Fun in the Sun -- a review of Inter Solar 2008 -- Munich
By Bob "Hotrod" Rohr
Radiant Expert
I have had the opportunity to attend quite a few solar shows over the past several months. Also, I have visited some rather unique factories and manufacturers’ facilities across the United States and Europe. I must say that the recent InterSolar show in Munich, Germany was the biggest and best event I have attended to date. More than 1,000 exhibitors displayed their products over 76,000 square meters of display floor.
This show is similar in scope as the ISH Fair held in Frankfurt every two years, but primarily exclusive to solar products and information. Both photovoltaic (PV) and thermal are on display. I did note a bunch of pellet boilers in the mix, also.
This fair has traditionally been held in Freiburg, Germany, which is sort of the solar mecca of the area. The show has outgrown the space and facilities in Frieburg and moved to a larger arena.
The New Trade Fair Centre in Munich was an impressive building in itself. Typical German engineering, escalators and walkways turned on only when approached. The aisles were well lighted with excellent traffic flow. Clean, high-speed, punctual trains made getting there fun and easy.
Noticeably absent this year were the large German boiler/solar manufacturers. Rumor has it they are demanding the PV be separated from the solar thermal. I definitely can see their point. I barely scratched the surface in two days of walking. Several halls were predominately solar thermal. Others halls were mainly PV but with some thermal blended in. You really needed a list of “must-sees” to work off of to maximize your time.
The exhibitors and attendees I spoke with are at odds regarding splitting the show. It seems they suffer from the same “trade show mania’ as we do here stateside -- too many shows for attendees to chose from. Manufacturers complain of the high cost of shipping, staffing and wining and dining staff and customers at 10 or more shows per year.
It all sounds like the ISH NA conundrum. Is it possible for one big show to please all the players? Is there an ideal location or time of years? Where and when to have an “all inclusive” show seems to elude us.
Anyway, I had a ball. I'm there for the goods not the politics. Here’s a rundown of the particularly interesting things I encountered...
Drain back systems and components are starting to get the attention of the Euro manufacturers. A handful had models ready for sale; a few others showed prototypes still under construction. In typical Euro-style, these are well designed and planned. Pumps and controls are integral to the tank, all arranged in a nicely insulated and packaged case. Insulation standards are in place for most all hydronic and solar components, right down to ball valve insulation jackets, in some cases. And why not? Keep the Btus where they are best utilized and make the whole package consumer friendly. I was unable to find any quite ready for the U.S. market in terms of voltage and listings. It seems to be a chicken or egg thing. Do they build and spend the time and money to list them for use, or wait for a more realistic market percentage number? Regardless, I put my name on some prototype lists.
One of the large circulator manufacturers exhibited drain-back specific pumps with a fill mode. Pulse with modulation (PWM) controls are needed to make it all happen and I did see prototypes of those controls. I see now after years of denial that there is a place and need for drain-back technology, especially when large array, seasonal systems become more in vogue. There is a definite, and larger that I imagined, drain-back following in the United States. The world market is starting to recognize this. Currently most of these systems are custom built for every job: handmade drain-back tanks in some cases, unique homebuilt control packages in others.
One of the large solar control and solar pump station manufacturers teamed together in a booth and had some amazing product on display. One module in particular had the Grundfos flow measuring technology, paired with delta t measuring at the station, and variable speed circulators. What a neat way to take the energy consumption data and optimize the pump control speed and solar “harvest-ability.” Perhaps this concept is on the overkill side for solar energy harvest? “Watching watts” is going to become more of an issue as time marches on. It is interesting to see what is possible with off the shelf components. Off the shelf in Europe that is!
I was excited to see a handful of American hydronic and solar companies shopping and digesting everything on the show floor. Taco never sleeps. I wonder if Dave Sweet has been in every country on the planet! Dave Davis of HTP was a sponge for unique tank design. Hopefully we will see some of this Euro design come from manufacturers on this side of the pond. We certainly have the talent, capacity, and the market to support innovation. A large number of Canadians also were attending. One booth representative suggested more Canadians than Americans attended the show. Interesting!
Copper prices have the panel manufacturers scrambling. I noted some unique panel construction consisting of steel, extruded on piece aluminum collector absorbers and even a few polymer concepts.
Packaged systems were common. Solar tanks with pump and control modules nicely assembled and insulated in eye-catching colors. Plug and play!
Pre-insulated solar tubing is becoming popular for the same plug and play reasons. I saw at least a dozen brands and styles, mainly copper and stainless flex.
Wild colors and coating schemes on collector frames were spotted. Color matched to roofs makes sense. I’m not sure about the tiger stripe motif!
Many small component manufacturers were displaying. Companies that build anything from mounting hardware, expansion vessels, valves and brass goods, software and more were eagerly sharing their technology and gathering feedback about their products.
InterSolar will be in the United States for the first time later this summer. It will be in conjunction with the Semicon show, which shows PV, energy cells and other unique products. Expected to be there are 1400 exhibitors and 10,000 attendees. The dates are July 15- 18 in San Francisco. What a great place to attend a show (take the whole family) and visit one of my favorite cities. Plan on being there to stay ahead of your competition in the solar industry. See you there!