Solar Meetings: Solar in buildings, from Research to Industry

The objective of the Solar Meetings is to provide a forum in which researchers, developers, architects and companies can review the state of the market, discuss issues and advances in building-integrated solar research and develop business opportunities. The first edition of the event will be held at La Traverse at Savoie Technolac on November 17 and 18.

BISOL opens a subsidiary in France

BISOL is a Slovenian manufacturer of photovoltaic modules with an annual production capacity of 60 MW. Forty percent of the company's staff are disabled. BISOL is continuing its international development by opening a sales office at Savoie Technolac. This local presence will enable the company to meet the specific needs of the French market. The Agence Economique de la Savoie helped BISOL find suitable premises and recruit a manger for the subsidiary.
Philippe DURAND-FALCOZ - philippe.durand-falcoz@bisol.fr

L SOL, specialist in photovoltaic solar roofs

The young and dynamic Spanish company L SOL specialized in photovoltaic and solar thermal chose Savoie to expand its activity in France. Created in 2005, the company counts 12 employees in Spain for a turnover of €6 millions.
LSOL deals with the feasibility study, the engineering and the construction of solar installations, as well as the financial engineering, the maintenance and the operation of the projects.
The company chose Savoie for the proximity and the synergy with various key players in the French solar sector and also for the quality of Savoie Technolac's infrastructures and the dynamism of the Rhône-Alpes Market.
The support for the setting up proposed by the Agence Economique de la Savoie and its partners also made the difference in the strong competition of other areas for the attraction of new businesses.
Jean-Marc EYRAUD - 06 84 69 07 88 - jeanmarc@lsol.fr

OPTIRENO: new Player in the field of energy efficiency

OPTIRENO is a new service company dedicated to the improving of energy efficiency in individual homes.
OPTIRENO offers a global approach and evaluates all key positions which participate to the improving of energy efficiency: insulation, ventilation, heating, regulation and production of green energy. To submit a technical offer OPTIRENO works with industrial partners and a network of local companies and artisans.
Saint Gobain remains minority shareholder and OPTIRENO's strategic partner. A €1Million fund-raising is underway. Until now 4 agencies were created in the region Rhône-Alpes, including one in Chambéry.
04 79 84 00 07 - chambery@optireno.com

Solar Decathlon Europe: INES on the French pavilion

The INES has joined forces with Grenoble National School of Architecture (ENSAG) and the Grands Ateliers de l'Isle d'Abeau (GAIA) to present the French pavilion at Solar Decathlon Europe, which will take place in Madrid in June 2010. The objective of this inter-university competition is to find the most talented team to build a positive-energy house powered entirely by solar energy. The French entry, called the Armadillo Box, will be cheap to build, capable of being incorporated into collective housing, and provide power for an electric car. In parallel with the house being built for Madrid, a second unit, adapted to local climate conditions, will be built beside the INES building at Savoie Technolac.

INES EDUCATION: practical feedback complements research

INES EDUCATION is the National Solar Energy Institute's training, expertise and technical information branch. One of its projects has been to develop “TéléSuiWeb”, a computer program that uses the data provided by water and energy meters to monitor the performance of individual or collective solar water heaters. In order to check that their installation is functioning correctly all users have to do is read the meters and enter the readings into the TéléSuiWeb website. The program then compares this real data with the theoretical performance of the system. In Rhône-Alpes, “TéléSuiWeb” is currently being used to monitor 170 installations providing hot water to 5,000 people. Similar systems are being set up in other regions of France.
INES EDUCATION shares the data provided by “TéléSuiWeb” with manufacturers and installers, in order to help them size new installations. INES EDUCATION has developed other tools for evaluating the energy, economic and environmental advantages of solar installations. They are free and available online.

New solar-electricity feed-in tariffs: the ministerial order is signed

The government has ended the uncertainty about feed-in tariffs by setting new rates for electricity from renewable sources, including solar electricity. The order, signed on 14th January 2010, maintains the tariff of 58 Euro cents/kWh for “building-integrated” PV installations in buildings used for housing, education and health purposes, and increases the tariff to 50 Euro cents/kWh for other buildings (industrial, commercial, agricultural, etc). For “simplified building-integrated” installations the tariff has been set at 42 Euro cents/kWh, whereas the tariff for electricity from ground installations remains at 31.4 Euro cents/kWh, although this can vary depending on where the installation is located.
Website of the Ministry of the Economy, Energy, Sustainable Development and the Sea.

2009 Solar Brochure edition

The new edition of the Solar Brochure has just been released. The present guide offers a view of the solar market in Europe, France, Rhône-Alpes and Savoie. Engineering, installation, distribution, public research or training in Rhône-Alpes, you may find most of them here. This document is available in tree languages: French, English and German.