Page 23 - ISES SWC50

The program, provided in Appendix 1, shows titles of the 62 papers presented. The conference had
190 attendees.

The SWC50 organising committee was contacted by Tom Lawand from Canada who had attended the 1970
conference. Here is a summary of his recollections from the conference:

I remember the fact that it was the first international meeting in Australia dealing with renewable energy. I am
sure that Australia today is a more cosmopolitan country then what I recall from 1970.

People were invited to come ahead of the conference and some, like myself, did. Others came on
the weekend before the event. For those present before the conference, that weekend was eventful.
The Australian organisers were new to organising an international event and there were a few issues. In
particular, some arriving over the weekend had wrong paperwork etc and some got lost. Fortunately, a number
of drivers were available, and things finally got sorted but that weekend still stands out in my memory of the
event.

I and others were invited by Roger Morse to have a section on solar distillation of saline or brackish water.
However, the solar industry gravitated to a more industrial type of solar heating applications. This was the
early days and our deliberations represented the coming of age of the field of solar energy. Today solar energy
is a lot more sophisticated and renewable energy is a real contributor to our society.

I remember the cocktail party that Bill Charters and I held for the leaders from the field and those from the
developing areas of the world. It felt nice to commemorate the ten years I had been previously attending
renewable energy conferences all over the place, and Australia turned out to be the crown jewel.

Photo of Tom Lawland at a Village Power Conference in late 1990’s

Unfortunately, none of the conference committee is still alive and no photos from the first conference were
located. However, within the ISES highlights there are photos of some of the early presidents and others in
Australia which possibly could have been taken during this conference. These people have a left an excellent
legacy: the ISES Solar World Congress has been held continually every two years since 1970.

ISES SWC50 - The Century of Solar-Stories and Visions | 5