The virtual conference “What’s Hot In European Solar R&D. Overview on First Results of EU funded Horizon2020 PV Projects HighLite, HIPERION, GoPV, and SuperPV” hosted by TaiyangNews was held virtually on 28-30 June 2021.

HIPERION co-organised the conference and was represented during this event with several presentations given, as well as with expert panelists on each day.

The HIPERION presentations given by the partners were the following ones:

• “Hybrid PV modules with efficiencies above 30%”, by Florian Gerlich, Insolight (Day 1)
• “Challenges in the power rating and design qualification of tracking-integrated hybrid modules”, by Ignacio Anton, UPM (Day 1)
• “Automated assembly of hybrid PV modules”, by Delphine Petri, CSEM (Day 2)
• “High-energy density hybrid PV modules for space-constrained areas », by André Lopes, 3S (Day 3)

Moreover, HIPERION Coordinator, Jacques Levrat (CSEM), co-introduced the Day 1 session on “New concepts for high-efficiency PV cells and modules”.

Three HIPERION consortium members served as expert panelists:

• Laurent Coulot (Insolight) at the Day 1 panel discussion entitled “What is the rationale for Made in EU concepts and technologies?”
• Christophe Ballif (CSEM) at the Day 2 panel discussion entitled “How can the EU PV manufacturing industry become more competitive?”
• Stijn Scheerlinck (Engie Laborelec) at the Day 3 panel discussion entitled “The role of centralized & distributed PV in the EU energy transition”.

The agenda of the 3-day conference is available here.

A detailed feedback, highlights and key facts on each of the 3 conference days can be read thanks to the dedicated overview articles published on TaiyangNews website:

• Conference Day 1 (June 28): New concepts for high-efficiency PV cells and modules
• Conference Day 2 (June 29): Advanced manufacturing (equipment, modules, BOS components
• Conference Day 3 (June 30): Approaches to reduce LCOE of PV systems

The conference gathered attendees from the European and International PV community; about 200-300 participants attended each speech. HIPERION presentations arose a great interest, with many questions asked to the speakers and discussions engaged.

The full conference videos will be soon made available on TaiyangNews YouTube channel. The presentations will be made downloadable soon on HIPERION website.

The HIPERION consortium warmly thanks TaiyangNews for supporting this event, as well as the other H2020 projects for their cooperation in setting up this joint conference, and we look forward to meeting you at the coming HIPERION workshops!

In the picture on the left, TaiyangNews’ Michael Schmela engaged in a panel discussion on the Rationale for Made in EU Concepts and Technologies with Insolight’s Laurent Coulot, ISC Konstanz’s Radovan Kopecek, Enel Green Power’s Andrea Canino, and Fraunhofer-ISE’s Tobias Fellmeth on day 1 of the TaiyangNews What’s Hot in European Solar R&D Conference. (Photo Credit: TaiyangNews).