Around 11 we arrived at the premises of the SolarWatt company near Dresden, we were confronted at the entrance by a beautiful solar cell covered prancing stallion having admired the animal/artwork suitably it was inside that we met with Herr Dieter Winkler (in the picture with Gerard Sauer, UK) one of the longest serving employees of the Solarwatt company having been there at the beginning in 1993.
The company was started by 2 professors and has been tremendously successful in the last 8 years. As Dieter's presentation showed, this was in no small measure due to the German government introducing some very attractive feed-in tariffs for Solar power. In the Vogtland region the tariff was set at 0.40 Euro per kW/hr and this for a contract period of 20 years with a predictable degression downwards to reflect the earnings by the customers from the solar system they have installed. What was also very encouraging and something that we had earlier also noticed in other applications is that in Germany and specifically in the Vogtland region there is a tremendous integration of the renewable energy industry. There is an association that covers all the renewable energy industries and technologies and in this way the renewable energy endeavour has much more voice in political terms. It is also very clear that the opportunity to provide employment in this sector is taken very seriously and the Pscherer Institute is ample evidence that this is not an empty promise. After the presentation we had a lunch in the canteen of the company surrounded by glass surfaces and of course a full array of solar panels surrounding our sandwiches and beers. Then it was of to the factory and a thorough explanation of the integrated solar panels marketed as Easy-in. The panels on show were the Solarwatt 180 Watt peak panels together some 1 kW output was expected. Once Simon and Steve had properly inspected the installation we all trooped up upstairs to view the module manufacturing facility. This showed the solar module assembly method and processes and as Dieter explained the testing of the panels using a flash system that emulates for a very short period of a 20th of a second sunlight at a fixed maximum lumen to test that all the cells are working within a certain range. The packing of the cells and modules was very interesting as a remote machine was circling the packs/stacks excreting clear plastic sheeting as it went. Then it was of to the side of the factory for a view of the facade fitted solar panels, and again Steve and Simon were able to look at the inverters and the general layout of the panels on the side of the factory building.
Herr Winkler explained that the solar modules have a guaranteed lifetime of 20 years but there is no reason that they should not produce energy many many years beyond that.
On the way back to the reception area Herr Winkler explained that the Solarwatt company is a member of the regional/national renewable energy association in Germany and they had recently commissioned a study that showed conclusively that in Sachsony
(the region) there was no financial, organizational,or legal impediment why the region should have 81% of RE content of their energy needs by 2020. This is tremendous news and the study will be available to this blog later. Then it was of to the city of Dresden where we had a very interesting guided tour of the old town and its cathedral, and the Wettin dynasty. Apparently this royal family governed the region for hundreds and hundreds of years from the mid 1400's right through to the 1800's some achievement for sure. They were a serious looking bunch on the wall of one of the palaces were they all had their portrait displayed in order of their reign. On we went to the local Zwinger and the Porcelain museum. It was very good to see the city like this, the sun was beating down, we all had an ice cream or a piece of cake in Marcus and Tony's case. Then it was of to the new part of the city which was very interesting according to Dirk, who was very keen to visit a Kebab house in the area, must have had a girlfriend there we surmised. Right throughout the few days the smokers amongst our team would disappear outside for a quick fag, even corrupting Lucy to an illicit smoke! The Neustadt bit was interesting but not as spectacular as the old city, it felt more like Brighton with lots of hippies, goths and similar passing by on bikes, one even had a bike look a like of an Harley-Davidson. Thisius, Gerard, and David went on the hunt for a bite to eat and we also tried to find David some shaving cream as he had run out, it is not for sale in the chemists here as we found out after having visited a good few of them. Hungry by now we all walked around finding an Italian or French restauran, not so easy to do in the middle of the Neustadt area we discovered,we had to eat our food very quickly in the end and it was time to link up again with our colleagues for the journey back to the Park Gasthaus, there we had a few glasses of the red liquid and some chasers of whiskey afterwards to retire thoroughly satisfied that a good day had been had by all and sundry. Our hosts for the day Christian, and Timo were fantastic, never complaining always on hand and helpful to a fault well done and thank you guys, what a troopers.
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