27 October 2014: Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) and the Government of Chile have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a center in Chile to study solar power. The Center for Solar Energy Technologies will focus on solar electricity, solar thermal energy and water treatment and purification.

Máximo Pacheco, Minister of Energy, Chile, and Eicke R. Weber, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE signed the MoU at the 3rd German-Chilean Forum for Mining and Mineral Resources, in Berlin, Germany, on 27 October 2014. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Fraunhofer President Reimund Neugebauer attended the signing ceremony.

The center aims to promote the development and application of new solar energy technologies in Chile and deliver innovative solutions to global markets. It will do so by: carrying out applied research in solar energy technologies and their adaptation to the high radiation conditions found in northern Chile; and contributing to the development of specialized technological services, which will support companies serving the country’s solar industry.

Eduardo Bitrán, Executive Vice-President of the Production Development Corporation (CORFO), Chile’s development agency, said his country has excellent natural conditions for the development of solar energy that must be taken advantage of, adding that “the agreement strengthens the government’s commitment to co-finance the development of applied research for designing and developing solar technologies in Chile.”

Eicke Weber, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, said the center aims to complement Chile’s existing solar energy community, providing expertise and resources to grow and strengthen the country’s solar industry.

The Chilean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Fraunhofer Society in Germany organized the meeting. This center is the second research center of the Fraunhofer Society in Chile, following the establishment of the Center for Systems Biotechnology in 2011. [Fraunhofer Press Release] [Fraunhofer News Story]