Friday, November 20, 2009

Intersolar India gets off to a great start

PFORZHEIM & FREIBURG, GERMANY: The first ever Intersolar India in Hyderabad came to a close having proved a great success. Over 3,000 visitors to the three-day conference and accompanying trade fair gathered information on international trends and markets in the photovoltaics industry.

The event focused in particular on the significance of the photovoltaics industry in India and local market developments. Intersolar India was organized in collaboration with SOLARCON India.

Intersolar India, organized in collaboration with SOLARCON India, came to a close having proved to be an enormous success. Overall, a total of over 3,000 interested visitors attended the three-day conference and accompanying trade fair, which were held from November 9-11, 2009.

The conference attracted 645 participants and 45 speakers to Hyderabad in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. The organizers' expectations were also far exceeded with regard to the accompanying trade fair, which recorded a total of 2,500 visitors and 70 exhibitors, 17 of whom were from abroad. As a result, plans are in place to increasingly expand the trade fair from 2010 onward.

Support for Intersolar India from Indian politicians
The event opened with a keynote speech from Prof. Dr. Eicke Weber, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) in Freiburg, Germany. Among the guests present at the opening were Konijeti Rosaiah, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and K. Lakshmi Narayana, Minister of Heavy Industries in the host state's government, as well as Dr. Debesh Das, the Government of West Bengal's Minister of Information Technology. This political backing underlines the increasing significance of solar energy in India.

India to back solar energy in future
The conference focused in particular on the significance of the photovoltaics industry in India as well as local market developments. At present, the country is faced with an energy deficit of 10 to 17 percent.

A third of the Indian population, i.e. over 450 million people, currently has no access to electricity. Power failures deprive cities of energy for two to four hours on a daily basis, while rural areas face power cuts lasting up to 20 hours per day.

In addition, experts predict a further increase in energy consumption, with per capita electricity demand rising from a current level of 660 kWh per year to as much as 2,000 kWh over the next 10 to 20 years. Average per capita consumption in Europe today lies at 6,500 kWh per year.

However, there may be a solution. Solar irradiation in India amounts to four to seven kWh per day. With around 300 days of sunshine per year, India is therefore well placed to use solar energy as a means of tackling its energy deficit in future.

In order to make use of this immense potential, the Indian government plans to increase the capacity of Indian solar installations to a total of 20 gigawatts by the year 2020. These plans form part of the "National Solar Mission" and would offer a sustainable contribution to India's energy supply.

As an international meeting point for members of the solar industry, Intersolar India is a driving force behind the developments in India and serves as a platform for market players to discuss future challenges to the Indian solar market.

SOLARCON India and Intersolar India 2009
Intersolar India is organized by Solar Promotion International GmbH and Freiburg Management and Marketing International GmbH (FMMI). The event was held for the first time in 2009 in Hyderabad, India.

SOLARCON India is organized by the PV Group, an initiative launched by SEMI, the international association of the semiconductor and photovoltaics industry. The India Semiconductor Association (ISA) is an additional co-operation partner.

Further information on Intersolar India 2010 will be available shortly.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.