Photovoltaic Specialists Conference

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC)
StatusActive
FrequencyAnnual
Years active63
FoundedApril 14, 1964; 60 years ago (1964-04-14) in Washington, D.C., United States
Most recentPVSC 52
Next eventPVSC 53
Participants1800[1]
AreaPhotovoltaics
SponsorsIEEE Photonics Society
IEEE Electron Devices Society
WebsitePhotovoltaic Specialists Conference

The IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (also called PVSC[2]) is the longest running technical conference dedicated to photovoltaics, solar cells, and solar power. The first PVSC was in 1961 at the NASA headquarters in Washington DC. The number of conference areas have expanded and now include PV reliability and solar resource. The conference has also had many diverse and distinguished keynote speakers like Sarah Kurtz who won the conference's William Cherry Award in 2012.[3] PVSC is also where the most notable breakthroughs in PV are often first announced, such as record Solar-cell efficiency,[4] new technologies like perovskite, TOPCon, heterojunction (HJT), and tandem cells, derivation of new algorithms, and discoveries of new phenomena such as Potential-induced degradation and light and elevated temperature induced degradation (LeTID).

PVSC is one of the three hosts of the quadrennial World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion (WCPEC), along with the International Photovoltaic Science and Engineering Conference (PVSEC) on the Asia-Pacific side and European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC) on the European side.[5]

William R. Cherry Award

PVSC honors scientists and researchers who have made significant contributions to the field of photovoltaics since 1980. Notable recipients include Joseph J. Loferski in 1981,[6] Martin Green in 1990, Richard Swanson in 2002, Stuart Wenham in 2009, and Professor Harry Atwater in 2019.[7]

Women in PV Lunch

For at least the past ten years, PVSC has held a luncheon with speakers who have recognized the significant contribution of women in photovoltaics.[8]

Middle and high school competition

For over 20 years, PVSC has inspired high school youth to engage with scientists, explore and present their concepts at the conference, and compete to win prizes.[9] Starting in 2020, the competition was expanded to include middle school students. The format was changed to encourage more creativity by asking students to write about how solar energy will change the future in the "Solar Future Narratives" competition, and to pitch solar energy projects that could positively impact their communities in the "Solar Energy Video Pitch" competition.

Location history

PVSC # Year Location Chair Cherry Award
PVSC-1 1961 Washington, DC
PVSC-2 1962 Washington, DC Walter C. Scott
PVSC-3 1963 Washington, DC Walter C. Scott
PVSC-4 1964 Cleveland, OH
PVSC-5 1965 Greenbelt, MD Paul Rappaport
PVSC-6 1967 Cocoa Beach, FL William R. Cherry
PVSC-7 1968 Pasadena, CA Robert E. Fischell
PVSC-8 1970 Seattle, WA Joseph J. Loferski
PVSC-9 1972 Silver Springs, MD Martin Wolf
PVSC-10 1973 Palo Alto, CA Richard L. Statler
PVSC-11 1975 Scottsdale, AZ Denis R. Curtin
PVSC-12 1976 Baton Rouge, LA Americo F. Forestieri
PVSC-13 1978 Washington, DC John V. Goldsmith
PVSC-14 1980 San Diego, CA Charles E. Backus Paul Rappaport
PVSC-15 1981 Kissimmee, FL Charles J. Bishop Joseph J. Loferski
PVSC-16 1982 San Diego, CA Henry W. Brandhorst, Jr. Martin Wolf
PVSC-17 1984 Kissimmee, FL Eugene L. Ralph Henry W. Brandhorst
PVSC-18 1985 Las Vegas, NV Allen M. Barnett Eugene L. Ralph
PVSC-19 1987 New Orleans, LA Lawrence L. Kazmerski Charles E. Backus
PVSC-20 1988 Las Vegas, NV Joseph F. Wise David E. Carlson
PVSC-21 1990 Kissimmee, FL John D. Meakin Martin A. Green
PVSC-22 1991 Las Vegas, NV Cosmo R. Barona Peter A. Iles
PVSC-23 1993 Louisville, KY Richard J. Schwartz Lawrence L. Kazmerski
PVSC-24 (WCPEC-1) 1994 Waikoloa Village, HI (1st World Conference) Dennis J. Flood (General Chair), Jurgen Schmid and Masafumi Yamaguchi (Vice Chairs) Yoshihiro Hamakawa
PVSC-25 1996 Washington, DC Eldon C. Boes Allen M. Barnett
PVSC-26 1997 Anaheim, CA Paul Basore Adolf Goetzberger
PVSC-27 (WCPEC-2) 1998 Vienna, Austria (2nd World Conference) Jurgen Schmid (General Chair), Kosuke Kurokawa and Sheila G. Bailey (Vice Chairs) Richard J. Schwartz
PVSC-28 2000 Anchorage, AK Ajeet Rohatgi Christopher R. Wronski
PVSC-29 2002 New Orleans, LA John Benner Richard Swanson
PVSC-30 (WCPEC-3) 2003 Osaka, Japan (3rd World Conference) Kosuke Kurokawa (General Chair), Lawrence L. Kazmerski and Bernard McNelis (Vice Chairs) Ajeet Rohatgi
PVSC-31 2005 Lake Buena Vista, FL Christopher R. Wronski Timothy J. Coutts
PVSC-32 (WCPEC-4) 2006 Waikoloa Village, HI (4th World Conference) Sheila Bailey (General Chair), Heinz Ossenbrink and Makoto Konagai (Vice Chairs) Antonio Luque
PVSC-33 2008 San Diego, CA Timothy J. Coutts Masafumi Yamaguchi
PVSC-34 2009 Philadelphia, PA Tim Anderson Stuart Wenham
PVSC-35 2010 Honolulu, HI Robert Walters Richard R. King
PVSC-36 (WCPEC-5) 2010 Valencia, Spain (5th World Conference) Giovanni De Santi (General Chair), Makoto Konagai and Robert Walters (Vice Chairs)
PVSC-37 2011 Seattle, WA David Wilt Jerry M. Olson
PVSC-38 2012 Austin, TX B.J. Stanbery Sarah Kurtz
PVSC-39 2013 Tampa, FL Ryne Rafaelle Keith Emery
PVSC-40 2014 Denver, CO Richard R. King Ronald A. Sinton
PVSC-41 (WCPEC-6) 2014 Kyoto, Japan (6th World Conference) Makoto Konagai (General Chair), A. Jager Waldau and B.J. Stanbery (Vice Chairs)
PVSC-42 2015 New Orleans, LA Steven A. Ringel Christiana Honsberg
PVSC-43 2016 Portland, OR Angus Rockett Pierre Verlinden
PVSC-44 2017 Washington, DC Angèle Reinders Eli Yablonovitch
PVSC-45 (WCPEC-7) 2018 Waikoloa Village, HI (7th World Conference) Alex Freundlich (General Chair), Marko Topič and Akira Yamada (Vice Chairs) Vasilis Fthenakis
PVSC-46 2019 Chicago, IL Sarah Kurtz Harry Atwater
PVSC-47 2020 Virtual (COVID-19) Seth Hubbard James Sites
PVSC-48 2021 Virtual (COVID-19) Sylvain Marsillac Thorsten Trupke
PVSC-49 2022 Philadelphia, PA Bill Shafarman Stephen R. Forrest
PVSC-50 2023 San Juan, PR Mariana Bertoni Jenny Nelson
PVSC-51 (WCPEC-8) 2022 Milan, Italy Alessandra Scognamiglio (General Chair), Yuzuru Ueda and Seth Hubbard (Vice Chairs)
PVSC-52 2024 Seattle, WA Arno Smets Chris Xixiang Xu
PVSC-53 2025 Montreal, Canada (7th World Conference) Tyler Grassman

References

  1. ^ PVSC (2009). "PVSC > Home". IEEE PVSC. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  2. ^ Zipp, Kathie (2013). "4 Questions: 39th Solar IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference". Solar Power World. WTWH Media, LLC. Retrieved 23 Nov 2021.
  3. ^ Trabish, Herman (2013). "Solar's Past, Present, and Future at PVSC". Greentech Media. Retrieved 23 Nov 2021.
  4. ^ Solomon, Erica (29 August 2016). "New solar cell is more efficient, costs less than its counterparts". MIT News. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  5. ^ "About". wcpec-8.com. WCPEC-8. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  6. ^ Hilchey, Tim (23 January 1997). "Joseph J. Loferski, Pioneer in Development of Solar Cells, Dies at 71". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  7. ^ Johnson, Abigail (2019). "Professor Harry Atwater Wins 2019 IEEE William Cherry Award". Business Wire. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  8. ^ Warren, E. L. (2020). "The value of diversity in the renewable energy industry and research community". 2020 47th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC). pp. 0652–0654. doi:10.1109/PVSC45281.2020.9300582. ISBN 978-1-7281-6115-0. S2CID 230997583.
  9. ^ Wirtanen, Erik (17 July 2019). "Lighting the way for future photovoltaics innovators". ASU News. Retrieved 7 March 2023.

Further reading