Solar Financing: How to Finance the Fast and Large-Scale Deployment of Solar Power in Europe

Magnus Herz graduated in renewable energies and works as project manager, researcher and developer in the solar team of TÜV Rheinland since 2010. In addition to his consulting work for international PV projects, he is also involved in several R&D projects developing data-driven strategies to improve quality assurance and risk mitigation. As project member of the international expert group IEA PVPS Task 13 and participating in the research project TRUST-PV his focus is on the standardization of failure categories and the evaluation of data analysis techniques.

Michael Taylor has 30 years' experience in energy modeling, the economic analysis of energy sector issues and energy policy development. He is responsible for IRENA's analysis of renewable technologies cost and performance. Michael's recent publications include IRENA's Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2021, which draws on IRENA's database of 20 000 utility projects and 12 000 auction/tender results, Renewable Technology Innovation Indicators: Mapping progress in costs, patents and standards, The Cost of Financing for Renewable Power and Low-cost finance for the energy transition (a G20 paper). Michael has contributed to numerous other publications that focus on the energy sector and the economic and environmental challenges it faces. Prior to IRENA Michael has worked for the New Zealand and UK governments, as well as a consultant and at the IEA on the World Energy Outlook (WEO) and as one of the lead authors of the IEA's groundbreaking series Energy Technology Perspectives: Scenarios and Strategies to 2050.

Mr. Barandalla has more than 15 years of experience in the solar photovoltaic industry as a renewable energy consultant and project manager. He currently serves as a Solar Advisory Lead for UL Solutions Advisory Team in Europe and Latin America. He has relevant experience in lender's (technical due diligence review and independent engineering services) and owner's engineer tasks for solar PV projects developed worldwide. Daniel has worked in key Merge and Acquisition (M&A) transactions for UL Solutions key clients overseeing portfolios of operating and development Solar PV assets worldwide. Furthermore, prior to joining UL Solutions, he focused as TA on commercial activities in Latin America with good expertise on Projects in Mexico, Chile, Brazil and other areas in Central America. He has been previously involved in Projects in the Asia Pacific Region, with experience in PV module audit inspections as well as providing training solutions for different stakeholders.

Ronald is Director at Green Tech Solutions at Munich Re developing and implementing long-term insurance products in the clean tech space. He worked on developing Munich Re's PV Warranty Partner program (www.munichre.com/PVWarrantyPartner), now being recognized as the industry standard in insuring the warranty risk of solar. It won the APVIA Award 2019 for the best banking and financing initiative for providing more than EUR 100 million of insurance capacity in support of roughly EUR 1 billion of solar investments within the first year of its roll-out. Ronald has more than 20 years of experience in renewables. After his PhD in physics at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, he set up factories for solar cell production in Asia and USA. Prior to joining the Munich Re Group, he headed a process integration team in the solar production equipment industry.

Guido Agostinelli is the Sector Head for Solar Energy in the Global Energy Infrastructure team at IFC, where he deals with the corporation's investments in Solar PV and Distributed Generation solutions. He created investment opportunities and worked on projects for the World Bank Group totaling more than $2 billion. Prior to joining IFC in 2014, Guido has been managing partner at Syntegra Solar, an international business advisory firm, and senior partner in the venture capital team at Good Energies, a fund focused on renewable energies that backed some of the most successful IPOs in the solar sector in the late 2000s. Earlier in his career, he has held managing positions and served in the advisory boards of leading international R&D institutes such as IMEC and CSEM. Guido holds a PhD in engineering from the University of Gent and an MBA from SDA Bocconi in Milan.

For over 30 years, Dan Shugar has led world-class solar companies to successful outcomes and advanced solar technologies in the U.S. and around the globe. As founder and CEO of Nextracker, Dan brings together solar expertise and technology innovation in a way few cleantech leaders have. In its tenth year, Dan Shugar together with the Company's original founding members, brought Nextracker to a successful IPO on February 10, 2023. With a $4.6Bn market cap, Dan Shugar is responsible for leading with fiscal responsibility, market technology foresight, and a thriving and diverse global staff in the clean economy sector. Having pioneered and commercialized the first solar tracker in the mid-1990s, Dan Shugar has devoted his career to advancing solar technologies for C&I and utility-scale applications. Since founding Nextracker, the Company has held global market share leadership for seven consecutive years and has shipped over 70 gigawatts of smart solar trackers to five continents under his management. Prior to Nextracker, he grew Solaria Corporation's annual revenue five times over a three-year period as the company's president. Well-known for his leadership as president of SunPower Corporation and president of PowerLight, he surrounds himself with passionate, tech-savvy, clean energy-driven executive teams who share his mission to make solar a mainstream power source around the world. Mr. Shugar earned his Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from Golden Gate University. He currently sits on the boards of the American Clean Power Association (ACP) and the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) and on numerous cleantech advisory boards. He holds multiple U.S. patents and has published over 50 technical papers.