from 14 to 16 October 2009 and is devoted to the subject of “Solar Buildings”.
 
5_08/mf
 

About the "Solar Summits Freiburg" conference series
"Solar Summits Freiburg" is a series of international conferences organized by Munich International Trade Fairs, "Freiburg Wirtschaft Touristik und Messe GmbH" and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE. This new series of conferences consists of annual events that will give participants a look at the latest scientific findings and their commercial implementation and use in the sector for renewable and efficient energy use. It is an outstanding international platform for the transfer of know-how between researchers, industry representatives and politicians.
 
Further information: www.solar-summits.com
 
 
 
Organizers:

Messe München GmbH
Messegelände
81823 München, Deutschland 
Tel. (+49 89) 9 49 - 2 07 20
Fax (+49 89) 9 49 - 2 07 29
www.messe-muenchen.de

Freiburg Wirtschaft Touristik und Messe GmbH
Rathausgasse 33
79098 Freiburg
Telefon: +49(0)761/3881-01
Telefax: +49(0)761/37003
www.fwtm.freiburg.de

Fraunhofer Institut für Solare Energiesysteme (ISE)
Heidenhofstr. 2
79110 Freiburg
Telefon +49 (0) 761 / 45 88 - 0
Fax   +49 (0) 761 / 45 88 - 9000
www.ise.fraunhofer.de
 
About Messe München International (MMI)
Messe München International is one of the world´s leading trade-fair companies. It organises around 40 trade fairs for capital and consumer goods, and key high-tech industries. Each year over 30,000 exhibitors from more than 100 countries, and over two million visitors from more than 200 countries take part in the events in Munich. In addition, MMI organises trade fairs in Asia, Russia, the Middle East and South America. With six subsidiaries abroad - in Europe and in Asia - and with 66 foreign representatives serving 89 countries, MMI has a truly global network.
 
Further information: www.messe-muenchen.de


Contact project management Messe München:
Theresia Strehler
Phone: (+49 89) 949 20545, Fax: (+49 89) 949 20549
Email: Theresia.Strehler@messe-muenchen.de
 
Press Contact:
Monica Felecan
Phone (+49 89) 949 20717, Fax: (+49 89) 949 20719
Email: monica.felecan@messe-muenchen.de