The architect of the SES Network Plus, Professor Kurt Barth, has recently retired. We wish him the very best for the future. Prof Mike Walls has been appointed as the new Network Director.
Network Director: Professor Mike Walls (Loughborough University)
Mike is Professor of Photovoltaics for Power Systems in the Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST) at Loughborough University. He is Principal Investigator of the recently established National Facility for High-Resolution Cathodoluminescence, and was formerly the Director of the EPSRC Supergen SuperSolar Hub and Network that operated between 2012 and 2023. His research interests include atomic scale micro-structural studies of photovoltaic devices, new process development for thin film CdTe photovoltaics and investigating anti-reflection and anti-soiling super-hydrophobic coatings for solar module cover glass.
Network Co-Director: Professor Alona Armstrong (Lancaster University)
Alona is Professor in Energy and Environmental Sciences and Director of Energy Lancaster at Lancaster University. With over 45 publications, she is a thought leader in solar farm–ecosystem research, with projects ranging from assessing the biodiversity impacts, how to link with finance and policy. Moreover, she has led and co-developed tools and guidance which are applied across the industry, such as the Solar Park Impacts on Ecosystem Services decision support tool (SPIES) and the Solar Energy UK standardised biodiversity monitoring guidance. She sits on Solar Energy UK’s Natural Capital steering group and Electricity North West sustainability group. Her research consistently informs policy and practice, contributing to national-level policy development.
Network Co-Director: Professor Elizabeth Gibson (Newcastle University)
Libby is a Professor of Energy Materials at Newcastle University. Research in her group focuses on developing materials and devices for sustainable power, fuel and feedstocks. This involves materials development, device assembly and characterization of the underpinning photophysics and electrochemistry. Her current roles include being the academic lead for the Northern Net Zero Accelerator PB-IAA, the EPSRC Northeast Transient Absorption Spectroscopy & Microscopy Facility, Institution Director of the EPSRC CDT Renewable Energy at Northeast Universities (ReNU and ReNU+), and she is the engagement lead for the UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy. Libby is the Co-Director of Post-graduate Research in the School of Natural and Environmental Science at Newcastle University.
Network Co-Director: Dr Tasmiat Rahman (University of Southampton)
Tasmiat is an Associate Professor in the Sustainable Energy Technologies group at the University of Southampton and leads research on PV systems. His recent EPSRC new investigator award explores deployment of bifacial modules and sun-tracking systems, in temperate climate zones such as the UK, working closely with local companies. This impacts the standards for PV deployment, in feasibility modelling and assets performance ratio metrics. Tasmiat is currently Chair of the long-establish and popular PV-SAT conference, which brings together the broad UK PV research community from material science, devices, systems and policy. He is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Chartered Engineer, and a Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology
Project Manager: Dr Christopher Malins (Loughborough University)
Christopher has spent the majority of this career either undertaking or supporting research activities in the university environment, as a post-doctoral researcher in the UK and abroad, and project manager in the commercial research sector, followed by 15 years in a variety of roles at Loughborough, including supporting activities of the Supergen Solar Network+.