Solar Conference Chair Makes Call for Scientists
At the opening session of the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (EU PVSEC) this morning in Valencia, Spain, Daniel Lincot, conference general chairman, urged industry scientists to add their signatures to the list of those already supporting what is being called the Valencia Call for Photovoltaics.
Aaron Hand, Executive Editor, Electronic Media -- Semiconductor International, 9/1/2008 5:09:00 PM
At the opening session of the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (EU PVSEC) this morning in Valencia, Spain, Daniel Lincot, conference general chairman, urged industry scientists to add their signatures to the list of those already supporting what is being called the Valencia Call for Photovoltaics. It’s a global initiative to get scientists committed to accelerating worldwide deployment of photovoltaic conversion of solar energy through international research, development, cooperation and education programs.
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| Daniel Lincot, conference general chairman, EU PVSEC |
In his welcome message, Lincot, research director at CNRS, Institute for Research and Development of Photovoltaic Energy (IRDEP, Paris), set the stage for the opening session of the conference, during which the fever pitch rose as representatives from around the world made increasingly passionate cases for further activity and support for photovoltaic energy. Explaining what an extremely abundant resource solar energy is, Lincot made his call for harnessing the power of photovoltaics sooner rather than later. “We have to accelerate the photovoltaics employment,” he said.
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| Wolfgang Palz, chairman, WCRE |
Lincot is not alone in his enthusiasm for the needed acceleration in PV and other renewable energies. Although a few of the session’s presenters seemed to point with pride to the European Commission’s energy plans to increase the EU’s share of renewables to 20% by the year 2020, Wolfgang Palz, chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE), seemed outraged that the target would be so low. Perhaps more importantly, he noted his irritation about the lack of a target specifically for photovoltaics. In 1997, he said, PV proponents set a target of 3 GW by 2010, and the industry is reaching that goal. But now there is not target for 2020. Palz, however, advocates a target of 50 GW.
He also proposes a target for 2020 directed at helping poor and developing countries obtain electricity. “More than 1500 million people in world have no electricity,” he noted. “Why don’t we have a target by 2020 to help at least 100 million people with PV – it’s an ideal tool to help them.” He added, “We have a moral obligation to help the poor. This has nothing to do with religion. You have to help your neighbor. We know what can be done. We have the tools. And we should promote this to those who have the power, financially and politically. We have to try again, we have to try more, and we have to try harder.”
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| Hans-Josef Fell, member, German parliament |
Hans-Josef Fell, a member of the German parliament and a founding father of Germany’s feed-in tariff system for photovoltaics, urged other countries to follow Germany’s model to support the growth of photovoltaics. For his perspective, Fell pointed to the latest reports about Hurricane Gustav and the evacuation of New Orleans again as continuing proof that global warming is a reality. “Politicians need to show more courage,” he said, calling for an end to big research programs for “so-called clean fuels.” He called nuclear energy the “biggest research flop the world has ever seen,” which the audience applauded. “We must change this research money to renewable energies.”
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| Ernesto Macías, president, EPIA |
Ernesto Macías, president of the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA), also called up images of New Orleans to illustrate the need to dramatically change policies and energy models now. He said that the photovoltaics industry has not done its job to communicate to the world the facts that it can produce – not promises or projections, he said, but facts. “As a member of society, I feel incredibly concerned,” he said. “I am astonished that we don’t understand that we need to act fast. Scientists are reacting quickly, but not industry. We are not good sellers of what we do.”
In the afternoon, Lincot passed out copies to the press of the Valencia Call for Photovoltaics, which makes a case for scientists to consider that “PV solar electricity has to be a key part of the response that is needed NOW to solve crucial energy, environmental and climate concerns.” Lincot hopes to receive 1000 signatures by the closing session of PVSEC. To join the call and add your signature to the list, e-mail PVCall@enscp.fr.
