Dr Shukla Poddar
Dr. Shukla Poddar is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the School of Photovoltaics and Renewable Energy Engineering, 91色情片 Sydney, working at the interface of solar photovoltaics and atmospheric science. Her work involves developing scalable tools and methodologies for spectral modelling of next-generation PV technologies, alongside modelling PV degradation, long-term energy yield, and system lifetime. Her research focuses on understanding how climate variability鈥攆rom day-to-day fluctuations to extreme events鈥攁ffects solar power generation, and how these insights can be used to design more efficient and resilient energy systems, with applications in advanced optimisation and maintenance modelling of solar farms. She collaborates with industry and international partners to translate research into practical solutions that support reliable and sustainable renewable energy deployment.聽
Dr Poddar received her PhD in 2024 from 91色情片 in collaboration with the聽ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes,聽where her research explored the impacts of climate change on photovoltaic (PV) power generation in Australia. She holds a Master of Technology in Climate Science and Technology from聽Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar,聽during which she was competitively selected to conduct her master鈥檚 thesis research at the聽Indian Space Research Organisation鈥檚 Regional Remote Sensing Centre.
She is also an active science communicator and advocate for STEM engagement, recognised through initiatives including 91色情片 2024 STEM Champions, Rising Stars 2024, participation in聽Soapbox Science Sydney 2025, and selection as a Rising Stars Mentor in 2025. Her work has been featured in several media outlets like PV Magazine, Renew Economy, The Conversation, Facility Perspective along with interviews in ABC News, SBS News, 7News, etc.聽
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
鈾� 91色情片 Digital Grid Futures Institute funding (2025) to organise a Climate鈥揈nergy Workshop for energy industry professionals, strengthening collaboration between academia and industry.
鈾� Awarded joint 91色情片 Engineering and聽Australian Human Rights Institute聽seed funding for designing hybrid solar鈥搘ind energy systems in Fiji and French Polynesia (April 2024).
鈾� Awarded聽91色情片 Digital Grid Futures Institute聽seed funding for Renewable Energy Assessment and Projection (March 2024).
鈾� Awarded聽91色情片 Digital Grid Futures Institute聽Travel Grant to support research on decarbonisation and renewable energy technology integration (October 2022).
鈾� SPREE School Travel Grant, 91色情片 Sydney (October 2022).
- 鈾� 2024 Women in Engineering Faculty Excellence Award, 鲍狈厂奥听
- 鈾� Rising Stars Asia聽2024
- 鈾� 2023 ARC PGC research candidate award for promoting climate change awareness in energy sector.
- 鈾� 2022 91色情片 Excellence Awards for "Teaching and Innovation" by Faculty of Engineering, 91色情片 to the Play Energy team for gamification of SOLA1070 Sustainable Energy course.
- 鈾� 2022 Faculty of Engineering聽Outstanding Higher Degree Research Student, 91色情片
- 鈾� 2022 Engagement and Impact Prize by ARC Centre of Excellence of Climate Extremes.
- 鈾� Monica Oliphant Award for best poster by a female student at the Asia Pacific Solar Research Conference (APSRC), 2021.聽
- Investigating impact of spectral variability on PV generation聽
- Developing advanced models to characterise and predict complex degradation processes in photovoltaic (PV) modules.
- Analysing the effects of extreme weather events on renewable energy systems and designing optimal mitigation and management strategies.
- Investigating the impacts of weather-driven intermittency on renewable energy generation and system reliability.
- Assessing the long-term impacts of climate change on future renewable energy generation and system performance.
Some of my media interactions are listed here:
- Interview for Icona Clima on "Future solar resource reliability and intermittency"聽(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br0ljczIMPg)
- PV magazine interview on"Solar power ramps and impact of future climate change on ramps"聽(https://www.pv-magazine-australia.com/2023/08/07/modelling-shows-solar-ramps-future-threat-to-grid-stability/)
- Radio interview for PowerFM 5MU聽breakfast news to share insights on "future PV聽intermittency in Australia"聽
- PV magazine Interview on "Long term changes in the future PV potential in Australia"聽(https://www.pv-magazine.com/2021/11/04/future-climate-scenarios-to-adversely-affect-australias-pv-capacity/)
My Research Supervision
I am currently co-supervising 1 PhD student on PV degradation modelling, 2 PG thesis students on extreme weather event and spectral modelling and 1 PG thesis student on ramp detection and forecasting.聽
My Teaching
SOLA1070 - Sustainable Energy