PV CellTech Extra, the new annual online PV cell technology and manufacturing platform, offers an industry review ahead of the full live on-site PV CellTech conference in Berlin, Germany next March.
Over three days, 11-13 October 2022, PV CellTech Extra hosts a series of invited industry presentations and webinars, looking at key developments in the industry over the past few months.
To kick off the first PV CellTech Extra event, we have a special treat – including two can’t-miss fireside chats. This short article explains the scope of the two fireside chats and the people involved.
From megawatts to terawatts: research, production equipment for high-efficiency batteries
Two fireside chats will be held during PV CellTech Extra to informally explore the evolution of research breakthroughs, technology transfer activities and the role of production equipment suppliers.
On the first day (October 11, 2022), I will moderate a discussion with Martin Green and Pierre Verlinden titled: From R&D Breakthrough to Mass Production Reality: A Historical Perspective of Photovoltaic Technology and Outlook to 2030.
This will review some of the key R&D breakthroughs of the past few decades that have been critical to accelerating the performance of solar cells in large-scale production. Upcoming update in 2022 will also look ahead to 2030 and what the industry can expect in the near term.
On the second day (October 12, 2022), my next hosting privileges will be Christian Buchner, Raymond de Munnik and Peter Wolf: From megawatt lines to gigawatt lines: the story of PV manufacturing equipment and supply chains.
Here, we discuss the extremely important role that equipment suppliers play in enabling large-scale production of solar cells at low cost, high yield, and optimized efficiency. Discussions will cover early cell production facilities, some past thin film products, the transition from poly to mono, the introduction of PERC and the ongoing push to TOPCon and heterojunctions.
Overall, both fireside chats should provide a very enjoyable journey through time, as seen by true experts in the field over the past few decades. Personally, I can’t wait to hear what everyone has to say as we pretty much start chatting with an open book.
On a moderate level, I’ll keep things very simple because the PV industry today is orders of magnitude larger, and many of the companies and people in the industry are new in the last decade or so. Furthermore, interest in technology today is as hot as downstream stakeholders (developers, investors, operators), as it is with battery manufacturers and R&D entities.
Demos and chats on PV CellTech Extra will be available for listening live or afterward at your leisure. Follow the link here to register for the event, and once you hear the two fireside chats, let us know if you liked them!