SOLAR-ENERGY EDUCATION - A VIABLE PATHWAY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The growing consumption of limited reserves of fossil fuels and their impact to the environment have raised global interest in harnessing so lar energy. Proper knowledge of solar energy is lacking in many levels of society. Recently, the Energy Research Institute (ERI) of King Abd ulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) have conducted a survey on the availability of solar energy education program around the worl d. It has been observed that a considerable amount of work has been do ne for developing solar energy technologies but relatively little atte ntion has been paid on the role of solar energy education. This paper gives an overview of the current status of solar education program ava ilable around the globe and it also highlights the importance of the e nergy information network for solar education program. (C) 1998 Publis hed by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.