To all our members and newsletter readers,

In these strange and worrying times, we hope you are all keeping well. Here at the ISES Headquarters some of us are working from home and all are enforcing the advice about social distancing. We are carefully monitoring the situation to know how it might effect any upcoming events and activities planned this year. We will let you all know if any changes will be made. For example, the SWC50 event, originally planned to take place in Melbourne, Australia in December will now be a virtual event. Read more below.

In the meantime, here are some ISES resources you may find nice to explore while staying home:

· If you have some time and interest to study some of the latest solar science presented at ISES conferences, explore our open access and free ISES conferences proceedings website.

· Did you miss an ISES webinar? Log-on to view all the webinar recordings and access the presentations from our full webinar archive.

· Have you read our new Infographics series? Check out the facts on solar energy here.

· Looking for a good read? Visit our bookstore to see a selection of solar energy books. Remember, ISES members get discounts.

As we face this global pandemic, we are also experiencing a growing feeling of community as we connect via conference calls, chats and other on-line means. We feel some of the on-line resources ISES offers can help connect our members. We are always looking for new ideas to help our community connect and stay informed. If you have any ideas, please contact us. We welcome our members feedback any time.

Thank you for being loyal ISES friends and supporters. Stay healthy, stay safe.

In 1970 solar research pioneers met at the first International Solar Energy Society (ISES) Conference in Melbourne, Australia.

ISES is commemorating this Conference with a special 50th Anniversary Virtual Conference, called the Solar World Congress at 50 (SWC50).

Initially SWC50 was to be held in Melbourne Australia from 2 - 4 December 2020; however because of the uncertainty of possible travel restrictions for international participants due to the Coronavirus, ISES has cancelled the
face-to-face international conference. The face-to-face conference will be replaced by a series of virtual conferences which will include the same panel sessions that are being planned for this conference, as well as an online display that will be accessible online via the event website. 

This alternative format also has the added benefits of reducing this event’s carbon footprint, increasing opportunities for participation, and providing additional visibility for our celebration partners and sponsors.

Being an ISES Member has many benefits and we are happy to introduce one of them to you this month - long term access to all webinar recordings and presentations in the ISES webinar archive and a certificate of attendance!

Whilst supporting ISES as the global voice for renewable energy and our vision of 100% renewable energy for everyone used wisely and efficiently, our members enjoy the long term exclusive access to the ISES webinar archive including all presentations and recordings of the ISES webinars.

Additionally, ISES Members attending the webinars can receive a certificate of attendance from ISES for their personal use.

This provides ISES Members with state of the art presentations on highly relevant solar energy related topics in science, technology development, market and industrial implementation, social issues, training and education.

On March 10, ISES introduced the latest edition of the ISES Infographics on the topic of solar thermal heat for industry processes in a new webinar.

The ISES Infographics publications series was launched in 2018 to provide a tool to discuss the possibilities of renewable energy and especially solar energy with family, friends, colleagues or decision-makers.

The first edition was released in 2018, debunking eight commonly claimed myths about renewable energy and grid integration. The second installment, launched at the ISES Solar World Congress 2019 in Santiago, Chile addresses the potential of solar thermal heat for industry processes, showcasing the success of solar in the production of every-day consumer goods.

The recording of the latest infographics webinar is available and we invite you download, use and share the infographics!

ISES Company Member euronovia is pleased to report the finalization of SOLPART, a EU-funded project which stands for “High temperature Solar-Heated Reactors for Industrials Production of Reactive Particulates”. The project’s main objective is to develop - at a pilot scale - a high temperature (800-1000°C) continuous solar process suitable for particle treatment in energy intensive industries. Such a technology could substitute fossil fuels with solar heat by 60 to 100 % and cutting the greenhouse gas emissions generated by mineral industries by 40-60%.

After 4 years of collaborative research between 10 partners from 7 countries, SOLPART came to an end in December 2019. 

ISES Silver Small Company Member, Global Sustainable Energy Solutions (GSES), has released an article on PV systems operation and maintenance options.

Please find the full article here.

The organisers of the joint trade shows Intersolar Europe, the smarter E Europe, Power2Drive Europe, ees Europe und EM-Power have decided to cancel this year’s event due to the global outbreak of the COVID-19 and the recommendations of the state and national governments.

The next Intersolar Europe will take place on 09 - 11 June 2021.

The organisers Solar Promotion GmbH and the Freiburg Wirtschaft Touristik und Messe GmbH & Co. KG (FWTM) made the decision to cancel the 2020 event in close cooperation with the registered exhibitors and associations involved in the event.

The Intersolar Europe is a large international event with about 1,400 exhibitors from 45 countries and 50,000 visitors from 160 countries.

ASES, the American Solar Energy Society has developed a Solar Energy Workbook for everyone ages 8-108 to learn about solar and other renewable energy. The workbook is a great tool for everybody staying at home, online and offline and even virtual classrooms.

GWNET, the Global Women's Network for the Energy Transition launched a new campaign ‘Energy Transition Role Models: Inspiring the Next Generation of Women Entrepreneurs,’ which showcases portraits of remarkable women entrepreneurs in sustainable energy, with the goal to give female leadership visibility and inspire and encourage other to follow suit.

The campaign is made up of a 14-part video series (of which 8 videos have been released) as well as an informative brochure which has global, regional, and national resources for women entrepreneurs.

ISES Board Member, and Executive Director and founding Member of GWNET, Christine Lins, said:

“We are excited to share these diverse stories of entrepreneurship from women energy leaders working around the world. We believe that the personal experiences of the women featured will provide invaluable insights for younger women looking to move into this space, ultimately supporting and bolstering equal engagement of women in the sector.”

The European Association for Renewable Energy, EUROSOLAR is pleased to announce the call for applications for both the German as well as the European Solar Prize 2020. This year, EUROSOLAR will award the first renewable energy pioneers of the new decade and invites cities, municipalities, architects, municipal and private companies, associations, organisations and cooperatives, journalists and of course citizens from all over Europe to take part.

With approximately three billion people cooking over open fires, there is tremendous potential for countries to save money by avoiding the environmental and health costs associated with biomass cooking. SCI, the Solar Cookers International is pleased to introduce the publication of the Economic Impact Sheets complied by SCI which address these economic impacts of solar cooking in many countries around the world.

In these uncertain times, a good read and a chuckle are worth so much!

Check out the Solar Cat by author Jim Augustin, mixing cat wisdom with science and solar politics.

Don't forget, The Solar Cat is available in the ISES online bookshop.