Best Practice: On-Grid Goes Off-Grid with a Focus on Innovative Batteries, New Technologies, And Lighthouse Projects

Noara Kebir is Co-Founder and CEO of the MicroEnergy International Group (MEI). Her professional background is in mechanics, energy and process engineering. Noara started her professional career at Siemens Corporation, after which she co-founded the MEI Group in 2001. MEI Group's core mission is conceptualizing, developing and implementing technical and socioeconomic strategies for a Bottom-Up Energy Transformation, through different vehicles: the academic think-tank Microenergy Research Systems is leading the scientific discourse with academic institutions across the world; MicroEnergy Consult consists of a multi- and trans-disciplinary team of experts specialized in assessing market potential, leading feasibility studies and supporting different stakeholders in linking financial inclusion with energy inclusion for the ultimate achievement of SDG 7. In the innovation lab ME SOLdesign, engineers design open source soft- and hardware for a Global Energy Transformation, which are then incubated into business models in the ME Venture Builder. Visit ME SOLshare's website to learn more about how this looks in practice! ME SOLshare was recently awarded UN DESA's Powering the Future We Want Award, Elsevier's Renewable Transformation Challenge, the Start Up Energy Transition Award and the Momentum of Change Award at COP22 in Marakesh. MicroEnergy International and its microfinance partners in Ethiopia recently won the Energy Globe Award Ethiopia and the Best Climate Practice Award. In February 2018, MicroEnergy International received the IKU Innovation Award. Noara is involved in several projects in Africa, Latin America and Asia focusing on the sustainable management of used lead-acid and li-Ion batteries.

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Inès van Oldeneel has a background in Political Sciences and International Development from the University of Bristol. She worked for a development consulting company and Stakeholder management company in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania before joining the Alliance for Rural Electrification in Brussels. Inès van Oldeneel is Officer for the market and Business Development at the Alliance for Rural Electrification where she is involved in projects and publications related to decentralised renewable energy in Sub-Saharan Africa. ARE is a business association that brings together more than 200 companies working across the decentralised renewable energy value chain mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa and enables the business environment for those companies.

Dr. Emanuele Marini is a distinguished Post-Doc researcher at the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg, in the Department of Fuel Cell Fundamentals. He completed both his bachelor's and master's degrees in Materials Science at ETH Zurich, where his master's thesis focused on microrobotics at IBM Rüschlikon. During his doctoral studies, he shifted his research focus to advanced energy storage systems. He specializes in rechargeable alkaline batteries, including Zn-Air, Zn-Ni, and Zn-MnO2, with the aim of enhancing their durability, performance, and sustainability. Dr. Marini has published numerous articles in renowned scientific journals and recently filed a patent application for his innovative work on rechargeable alkaline batteries.

Lucien Debons is a senior business development manager at Studer Innotec, a top innovative company in the development and manufacturing of power electronic equipment. With over 14 years of experience in the field of renewable energy, he has successfully led renewable energy projects in Turkey, Sweden, Latvia, and Switzerland. Lucien's expertise lies in helping professionals uncover new business opportunities and facilitating solarization projects for international organizations. He holds an MSc in Electrical Engineering from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.

Mark Kragh is the founder and CTO of Off-Grid Europe GmbH. He is an expert in renewable energy systems with long-term experience in systems engineering and design, leadership as well as data analytics. Since 2020, OGE is part of the project ASER300 that set the target to electrify at least 300 villages in Senegal. In the course of realizing the project, OGE set up the senegalese subsidiary Off-Grid Africa in order to establish itself long-term in the west-african market. Innovation and constant optimization of technology are an integral part of the company. Apart from Off-Grid Systems, Mark has developed a unique solar boat (SunSailor) as well as a containerised solution to produce solar oxygen (SolarO2). He currently focuses on the development of a BESS (Battery energy storage system) for commercial and industrial users as well as on a solar cooling solution for the agricultural sector.