Solar Flair 11 a Shining Success
The third annual Solar Flair event saw major players in the photovoltaic industry share how businesses could best capitalise on the solar power revolution.
Solar Flair 11 was organised by the County Durham Development Company (CDDC), the business services arm of Durham County Council.
Stewart Watkins, managing director of CDDC, said: “This year’s Solar Flair event has highlighted just how many opportunities there are in the solar industry for businesses to take advantage of.”
It was incredibly exciting to hear about some of the latest developments in the photovoltaic field from the people who are at the forefront of new technologies, many of them here in the North East.”
Delegates heard about the state of the photovoltaic sector; the race for higher efficiencies, improvements in solar technology and the research behind thin-film and organic photovoltaics.
The following is a full list of Solar Flair's expert speakers:
- Chair of the Event, DR STEVE WELCH, Chief Executive Officer, ESP-KTN
- DR STEPHEN TAYLOR, Solar Generators Section, European Space Agency
- DR CHIARA CANDELISE, Institute for Energy Systems, Imperial College London/University of Edinburgh
- DR TOM TAYLOR, Director, Printable Electronics Technology Centre, CPI
- EMMA HUGHES, Editor, Solar Power Portal
- DR DAVID LANE, Reader in Analytical Physics and Advanced Materials, Cranfield University
- DAVID THORPE, Editor, Energy & Environmental Management and author of "Solar Technology"
- PROF JAMES DURRANT, Professor of Photochemistry, Imperial College London
- ALDOUS EVERARD & DR GIUSEPPE COLANTUONO, Sheffield Solar Farm
- DR DOUGLAS HALLIDAY, Deputy Director of the Centre for Materials Physics, Durham University
The conference took place 24th November with a networking reception the evening of the 23rd – both events took place at the Radisson Blu, Durham City.
Solar Flair 11 was the third Solar Flair conference. Solar Flair 09 offered a market view of photovoltaics (PV) along with the latest research and Solar Flair 10 went into some detail regarding particular business opportunities in PV as well as updating the audience on research in different areas of PV. SF 11 built on these themes covering topics such as:
- State of the PV sector
- The race for higher efficiencies in PV systems
- Holding on to power: improving the technology behind harvesting
- PV technology in space – what can we learn for terrestrial applications
- Thin film – Research & applications
- Organic PV – Research & applications
- PV in transportation
