EUPVSEC Parallel Event

Within the framework of the 35th European Photovoltaics Specialist Conference (EUPVSEC) an important parallel event was held entitled "Horizon 2020 organized by the funded projects AMPERE and PVSITES: backing the European PV industry, as the title suggests, it was a workshop designed to outline with which instruments and interventions the European Union through the H2020 financing platform aims to restore centrality and development to the continental industry in the photovoltaic sector. Several projects have been presented ranging from the development of new materials to actual industrial applications. Among these, the AMPERE project was presented, which envisages the construction of a photovoltaic production line of photovoltaic cells and modules with a capacity of over 200 MegaWatthours /peryear in the Enel Green Power production site in Catania. The project was presented by its coordinator Claudio Colletti of Enel Green Power, who outlined the technological and financial strategies behind the Italian company's project, underlining the technological innovations related to the introduction of so-called heterojunctions cells in to the market, the advantages in terms of electricity production, the introduction of Industry 4.0 in the production process and the future development strategies that envisage a roadmap towards the size of the GigaFab in the coming years for a real competition in the whole market. The major European research centers (ENEA, EPFL, CSEM, ISE-F, CEA-INES, CNR) and leading companies in the sector (EGP, Semilab, J & R, RiseTechnology, MeyerBurger, Norsun, ERM) participate in the AMPERE project.

The workshop did not fail to outline the general political and economic framework in which the H2020 platform moves: starting from the Paris COP21 Agreement for the transition to an energy economy that abandon the fossil fuels (Carbon Free) in favour of renewable energy for to reduce CO2 emissions, identify which photovoltaic technologies can both support this transition and, on the other hand, give Europe back its centrality in terms of industrial production and technological innovation.

The workshop was attended by several European Commission personalities, such as Patrick Child and Piotr Tulej, respectively Director General and Head of Unit of the Research and Development Section of Commission, the Director of the INEA Agency Dirk Beckers and the Chair of the European Photovoltaic Association ETIPV Marko Topic who illustrated the Commission's vision in terms of economic challenges and the role of Europe in pursuing the goals set in terms of economic growth and job creation.

The projects presented gave an account of the current state of research and development in the photovoltaic field financed under H2020 ranging from basic studies and laboratory applications for new nanotechnologies and thin film application (NanoTandem, NextBase, CPVMatch, Sitasol and Swing), to prototype developments in industrial environment on materials and technologies for CIGS and interdigitated completely back contact solar cells (Shark25, Disc), the development of industrial production lines such as AMPERE, the photovoltaic integration in buildings (PVSITE), the study of the costs of electricity production from photovoltaic (GOPV) to finish the introduction of the circular economy in the sector (CABBRIS).