PV Korea 2009, the best place to go to find out about solar cell technology in Korea, started today, April 8, in Daegu, at EXCO convention center.  The event started off in the afternoon with a greeting by Yi Choong Hoon, the CEO of Ubi Sanup Research.  He yielded the podium to Lee Sang-chul, the Chairman of MillinetSolar, a new PV company in Korea which has the ability to produce 30MW of solar panels each year.  Mr. Lee spoke of his company’s plans to expand in the future, and the bright outlook of photovoltaics in the future.

The conference launched into an intensive set of lectures from all sides of the solar cell industry.  First, Lee Wan-geun of Shinsung Holdings gave a presentation about his company and the advances they have achieved in the past few years.  Unlike many solar cell companies, Shinsung Holdings has been around since 1977.  In this budding industry, that is ancient history.

Zach Struck of SunPower Korea gave a presentation next, about his own company.  He noted that his company has several unique achievements, notably that they have achieved thin wafers of only 145 microns, that their best experimental solar panel in their lab has achieved an unverified 23.4% efficiency, and that they have installed solar arrays in over 200 locations around the world.

Mark O’Grady from the US Embassy gave a lecture next, speaking about the ability of the US Export-Import bank to finance solar cell technology development.  He noted that the institution was founded in 1934 during the Great Depression in order to finance industry growth that banks at the time were unable or unwilling to finance, and that due to the global economic crisis, the bank had come into its own again.  He spoke at length about the attractive details that the bank’s Renewable Energy Fund gives to companies both foreign and domestic in order to encourage solar cell and other renewable energy development.  He offered the same terms to any of the companies in attendance and encouraged anyone to contact his office.

Tobias Rothacher, manager of renewable energies & resources for Germany Trade & Invest spoke next.  He spoke about the growth of European photovoltaic markets and especially the growth in Germany and Spain.  From his presentation it was easy to see that Germany in particular is the country most interested in solar cell technology and the most heavily invested in it so far.

Other lectures throughout the day included Chris de Lavigne, representing Frost and Sullivan; Walt Cheng, representing DuPont; Tadashi Saitoh, representing the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology; Cho Young-hyun, senior vice president of Hyosung Corporation; and Lee Jun-sin, professor at Sunghyunkwan University.