Intersolar North America will be held at the San Diego Convention Center from February 4 – 6, 2020. The show emphasizes the latest energy technologies, services, companies, and organizations that strive to establish a positive influence on climate change. These exhibitors advocate for a more sustainable energy future.

The Intersolar North America audience represents all 50 U.S. states and more than 60 countries. As an attendee, you will get comprehensive technical training, attend hands on product workshops, find out about the latest trends, and receive education from top experts. Attendees will learn about the solar industry’s best practices for the design, installation, and maintenance of code compliant photovoltaic and storage systems. 

Of course, the show floor is where you will meet with the best-in-class companies, exhibiting the best solutions, services, and products for the future, while exhibitors can meet with 10,000+ solar and energy storage professionals from around the world. 

The workshops are where you will take home the latest knowledge. The Installer Contractor Continuing Ed Technical Workshops impart an in depth look at six different renewable energy products. The six non-concurrent training sessions will include battery-based system sizing, structural solutions for solar on flat roofs, large scale commercial design, rapid shutdown and financial modeling. A total of nine advanced level continued education units are available. Even lunch is included.

Flat roof installation (Wikimedia Commons)

There is a half-day interactive workshop, which emphases on the value of functional safety in the renewable energy sector, and why it matters. Case studies associated to photovoltaic rapid shutdown systems and energy storage systems will be highlighted. There will be an interactive system safety analysis where UL experts and attendees will break down each system into subsystems to detect how each one could theoretically break down. Attendees will learn to assess how each failure could affect the overall system, while designating mitigation procedures to tackle each failure.

During the workshop, you will learn how parts of the programmable components can fail, while evaluating how each failure affects the capability of the software to execute correctly. Then learn how to assign mitigation measures to address each failure. There will be a discussion on the procedure for developing safe software, and the potential pitfalls that could cause systematic failures to happen.

There is an enormous amount of attention given to photovoltaics and energy storage systems. The growth in the energy storage sector is anticipated to continue for years to come. In the course, PV and Energy Storage: Configurations and Applications, common usages and the changing topologies of battery-based PV systems will be discussed. Topics will include DC and AC coupled PV, residential storage systems, zero sell systems, and solar plus storage systems designed for demand management. 

The half day workshop, Hydrogen Production and Utilization Across Solar Market Sectors, will be presented by leaders in the hydrogen and fuel cell industry. The workshop will offer basic information on hydrogen production, delivery and utilization. 

The fundamentals will be augmented with highlights from around the world. The workshop will then refer to hydrogen usages in market sectors that join the unique and global characteristics of solar energy with applications of hydrogen that make a solar-hydrogen future profitable. The policy and market challenges will be tackled as the opportunities are defined.

The advanced battery-based system design workshop covers the market demand for energy storage technologies and introduces new opportunities and mixed applications. Because battery-based system design is a complex task, this course will take a comprehensive look at system sizing and component selection. It will provide both DC and AC coupled design illustrations for residential battery-based applications. SEI instructors, who have wide-ranging experience with battery-based PV systems, will present NEC requirements, best-practice design points, and system maintenance stratagems.

The PV Power Plants + Electrical Energy Storage Systems: Focus Residential and C&I workshop will feature the real-world aspects of solar power plus electrical energy storage systems in terms of design, as well as the configuration and optimization of systems for both residential and C&I sectors. Issues, such as site analysis, selecting an inverter, and modelling & simulation will be incorporated in the system planning workflow. The panel will discuss the lessons learned from experience, especially with regard to O&M, and explore the prospects for residential and C&I systems in the US market.

There is a session that will discuss urban micro and mini-grids designed to be interconnected with the central grid. This means that under ordinary conditions they operate as part of the central grid. These grids are flexible and maintain the integration and utilization of renewable energy sources as well as electrical energy storage products. This session studies the concepts and technologies installed, featuring case studies of micro and mini-grids.

Trackers offer significant benefits because they can produce more electricity than their stationary counterparts. This due to the increased direct exposure to solar rays. To learn more, attend the Technological Advancements of Tracker Technologies workshop. 

Solar Tracker (Nellis AFB)

Advancements in the technology, mechanics, and reliability in electronics will be discussed because they have drastically reduced long-term maintenance concerns for tracking systems. This session will include the latest developments from an innovation, technological, business, operation and maintenance perspective.

Because there is a perception that existing lithium-ion battery technologies are reaching their limitations, attendees will want to attend The Next Great Leaps in Lithium and Non-lithium-based Battery Technology workshop. This session will look into the future of both current lithium-ion and non-lithium-ion based battery technologies. The anticipated future technological advancements, expected energy density levels, and cost reduction potentials will be addressed.

Of course, you will want to compete in the First Ever Solar Games! The Solar Games is a bracketed competition where four teams will build a residential rooftop solar + storage system. Comradery, technique, and focus will be on display as the four-person teams compete in a stadium setting live on the Expo Hall floor during the first two days of the 2020 expo. The teams will be charged with installing the main components of a solar + storage system—solar modules, racking, inverters, and battery storage. The teams will be judged on a point system for quality, safety, and speed. Two teams on side-by-side 16 x 22’ rooftops will face off at the same time.  The victor will move on to the next round. The championship round winner will be named the “first-ever” Solar Games Champion on February 5th.

Last but certainly not least is the Exhibit Hall. Tuesday, starting at 10:00 am, you will have the opportunity to check out 140+ exhibitors, as well as the Innovation & Application and Energy Storage Theaters. The Startup Pavilion is a specialized program that allows emerging companies to showcase new products and technologies in the Exhibit Hall.

For additional information click here.

Editors Recommendation "3 Trends Influencing Energy Storage Systems Market Over 2019-2025"

The content & opinions in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of AltEnergyMag

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