During the week of 7-11 July 2025, the @National Observatory of Athens (NOA) — through its Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development (IERSD) — hosted the first-of-its-kind international summer school on "Earth-Observation-Based Planning and Management of Solar Energy", welcoming distinguished participants from across the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) regions. From the shores of Barbados to the mountains of Burundi, and from Kenya, DR Congo, Mauritius, to the Pacific horizon of Samoa, the representatives of climate centers of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) arrived in Athens for a pioneering initiative.

Throughout the whole transformative week they were trained on the use of modern technologies in building regional resilience against climate change. This capacity-building effort united emerging and established experts, including policy-makers, climate scientists, engineers, and energy planners. The diversity and dynamism of the attendees reflected the global urgency for smart and climate-resilient energy solutions.

The summer school was organised within the framework of the Intra-ACP Climate Services and related Applications (ClimSA) Programme, an 85 million euro flagship initiative funded by the European Union under the 11th European Development Fund. Among the objectives of ClimSA, a priority is the access of developing countries to renewable energy sources and to energy planning and management services, thus contributing greatly to the formulation of energy transition and security policies, placing social cohesion as a paramount concern.

In the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement, the provision of scientific information with reliable data on renewable energy sources and their variability is crucial for the 79 members and six regions of the OACPS to fulfill their climate commitments.

As the first-of-its-kind summer school training event hosted across all of NOA, the initiative was conceived and led by Dr Panagiotis Kosmopoulos (IERSD-NOA), whose relentless drive, clear vision, and deep commitment turned this bold idea into a flawlessly executed reality. Together with his dedicated team at IERSD-NOA, every aspect — from instructional design to personalised hospitality — was driven by excellence, empathy, and an unwavering desire to share knowledge. Each session ran with precision and purpose — delivering not only expertise, but passion and mentorship to every attendee.

During the summer school, the solutions and methods provided by modern geo-observation methods were presented in the most understandable way for the purpose of remotely and accurately assessing the potential for solar and wind energy production.

The main motivation behind this area of research is related to the need for optimal energy planning as a direct result of the increase in the share of renewable sources in total energy production, which currently reaches 25%. In the last 5 years alone, at least 15 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions have been avoided through the use of renewables, a figure that is expected to rise to 70 billion tons of emissions in the next 10 years according to the latest United Nations report.

Participants received immersive training in: · Solar irradiance modeling and Earth observation techniques · Cloud motion vector forecasting with computer vision · Machine learning for climatological solar forecasting · Radiative transfer simulation · Digital twin technologies for smart urban energy planning · Rooftop solar in polluted urban environments · Wind and kite power technologies · Funding and scaling strategies for climate services.

The aim of the summer school was therefore to describe the current scientific and technological progress on innovative geo-observation solutions with decision-making tools and applications related to the design and management of photovoltaic and wind systems at all scales. Main points of interest had to do with the more efficient integration of energy produced from renewable sources in local communities with real examples, the penetration of solar systems in smart city environments and the increase in the share of participation of these systems in the overall energy offered for a sustainable, environmentally and human-friendly future.

Led by a consortium of already recognized world-class experts and junior researchers and PhD candidates, including: · Dr. @Panagiotis Kosmopoulos – IERSD-NOA (Greece) · @Efi Baxevanaki (PhD candidate), Dr. @Roystan Castelino, @Stavros Vigkos (MEng), @Henna Toppinen (MSc) – IERSD-NOA · Dr. @Nsadisa Faka – OACPS, Brussels · @Chris Kokas – ML System S.A., Greece · Dr. @Sushovan Ghosh – Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Spain · Prof. Dr. @Hesham El-Askary – Chapman University, USA · @Harshal Dhake – IT Karnataka, India · Dr. @Davender Sethi – IIT Kanpur · Prof. Dr. @Dimitris Kaskaoutis – University of Western Macedonia · @Nikos Lavdakis (PhD candidate) – National Technical University of Athens · @Lukas Prenner – EnergyFamily, Austria

Guest experts hailed from Greece, Spain, Austria, India, the US, and Brussels — each adding perspective and technical depth across energy innovation and climate science. 

"The sessions provided not just technical depth but real collaborative momentum for energy resilience and climate equity," said participants — many of whom will go on to apply EO techniques in national solar energy programs across the ACP region. They also described the school as the best they have ever attended — praising the ideal balance of courses, hands-on workshops, and lively extracurricular activities, including authentic Greek hospitality and guided cultural tours personally led by the NOA team.

As we move forward, the success of this summer school stands as a model for international cooperation, technical excellence, and visionary leadership.

By bridging continents through shared knowledge and future-forward technologies, this summer school laid the groundwork for scalable, climate-smart energy planning that answers the call of both science and society.

A heartfelt thank-you to everyone who contributed their insight, enthusiasm, and vision. The sun might have set on this summer school, but its impact just started to rise and will continue to do so. It was more than a week of knowledge transfer — it was a catalytic exchange of ideas, perspectives, and solutions aimed at empowering communities across the ACP with the tools for a sustainable solar future. A rather formative milestone in building a global network of Earth Observation experts focused on sustainable solar futures.

To Dr Kosmopoulos and the entire IERSD-NOA team, thank you for turning a powerful vision into global impact. Your leadership lit the way — quite literally.

#NOA #IERSD #EarthObservation #SolarEnergy #ClimSA #ACP #EUFunded #CleanEnergy #SmartCities #ClimateServices #GlobalTraining #GlobalCollaboration #EnergyInnovation #DigitalTwins #MachineLearning #SustainableDevelopment #GreekHospitality #EnergyEquity #KnowledgeExchange