The main objective of the conference is to provide an opportunity for an exchange between practitioners from the industry, academia and development institutions working in the field of decentralized energy. The conference will cover technical, business and management aspects of solar technologies and mini grids with the aim of sharing experiences, learning from each other and networking.
The challenge of energy access for all is of enormous magnitude and only be achievable, if a smart mix of different existing and innovative technologies and approaches is applied according to the needs and the economic potential of the people. In the last years, a multitude of organizations and companies has gained value experiences with the dissemination of solar lanterns, plug-and-play systems and solar home systems either in form of cash sales or Pay-as-you-go approaches. Several international organizations have also tried to scale up installation of solar and hydro mini-grids in rural areas with differing degrees of success. Other organizations focused on solar thermal systems or the development of energy efficient equipment allowing the productive use of DC electricity. The Conference will provide a forum where experts from different disciplines can discuss how universal energy access can be achieved in the most efficient way. The conference will invite acknowledged experts to provide an overview about the status in different technology areas and give room to participants, which want to present their results from scientific research or experiences from the fieldwork.