ESIA Forum II: Solar Manufacturing in Europe: How To Make It Happen Competitively

Kris is an independent consultant with 5+ years of experience in the energy sector, spanning work in government, policy and management consulting as well as climate philanthropy. He specialises in energy economics and climate policy analysis.

President of the German Solar Association (BSW Solar) Vice President Corporate Affairs IBC SOLAR AG Member of Board of Directors of the Global Solar Council (GSC) and the European Solar Association Solar Power Europe (SPE)

Dr Christian Westermeier is the President of SolarPower Europe. He has been working for Wacker-Chemie AG, the leading global polysilicon manufacturer, for 23 years. Since 2012, Dr Westermeier have been responsible for the global sales and marketing activities of the Wacker Chemie´s polysilicon division as Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Application Engineering. Dr Westermeier was elected President of SolarPower Europe in March 2017. He holds a Master Degree in Chemistry and a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Regensburg, Germany.

Christoph Podewils has been working in the PV and renewable energy sector since 2005. After working as science editor for the national daily Berliner Zeitung, he joined the Agency for Renewable Energies. From 2007 to 2012, as deputy editor-in-chief of the solar power magazine Photon, he reported on the international and German solar industry and observed energy policy in Germany and the EU. Since 2013, as Head of Communications, he has been involved in setting up the think tank Agora Energiewende, which in recent years has put forward many well-founded proposals for the further development of the energy transition in Germany. Subsequently, Christoph Podewils was in charge of communications for the Global Solutions Initiative, a network of think tanks that brings solutions to global problems to decision-makers in the G20 and G7 and makes research-based recommendations. Christoph Podewils joined Meyer Burger in 2023 as Head of Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. Christoph Podewils holds a degree in geography from the University of Münster and is the author of "Deutschland unter Strom", a book that describes Germany's transition to green energy for a broad audience.

Javier Sanz is an executive manager with extensive experience in product development, with a particular focus on new technology developments and applications. He is a specialist in renewable energies, and he is particularly interested in their applications in distributed generation schemes. Javier has been working with renewable energy for more than 20 years and he has a degree in Aeronautical Engineering, a Master's Degree in Renewable Energies, and an MBA. Javier is currently the Thematic Leader for Renewable Energies at EIT InnoEnergy and also the Leader of the European Solar PV Industry Alliance. In his role at EIT InnoEnergy, Javier builds and manages an active ecosystem of relevant players across the various value chains of renewable energy, including wind energy, biomass energy, photovoltaics, solar thermal, and bioclimatic architecture.

Žygimantas Vaičiūnas has almost 20 years of experience in energy field, including from 2016 to 2020 as the Minister of Energy of Lithuania. His political leadership made strong impact to regional energy policy developments meanwhile his initiatives on renewables determined clear direction for green, decentralized and prosumers-oriented energy system. From April 2021 he is the Policy Director at the European Solar Manufacturing Council, the association entitled to create competitive ecosystem for European PV manufacturing. From January 2022 he is also a Board Member of BOD Group, being responsible for the integrated PV solutions, including Agro-PV and Photovoltaic Noise Barriers.

Jennifer Karle works in the Unit Green and Circular Economy at the European Commission's Directorate General for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SME. Before joining the Commission Jennifer Karle worked as a civil servant in Britain's energy regulator, the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets. She has a Master of Science from the University College London in Environment, Politics and Society where she researched the adoption of sustainable technological innovation in her dissertation.