The 5th Southern African Solar Energy Conference (SASEC) 2018 was held from 25 to 27 June at the Blue Waters Hotel in Durban. The conference focused equally on solar photovoltaic and solar thermal energy technologies at both the system and component levels, as well as on policy issues related to technology implementation. The conference also included presentations on solar resource mapping. SASEC 2018 proceeded smoothly and provided a good opportunity for researchers, developers and students to share and discuss recent developments in the field. It was pleasing to note that about half of the attendees were postgraduate students for whom the event represented a good opportunity to showcase research progress, network and develop knowledge of solar energy technologies.
The conference technical programme was compiled under the auspices of an International Advisory and Review Committee comprising thirty-three leading solar energy experts, including several international researchers. The event began on Monday 25 June with an opening session that included addresses by Professor Sampson Mamphweli (Director: CRSES), Professor Deresh Ramjugernath (DVC Research: UKZN), Councillor Ntando Khuzwayo (eThekwini Municipality) and Dr Rebecca Maserumule (Chief Director of Hydrogen and Energy: DST).
The first keynote address of SASEC 2018 was delivered by Dr.-Ing. Michael Geyer, the Chief Development Officer of Abengoa-Algonquin Global Energy Solutions. He spoke on the global roll-out of concentrating solar power (CSP) systems and how the cost of generating electricity from CSP plants continues to fall as plants are scaled up in size. Professor Kumar Venayagamoorthy of Clemson University provided the keynote address on the second day of the conference, and he related progress in integrating solar PV within microgrids. The keynote on day three of the conference was given by Dr. Claudia Buerhop-Lutz of the Bavarian Center for Applied Energy Research (ZAE Bayern) in Erlangen, Germany, who discussed novel techniques for inspection of photovoltaic panels, including the use of aerial drones.
A total of sixty-seven technical papers were presented at SASEC 2018. These were categorised according to their content into the broad topic areas of Solar Thermal Technology, Policy and Economics, Solar Resource and Photovoltaics. These categories were further subdivided into session themes including Cycle and Plant Modelling, Heat Transfer, Optics, Modelling and Experiment, PV Modules, PV Testing and Validation, and PV and Grids. In total ninety-three delegates attended SASEC 2018 from multiple countries, including the USA, Chile, Switzerland, Namibia, Brazil, Italy and the United Kingdom.
The next SASEC conference will be hosted by the University of Fort Hare and will take place towards the end of 2019, beginning 2020.
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