Pa. Governor, Philadelphia Mayor, and Deutsche Bank Senior Analyst Among Keynote Speakers at 34th IEEE PV Specialists Conference

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Organizers of the 34th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), the industry’s most respected global gathering of leading PV scientists and engineers, today announced a stellar lineup of keynote speakers:

Pa. Gov. Edward G. Rendell
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter
Solar Energy Industries Association President and CEO Rhone Resch
D.O.E. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy CTO Sam Baldwin
University of Delaware, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Director John Byrne
Deutsche Bank Senior Analyst Stephen O'Rourke

This year, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is joining forces with the Solar Energy Industries Association’s (SEIA) PV America to bring together PV scientists from around the globe with solar-policy and market-development experts in Philadelphia, Pa. on June 7-12, 2009 at the Marriott Philadelphia Downtown.

Presentations in the PVSC technical program will address an array of solar technologies, modules and system components, space technologies, manufacturing, materials, testing and much more. A few highlights include presentations from BP Solar on its Solar America Initiative-sponsored PV grid parity development program using c-Si module manufacturing technology; Sandia National Laboratories’ outdoor performance, reliability, and failure analysis of Si and thin-film PV arrays; and a paper by a group of U.S. companies and laboratories describing current and improved power ratings for verifying installed PV system capacity.

The PVSC will open on Sunday, June 7 with an expanded set of tutorials taught by experts in their fields. These are valuable to newcomers to PV and to seasoned veterans who wish to learn more about latest developments in PV.

On conference opening day, Monday, June 8, the PVSC will uphold its 26-year tradition of holding a high school PV design competition, which challenges students to demonstrate the use of PV in practical applications, using only PV as the power source for the project. Teams of students from two local high schools, Central High and Science Leadership Academy, will display their projects to international attendees of the PVSC. A panel of expert judges will evaluate the projects on originality, quality of the project, and the ability of the teams to communicate the results, and present awards to the top three teams on Tuesday, June 9 at 6:30 p.m.

Also on June 9, the PVSC will commemorate the Cherry Hill Workshop, held 36 years ago in New Jersey, which helped to change the course of U.S. energy policy and counter the growing energy threat caused by the Middle East oil embargo. The workshop brought together more than 130 experts from the U.S. solar industry, universities, and government in part to establish the U.S. terrestrial PV program and to formulate a national plan for PV commercialization. Among the PVSC's commemorative luncheon attendees are Drs. Lloyd O. Herwig and H. Richard Blieden, the organizers of the 1973 workshop from RANN’s Advanced Solar Energy Research and Development Division.

Additionally, for the second year, the PVSC will bring investors face to face with solar industry leaders for the PV Velocity Forum. The Forum, to take place on Wednesday, June 10 and Thursday, June 11, is designed to explore methods for driving superior emerging technologies through production and into the market.

Through a series of high-profile panels, the Forum will engage technologists with the investment and policymaking communities to tackle utility adoption of PV; showcase the finest global R&D programs and regional PV initiatives; foster the successful communication between investors and technologists necessary to move technology through production; and explore regulatory accounting, finance and rate issues in the E.U. and U.S.

One of the PV Velocity Forum sessions, titled “Utility Deployment – Next Steps,” will present key stakeholders’ perspectives on this topic. Speakers on the panel are:

* First Solar, Kathy Weiss, VP of government affairs

* Austin Energy, John Baker, CSO

* Puget Sound Energy, Jake Wade, program manager for customer renewable energy programs

* New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Michael Winka, director of the Office of Clean Energy

* Interstate Renewable Energy Council, Jane Weissman, executive director

Members of the media may request complimentary registration from Lonnie@antennagroup.com.