CIM: Self-generated solar energy is to be cheaper from 2015 than conventional power. How’s that supposed to work?
Dr. Aulich: Solar energy is the mainstay of our world-wide and long-term energy supply, as all experts agree. Concerted efforts are required to make solar energy affordable. That’s why I welcome the alliance of 25 solar energy companies, 12 research institutes from Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia as a major step on the way to photovoltaic progress.
Europe’s strongest solar region lies in Central Germany, in the Solar Valley? How come?
It’s true, the lion’s share of German photovoltaic sales, which totalled 3.7bn euros in 2006, was generated there. Investors in the Solar Valley will find a large local workforce with the necessary semiconductor and microelectronics know-how.
On 25/26 November 2008 you will organise the 1st International “Bauhaus Solar – Technology Design Environment” Congress? Why?
We want to continue the tradition of the Bauhaus in Weimar by holistically fusing the function of solar products with the aesthetic quality of the city and landscape. As a technology of the future, solar power is to herald a new Culture of Energy age. So we are filling a gap. This is the first congress that will deal exclusively with the question of how to combine aesthetics and function in solar plants, fa’ades and roofs.
Why did you chose Erfurt as your meeting destination?
Thuringia is a solar state. The development and use of this renewable energy takes priority in its business development projects, and the most important solar energy companies in Thuringia have joined forces in SolarInput e.V. Solar expertise and production have their roots and certainly a future there – thanks not least to the interdisciplinary discourse of our congress partner, Bauhaus University Weimar.
And why Erfurt Fair?
Erfurt Fair is ideally suited to the solar power topic as an industry of the future: a central and convenient location, a multi-purpose modern building structure combined with a flexible, individual service.
Dr. Hubert Aulich is a board member of PV Crystalox Solar AG. www.pvcrystalox.com
