Conference Speakers

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.

PhD in applied Physics at Physics Department, University of Milan. He studied Physics at University of Milano specializing in nanomaterials for energy applications. From 2012 to 2022 he worked at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission and specifically at the European Solar Test Installation (ESTI). His main role was to design and execute experiments aimed to assess the performances of thin film PV devices ranging from single cells to large area modules and estimate the long term lifetime and degradation rate through accelerated stress test (indoor vs outdoor). From Oct 2023 he started to work at TUV Rheinland as global manager in PV sector. One of his main tasks is to maintain the highest quality standard in the testing and inspection services of PV modules, focusing particular attention to the update and development of new measurement procedures. Since 2023 he is official member of the IEC Technical Committee 82 and actively participates to the activity of Working Group 2.

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.

Isabella Caschetto is Product Manager at SMA Solar Technology AG, where she is responsible for CAMOPO.com - a commercial optimization software for Hybrid Power Plants. Her focus is on developing digital products and business models for energy market integration and optimized plant operation. She has deep exercise in energy market and energy management and formerly served as energy consultant for industrial customers supporting them in optimizing energy purchasing and usage.

Liam Coman is a solar research analyst within the Clean Energy Technology research team at S&P Global. He researches the global PV inverter market within the solar supply chain. He works with suppliers to analyse trends, produce market forecasts and assess the competitive landscape of the solar inverter industry. Prior to joining S&P Global, Mr. Coman worked for an engineering consultancy specialising in environmental regulation and policy compliance. He holds an M.Eng in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering from Trinity College Dublin.

Adrian Ferreira currently works as an electrical engineer in the area of innovation and new products, mainly involving renewable sources and distributed energy resources (DERs). He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering at Federal University of Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Brazil.

Dan Garlin is COO of Uniper Renewables, where he is responsible for EPC & Operations. Dan joined the energy industry in 2006 and held various positions in E.ON (now RWE) Renewables realizing projects in various European countries and the US. He also gathered experiences in various strategy and engineering services assignments. In 2020 he created Uniper Renewables, which is one pillar of Unipers decarbonization strategy for the future.

Ulrike Gunnemann is a passionate advocate of sustainable energies. In her role as Head of Global Hybrid at BayWa r.e., she is dedicated to the development of complex renewable energy projects combining different electricity generators and storage technologies. Before joining BayWa r.e. in April 2022, Ulrike worked as manager and expert for an international engineering consultancy company. Being worldwide active in numerous hybrid and storage projects as well as energy system studies, Ulrike advised governments, investors and project developers in the development of green energy solutions. Ulrike combines engineering, financial and AI expertise with excellent track record in setting up new business fields, strategy and M&A.

Laurene Gusse has extensive experience in engineering and industrial projects. She started her career in ENGIE Networks & Infrastructures, overseeing the construction and the commissioning of gas compressor stations and storage facilities, leading the Industrial Design Department, and contributing to Green Mobility projects. She joined ENGIE solutions in 2016, taking over transformation projects supporting entities in their transition towards a sustainable energy system. After two years spent contributing to the execution of the Group's strategic plan, she recently joined the Management committee of the Renewables Industrial Platform, as Deputy Head of the Quality & Procurement Department and as Head of Quality Department to develop ENGIE's capacity to improve the sustainability of its supply chain.

Josef Hermann (M.Sc.) is an industrial engineer of Renewable Energies and a professional consultant on a variety of energy-related topics. He worked on numerous rural electrification projects in Ethiopia, Germany, Nepal, Autonomous Palestinian Territories, and Peru. He has diverse expertise in the field of governmental and non-governmental development cooperation. For the last 2 years he was working on a Baseline Study and the Development of a Sustainability Framework as well as Capacity Development Interventions on Solar PV Electrification of public institutions in Ethiopia.

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.

o Gadi Hirsch is the lead market and policy analyst at SolarEdge Technologies. A part of the strategy group, Gadi is leading the coverage of key market segments, technological trends and policies. He particularly focuses on European distributed energy systems markets - aimed at deriving key insights for business strategy formulation. He holds a BA in economics and has previously led economic analysis and management consulting teams.

Bärbel Höhn is a German politician for Alliance '90/The Greens. Ms. Höhn became State Minister for Environment and Agriculture in North Rhine-Westphalia from 1995 to 2005. In 2005 she was elected to the Bundestag in the 2005 national elections. She first served as chairwoman of the Committee on Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection from 2005 to 2006. Between 2006 and 2013 she was vice chairwoman of the Green parliamentary group in the Bundestag, and as such responsible for the issues of energy, climate, environment, transport, agriculture, nature conservation and construction. From 2014 to 2017 Bärbel Höhn served as chairwoman of the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. Having participated in various UN Climate Change conferences, she was a regular speaker at international climate and energy conventions. From November 2017 to October 2023, Bärbel Höhn was acting as unpaid Special Representative for Energy in Africa for the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and since November 2023 she is BMZ Special Representative for Decentralised Energy Supply with focus on the entire global South. In this regard she promotes the importance of Decentralised Energy with her many years of political experience and expertise in renewable energy.

Ulrike Jahn is a graduate physicist and works as a scientific group leader in the Photovoltaic Systems and Integration department at the Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP in Halle, Germany. Her work focusses on the diagnosis and reliability of PV systems. She is project manager of an international expert group, Task 13 of the PVPS programme of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which deals with technical and economic aspects of the reliability and performance of PV systems. She has been coordinating this network of currently 185 international experts in 25 countries since 2010.

Dr Carlos Javier has over 18 years experience in engineering, negotiation and strategic sales across Spain, United Kingdom, Ireland and Italy. Between 2010-2014, Carlos was Head of Engineering at UK construction and development company where he led the design of >500MW of UK solar projects. Carlos holds an executive MBA and has experience in portfolio management and project finance. He was the Technical Director at one of the largest renewable energy funds in the world with over 1GW of assets under management (AuM). In the last 2 years, Carlos has been managing the Asset Management arm of Elgin Energy, a unique and successful development platform recently acquired by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP). Oversight of a large UK based asset base means Carlos is uniquely placed to have a comprehensive understanding of asset performance in the UK and Ireland.

Mr Ilya Likhov - Hi-tech entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Neosun Energy - is a distinguished authority in the field of Solar Energy, and international business strategy with over 20 years of hands-on experience. His innovative business model has the potential to revolutionize the solar energy market. In 2015, Mr. Likhov embarked on a groundbreaking venture, establishing his own production of power equipment in China. Since then, he has held the esteemed position of General Manager at NEOSUN Energy, a forward-looking manufacturing enterprise that specializes in crafting solar panels, next-generation lithium-ion batteries, and other pioneering energy solutions.

Johannes Linder is Director of System Design & Innovation at BELECTRIC, one of the leading EPC service providers in the development, construction and operation of solar power plants in Europe. His department calculates the basis for a large number of design and technology decisions - including for new photovoltaic applications such as agrivoltaic or hybrid systems. Before joining BELECTRIC in 2013 as an International Project Manager delivering utility scale projects in Europe, Australia and India, Johannes Linder worked for several start-up-companies and developers in the industry and was a certified PV expert by TÜV Rheinland.

Aquin Magnus is a research engineer at ENGIE Laborelec, the research and innovation expertise centre for electric energy of the ENGIE Group. At Laborelec, he is active as project manager and project engineer contributing to research projects aimed at improving the design and performance of PV or PV-BESS hybrid assets. He holds degrees in renewable energy engineering from Uppsala University and IST Lisbon.

Deepak Mohapatra works as the Senior Officer - Business & Market Development at the Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE), a leading global business association representing the decentralised renewable energy (DRE) sector for provision of energy access in developing and emerging countries. He works closely together with more than 200 ARE Members, as well as international and local partners to improve market conditions, facilitate capacity building, and establish favourable environment enabling business for private sector companies in DRE space across the globe. Previously Deepak worked at a German NGO called 'Lernen - Helfen - Leben e.V. as a Project Coordinator. He holds MSc. in Renewable Energy Management from Technical University of Cologne (TH Köln), Germany and B.Tech. in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT), India.

Molly is a Senior Research Analyst in the solar PV team at Exawatt (part of the CRU Group). Molly oversees Exawatt's tracking and forecasting of PV module efficiency and architecture. In addition, she undertakes analysis of capacity, production and financial data for PV manufacturers. Molly joined Exawatt as an analyst in 2020 whilst finishing her studies. Molly has an undergraduate degree in Physics and postgraduate masters degree in Solar Cell Technology from the University of Sheffield.

Dr.-Ing. Björn Müller has been Managing Director of Enmova GmbH since 2021. Mr. Müller studied economics at Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg from 1991 to 1998 and graduated with a degree in business administration. From 2004 to 2006, he studied energy management at the University of Koblenz-Landau and graduated with a Master of Science. In 2018, the University of Kassel awarded him the title of Doctor of Engineering (Dr.-Ing.). Mr. Müller worked for a large international auditing company in Freiburg from 2000 to 2005. After working as an independent consultant for 2 years, he held various positions at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Freiburg from 2007 to 2021. His last position there was as group leader of the "Photovoltaic Power Plants" group. In 2021, he founded Enmova GmbH from Fraunhofer ISE. Mr. Müller has many years of experience in business and technical issues relating to the planning, construction and operation of PV power plants. He also has in-depth knowledge in the field of energy meteorology and climatology.

Growing up on a family-owned farm Fabian Neu was able to gain a deep understanding of farming practices and suitable crop rotations. With several years of expertise in both the agriculture and renewable energy sectors, he has cultivated a deep understanding of sustainable farming practices and clean energy. Following his university degree in Agricultural Science and Economics from the Universities of Bonn and Göttingen, he pursued an internship at a large agricultural enterprise in Australia, notable for its pioneering work in large-scale drip irrigation for crops. Afterward he held a position as a speaker at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture for over two years, focusing on innovation and digitalization. In addition to gaining political expertise in European funding programs and contributing to guidelines, he was involved in evaluating research proposals in the field of innovative and sustainable agricultural concepts, including Agri-PV. Passionate about integrating agricultural practices with innovative technologies to advance sustainable and efficient agriculture, paired with clean energy, he has been active in the Agri-PV sector for over 3 years now. In 2023 Fabian Neu joined RWE Renewables as a Senior Expert for Agri-PV. He supports the global Agri-PV market development and effectively capitalizes on the synergies between the agricultural and energy industries. He is a Member of the consortium defining livestock-specific guidelines for Agri-PV in Germany under DIN SPEC 91492.

Juan Rivier, Electronic Engineer and Ph. D. in Electrical Engineering by Comillas University, is currently Head of Global Regulation within Iberdrola Renewables, with a global responsibility (geographies and renewable technologies) on Renewables Regulation. He is a SolarPowerEurope and WindEurope Board Director. He has now more than 30 years of experience in the energy sector, beginning as an academic during 15 years at the Institute for Technological Research (IIT) of Comillas University, and joining Iberdrola in 2007 where he has been global responsible for Renewables Regulation and also global responsible for renewables PPA structuring.

Victoria Santos is a research associate in the Power and Renewables team at Wood Mackenzie, with a keen focus on the dynamic solar and storage markets in Europe. Her energy sector experience includes forecasting and analysis related to all aspects of onshore wind, solar PV and storage on which she has published various reports during her time at Wood Mackenzie. She also contributes towards Wood Mackenzie's global analysis and monitors project development, asset transactions and policy updates across the region.

Since 2021, Christian Schill is group manager of 'Photovoltaic Power Plants' at Fraunhofer ISE, Germany, after stations at Freiburg Material Research Centre (FMF), PSE GmbH and the University of Freiburg. He is an alumni of the Sustainability Center Freiburg. He works in the fields of quality of PV power plants, outdoor weathering of PV modules, climate data and spatial analyses, with a focus on integrated PV and digitalization in the PV sector.

Michael is Executive Advisor to the CEO and a member of the leadership team. Alongside his business development work, Michael heads SolarPower Europe's award-winning market intelligence team. He is lead author of the annually published Global Market Outlook and EU Market Outlook, and works closely with Policy Analyst Raffaele operating the Solar & Storage workstream. Michael has been working in solar for over 20 years. After co-founding Photon-Magazine in 1996, he served in various positions within the Photon group, primarily as Editor-in-Chief of Photon International. In 2014, Michael started MISCHCO, a company offering strategy consulting and communication services to solar companies. In 2016, TaiyangNews, a digital news platform for the solar industry that Michael founded, went online. Michael studied Geology/Palaeontology at Bonn University, Geology at RWTH Aachen, and Mineralogy at Frankfurt University. He speaks German and English.

Multi-lingual (Chinese, English, French) female leader with ten+ years' international professional experience in Asia, Europe and Middle East related to ESG, Project Management, Energy-sector Planning and Analysis, Liaison and Outreach in both private and public sectors (UNESCO, Deloitte, Jinko Solar, etc.). Lin Sun holds Sciences Po Paris master degree and Fudan Univ. Bachelor degree, known for results-oriented analytical methods that blend in-depth awareness of international affairs, business acumen and industrial sensitivity in renewables. During the journey in Jinko Solar, Lin Sun leads Sustainability Development Department in the headquarter, taking charge of managing and coordinating ESG, GHG-emission, 'Green transition' activities, in close collaboration with divisions in charge of Supply Chain, Operation, IT, Legal affairs as well as bankability such as project financing, scaling-up renewable and energy transition in various regions. Lin Sun had experiences in conducting market and industrial research that contributes to the green transition and sustainable development strategies. Lin Sun also acted as corporate representative to deliver speech and/or to participate in COP27, COP28, IRENA General Assembly, Sofia Economic Forum and other international summits for ESG and sustainability presentation, while as maintaining close relations with key shareholders in international and regional multilateral organizations, multi-development banks (IFC, EBRD, EIB, AfDB, ADB, etc.), research institutions and industry associations. In 2023, Lin Sun participated in EBRD annual meeting as business representative.

After a BSc in Energy Engineering at University of Bologna and a MSc in Sustainable Energy Technology at TU Delft, specializing on Solar PV & Energy Storage, Michele worked first as a Technical Consultant and Project Manager at DNV, leading technical advisory and certification firm in the Energy space, and since September 2022 as Head of Product Management Floating-PV at BayWa r.e., international developer and IPP with a strong leading position and the highest track record in Europe (300 MWp) for Floating-PV projects. Michele has been working for more than 6 years in the interesting and booming industry segment of Floating-PV, covering key responsibility roles and pushing the international agenda in the field, including managing international projects towards standardization. He is now responsible of supporting BayWa´s strategy, development and expansion in the Floating-PV space.

Stefan Trittler has been active in the off-grid market for 15 years, during which he has held a number of roles including engineering, project management, sales and R&D. Prior to his current position as Head of Innovation / Project Principal at Asantys Systems GmbH, he was employed as Project Principal and Engineering Manager at PowerGen Renewable Energies Ltd, active as mini-grid developer and operator in East and West Africa. Previously, Stefan Trittler was Technical Expert Hybrid Systems at juwi AG, responsible for system design, engineering and project management of various international off-grid systems. Before that, he gained experience in technical sales of off-grid systems at Energiebau Solarstromsysteme GmbH and HAWI Energietechnik AG. In addition to his off-grid experience, he has travelled to numerous countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America and has a special focus on rural electrification in these regions.

Electrical engineer. Founder and current President of ITALIA SOLARE association, the main Italian PV association with more than 800 members. A pioneer of photovoltaics since the early 1990s, in 2001 he founded Enerpoint, one of the leading companies in the sector active in asset management, projects development, distribution and EPC.

Vegard Vollset is Vice President and is leading the EMEA part of Rystad Energy's Renewable & Power Research team, with more than a decade of experience working within the energy industry. He has broad experience in energy modeling, M&A, and strategy work, and has worked closely with clients spanning the entire energy sector, from renewable energy companies and service companies to governmental organizations, investors, and NGOs. Prior to joining Rystad Energy, Vegard worked in Engie, Total Energies, and Equinor. He holds an MSc degree from the Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim and an MSc degree from the University of Stavanger.