ISES Solar World Congress

The ISES Solar World Congress, held biennially since the 1970's embodies the spirit of international networking and exchange of ideas advanced by the Society. Its objective is to maintain communication between the research community, industrial and political players. Purchase past conference proceedings from the ISES online bookshop or search for proceedings in the ISES conference proceedings database.

Solar World Congress 2023

The Solar World Congress 2023 will take place in New Delhi, India from 30 October - 04 November.

ISES SWC 2023 will give you a chance to present your work, meet researchers, developers and industry and government representatives, and send you home inspired and motivated to continue moving the world towards 100% renewable energy.

SWC 2023 will bring together a global audience from the renewable energy community. Distinguished invited speakers will include scientists and researchers, industry representatives, government and NGO leaders, entrepreneurs, practitioners, and students from around the world. SWC was in India in 1978 for the largest conference up to now and we are thrilled to come back to India this year.

Learn more about the congress here.

Solar World Congress 2021 - Virtual Congress

SWC 2021 - The first fully virtual ISES Solar World Congress

From October 25 to 29 2021, 240 attendees from all around the world joined the first ever fully virtual ISES Solar World Congress 2021. Initially planned to take place in New Delhi, India the decision to take the congress online due to the COVID-19 pandemic was taken in late 2020.

During the five congress days, attendees enjoyed keynotes by renowned international experts, high-level plenary sessions, workshops, forums and technical sessions. Authors from all around the world presented their work throughout 31 technical sessions and the congress also offered events specifically for young and emerging solar researchers such as a Masters Course in Solar Energy held by ISES President Prof. Klaus Vajen (University of Kassel) and a special "Solar Speed Dating" Event introducing young congress attendees to senior experts.

The congress welcomed the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme as a Key Partner of the congress and was supported by  SWC 2021 Gold Sponsors Sunrain and Baywa r.e. as well as SWC 2021 Silver Sponsor Heliac. 

 

Reflections on SWC 2021 | ISES

SWC50 - The Century of Solar

SWC50 - The Century of Solar

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). 

The SWC50 highlights the transformation in the global energy sector that has taken place since the first ISES Solar World Congress in 1970 and looks forward to the next 50 years when renewable energy will be the major cornerstone of the global energy system. The Conference is  about the people: researchers, industry players, policy makers, and leaders from NGOs and non-profits who have all contributed to make renewable energy the fastest growing contributor to our global energy supply.

 

SWC50 comprised of:

  • A virtual conference in December 2020 whichincluded a total of six 90-minute sessions spread over the 2 days. In the sessions, the presenters looked back over the past 50 years of solar energy development – technical and policy;show the link between the scientists/research and industry; and based on this progress and experience, looked forward to what is required within the next 50 years to move towards a global 100% Renewable Energy (RE) target.

 

In 2021, the celebration of SWC50 will continued with two SWC50 follow up webinars on Transforming the Air, Sea, and Land Freight Transport Sector and on Perspectives for the Future Power Grid.

 

SWC50 Newsletters

 

2021 Newsletters

 

2020 Newsletters

Solar World Congress 2019 in Santiago, Chile

Over 430 participants from 48 countries were welcomed to the ISES Solar World Congress 2019  in Santiago,Chile, held together with the IEA (International Energy Agency) Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (SHC) International Conference on Solar Heating and Cooling for Buildings and Industry.
From 03 - 07 November, the SWC 2019 reinforced the long tradition of connecting the research and academic community with decision makers from different government sectors, industry, financiers and practitioners. This is the first time that the ISES Solar World Congress as well as the SHC Conference took place in South America and we were very pleased to host this event in Chile, a country that’s has shown it's commitment to the fast deployment of renewable energy to transition the Chilean energy matrix to 100% renewable energy.

We thank our host, SERC-Chile (Solar Energy Research Center Chile), a consortium of seven Chilean Universities, as well as the Fraunhofer-Chile Foundation, for their warm hospitality and during the Congress,. Thank you to all our speakers, partners, sponsors and participants for making this event a success.

View the conference proclamation here.

The conference proceedings are available through the ISES conference proceedings database.

Solar World Congress 2017 in Abu Dhabi, UAE

The ISES Solar World Congress, SWC 2017 was held at the Jumeirah Hotel at Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 29 October to 02 November 2017. A unique feature of this Congress is that it was held jointly with the 5th International Conference on Solar Heating and Cooling for Buildings and Industry, SHC 2017. The theme of the event was: Innovation for the 100% Renewable Energy Transformation.

With the support of Masdar Institute, part of the Khalifa University for Science and Technology, nearly 500 renewable energy practitioners, researchers, project developers, academics, decision makers and advocates representing 58 countries have gathered at this joint conference

View the conference proclamation: https://www.ises.org/news/solar-world-congress-2017-solar-heating-and-cooling-2017-proclamation

View the conference website: www.swc2017.org

The conference proceedings will be available on the ISES conference proceedings database: proceedings.ises.org

Solar World Congress 2015 in Daegu, Korea

From 8 – 12 November 2015 the International Solar Energy Society (ISES) and the Korean Solar Energy Association hosted a successful and informative gathering of solar energy researchers, professionals, industry representatives and decision-makers from around the world.

Download the conference proceedings (open-access) on the ISES conference porceedings database.

View the SWC2015 website

Solar World Congress 2013 in Cancún, Mexico

The International Solar Energy Society (ISES) brought its biennial Solar World Congress to the Latin American region for the first time, meeting in Cancun, Mexico from 3 to 7 November.

The Mexican Solar Energy Society (ANES) co-hosted the conference.

More than 750 scientists, engineers, decision-makers, industry representatives, students and energy practitioners, from 66 nations around the world, met to share their progress. They explored many new opportunities for achieving a renewable energy future for all the people of the world.

Researchers presented more than 400 technical papers and interactive forums, offering up-to-date information on renewable energy technology trends and breakthroughs, best practices in deploying these technologies, global and regional policies, and market opportunities.

View the Solar World Congress 2013 Proclamation.

The proceedings of the SWC 2013 were published in Energy Procedia by Elsevier available here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/18766102/57/supp/C

A selection of best paper from the SWC 2015 was published in the ISES Solar Energy Journal by Elsevier, available on Science Direct here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0038092X/121

www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0038092X/121 

Solar World Congress 2011 in Kassel, Germany

The ISES Solar World Congress 2011 was the world's largest scientific congress in the field of solar energy and buildings. It took place from 28 August to 2 September 2011 in Kassel, Germany.

Upon conclusion of the Congress, ISES issued a statement which sent a clear message to decision and policy makers around the world that renewable energy is key to climate recovery and sustainable development. 

The proceedings of the SWC 2011 are available for all participants to download at http://proceedings.ises.org/?conference=swc2011. You can also order a DVD with proceedings from the ISES online bookshop.

Solar World Congress 2009 in Johannesburg, South Africa

The ISES Solar World Congress 2009 hosted by the Sustainable Energy Society of Southern Africa in Johannesburg, South Africa, attended by participants from all over the world resolves as follows:

The global target of 100 % renewable energies is both attainable and necessary by the middle of the current century. This is motivated on grounds of ecological, economic and social sustainability.

The unacceptable backlog in energy supply in the third world countries can only be covered cost effectively and in time by the use of renewable energies. Especially the industrialised countries have to increase their efforts in transitioning to renewable energies.

View the Solar World Congress 2009 Resolution.

Purchase the proceedings of the SWC 2009 from ISES.

SWC 2025 - Call for Expression of Interest

The ISES Solar World Congress 2025 (SWC 2025) planning is underway and the first item of business is the search for a Local Host.  Is your organization interested in being considered as the 2025 local conference host? If yes, you can find more details on the Local Host's responsibilities and application process here.

The deadline for Expressions of Interest is 01 July 2023. If you have any questions, please contact ISES Headquarters at swc [at] ises.org.

 

About the ISES Solar World Congresses

The ISES Solar World Congress, held biennially since the 1970's embodies the spirit of international networking and exchange of ideas advanced by the Society. Its objective is to maintain communication between the research community, industrial and political players. At the congresses, ISES gathers the world's pre-eminent solar energy researchers, practitioners, and stakeholders to share technology developments, new research breakthroughs, case studies and best practices in solar and renewable energy development. 

Learn more about past ISES Solar World Congresses here.