SA Solar Energy Conference 2016

The 4th Southern African Solar Energy Conference (SASEC 2016) will be held from the 31st October to the 2nd of November 2016 at the Conference Centre at the Faculty of Theology at Stellenbosch University in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

This conference will focus on both Solar Photovoltaic and Solar Thermal Energy technology, systems and applications. The conference will provide the opportunity for researchers, engineers, technologists and individuals to share and discuss recent developments in the field.

The conference will start on the Monday morning with a plenary session where after the presentations will split into PV, Solar Thermal and General Solar tracks. Tuesday will follow a similar programme with a Conference Dinner in the evening. The conference will end on the Wednesday with optional site visits in the afternoon.

The Conference will have a specific focus on research, technology development and deployment of solar energy in the Southern African context shared with experiences from other parts of the world. To benefit the Solar Energy community as a whole, engineers and scientists from academia and industry are encouraged to share their on-going and completed research, technology developments and experiences with technology deployment at the conference.

Presentation at the conference will be subject to acceptance of an abstract. The review process will consist of an initial review of one-page abstracts followed by a rigorous peer review of the complete papers. Comprehensive conference proceedings, with an allocated ISBN number, will be published.

Keynote Speaker: Prof Carsten Agert (Oldenburg)

Photovoltaic Systems

Prof Dr Carsten Agert studied physics at the Universities of Marburg and Canterbury. He subsequently earned his doctorate at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) in Freiburg, where he focused on high-efficiency solar cells. He then conducted research and worked while in Oxford and Pretoria. In January 2002, he returned to the Fraunhofer ISE, where he coordinated strategic planning for the institute’s areas of business. Simultaneously, he served as a member of the research staff of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU).

In 2005, Prof Agert began to direct a fuel cell research group at the Freiburg-based Fraunhofer Institute. Since 2008, he has been Professor for Energy Technology at the University of Oldenburg, where he is Head of the EWE Research Centre NEXT ENERGY. The centre’s work focuses on the areas of Photovoltaics, Fuel Cells and Energy Storage. Prof Agert acts as vice chairman of the executive board of the Lower Saxony Energy Research Centre (efzn) and serves as deputy spokesman of the advisory board of the Energy Storage and Systems Initiative of the State of Lower Saxony.

For more information check out the official website here.