Silicon Valley has always been the place to be for new and exiting ventures, techniques and developments, with companies starting their businesses in garages and becoming large global players within a few years.

Silicon Valley has always been the place to be for new and exiting ventures, techniques and developments, with companies starting their businesses in garages and becoming large global players within a few years. Out of the smoking ashes of the Internet burst, many experienced business people and venture capital investors have found themselves on a new mission: solar energy. Companies like Nanosolar and MiaSolé, both active in the field of CIGS thin-film technology, have extremely ambitious goals with their new-generation solar technology.

After the success of the PV trade mission to Greece and Italy, it is now time to discover the business opportunities in the world's third largest PV market: California. The California Solar Initiative commits the state to spending more than $3.4 billion over the next 10 years to subsidize the installation of 1 million solar roofs, or about 3,000 megawatts of electricity capacity. Therefore, the purpose of this mission, dedicated to photovoltaic solar energy, is to explore business opportunities in this rapidly growing market and secondly to learn more about the new thin-film technology start-ups and next generation solar technology. These venture-capitalized companies promise the production of very low cost PV modules that can make solar energy cost-effective even without financial incentives from governments.

The tour program will start on Sunday evening 10th of June and ends on Friday 15th of June. Included in the program will be a symposium focusing on Californian PV market opportunities and booming new technology manufacturers will be visited. Furthermore, a matchmaking and workshop event will be organised in which new Californian start-ups and well-established PV companies will present themselves and will work on some case studies with the international participants. Based on the interest already shown, the group of delegates will comprise many nationalities. This will offer a great way to find new business partners and to discuss global market developments with enthusiastic fellow participants from different positions in the field of solar energy.

This PV tour is the sixth one organized by SolarPlaza.com, the global PV marketplace. Previous trade missions visited China, Spain, Italy and Greece. The cost for participation in this exciting event is € 3,950 (incl. full program and hotel stays). This learning and market exploration experience will start and end in San Francisco. More information and an order form can be found at www.solarplaza.com

Contact: Johan Trip, CGO, SolarPlaza, +31 10 280 9198 or j.trip@solarplaza.com