Renewable Energy Education

Progress to a truly sustainable renewable energy world will be accelerated by a strong workforce of renewable energy professionals and practitioners, and an informed, supportive public. This forum will cover the wide range workforce development opportunities, including higher education curricula and training courses, as well as important aspects of k-12 and public education on renewable energy and sustainable living basics. Each of the 4-5 panelists will provide an overview of progress and their recommendations for improvements moving forward. The audience is invited to bring their viewpoints and engage in a highly interactive Q&A with the panel. The goal of this forum is to draft a set of recommendations that can be further developed into general ISES renewable energy education guidelines.

Tuesday, 31 October 2017 at 09:00 - 10:30

Speakers

• Dr. Paulette Middleton - Moderator 
• Prof. Yogi Goswami - University Curricula for Solar Professionals
• Dr. Jeffrey Brownson - Online Education for Students Worldwide: Penn State’s Renewable Energy & Sustainable Systems Approach
• Ms. Emma Aberg or another person from IRENA - IRENA Workforce Development Programs
• Mr. Geoff Stapleton - Training Programs

Energy Access- Individual Solar Home Systems Vs Micro-Grids

An estimated 1.2 billion people – 16% of the global population – did not have access to electricity according to World Energy Organisation -2016,. More than 95% of those living without electricity are in countries in sub-Saharan Africa and developing Asia, and they are predominantly in rural areas.  Historically individual solar home systems have been supplying basic lighting and small appliances. While in recent years solar based hybrid mini-grids have been installed to meet the electrical needs of remote villages. This forum will address question such as :

What are the issues with supplying power to the those un-electrified?

What are the disadvantages and advantages of the two delivery modules?

Wednesday, 01 November 2017 at 09:00 - 10:30

Speakers are:

• Katarina Hasbani  (ARE Board member) Forum Chair/moderator
• Harish Hande (SELCO Solar Light)
• Peter Adelmann (Institute for Decentralised  Electrification)
• Geoff Stapleton (GSES and ISES Board member)
• AbuBakr Bahaj ( Energy and Climate Change Division at the University of Southampton)

Breaking the Vicious Circle of Poverty in the Nepal Himalayas

Lessons learned over 20 years of bridging the gap between community development, applied research and investment in the Nepal Himalayas, and the importance of access to improved energy services through Renewable Energy Technologies. 

Dr. Alex Zahnd will summarize some of the key lessons he learned how contextualized technologies, educational tools and infrastructures developed according to the local communities’ self-identified needs can break the chains of extreme poverty through a constructive cross-cultural dialogue and awaken educational and economic activities. He will also illustrate that a long-term and holistic perspective of all involved stakeholders, especially in the project partnership and in funding, is one of the most critical success factors of development projects and still deserves a wider recognition as a best practice.

Thursday, 02 November 2017 at 09:00 - 10:30 

Speaker: Dr. Alex Zahnd, RIDS-Nepal/Switzerland (www.rids-nepal.org / www.rids-switzerland.org) and ISES Board Member