Off-Grid: Innovative Systems

Philipp is an international expert in island energy supply and rural electrification. He conducted a PhD in engineering about 'Barriers to implementing renewable energies on Caribbean islands' at the TU Berlin. In 2011, he joined the Reiner Lemoine Institut and he started to develop the Off-Grid Systems Research Unit, which he is currently heading. Within the Unit, he develops and manages projects and strategic processes. In 2019 Philipp was appointed Visiting Scholar in the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL) of the University of California, Berkeley as part of the C-BEAR+ project and he is a selected member of the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA) at the Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Since 2020 he is also leading the RLS-Graduate School on Energy System Transition with currently 6 PhD students.

Muhammad Kabir is enthusiastic about enabling transformational changes in both public and private sectors, specifically in the area of sustainable development and economic policy and planning. He had his PhD at the Lancaster University, United Kingdom in the field of Economics, and lectures with the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria Nigeria. Dr Kabir has acted as a strategic advisor to key government ministries, departments, and agencies in Nigeria. He is presently a senior advisor in the office of the Executive Director Rural Electrification Fund with key responsibility of providing technical advisory on activities bordering on the successful implementation of the Rural Electrification Agency core mandate of expanding electricity access and stimulating rural development.

Tobias Zwirner is the founder and managing director of Phaesun GmbH, a specialist wholesaler and system integrator focusing in Off-Grid power supplies based on renewable energies. Since its foundation in 2001, Phaesun has focused on rural electrification, productive use solutions, solar-powered water pumping systems for drinking water production, water treatment and irrigation of fields, Off-Grid system solutions for industrial applications, the caravan & camping sector, as well as other innovative off-grid power supply solutions. The main target regions are Africa, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. Phaesun works closely with international NGOs and GOs as well as with local partner companies in the target countries to deliver and permanently establish energy in non-electrified areas.

Gaëtan Masson is an entrepreneur with a passion for solar PV and the energy transition: an engineer, he also has degrees in management, political science and environmental management. He is the founder and Managing Director of the Becquerel Institute since 2014. After a decade in finance and IT, he icommitted to the climate and developed Business Intelligence for SolarPower Europe (formerly EPIA). He coordinates the Task 1, "Expertise and Awareness" of the International Energy Agency PV Programme (IEA PVPS). He led the PV Industry Working Group of the European PV Technology and Innovation Platform (ETIP-PV) of which he was co-chair from 2014 to 2019, and resulted in the creation of the European Solar Manufacturing Council, of which he is co-chair since its foundation in 2019. He is administrator of the CARBON project in France. He participates on the scientific committee of the EU-PVSEC and WCPEC conferences. In Belgium, he is an adminstrator of EDORA, the French-speaking association of renewable energy professionals. In 2020 he received the Daejoo Award for his contribution to the development of photovoltaics.

Ricardo Rüther is a Full Professor at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina in Florianopolis-Brazil, in the field of solar photovoltaics, solar irradiation resource assessment, electrochemical storage, electromobility, and green hydrogen. He completed a BE with honours (1989) and a M.Sc. (1991) degree in Metallurgy and Materials Science at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Western Australia at the Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering in 1995. He was an Alexander von Humboldt post-doctoral research fellow at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Germany (1995-1996), and was tenured at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina in 2000. Prof. Rüther is also a guest lecturer at the Master of Science Solar Energy Engineering course at the University of Freiburg - Germany, and a Board of Directors member at the International Solar Energy Society - ISES.

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David Wedepohl, Managing Director International Affairs David Wedepohl is a radio journalist by training who studied and worked on both sides of the Atlantic. He holds a master's degree in Journalism and Public Affairs which he achieved as a Fulbright scholar. His professional experience included working for the German embassy in Washington, DC as a senior press and public diplomacy officer. He first came in touch with the solar industry while working for an American consulting company before taking up his job as director communications and markets at the German Solar Association, also serving as the organization's spokesperson. He now holds the position of managing director international affairs and is responsible for the association's international activities. Among those are projects in North, West and Southern Africa, Latin America, South-East Asia and the US.

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