Solar Energy in Latin America: Today and Tomorrow

Professor Eduardo A. Rincón Mejía is a researcher at the Autonomous University of Mexico City, affiliated with its Energy Program since October 2004, and a professor at the UAEMex since 1975. His work focuses on the development of efficient and cost-effective solar collectors using anidolic optics for a wide range of applications, such as solar food processing, especially solar cooking, as well as small, high-performance wind turbines. He is a life member of the International Solar Energy Society (ISES), where he served as Secretary General (2008-2009), and of the ANES (National Solar Energy Association), where he served as President (2002-2004). In 2016, he was named a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), where he chaired its Solar Energy Division (2013-2014). Author of the books: “State of the art of solar energy research in Mexico” (1999), “Fundamental aspects of Continuum Mechanics” (2015), “30 years of development in Solar Energy in Mexico” (2006) and co-editor of the book “Sustainable Energy Technologies” (2018). State of Mexico Award 1988 in Sciences and Arts, Technology and Design category. “Ignacio Ramírez Calzada” Award 1996, awarded by the UAEMéx. In March 2023, he joined the Mexican Academy of Engineering as a full member of the Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Commission. In the Federal Public Administration, he held the position of General Director of Energy Efficiency and Sustainability at the Ministry of Energy of the Federal Government of Mexico (2018-2019).

MONICA MARCELA GOMEZ LEON holds a PhD in Physics from the National University of Engineering (UNI). In 2011, she won the L'Oréal-UNESCO-Concytec National Award "For Women in Science."

Her work focuses on functional materials for environmental and health applications, as well as the use of renewable energy in high Andean regions. She has led several research projects with competitive funding and has been recognized as a Distinguished Researcher in the National Registry of Science, Technology, and Technological Innovation (RENACYT) of Concytec (Peru).

Pablo Roberto Dellicompagni is a Researcher at CONICET (Argentina) affiliated with the Institute of Non-Conventional Energy (INENCO–UNSa), where he serves as Director of the Solar Thermal Concentration Research Group (CONSOLTER). He holds a Ph.D. in Renewable Energy Sciences (National University of Salta) and a degree in Electromechanical Engineering (National University of Santiago del Estero). His research focuses on concentrating solar power technologies, thermochemical and latent heat storage, and the integration of solar process heat into industrial applications, particularly lithium carbonate production. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, contributed to international collaborations such as IEA Task 64 (Solar Process Heat) and ERANet-LAC projects, and was awarded the Franco-Argentine Innovation Award (2022). Since 2024, he has been President of the Argentine Association of Renewable Energies and Environment (ASADES).