The Chairman of IENE Mr John Chadjivassiliadis participated in the 7th International Conference on PV-Hybrids and Mini-Grids Conference, which took place on 10-11 April in Bad Hersfeld, GermanyThe Chairman of IENE Mr John Chadjivassiliadis participated in the 7thInternational Conference on PV-Hybrids and Mini-Grids Conference, which took place on 10-11 April in Bad Hersfeld, Germany. IENE’s Chairman John Chadjivassiliadis has from the start of this international conference been a member of the Scientific Committee. The conference is being organized every two years by OTTI (Ostbayerisches Technologie-Transfer-Institute e.V., Regensburg, Germany) in a different place in Europe and attracts a number of scientists, researchers, developers, companies and international organisations with interest in this area. Participants from 27 countries from five continents attended this 7th International Conference, where high level papers and posters were presented and discussed. Moreover, a number of large companies with activities in this area were present with stands in the exhibition.
The papers and posters covered a broad area in the field, including Business Models, System Technology, System Components, Energy Management and Grid Control, Field Experience and Lessons Learnt. The active participation of some large companies active in hybrid systems development and system components should be mentioned as it attracted considerable interest. The concept of hybrid systems and mini-grids offers the best solution in the electrification of rural areas and especially in developing countries where 1.3 billion people are estimated to be without electricity today, mainly in Asia and Africa. The significant reduction of power generation costs in solar photovoltaic and wind systems over the last few years and the perspectives and new challenges now presented were discussed in relation to technology development and efficient applications. Moreover, hybrid systems based on photovoltaics and diesel units offer a reliable solution for fuel saving in stand-alone systems, while larger battery storage systems could be a main component of future systems.
Although the electricity systems are moving to more interconnected networks with high penetration of renewables, the concept of mini-grids and hybrid systems based on solar photovoltaic/wind and storage and village level utilities as well, have a significant potential for development worldwide.
