Moderator: Ronald Sinton
Bio: Ron Sinton did his PhD work at Stanford University developing 28%-efficient silicon concentrator cells and 23% efficient backside-contact one-sun cells. He then continued this work by adapting the fabrication processes to be more industrial as a founding member of SunPower Corporation. Ron enjoys blurring the boundaries between metrology and device physics in order to report parameters that are key inputs to physical models. He participates in conference program organization, especially the IEEE PVSC (1987-2008) and the annual NREL Silicon Workshop (1994-2022). Ron received the Cherry Award at the 2014 IEEE PVSC.
Marta Victoria
Title: How Much Solar PV Energy Do We Need to Achieve Net-Zero Emissions Systems?
Abstract: Macro-energy system models representing future systems are rapidly improving to capture wind and solar variability at different time scales and represent existing strategies to balance them. What can we learn from models (and recent real experience) on the optimal configuration of sustainable energy systems? What role could solar PV energy play in them? Which integration challenges will appear and how can they be addressed?
Dirk Weiss
Title: TW-Level Module Supply: Are We Ready?
Abstract: The world is approaching 1 TW of annual PV installations rapidly. Which module technologies will drive this growth beyond the 1 TW? Will there be new technologies that can compete with incumbents such as silicon and CdTe thin film? Which technologies will become obsolete? These and other questions are highlighted in my introductory presentation.
Magdalena Klemun
Title: Hardware and Soft Technology Evolution for Net-Zero
Abstract: Solar soft costs have declined significantly over the past decades, but much of this decline can be attributed to innovation in hardware rather than advances in deployment processes ("soft technology"). What do these past trends suggest for the future evolution of soft costs and the associated learning mechanisms? What roles can solar hardware and soft technology play in deeply decarbonized energy systems, and in scenarios with increasing degrees of deployment automation and digitalization?
Jan Christoph Goldschmidt
Title: Paradigm-Shifts for Sustainable Multi-TW Photovoltaics
Abstract: Cost-efficient climate change mitigation requires the rapid expansion of photovoltaics (PV) to the multi-TW level. Although the environmental impact of individual systems is small, the cumulative impact of a multi-TW PV industry could be massive in terms of resource and energy consumption as well as associated CO2eq emissions. With the ongoing continuous progress in efficiency, energy and resource consumption, however, PV could stay within sustainable boundaries. The necessary condition is that such progress could be maintained into the future, which requires paradigm shifting new technologies in the long term, such as low-material consumption thin-film multi-junction devices and circular material flows. Such new technologies face their own sustainability associated challenges, which we should face head-on.
Andy Hoke,
Title: Integrating Terawatts of Photovoltaics into the World’s Electric Power Systems
Abstract: Reaching global energy goals will require deploying multiple terawatts of PV generation, which will in turn require electric power systems to adapt at a rate that has not occurred since engineers first began connecting isolated generators to form interconnected continent-spanning networks about a century ago. Integrating terawatts of PV into the grid poses challenges that span many time scales and will require concerted action by engineers, regulators, and policymakers.
SPECIAL SESSION TOWARDS 100% RE
Wednesday, June 12, 1:30 - 3:00 PM
Moderator: Ronald Sinton
Sinton Instruments, USA
Bio: Ron Sinton did his PhD work at Stanford University developing 28%-efficient silicon concentrator cells and 23% efficient backside-contact one-sun cells. He then continued this work by adapting the fabrication processes to be more industrial as a founding member of SunPower Corporation. Ron enjoys blurring the boundaries between metrology and device physics in order to report parameters that are key inputs to physical models. He participates in conference program organization, especially the IEEE PVSC (1987-2008) and the annual NREL Silicon Workshop (1994-2022). Ron received the Cherry Award at the 2014 IEEE PVSC.
Marta Victoria
Associate Professor, Aarhus University
Title: How Much Solar PV Energy Do We Need to Achieve Net-Zero Emissions Systems?Abstract: Macro-energy system models representing future systems are rapidly improving to capture wind and solar variability at different time scales and represent existing strategies to balance them. What can we learn from models (and recent real experience) on the optimal configuration of sustainable energy systems? What role could solar PV energy play in them? Which integration challenges will appear and how can they be addressed?
Dirk Weiss
Head of Technology Assessment, First Solar, Inc.
Title: TW-Level Module Supply: Are We Ready?Abstract: The world is approaching 1 TW of annual PV installations rapidly. Which module technologies will drive this growth beyond the 1 TW? Will there be new technologies that can compete with incumbents such as silicon and CdTe thin film? Which technologies will become obsolete? These and other questions are highlighted in my introductory presentation.
Magdalena Klemun
Assistant Professor, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Title: Hardware and Soft Technology Evolution for Net-ZeroAbstract: Solar soft costs have declined significantly over the past decades, but much of this decline can be attributed to innovation in hardware rather than advances in deployment processes ("soft technology"). What do these past trends suggest for the future evolution of soft costs and the associated learning mechanisms? What roles can solar hardware and soft technology play in deeply decarbonized energy systems, and in scenarios with increasing degrees of deployment automation and digitalization?
Jan Christoph Goldschmidt
Professor, Philipps-University Marburg
Title: Paradigm-Shifts for Sustainable Multi-TW Photovoltaics Abstract: Cost-efficient climate change mitigation requires the rapid expansion of photovoltaics (PV) to the multi-TW level. Although the environmental impact of individual systems is small, the cumulative impact of a multi-TW PV industry could be massive in terms of resource and energy consumption as well as associated CO2eq emissions. With the ongoing continuous progress in efficiency, energy and resource consumption, however, PV could stay within sustainable boundaries. The necessary condition is that such progress could be maintained into the future, which requires paradigm shifting new technologies in the long term, such as low-material consumption thin-film multi-junction devices and circular material flows. Such new technologies face their own sustainability associated challenges, which we should face head-on.
Andy Hoke,
Principal Engineer, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
Title: Integrating Terawatts of Photovoltaics into the World’s Electric Power SystemsAbstract: Reaching global energy goals will require deploying multiple terawatts of PV generation, which will in turn require electric power systems to adapt at a rate that has not occurred since engineers first began connecting isolated generators to form interconnected continent-spanning networks about a century ago. Integrating terawatts of PV into the grid poses challenges that span many time scales and will require concerted action by engineers, regulators, and policymakers.