Trade visitors, delegates and clean energy professionals perused the latest in clean energy solutions and technologies, being given the rare opportunity to engage directly with designers, manufactures, developers and distributors of clean energy products on the Australian and international market. With so many experts in one place, EcoGeneration took the opportunity to ask EcoGen 2010 exhibitors for their outlook for the clean energy industry.

Martin Smith, Proposals Engineer and Staff Manager, Clarke Energy

“I think the focus really needs to be on a number of technologies. Not just wind, not just solar, but a broad range of technologies to support the base load for Australia as it moves toward a future of less emissions from coal-fired power generation.”

Clarke Energy is the sole Australian distributor of GE Janbacher gas engines. Clarke Energy also provides total gas-to-energy solutions for a variety of applications including biogas, coal gas, flare gas, landfill gas, syngas, cogeneration and trigeneration.

Ian Kirkham, State Manager, QLD, Conergy Australia

“The outlook for the industry is very good. There are many larger projects coming through, as well as projects in the domestic and small-to medium markets seeing strong growth as well.”

Conergy manufactures and supplies solar hot water systems and small wind-power systems to wholesalers, installers, investors, businesses and households.

Chris Ludekens, Sales and Marketing, MWM Energy Australia

“The timing of this event alongside the clarification of the election result has meant that people are looking forward. We’re looking forward to some good policy outcomes over the next few months, and we think it will be good for the industry.”

MWM produce gas engines that run on natural gas, sewage and landfill gases, biomass, synthetic and coal seam methane gases.

John Titchen, Managing Director, Goldwind Australia

“The Australian renewable energy industry is well positioned with the renewable energy law that was passed in 2009 and refined in 2010. So, we see 8–10,000 megawatts (MW) of wind development happening over the next 7–8 years and that’s a very significant scale for the Australian market, and wind power is a leading contributor to that.”

Goldwind is a wind energy company that offers the following services: research, development, pre-sales services, manufacturing, project delivery, engineering, procurement and construction, and operations and management.

Mark Nesbitt, Regional General Manager, Eaton

“I think the outlook for the industry is very positive. Certainly we’re seeing a lot of positive opportunities, particularly in this new renewable energy area. It seems to me from where I sit that it is starting to get a lot of momentum in this particular area and we see it as a very exciting opportunity for the future.”

Eaton is a power management company that provides electrical systems and components for power distribution and control. Eaton also distributes a range of solar power systems.

Monique Forbes, SMA

“From our perspective the outlook is very positive; we are very committed to the Australian market. We’re expanding and growing, and it’s just going to get bigger and better from here and we’re glad to be involved in this part of the world.”

SMA is a solar photovoltaic (PV) inverter manufacturer. The range of German designed SMA inverters include a grid-tied and central inverters, as well as back-up and off-grid inverters.

SunPower Corporation – EcoGen 2010 exhibitor

SunPower distributes, designs and builds solar PV systems for the residential and commercial sectors.

The company has completed construction on the world’s first hybrid solar-diesel power stations for Horizon Power, in two of Australia’s hottest towns – Marble Bar and Nullagine, in the east Pilbara region of Western Australia. The ground-mounted SunPower T20 Tracker installation will generate approximately 1,048 MW of solar energy per year.

Jerome Mazet, Senior Manager Asia-Pacific Marketing & Global Branding ,Trina Solar

“For Australia, we see that the residential market is really picking up, but also the big utilities now are trying to look into it too. That’s really interesting for us because we have seen it before, in Germany for example, and other countries in Europe. As soon as you have these dynamics, the market really explodes. Australia looks extremely promising for us, but from a world-wide perspective it’s not an exception. If you look at Europe, China and the United States, all of those markets are picking up and exploding this year.”

Trina Solar is a solar PV panel manufacturing company. The Trina Solar range includes ingots, mono and multicrystalline technologies.

Peter Bulanyi, Managing Director, Solar Inverters

“Well, its boom times, and we are certainly happy to see that, and we do expect that some strong growth will continue for the foreseeable future, but we certainly expect some consolidation as well, and that would be natural in this kind of environment.”

Solar Inverters distributes solar inverters. The company focuses on making sure that customers are getting the right solar inverter for their needs, and that they know how to utilise it optimally.

Michael Austin, Sales and Marketing, SunEarth

“Solar is booming at the moment, and I hope that everyone will put solar on their home where possible. I think the outlook is bright.”

SunEarth is a solar PV panel manufacturing company. SunEarth provides mono and multicystalline panels for residential, commercial, industrial and utility scale applications.