Page 17 - ISES SWC50

FOREWORD

SWC50 Booklet – A Century of Solar

Writing the Forward to this booklet, “SWC50 – A Century of Solar” is a great honor for me. When my good
colleague Geoff Stapleton, who has worked many long months putting this booklet together, asked me to
write this Forward, I accepted without hesitation. Geoff and I have been working together on the International
Solar Energy Society’s (ISES’) Board of Directors for a number of years now. Even though I and others have
also had input to this booklet, Geoff deserves significant credit for creating a vision and then developing the
extensive content of this booklet.

The concept of SWC50, and this booklet that commemorates SWC50, came out of a few brainstorming
sessions that I and other members of the Society held during various ISES Board meetings over the past couple
of years. We were reflecting on how ISES is the oldest continuously operating solar energy society in the world,
with its roots dating back to 1954 when the Association for Applied Solar Energy (AFASE) was formed in the
U.S. state of Arizona. Perhaps not so coincidentally, this was the same year that Bell Telephone Laboratories
patented the first commercial solar cell. ASAFE changed its name to the Solar Energy Society (SES) in the
early 1960s and continued its advocacy and support for solar energy research, development, and deployment,
and to report on its work through scientific conferences and technical publications. Late in that decade, with
the SES running into financial difficulties, representatives from Australia, and in particular the Australian-New
Zealand Solar Energy Society (ANZSES) invited the SES Board to jointly organize the first International Solar
Energy Congress (SWC). The successful Congress was ultimately held in Melbourne, Australia in March 1970.
Following this landmark event, the SES also found a new home in Australia, developed a new charter, and
changed its name to the International Solar Energy Society, with ANZSES and the American Solar Energy
Society, or ASES (the successor to SES), becoming its first two Sections.

Through the discussions of this history the Board recognized that, during 2020, ISES should celebrate the 50th
Anniversary of this inaugural Solar World Congress. The celebration was planned to be held in Melbourne in
conjunction with the Australia’s Asia Pacific Solar Research Conference in December 2020, offering a program
that not only recognizes the solar energy achievements of the past 50 years but also discusses with global
experts the opportunities for solar energy in the coming 50 years. Out of these discussions, SWC50 was born,
with Geoff taking the lead in the event’s organization.

Tragically the coronavirus pandemic that took over the world in early 2020, impacting global commerce and
travel and the lives of millions of families worldwide, forced the SWC50 planning committee into an alternative
plan for an online celebration. Furthermore, an exhibition that had been planned in conjunction with the
SWC in Melbourne was transformed into a virtual “ISES Museum”. Nevertheless, this booklet, designed as
a permanent and living commemoration of SWC50, has remained a key vision for Geoff and the rest of the
planning committee. Throughout the year Geoff has put immense time and effort into leading its development,
and I am very pleased to be writing the Forward for this accomplishment.

This booklet consists of several key components. First, the reader will find highlights of the history of ISES
going back to 1955, as well as historical highlights of some of the key technologies that ISES has supported
over the years: Solar PV, Solar Thermal, Concentrating Solar Power, Buildings and Architecture, and PV in
the Developing World. These historical highlights, organised by decade, were developed from a number of
historical books and documents, as well as personal recollections of many people who have been involved
in ISES and the technology developments throughout the decades. In particular I want to highlight one key
source of information here: The two-volume “Fifty-Year History of ISES”, published in 2005 and edited by Prof.
Karl Boer of the University of Delaware. Karl, who passed away on 18 April 2018 at the age of 92, played
many key roles with ISES and was a stalwart supporter of solar energy research and development. In the
late 1980s he created the prestigious Solar Energy Medal of Merit at the University of Delaware, of whom
the first recipient was U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Through the years the medal has been awarded to many
distinguished pioneers in solar energy development, many of whom are ISES members.

XVI | ISES SWC50 - The Century of Solar-Stories and Visions