AMEX Market Report

The city of Toledo (central Spain) brings together 450 scientists, entrepreneurs and engineers from some thirty countries to discuss concentrating photovoltaics, one of the great promises of solar energy whose main drawback is its high cost.

The conference will develop from now until April 18, organized by the Institute of Concentration Photovoltaic Systems, a public company based in Puertollano (Ciudad Real) – and give continuity to a series of international scientific conferences that began to be held in 2002 in New Orleans (USA).

In later years took place in other cities in Australia, Spain, Germany and the U.S., the last in Las Vegas in 2011.

Toledo’s conference was presented today at a press conference by the director of R & D Isfoc, Francisca Rubio, the founder of ISE, Antonio Luque, the deputy director general of public-private partnership of the Ministry of Economy, Maria Luisa Brown, and the CEOs of Universities and Industry Board, Jose Antonio Negrin and Alfonso Vazquez.

Both Francisca Rubio and Antonio Luque explained that the main focus is on reducing the cost of producing this type of energy, which is based on the use of optical systems such as lenses or mirrors to concentrate light on solar cells, which thus are smaller but twice as efficient.

That is the challenge and believe it is impossible to reach, but more research is needed and the times are not the most favorable.

The deputy director general of the Ministry of Economy reminded that Spain is waiting for a rearrangement of the electrical system in times of cutbacks that no sector is foreign, including R & D + i.

However, Spain, stressed, is among the top five countries of the world in terms of public funding, but is still unable to drag private funding, which should be encouraged.

With the austere budget this year, said Brown, will have to be brave when betting on one technology or another.

He added that in regulating the electrical system that is pending that will unite academic interests with business and industry around the range of renewable energy in Spain is leading, in fact, has a 34% penetration of renewables in the network.

Those responsible have pointed Isfoc receiving aid from Mineco for 16 million euros, but the problem I found is that there is no fee for renewable energy primate, so His prayer is to be allowed to have demonstration plants CPV technology also primed in Spain.

Have called for subsidies to develop this industry and, by way of manufacture, is found where the real problems of cost and to engender research needed to solve them.