Keynote Speech 4: ICT trends in energy

In recent years, significant focus has been given to smart-grid and its potential for significantly improving the power grid. As a result, many countries are considering deploying smart-grid technologies. Unfortunately, the MENA region including Jordan, has not kept pace with these developments. There is a need for countries in the region to move forward with necessary practical and policy decisions to use and deploy such energy saving technologies. Today's PV installations focus mainly on solar energy conversion, control and grid connectivity technologies. This talk will focus on concept of smart-grid, recent advancements in smart-grid technologies, and the role of power electronics in PV energy conversion and how the new solar energy conversion technologies may incorporate smart-grid capabilities in distributed PV systems. Also, it will address Jordan's great potential and opportunity to make use of its ICT success to embrace such new technologies.