Page 259 - ISES SWC50

Eric Hawkins
Country: United Kingdom
Year joined industry: 1991
Company first worked for: Quality Services Ltd
Technology area: Solar Thermal
Still active in the industry: Yes

After 10 years in the plumbing, heating and bathroom industry as his own boss, Eric Hawkins ventured into designing
a new type of hot water tank, now called a Thermal Store. It was during a home installation that he looked at how
to pre-heat the cold mains water to increase the efficiency through ST. This led to his first solar thermal collector
design, which he later included in a container to Cyprus in 1993, where Eric then spent the next 5 years. During this
time there, he educated himself about what was failing in ST and set up a new business importing evacuated tubes
from China, as well as testing the SUNDA heat pipe collector. On his return to UK with a SUNDA UK agency, Eric
set up a new business named Global Warming Solution Centre, followed by Powertech Solar Ltd. In 2001 he went
to China to see how the SUNDA tubes were manufactured and to two other factories. In 2002, he was contacted by
an Australian working in China, wanting to discuss a JV to establish an own brand, but he had no experience in this
field. In 2003, the first samples arrived in UK for testing, which later were marketed as the Apricus brand. In 2008,
Eric started a second JV, to produce his second evacuated tube heat pipe design named Suntech Solar, which he
managed to export to his USA partner and to his UK Company. Then the banking crises happened and the company
went into administration in 2009, as well as the loss of Suntech Solar China. Eric’s current innovations are a new
PVT solar panel on test in NSW, and an updated domestic Thermal Store up to 500L in UK, while his commercial
flat pack thermal Stores produced in South Africa have reached 600.

Trevor Horman (Deceased)

Country: Australia
Year joined industry: 1990
Company first worked for: Power and Water
Technology area: PV
Still active in the industry: No

The late Trevor Horman AM was a long-serving Northern Territory engineer, public sector employee and a key
driving force in laying the Territory’s solar foundations. Over his career, he mentored many young engineers. Trevor
commenced his career in 1968 with the Commonwealth Department of Construction in Melbourne. In 1971, he
started with the Northern Territory’s Electricity Supply Undertaking, now the Power and Water Corporation, as an
electrical engineer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Trevor held many senior roles including Chief Engineer,
Manager Strategic Planning and Manager Sustainable Energy. Notably, Trevor worked to improve the safety of
rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems to establish them as a long-term, reliable energy source and was the author of
Power and Water’s first Roadmap to Renewables document. He oversaw the installation of the corporation’s first
diesel/solar/battery hybrid system for remote Aboriginal communities in Jilkmiggan as well as numerous landmark
solar projects in the early 1990s and 2000s, including Australia’s largest solar power station at the time, the 225kW
PV station in Kings Canyon. He helped develop the first use of power purchase agreements for isolated power
systems and was involved in advancing what was then Australia’s largest tracking station, the 1MW Uterne solar
PV tracking station in Alice Springs. Trevor was deeply engaged with policy development, researching demand
management and load management options for urban and remote communities. He was also passionate about
developing solar energy sources and supporting clean energy projects such as Alice Springs Solar City. Trevor
commissioned wind resource mapping in the Northern Territory, trialled a mini-hydro project at Manton Dam and
supported tidal power trials in the Territory’s Clarence Strait. Trevor passed away in late 2019. His legacy continues
to be honoured through a scholarship for undergraduate engineers at Charles Darwin University.

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