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

SAN FRANCISCO, June 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- 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 Practical 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. Visit the Intersolar North America exhibition page for more information on the Solar Transportation special exhibit (Moscone North Booths 5879 and 5867).

About Intersolar

With over 3,500 exhibitors and 120,000 visitors spanning three continents, Intersolar is the world's leading exhibition series for the solar industry. Intersolar North America takes place annually in San Francisco's Moscone Center. Since its establishment in 2008, the exhibition and conference have developed into the premier platform for the solar industry in North America. Intersolar North America focuses on photovoltaics and solar thermal technologies and is co-located with SEMICON West. It has quickly established itself among manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and service providers as an international industry meeting point.

In total, 834 exhibitors and 19,168 trade visitors participated in 2011. The conference featured 30 sessions with 220 speakers and catered to 1,617 conference attendees.

Intersolar's storied history of international exhibitions and conferences spans more than 20 years. Taking place in addition to Intersolar North America are Intersolar India in Mumbai, and Intersolar China in Beijing, which was launched in 2011. The world's largest exhibition for the solar industry is Intersolar Europe in Munich. For more information on Intersolar North America please visit: http://www.intersolar.us/

Intersolar Contact
Solar Promotion International GmbH | P.O. Box 100 170 | 75101 Pforzheim

Press Contact
ANTENNA | 135 Main Street | Suite 800 | San Francisco, CA 94105-8110
Caitlin Cieslik-Miskimen | Tel: +1 201-294-0199 | [email protected]

SOURCE Intersolar North America