ANU Solar Oration 2021: The Solar Century

ANU Solar Oration 2021: The Solar Century - renewable energy's role in a zero carbon future

Please note that this event can be attended either in person or online. If you register to attend in person and your plans change, please cancel your ticket to allow others to attend.

Solar energy is positioned to play a huge role in the future energy mix having overtaken fossil fuels as the source of new electricity capacity and acknowledged as the cheapest source of electricity in history.

Event program - 5.30-7pm

An opening statement on the ACT's progress towards net zero emissions will be delivered by the Minister for Water, Energy and Emissions Reduction, Shane Rattenbury MLA.

Marta Victoria will then present the first part of the main presentation, focussing on the historic underestimation of solar's potential role in future grids and how solar is ready to TW scale deployment.

Matt Stocks will then explore the opportunity for solar and wind to decarbonise electricity grids at low cost, unlocking the decarbonisation of other energy sectors which dominate global emissions.

The event will be moderated by Prof Andrew Blakers, from the ANU College of Engineering & Computer Science.

7pm - This event will be followed by drinks and light refreshments for in-person attendees.

About the speakers

Marta Victoria - Assistant Professor of Solar Photovoltaics and Energy Systems Modelling, Aarhus University

Marta is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering at Aarhus University. Her research focuses on the modelling of large-scale energy systems with high renewable penetration paying special attention to the role of solar photovoltaics.

Currently, she participates in the REINVEST project to research alternative transition pathways for Europe and Denmark, and in the HYPERFARM project, investigating different Agrivoltaics concepts.

Marta is a member of the Open Energy Modelling Initiative, which aims to promote openness and transparency in energy system modelling, and I co-develop the open-source energy model PyPSA-Eur-Sec.

Matthew Stocks - Associate Professor, School of Engineering, ANU

Matthew is an Associate Professor in the School of Engineering at the Australian National University. With an early research focus on high efficiency silicon solar cells, he spent most of the early 2000s working in industry on the commercialisation of SLIVER technology.

Since returning to ANU in 2013, his research activities have evolved towards the role of renewable energy and storage in the decarbonisation of electricity grids and other energy sectors.

Matthew is convenor of the renewable energy stream in the ANU Zero Carbon Energy for the Asia-Pacific Grand Challenge. His work with Andrew Blakers and Bin Lu on pumped hydro and 100% renewable electricity in Australia was awarded the Eureka Prize for Environment Science in 2018.