ISES Column in pv magazine (August 2025) - SWC 2025 in Brazil
Immediate Past ISES Board Directors and Leads of the ISES PV Strategy Committee Prof. Andrew Blakers (ANU) and Prof. Ricardo Rüther (UFSC) are pleased to share an ISES column in pv magazine for August 2025
In this column, the authors dive into the development of PV in Brazil, host country for this year's ISES Solar World Congress 2025.
For the first time ever, Brazil will host the International Solar Energy Society’s Solar World Congress in November 2025 — and the spotlight is on photovoltaics as this year's congress programme now reflects a global energy shift: PV is not only booming worldwide but rapidly becoming Brazil’s second-largest power source after hydropower. With rooftop installations exploding across the country and costs plummeting, solar is transforming Brazil’s energy landscape. This year’s congress in Fortaleza promises a deep dive into how this transformation is unfolding — and what it means for the future of energy globally.
Meet the authors
Ricardo Rüther
Prof. Dr. Ricardo Rüther studied Metallurgy and Materials Science at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil and received his Ph.D. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Western Australia. Ricardo Rüther is a Full Professor at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina in Florianopolis-Brazil, in the field of solar photovoltaics, solar irradiation resource assessment, electrochemical storage and electromobility.
Ricardo served as ISES Vice President from 2022-2024 and is currently part of the fiscal committee of ABENS, the official ISES section in Brazil. In 2019, Ricardo was also awarded the ISES Achievement through Action Award.
Prof. Andrew Blakers
Andrew Blakers is Professor of Engineering at the Australian National University. He was a Humboldt Fellow and has held Australian Research Council QEII and Senior Research Fellowships. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering, the Institute of Energy and the Institute of Physics. He is a Public Policy Fellow at ANU.
Professor Blakers’ primary interest is advanced silicon solar cells - increasing efficiency and reducing cost, including for thin film silicon solar cell technology concentrator solar cells, tandem solar cells and PV components and systems. He is also interested in sustainable energy policy, including detailed analysis of energy systems with high (50-100%) penetration by wind and photovoltaics with support from pumped hydro energy storage. He has extensive experience with basic and applied research, and led the teams that developed PERC and Sliver cell technologies. He also has interest in sustainable energy policy, and is engaged in detailed analysis of energy systems with high (50-100%) penetration by wind and photovoltaics with support from pumped hydro energy storage.
He served as ISES Board Director from 2022-2024.