Jan. 29, 2008 – Weeks after making solar inroads a priority by colocating future SEMICON West tradeshows with a global solar trade fair, SEMI has announced further details of its global PV initiatives, including forming a new “PV Group” to enhance member support in the area that involves 20% of SEMI’s membership, including large equipment players such as Applied Materials.
The group’s aims will be to support PV industry growth by finding ways to reduce costs, efficiently transfer technologies, and offer market development, industry standards and market statistics, and other services. “As the only global industry group focused on PV materials, equipment, and manufacturing, SEMI believes it can play a critical role in the cost reduction and rapid expansion of solar energy,” SEMI said in a statement.
Current activities of the new PV Group include PV-focused technical events at executive and technical conferences, such as the recently concluded Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS), all SEMICON expos across the world (Europe, Asia, North America), PV “Fab managers forums”, and various executive forums and roundtables. Additional SEMI services and activities in the PV area include market research and statistics programs, support for public policy initiatives and Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) regulatory support, and “facilitating international industry standards that reduce costs and expand business opportunities for SEMI members.” The PV Group is currently working with other industry associations to further its goals, including the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA), the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association (JPEA), and the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA).
PV Group advisory committee members include: cochairs Karl Hesse (Wacker Chemie) and Tatsuo Saga (Sharp), and vice-chair Wolfgang Koch (KoSolCo); Heiko Moritz (GTSolar), Bob Falster (MEMC), Yasunori Uchida (JPEA), Zhengrong Shi (Suntech Power), Simon Tsuo (MoTech), Quincy Lin (NeoSolar), Hans Autenrieth (Centrotherm), Winfred Hoffmann (Applied Materials/EPIA), Peter Pauli (Meyer & Burger), Heinz Ossenbrink (JRC Ispra), Eicke Weber (FhG ISE), and Michio Kondo (AIST).