Overview

"Making solar energy economical" is a global engineering challenge, with the potential to enable the transition to a clean and sustainable energy future. By far the highest global growth and new investment in renewable technologies is being experienced by the solar sector, and solar systems are projected to deliver the majority of the world’s electricity by 2050.

Although most solar technologies today are designed for either electrical power generation (eg photovoltaic or PV, and concentrated solar power or CSP) or hot water generation, solar systems can be used to deliver multiple useful energy vectors, including heating, cooling, clean water, or any combination of the above. In this talk, we will present the underpinning principles of conventional solar technologies, including PV, CSP and solar-thermal, and extend the discussion to more recent developments.

Presenter

Christos N Markides, Professor of Clean Energy Technologies, Clean Energy Processes (CEP) Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College

Christos Markides is Professor of Clean Energy Technologies and Head of the Clean Energy Processes (CEP) Laboratory at Imperial College London. He is also, amongst other, Editor-in-Chief of ‘Applied Thermal Engineering’. He specialises in applied thermodynamics, fluid flow and heat/mass transfer processes as applied to high-performance devices, technologies and systems for thermal-energy recovery, utilisation, conversion or storage. His research interests include heating, cooling and power, and in particular, solar energy and heat recovery and conversion in diverse applications.

He has published >250 journal papers and >300 conference papers on these topics and won multiple awards, including: IMechE’s ‘Donald J. Groen’ outstanding paper prize in 2016, IChemE’s ‘Global Award for Best Research Project' in 2018, and the Engineers without Borders ‘Chill Challenge’ in 2020. He also received Imperial College President’s Awards for Teaching Excellent in 2016 and Research Excellence in 2017.

The material presented in this webinar has not been peer-reviewed. Any opinions are the presenter’s own and do not necessarily represent those of IChemE or the North Lancashire Group. The information is given in good faith but without any liability on the part of IChemE.

Time

17:30—19:00 BST.

Format

A one and a half hour online session: approximately 70 minutes' presentation + 20 minutes' Q&A.

Software

The presentation will be delivered via GoToWebinar®. 
Check system requirements.

You are advised to join the webinar at least ten minutes before the scheduled start time, to allow for your computer to connect.