India won the bid to host the event by defeating South Korea by a margin of four votes.

“The International Photovoltaic Science and Engineering Conference and Exhibition (PVSEC) committee decided to hold the event in India,” said SP Gon Chaudhuri, Managing Director, West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation.

After 1992, when the event was organised in New Delhi, the 2009 conference will be held in Kolkata from January 19 to January 23.

Nearly 500 scientists from 12 countries will exchange their views on various issues related to the technology. With experts projecting that in the next 40 years nearly 15 per cent of our energy needs can be met by using solar power, Bengal is already ahead of many states in harnessing it.