Read our March newsletter below or here.
Category Archives: News
Breaking Barriers: SolarPACES conference welcomes its first chairwoman

At Women+ in Concentrated Solar, we are thrilled to celebrate a significant moment in the history of the SolarPACES conference. For the first time ever, a woman, Arantxa Fernández from CIEMAT-PSA, has been appointed as Chairperson—an exciting step forward for gender diversity in the concentrated solar community! This achievement reflects the growing recognition of the invaluable contributions of women in solar energy research, development, and implementation.
Arantxa received her BS/MEng in Industrial Engineering in 2004 from the University of Málaga, Spain, her MS degree in Solar Energy in 2007 from the University of Almería, Spain, and her PhD degree in Environmental Engineering in 2013 from the University of Almería, Spain. She has developed her entire research career at CIEMAT-Plataforma Solar de Almería, with 23 years of experience in concentrated solar thermal energy, particularly in materials for CST technology, an R&D line that she currently leads at CIEMAT. This research area, driven by Arantxa, fosters close collaboration with DLR.
The appointment of Arantxa not only highlights the progress made toward greater inclusivity but also serves as an inspiration for future generations of women pursuing careers in this field.
We extend our sincere congratulations to Arantxa and look forward to the continued advancement of SolarPACES.
You can read Arantxa’s invitation for SolarPACES 2025 in the SolarPACES conference webpage.
Here’s to a more diverse and inclusive future in concentrated solar!
2024 overview

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In total:
During the year:


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Announcing SolarPACES 2024 conference
Join us for the 30th SolarPACES Anniversary in Rome, Italy!
The conference will take place from October 8 to 12.
More info at www.solarpaces-conference.org

Free Online CSP Courses Coming This Fall
Northeastern University is developing free online CSP courses that will be offered to the public this fall. Please complete this short questionnaire if you are interested in the courses.
The courses are meant to support prospective, new, or existing workers in the CSP industry. The planned topics include:
1) What is CSP: An overview of the discipline and its advantages
2) Incident solar radiation prediction, ray tracing basics, losses, software available and control needs
3) Receiver design: basic design and numerical approaches
4) Energy storage, need and cost factors
5) Potential for production processes at high temperature high heat fluxes in CSP systems
Newsletter #12 – February 2024
Read our February newsletter below or here.
Newsletter #11 – January 2024
Read our January newsletter below or here.
Newsletter #10 – December 2023
Read our December newsletter below or here.
2023 overview
Here is our 2023 overview. At a glance. With numbers.


in our database



networking events

networking event

at conferences
Want to learn more?
- Check all our news
- Check our expert database
- Check our mentorship program
Newsletter #9 – November 2023
Read our November newsletter below or here.