In 2021, the Solar World Congress will continue as an online event offering a wide variety of digital networking opportunities. Originally, SWC 2021 was set to take place in New Delhi, India. But in light of the ongoing pandemic, the International Solar Energy Society decided to move the congress to the digital realm once again. Drawing on its experience of organising last year’s virtual Eurosun 2020 and SWC50, ISES will now host the event online, from 25 to 29 October 2021, supported by the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling programme as a key partner.
“We have been very pleased about the cooperation with IEA SHC at the stage of implementing conferences”, said ISES President Klaus Vajen. “We aim to strengthen also future conferences by the support of close and trusting organisations like IEA SHC.”
Vajen and IEA SHC Chairman Daniel Mugnier agreed that IEA SHC will be a key partner to SWC51. “We want to ensure our conference involvement creates real added value for the science community,” said Mugnier.
IEA SHC Vice Chairman Dr Elimar Frank’s appointment as scientific co-chair of SWC 2021 is perhaps the most visible example of the organisations’ aim to usher in a new era of global cooperation. Frank vowed to put a spotlight on several key topics this year, including SHC and power-to-X concepts and technologies, clean heat applications and thermal energy storage.
“As SWC scientific co-chair, I intend to put an even greater emphasis on SHC technologies and concepts and their role in our energy system as a whole and discuss their potential with experts from other fields,” he said. “This includes shining a light on SHC researchers’ latest achievements and showing at the congress how we can best use their scientific findings to transform the energy sector.”
Besides Frank, who is mandated by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, the scientific committee is headed by Eicke Weber, formerly Director of German Fraunhofer ISE, and Caroline Hachem-Vermette, Assistant Professor at the Canadian University of Calgary’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape. Weber will be in charge of PV-related topics and Hachem-Vermette’s expertise makes her more than qualified to coordinate the SWC conference sessions on green buildings and solar architecture.
SWC 2021 will feature internationally renowned experts presenting cutting-edge technologies as well as national and regional market and policy developments. More information on the congress and its programme will be provided together with SWC’s Call for Participation, expected to open this month.
Organisations and events mentioned in this article: