Andrew Blakers is Professor of Engineering at the Australian National University. He was a Humboldt Fellow and has held Australian Research Council QEII and Senior Research Fellowships. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering, the Institute of Energy and the Institute of Physics. He is a Public Policy Fellow at ANU. He has published approximately 300 papers and patents. His research interests are in the areas of photovoltaic and solar energy systems including thin film silicon solar cell technology concentrator solar cells, tandem solar cells and PV components and systems. He has extensive experience with basic and applied research, and led the teams that developed PERC and Sliver cell technologies. He also has interest in sustainable energy policy, and is engaged in detailed analysis of energy systems with high (50-100%) penetration by wind and photovoltaics with support from pumped hydro energy storage.