Chairperson's Message

The CPV community is growing quickly, as is CPV technology.  The CPV conferences offer a unique forum for informing and staying informed about the continuous improvement of the technology.  In 2012, hundreds of scientists, engineers, technical and business experts will meet again to share new experience and knowledge regarding CPV.

CPV-8, the 8^th Conference on Concentrating Photovoltaics, will be held in Toledo, Spain on April 16-18, 2012.  Here, participants will share not only information, science, technology and data, but also some wonderful time in the beautiful city of Toledo.

Toledo, the capital of Castilla-La Mancha, is a UNESCO World Heritage City in the center of Spain, only 22 minutes from Madrid by high-speed train.  More than 2000 years old, it is sometimes called the “city of the three cultures” for the strong presence of Arab, Jewish and Christian culture in its history and architecture. Fittingly, it will be welcoming people from all over the world to the CPV-8 Conference in 2012! The CPV-8 conference will take place at Hotel Beatriz Toledo Auditorium & Spa ****, which is located just 4 km outside of Toledo.

CPV research began like the most famous character of Castilla-La Mancha — Don Quixote — following a dream of a better world and fighting against giants.  But CPV technology has now shown its maturity and demonstrated the reliability of its technology in the good performance of installed CPV plants.

2011 is a big year for CPV technology, with the announcement of the installation of multi-megawatt plants in the USA—30 MW by Amonix in Alamosa, Colorado and 130 MW by Soitec (formerly Concentrix) in California.  New specific subsidies and a feed-in tariff in Italy and Portugal, new renewables plans in South Africa, China, India and Africa, record cells exceeding 43% efficiency and the promise of achieving grid parity offer the opportunity for very rapid growth of CPV technology in the world.

The CPV-7 Conference in Las Vegas, USA, was the biggest conference to date, with around 500 attendees, over 150 papers, and 28 exhibitors, clearly showing the increasing interest of both science and industry in this technology.

In Toledo, participants will learn about the latest discoveries and improvements in cells, optics, modules, trackers, BOS, systems, plants, markets and opportunities for CPV, and will also be able to visit manufacturers, suppliers and representatives of important institutions at the Exhibition Area.

For all of these reasons, it is my pleasure to invite you to join us from April 16-18, 2012 at the CPV-8 Conference!  See you in Toledo!