The new area leaders of the Fraunhofer Chile Center for Solar Energy Technologies began their duties on Monday, December 2. These are the engineers and researchers, Aloïs Salmon, the new Group Leader of the Photovoltaic Systems and María Teresa Cerda, the new Group Leader of the Solar Thermal Systems, who were part of the center's research team and who were recognized for their outstanding professional career and contribution to both units.

The Director of the FCR CSET, Frank Dinter, highlighted that the appointment of these new leaders reinforces the work carried out by the groups in research and development, and expressed his full confidence in the commitment, career and excellence of both young professionals, who were part of the centre's research staff.

Challenges and trajectory

While thanking the directors of Fraunhofer Chile for their confidence, Aloïs Salmon said that his challenge in this position is to enhance the progress that has already been made and to advance in some emerging issues. "I will follow the efforts made towards the Agro PV for the simultaneous use of land in agriculture and electricity generation. The bi-phase panels are a challenge for the industry and we will follow our developments in this technology. I also want to strengthen our research for the use of IOT (Internet of Things) and Data Science in the photovoltaic industry" said the researcher, who is a civil engineer with a degree in environmental sciences and a Master of Science in Renewable Energy and Solar Energy from the European Agency for Renewable Energy Centres (EUREC, Mines Paritech, France).

Among other achievements, Salmon has developed a promising career in renewable energy projects, as a specialist in modeling the Chilean electrical system, in data processing of the CEN (National Electrical Coordinator) and in data processing and creation of web visualization tools for remote measurement stations.

On the other hand, the researcher María Teresa Cerda, has a degree in Physics, a Master of Science (Physics) from the University of Chile, and a Master of Science in Renewable Energy from EUREC and Loughborough University (UK).  During her career, she has worked in development and research in environmental studies in solar energy, integration of solar thermal technologies in Chilean metallurgy, industrial cooperation, among others.

The professional explained that "we want to continue the good work that has been done, we have a well-consolidated group, with projects that are underway and that are in line with what we want to develop as a center. As a challenge, I believe it is important to strengthen interaction and cooperation with companies and other research centers, and as a personal dream to be able to provide the conditions for implementing a new solar thermal energy system in industry in Chile, in a process where there is no solar thermal energy". Likewise, he expressed that "R&D is a fundamental practice for industries in times of crisis, which can devise and develop new services and products and integrate them with renewable energies. Climate change is guiding us to opt for sustainability.