During the opening of Intersolar North America, government officials and international solar luminaries spoke, among them were Prof. Eicke Weber, director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems; Prof. Ramesh Ramamoorty, director of the SunShot Initiative at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE); and Katharina Reiche, parliamentary state secretary of Germany.

San Francisco was recently named as the greenest city in North America by Siemens’ Green City Index; Germany has the most installed solar, and the SunShot Initiative is the best opportunity for the U.S. to become a world leader in solar. These speakers were well poised to address the pertinent solar issues of the day.

Germany’s investment of 20 billion euros in solar development yielded 370,000 new jobs last year, according to Reiche. That’s part of the country’s efforts to decrease its gas emissions between 80 percent and 95 percent of its 1999 levels.

“Germany and the United States are today faced with very similar energy challenges. And it's very important to discuss these in a transatlantic setting where we can learn from each other about how best to meet these challenges,” Reiche said.

She called for energy system modernization and focused on three conditions that are similar in both countries.

“Our energy supply must be economical and efficient. Our energy supply must be safe. In other words it must further contribute to reducing dependencies on energy imports from largely unstable regions,” Reiche said.

The third condition is making sure the energy supply is environmentally sound meets both country’s climate and clean-air goals.

“If we meet these criteria, we can decrease our dependency on imports while creating sustainable jobs,” she said.

North America’s Intersolar highlights the potential for transatlantic discussions about renewable energy and climate change, according to Reiche.

“This enables us to engage in a healthy contest for the greenest ideas with our American partners. The role of a strong transatlantic dialog will not only affect developments in Germany and the United States, but also send strong signals to countries like China or India,” she said. “If we make the first move others will follow.”

Story continues here.