"Professor Park Will heighten Korea's voice for international standardization, certification and presentation of policy agendas…"
He participated as Korean representative for general meeting of 26 countries in photovoltaic power generation
[August 7, 2012]

 Professor Park, Chin-ho (54, School of Chemical Engineering) was appointed as the Korean representative for the PVPS sector of IAE(International Energy Agency).

 The 'IEA' was established in 1974 as an energy collective security system under the OECD and its head office is within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development headquarters in Paris, France. Only OECD member countries are allowed to join the IEA and Korea officially joined in March 2002. Its main objective at the time of its foundation was to address the issue with lower supply of oils and rising prices of oil by OPEC, but recently, it focuses on leading international cooperation for international issues such as oil distribution in times of emergency, development cooperation for alternative energy, and energy environment cooperation. As part of this, the IEA established the Photovoltaic Power Systems (PVPS) Department in 1993 within its organization recognizing the need for the photovoltaic sector in order to substitute the dwindling supply of fossil fuels, and to stop global warming and environment destruction.

 There are currently 26 'PVPS' members including Australia, the US, Germany, Netherlands, Japan and Korea. The representatives of each country, including Professor Park, will explain the current status of photovoltaic power generation systems of their respective countries at the PVPS general meeting, while exchanging information on technological development trends with each country. In particular, it drafts an international survey report based on each country's policy reports, while leading international standardization and certification projects of related technologies. Furthermore, it looks for international collaborative agendas and pursues joint research, while suggesting guidelines on the establishment of photovoltaic policies for each country, in its leading role for international cooperation in the solar photovoltaic sector.

 On this, Professor Park said, "It has only been 4 years since we have begun full-fledged investments in photovoltaic power generation. Since 2008 when we began photovoltaic power generation, we were busy trying to catch up to the more advanced countries in the sector, so we have nothing to say about our international status on this. However, it is now time for change." He added with an air of strong tenacity, "Since I am representing Korea at the IEA PVPS, which is basically the headquarters for the world's photovoltaic sector, I will do my best so that Korea's voice will be heard and acknowledged in the photovoltaic sector."

 Professor Park earned his PhD at the University of Florida in the US and engaged in research on semiconductors and Hyundai Electronics. He has served as a professor at the YU School of Chemical Engineering since September 1994 and is also working as the director of the Solar Cell Materials and Process R&D Workforce Cultivation Program, director of the Institute of Solar Energy, and the chief of the Regional Innovation Center for Solar Cell & Module, where he has accumulated much experience in the solar power sector. In June 2011, he was picked up by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning and will be working as the program director for knowledge economy solar power until April 2013.