Conference Focus:• Development of technologies• Know-how transfer• Identification of R&D needs• Exchange of results and ideasChairwoman's message:The sixth International Conference on Solar Air Conditioning concludes thefirst decade of high level exchange on solar cooling science and technology.Renewable energies have dramatically increased their market share duringthe last years and many countries now approach 30% of renewable electricityand about 10 to 15% of renewable heat in the national energy mix. This hasled to strong reduction in prices, especially for solar photovoltaics, while thesolar thermal market only slowly gains importance. Cooling and air conditioningwas always an optimal application for solar energy use, as the temporalcoincidence between cooling need and solar energy conversion is betterthan most other uses of solar energy. In countries with cooling dominatedclimates solar air conditioning is an excellent technology to provide highown consumption of solar energy, offering interesting economic solutions,especially if electricity prices are high and long cooling operation hours areneeded. While photovoltaic cooling seems to take the lead in reducing coolingcosts, solar thermal cooling technologies offer more flexible and low costthermal storage and show reliable and stable operation with a long machinelifetime. A major advantage is the strong reduction of stress on the electricalnetworks, which often suffer due to high peak cooling loads during summerconditions. Trigeneration systems obtained when coupling cogeneration unitswith thermal cooling systems are also attractive solutions for highly efficientand economic cooling and can be supported with solar thermal energy.Italy with its significant cooling requirements and its advanced refrigerationindustry is an excellent host of the 2015 Solar Air Conditioning Conference.Following the 3rd Conference hosted in Palermo 2009, the 6th Conferencereturns to Italy to celebrate 10 years of successful networking of solar coolingresearchers, industrial companies and technology developers. Rome as theconference location lies in the center of Italy´s leading economic region and isa well known host of many events on refrigeration and air conditioning.Prof. Dr. habil. Ursula EickerUniversity of Applied Sciences Stuttgart, Germany