Solar energy, empowering people - 16 Junio 2017

16 June 2017

The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that roughly 1.1 billion people in the world still live without access to electricity, more than 95% of these people are either in sub-Saharan Africa or developing Asia. The sun is a huge source of energy and if we could capture and store just a small part of this power, there would be no need for other sources of energy.

Instituto Cervantes and CEBE (Spanish Scientists in Belgium) organize a round table to discuss the potential of solar energy. We will host a set of panellists who will give us an insight on the matter from an artistic, social and scientific point of view. Thanks to Ruben Salgado’s photographies– which will be part of the first photo festival Brassage Photographique in Villiers- we will be able to realize the lives of inhabitants of remote areas who, for the first time, have access to electricity through the power of solar energy.

Thanks to Ruben Salgado Escudero’s photography project on solar panels in developing countries –which will be part of the first photo festival Brassage Photographique in Villiers- we will be able to understand better the conditions in which the inhabitants of remote areas live and how their lives have improved as a result of having access to electricity through the power of solar energy.

Photovoltaic cells are devices that convert the energy of light directly into electricity. Maxime Defour – who does a PhD on this subject at VUB- will introduce the state-of-the-art for low-cost solar cells such as organic solar cells.

To illustrate a direct application of this technology to society, Farnoud Datlibagi will share with us an ongoing project from “Ingénieurs Sans Frontières”: an off-grid solar system that will be installed soon in a school in the Democratic Republic of the Congo allowing more kids to receive a scholar education.

To close the event, Miguel Ángel Varela, Policy Officer at the Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Unit of the European Commission (DG DEVCO) will talk about other projects in developing countries.

Where
140 Avenue Louise, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium

When
Friday 16 Jun 2017 19:00h

Registration via Eventbrite