The University of New Mexico will be the site of the 51st annual American Solar Energy Society (ASES) national solar conference, which will be held June 21-24 on the UNM campus and online.

The conference, titled “SOLAR 2022: Energy Transition with Economic Justice,” will have options to attend most sessions online or in person at the Student Union Building (SUB).

The conference is co-organized by the New Mexico Solar Energy Association (a local branch of ASES), which is a celebrating its 50th anniversary. One of the sponsors of the conference is the UNM School of Engineering.

The conference will kick off with an opening reception on June 21 featuring well-known scholar Noam Chomsky. Then on July 22, several New Mexico elected officials are featured in a segment called “Governments’ Role in the Renewable Energy Transformation,” including Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich. Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller will speak at a dinner for the NMSEA 50th anniversary, and leaders from the Department of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will participate June 23 in “Ensuring a Just & Equitable Transformation.” On June 24, speakers include UNM Regent Sandra Begay, an alumna of the School of Engineering, who is a principal member of the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories.

A full schedule of events and registration information is available on the ASES website.

Also being held in conjunction with the conference is the Solar Fiesta and electric vehicle (EV) car show, which will be held 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 24, organized by NMSEA.

Solar Fiesta will feature booths, information, displays and demonstrations on Cornell Mall. Participants can learn more about solar, EV chargers, passive solar, tax credits and more.

Among those scheduled to participate are the UNM Solar Splash team and the UNM LOBO and the Engineering Student Success Center, along with UNM Facilities Management, Lobo Energy and the UNM Bike Shop (which will offer free adjustments and chain cleaning). The EV car show will end at 1:30 p.m. and will feature a variety of all-electric vehicles.

The UNM School of Engineering has a long history in solar and renewable energy research. In addition to the annual Solar Splash solar-powered boat contest that students have been participating in since 2016 (see the team’s recent competition results here) and the Formula SAE race car that recently went electric (the team is at competition this week), a variety of other research is ongoing in the School, including:

Learn more about research in the School of Engineering and UNM at engineering.unm.edu or research.unm.edu.

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