After their success last year, Women+ in Concentrated Solar is organizing a new round of global virtual networking events, where we will again meet online with concentrated solar experts from all over the world.
Connect and network with members of the Concentrated Solar community around the globe
Two sessions are proposed, depending on your region. Registration is free but required. Both events will be held on Zoom. Once registered, you will receive a connection link.
Women+ in Concentrated Solar, with the valuable support and organization by ATA Insights, is happy to present their webinar on “The untapped potential of small scale CSP“, which was held online on January 16, 2024 @ 1 pm CET (duration: 1h).
CSP is emerging as a dynamic solution in the renewable energy landscape. Unlike its large-scale counterparts, small-scale CSP systems are designed with modularity in mind, providing a flexible and scalable approach to energy generation. Whether it’s powering a remote community, an agricultural operation, or an individual residence, these systems can be tailored to meet specific energy needs, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional power sources.
The decentralized nature of small-scale CSP is a game-changer. By bringing solar energy generation closer to the point of use, these systems reduce dependence on centralized grids, especially in off-grid or remote areas. This decentralization not only enhances energy access but also promotes resilience, making small-scale CSP a key player in the quest for sustainable and locally-driven energy solutions.
Beyond electricity generation, small-scale CSP showcases its versatility in various applications. From providing heat for industrial processes to supporting agricultural activities like crop drying, the potential applications are diverse.
Join this webinar to learn how small-scale CSP stands out as a technology that empowers communities and businesses alike to harness the abundant power of the sun:
Discover the need and solutions available on small scale CSP to provide affordable and sustainable energy solutions for industrial process heat and rural on/off-grid applications
Learn about small-scale concentrated solar power systems
Access an example of a practical case on small-scale concentrated solar power system
Sabrina will introduce the need and solutions available on small scale CSP to provide affordable and sustainable energy solutions for industrial process heat and rural on/off-grid applications. For regions with power outages or limited access to electricity, these solutions can help address energy security and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
Research fellow at ANU (Australian National University)
She will present insights from her research paper on small-scale concentrated solar power systems, touching on system-level modelling and techno-economic optimization, while also providing an overview of research progress in this area.
Natalie will discuss the modular CSP technology developed by 247Solar Inc., highlighting thermal heat storage and its initial deployment in India in 2024, focusing on key benefits, challenges, and insights gained from the deployment.
On November 15th at 11am-12pm MST (7-8 pm CET), Ms. Kyla Hampton and Ms. Courtney Jackson, Engineering Students at Clark Atlanta University and Northeastern University, will give a talk about “LSAMP Summer Experience: A Cleaning Mirror Assessment with Reflectance”. More information here.
On October 18th, Dr. Adriana Zurita, Senior Researcher and Project Manager at Tewer Engineering, conjointly with Marco Carrascosa, CEO, gave a seminar on “Calibration and Characterization Systems in Solar Concentration Plants: Field Expertise, Conclusions, and Lessons Learned“. Watch the replay here.
You can also check out past webinars, for instance the webinar on “Intern Projects in Heliostat Technologies at NREL, SNL” featuring Miriam Caron (NREL) and Madeline Hwang (SNL).
We also recommend the most essential webinar on “Mitigating Unconscious Bias in Work Teams” by Anelisa Simons, Manager of Inclusion, Diversity, Equal Employment, Opportunity and Affirmative Action at Sandia National Labs: video, flyer. Or how to counteract unconscious bias with conscious inclusion.
Our representatives will briefly present our group and its actions during the introductory plenary session, don’t miss it!
All throughout the conference, you will find more information at our Women+ in Concentrated Solar dedicated desk, including our posters and brochures, QR code to visit our website and register as a member in our expert database. During breaks, you may also encounter our representatives there, as well as other attendees, so feel free to come around! You can also make an appointment via the website contact form or the conference Whova space, to be sure to meet with our representatives during breaks.
A Women+ in Concentrated Solar “Happy Hour” will be held on Thursday, October 12, from 6:30 to 7:30 PM for attendees of underrepresented gender identities. This will be an opportunity for us to network in a more informal way, get to know one another, create professional connections, exchange ideas and points of views, etc. After the event, you can go to the Young Professionnal dinner or stay with us a bit longer!
We hope to see you there!
Our actions this year also include advocating for the participation of more underrepresented gender identities as topic track chairs and session chairs, and gathering and analyzing gender statistics on conference participants. Thanks to this, this year for the first time, half of topic track chairs are women!
Gender equality in the energy sector is imperative to implement the whole potential of renewable energy and to foster a just energy transition, in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Women Energize Women conference invites participants from across the globe to experience discussion rounds, workshops and other innovative formats on energy and gender topics with exclusively female speakers. The conference allows for women* and allies of a social just energy transition to connect with each other, gain more visibility on international fora and shape the discussion on the energy transition themselves.
2023 China International CSP Conference & CSPPlaza 10th Annual Conference (CPC2023) is the largest, highest level, and the most professional annual event in China solar thermal power industry. It’s cosponsored by China solar thermal power authority media platform CSPPLAZA and the leading enterprise Cosin Solar Technology Co., Ltd. It was held on June 12 and 13, 2023, in New Century Grand Hotel, Hangzhou. More than 60 distinguished guests from the global CSP industry presented a mental feast focusing on the theme of “New Era · New Opportunity · New Growth” for the CSP industry in the two-day session.
Women+ in Concentrated Solar was present at this event to attract more CSP professionals from Asia and give them more international visibility!
Did you know that many women are working in Thermal Energy Storage (TES)? Now you have an opportunity to learn about the work of five international specialists in TES sector.
Women+ in Concentrated Solar, in partnership with ATA Insights, organized their first webinar on May 25th, 2023, on the topic of thermal energy storage technologies. In this webinar, five members of W+CS explained the current market situation and new R&D technologies in their countries: Spain, China and Morocco. A big thanks to our five amazing speakers who taught us a lot about innovative solutions in the thermal energy storage sector!
Esther Rojas: Senior Researcher from Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA) in CIEMAT, Spain
Mª Del Rocío Bayon: Researcher and Coordinator of the Thermal Storage Unit from Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA) in CIEMAT, Spain
Teresa Gong: Deputy Director of Global Business Development of Cosin Solar, China
Yan Wang: Associate Professor at the Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Khadija Elalami: Postdoctoral fellow at Green Energy Park, Morocco
Cristina Galán: Content & Event Manager at ATA Insights [Moderator]
We want to thank ATA Insights for their amazing work, and everyone who attended: more than 90 people joined the webinar! It was a real success to bring so many people together, interested in thermal storage, and give visibility to women speakers in the field.
If you couldn’t attend our webinar, you can watch the replay on YouTube.
Women+ in Concentrated Solar, with the valuable support and organization by ATA Insights, is happy to announce their first webinar on “How thermal energy storage makes variable renewables dispatchable”, which will be held online on May 25, 2023 @ 1 pm CEST.
Energy storage is the key to secure resilience, reliability and dispatchability in the grid even when the energy mix is based on variable renewables. However, while there is a lot of awareness about batteries, thermal storage is still a largely unknown treasure to be distpachable – coming at third or less of the cost. In this webinar 5 thermal energy storage talk about the experience with thermal storage in Spain, China and Morocco and the new R&D technology that will revolutionize storing energy with longer durations, better round trip efficiencies and more competitive costs.
Join this webinar and…
Hear about state-of-the-art of thermal energy storage developments in China, Spain and Morocco and understand the impact it has in renewable energy industry growth
Analyze the main promising innovation efforts under development worldwide and when they will be deployed in commercial projects
Study thermal storage technology close up to understand how large commercial capacity systems figures
Speakers
Esther Rojas: Senior Scientist from Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA) in CIEMAT
Mª Del Rocío Bayon: Researcher and Coordinator of the Thermal Storage Unit from Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA) in CIEMAT
Teresa Gong: Deputy Director of Global Business Development of Cosin Solar
Yan Wang: associate professor of Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Khadija Elalami: postdoc at Green Energy Park
Cristina Galán: Content & Event Manager at ATA Insights [Moderator]
To celebrate International Women’s Day, Women+ in Concentrated Solar organized the first global online networking events, with two time slots depending on your region. We met online with concentrated solar experts from all over the world.
At a glance
Rebecca Mitchell works at NREL on algorithms to determine error of heliostats and she is also creating a database on CSP education related materials. During the first networking event on March 9, 2023, she met with many CSP experts, who could provide her materials for her database. Also, Dr. Natalie Hanrieder from DLR works with meteorological data and kindly offered to share the collected data on DNI with other participants who do the simulation and modeling. A common ground was also generally acknowledged concerning the challenges of promoting concentrated solar thermal technologies in our respective countries.
These are just a few examples of successful matchmaking and connections during these two networking events, where more than 30 members of the concentrated solar community, from all around the world (Europe, Americas, Africa and Asia), got to know one another and had a chance to talk about their work and interests. These networking events were a great opportunity to establish international collaborations, learn more about the current work of colleagues and find useful connections.
We also discussed about your interests in possible future actions of our Women+ in Concentrated solar group. Thank you, we’ll take them under consideration, we are already working on it! If you want to tell us more or help us, you can answer our survey.
Thank you!
Thank you everyone who joined these two Networking Events of Women+ in Concentrated Solar! We were very pleased to meet all of you and have some time to chat about our work and possible connections. It was amazing and inspiring to hear all your stories. This is already helping us to create a women and underrepresented genders network to connect and support one another!
To celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day, Women+ in Concentrated Solar network is organizing the first global online networking events. We will meet online with concentrated solar experts from all over the world joining us.
Everyone is welcome!
Learn about Women+ in Concentrated Solar and upcoming opportunities
Connect and network with members of the Concentrated Solar community around the globe
Two sessions are proposed, depending on your region. Registration is free but required. Both events will be held on Zoom. Once registered, you will receive a connection link.
