Upcoming Events

The fourth “Germany California Solar Day” in San Francisco was a great success on all sides. The organizer, the German American Chamber of Commerce Inc., California Branch (GACC), was delighted to witness a dynamic exchange of the latest knowledge, thoughts and trends between US and German solar experts and executives. The audience praised the great line up of speakers which covered market dynamics from both sides of the Atlantic. 35 one-on-one meetings were set up during the day and evening to bring German and American companies together for direct face-to-face talks. A total of 264 attendees participated in the event and enjoyed themselves during the following networking reception.

San Francisco, CA, May 28, 2008: "Together Germany and California represent two of the most important markets for solar energy and this event provides an invaluable forum for collaboration and idea exchange between the two. I was thrilled to engage with my fellow business leaders as well as the policy makers and technology innovators who are busy setting the agenda for this dynamic and growing global industry," said Matt Cheney, CEO of San Francisco-based MMA Renewable Ventures who attended and spoke at the event.

This year the “Germany California Solar Day”, enjoying a reputation as a successful conference and business networking platform, had a record attendance of 264 people at the PG&E headquarters in San Francisco. Even a fire drill that had been set up unexpectedly for the day of the conference did not affect the output of the 4th annual conference. Attendees attentively focused on the speakers and actively engaged in Q&A’s after each presentation. Molly Tirpak Sterkel, Supervisor Energy Division, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), spontaneously took the stage to answer open questions about the efforts of CPUC, further enhancing the interactive nature of the event.

Once again the “Germany California Solar Day” saw a high level of interest from both German and American company executives to participate in scheduled one-on-one meetings during the event. The success of these meetings was first evidenced in 2005 when German Q-Cells and American solar company Solaria initiated their business relationship during one such meeting.

The event concluded with attendees enjoying a traditional cold German beer along with delicious appetizers during a high-level networking reception.

Photos

Presentations:
"Renewable Energies in Germany - Political Framework and Market Development"
(Corinna Klessmann, Ecofys Germany GmbH)
"The California Solar Market in 2008 and Beyond"
(Gary T. Gerber, CalSEIA / Sun Light and Power)
"Development of the Photovoltaic Industry in Germany"
(Gerhard Stryi-Hipp, German Solar Industry Association)
"Power Purchase Agreements and the Future of Project Financing in California"
(Matt Cheney, MMA Renewable Ventures, LLC)
"Criteria for Financing Emerging PV Technology - NREL's Past Projects and Future Predictions"

(Martha Symko-Davies, National Renewable Energy Laboratory)
"The Future of Photovoltaics: Thin Film and Concentrated PV"
(Dr. Hansjörg Gabler, Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research, Baden-Württemberg)
"Emerging PV Technology - Revent Developments in PV R&D"
(Daniel Kammen, UC Berkeley)
Bauer Solartechnik GmbH (Frank Kneuper)
Colexon Energy AG (Philipp Klemm)
natcon7 GmbH (Dirk Adam)
pvXchange GmbH (Florian Meyer Delpho)
Q-Cells AG (Nils Waterstrat)
Solarc GmbH (Maria Grimes)
Solarwatt AG (Daniel Römer)
Solon AG (Tim Westover)