Solarplaza Summit | Agri-PV Europe

-

Marleen Gysen has over 10 years of extensive experience in innovation in agriculture and advising farmers. She works as an innovation consultant at Boerenbond, the largest farmers’ organisation in Belgium. Her main interest lies in the integration of renewable energy at the farm: matching energy demand and energy production. She tries to trigger farmers to think outside the box and to look for inspiration from other regions and other sectors. She supports them when setting up their innovative ideas and helps them with practical issues. Marleen was a member of the European EIP-AGRI Focus Group on on-farm renewable energy production. She was involved, among others, in the H2020 project PLAID on on-farm demonstration and the H2020 project LIAISON that aimed to help unlock the potential of “working in partnership for innovation” in agriculture. Nowadays, Marleen is involved in the H2020 project HyPErFarm on agrivoltaics.

Sascha Krause-Tünker is responsible for the company business development. He has a strong focus on renewable energy and sustainability. Previously worked as a Consultant and Interim-Manager focusing on project management, IT und finance. He has broad experience in start-up, small- and medium sized businesses as well as big corporations, intersectoral with experiences in production, logistics, energy and services. In 2004 he completed Masters in Business Administration at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main in Germany.

Since 2020, Dr. Matthew Berwind has been a scientist at the Fraunhofer ISE leading public and private projects in the Agrivoltaics and Solar Power Plants groups as the subject manager for photovoltaic simulations. His thematic focal points at the Fraunhofer ISE are the maximization of dual-yield in tracked agrivoltaic systems, leading two public projects in this direction, as well as the digitalization of and data analytics for integrated PV power plants.

Audrey Juillac is a 28 year old farmer and president of the FFPA, working in the South West of France. She started her activity 2 years ago with a strong will to show that young farmers have the responsibility to contribute to the changes we need to implement in order to have a more resilient agriculture. She is an ex physicist in search of a meaningful professional activity that has a positive impact on the society. She now has 3 ha of land, all cultivated in an organic way and is currently developping an agropv plant with the help of Green Light Hous Développement

Jiří Bím was born in Mladá Boleslav. He finished FEE CTU with Bc. in 2017 in Electrotechnics, energetics and management study program. In 2020 he finished his Masters degree in the study program Management of energetics. Since 2021 he is PhD. student and researcher at CTU and studying topic Economics aspect of RES. He has focused on agrivoltaics and is also active in establishing legislation for agrivoltaics. From 2022 he is the Head of agrivoltaics section in Czech Solar association.

Queen Mary, University of London and King's College London graduate, after post-graduate course at the Sorbonne, Elena began her career as a business analyst at American Express (UK). Before starting the "Evklips Energy" adventure, Elenagained valuable experience at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, where she worked as a financial analyst. The dream of a "greener future" becomes a driving force for the transition from large corporations towards the establish of company. To date, Evklips Energy is among the leaders in the construction of photovoltaic plants throughout Europe. In the last 6 years, the company has over 1 gigawatt of installed capacity. Evklips Energy is the investor and owner of 4 solar power plants in Bulgaria (18 MWp). With a team of over 250 professionals, Evklips Energy also offers full EPC services in Bulgaria.

Jean-Charles is a Director, fund manager in the energy transition Infrastructure team. He has significantly contributed to setting-up two strategic partnerships to develop and build Agri-PV projects in Italy, alongside the integrated European developers Green Genius and Pacifico Energy Partners (please see press articles below). These partnerships have been entered into by the “Eiffel Transition Infrastructure” fund, an equity infrastructure fund managed by Eiffel. He is deeply involved in the financing of renewable projects in Europe. Prior to joining Eiffel, he spent 15 years at Total Energies in various senior positions : head of M&A and strategy for the renewable energy division, in charge of renewable energy project development in the middle east, in charge of the long-term financing of Total Energies. He has a long track record in negotiating partnerships in the renewable energy space and has worked on several M&A transactions. He holds a master in finance from IAE Paris (2012) and graduated from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de St Etienne (2003).

Miguel Herrero is a Senior Market Advisor at PVcase. He brings 6+ years of experience in energy and climate across the private, public, and civil society sectors. Miguel develops analysis, insights, and research on global solar market trends and provides strategic advice to PVcase management. Prior to joining PVcase, Miguel was Senior Policy Advisor at SolarPower Europe and a trainee in the cabinet of the EU climate and energy commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete.

-

Being in the photovoltaic industry for more than 10 years, Neige works toward the promotion of innovation PV technologies internationally. After contributing to the expansion of floating solar in Japan and Europe, she now represents Sun'Agri in Italy. She makes use of her experience in business and project development for the sake of a sustainable type of agrivoltaics called Dynamic Agrivoltaics. By a fine-tuned piloting of the PV panels above the crops, Sun'Agri indeed protects them from heavy climate hazards such as heat, drought, hail, while ensuring their growth with the right amount of light. With scientifically approved results available for more than 6 years that certify the benefits brought to the crops, the pioneer technology of Sun'Agri goes beyond the dual use of agricultural land in its approach of agrivoltaics.

Rolando Roberto is the owner and CTO of AEDES GROUP ENGINEERING S.R.L. and a strong member of Italia Solare with an extensive history in solar and Agri-PV. He has worked comprehensively in the field, from securing permitting authorization of RES plants, to the final and executive design of solar power plants for more than 1.5 GW.

Constantin Klyk is a Mechanical Engineering graduate with expertise in renewable energies. With a background in research and a specific focus on Agri-PV systems, Constantin has made significant contributions to the field. Currently serving as a Project and Product Manager at Zimmermann, a prominent Sub-structure supplier, Constantin plays a crucial role in designing and implementing Agri-PV systems. Additionally, Constantin is recognized as the lead author of the first dedicated book on Agri-PV, which will be published soon.

-

Fabian Neu was born on a farm in the West of Germany and has over 12 years extensive experience in agricultural processing. After his studies in agricultural economics and working on a 5,000 acres grain farm in Australia with innovative irrigation systems, he gained 2 years political experience in the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Since 2021 he has gathered a deep experience in the field of Agri-PV contributing to a future of green and climate resilient agriculture. In his role as a Senior Expert for Agri-PV at RWE Renewables Europe & Australia GmbH he supports the global Agri-PV activities by optimizing the technology and economic aspects of Agri-PV to adopt this technology in further utility-scale solar projects. Fabian is a member of the DIN SPEC 91492 consortium in Germany to define standards of livestock-specific requirements in the field of Agri-PV in Germany.

-

Camille is a conception engineer for TSE, a French IPP aiming to develop adaptative solutions for the solar market in order to give the right product to each specific needs. TSE is a pioneer in AgriPV with the canopy solution, an agrivoltaic plant internally developed for the large-scale fields that allows a synergy between agriculture and electrical production. With a project pipe of more than 2GW of projects in France to achieve in the next 4 years and with a significative part for AgriPV, TSE is an important actor within the French development sector. Camille is especially working on the development of new ways of doing Agrivoltaic power plants with dedicated solutions for each agriculture specifications. Before joining TSE, Camille worked as a research engineer for the CEA-INES, the French institute for Solar Energy on the field of the n-type silicon PV modules and cells and has spent some time in the microelectronics sector working on the industrialization of LED screens.

With a degree in forestry engineering, Emilien has over 15 years of experience in climate-tech and renewables industries. He has been active in the field of agrivoltaics since 2015, he has contributed to bringing several sites to operation as well as collaborating on entrepreneurial projects across Europe, LATAM y APAC. Emilien joined Lightsource bp in 2023 as Head of Agrivoltaics EMEA and leads the activities of the company to further progress the integration of agricultural initiatives alongside energy production.

After 15 years of operational management positions with the EDF Group and 6 years as Chief Executive Officer of Brazilian power generation company Norte Fluminense, Patrick joined the renewable energy business: first as Chief Operating Officer at RES France, then as Country Manager at EDP Renewables and now as Deputy General Manager at Boralex.

An internship in a solar association in 2009 was the starting point of his professional career in the field of renewable energies. During his studies Stephan Schindele worked several times for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). After completing his MBA program at the California State University East Bay (2011) he was employed as a PhD candidate and project manager at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE. There he built up the new business field of agri-photovoltaics, wrote numerous publications on the topic of Agri-PV and received several awards for his work (2012-2020). Between 2015 and 2020 he taught energy policy at Reutlingen University. He is also Co-Chairing in Land use and Permitting Workstream SolarPowerEurope. In 2020 Stephan Schindele joined the BayWa r.e. Solar Projects family as Head of Agri-PV. He supports the global Agri-PV market development and successfully leverages the synergies of the agricultural and energy industry.

With a degree in law and over 20 years of international experience in the renewable energy and energy-related projects sector, Alessandro Migliorini is a manager who combines experience and a deep understanding of the energy market and dynamics with a multidisciplinary and problem-solving approach. Furthermore, he has a deep understanding of the peculiarities of the renewables scenarios and of the local Italian territory where, for ten years, he has been in charge of the development of European Energy, a Danish operator active in various international markets. Among the various projects handled by Migliorini is the realization in 2020 of Italy's record single-connection photovoltaic park.

-

Stefano Lucarini is an Equity Partner of Tonucci & Partners Law Firm, and he is working in the renewables since 2004. He has strong experience in advising domestic and foreign clients in contractual matters related to the development of energy plants. He also assists the clients in the entire range of the M&A transactions (seller and purchaser’s side), including those promoted by Real Estate Funds, in respect of which also grants assistance in regulatory matters, and also experienced a significant number of banking & finance transactions, (lender and borrower side) both in the form of project finance and leasing (or sale and lease back), dealing with the drafting and negotiation of the contracts and with the Due Diligence process. Currently, he advises on regular basis various Italian and foreign companies, as well as certain Italian SGR managing Real Estate Funds, a Danish private equity Fund, and financial institution as leasing companies and Italian banks, as well as developers and producers. He is also part of the expert group of the Italian Association for Energy Renewable Offshore (AERO).

Valeria Viti has considerable experience in administrative and regulatory law at both European and Italian levels, with particular focus on the energy and infrastructures, natural resources and environment field. She assists companies, investment funds and credit institutions in relation to the development, acquisition and financing of energy and infrastructure projects. Valeria is mentioned as a Next Generation Partner in the energy section of The Legal 500 and has received the “Rosella Antonucci” award at the 2020 Legalcommunity Energy Awards.

Noam Schwartz is a the Agri-PV Program Manager of SolarEdge Technologies, leading the market analysis research, business development and strategy for the Agri-PV market. Noam holds an LLB degree from City, University of London and MBA from Warwick Business School.

Marco Muscettola graduated from the University of Perugia in 2000. He was admitted to the Bar in 2004. He is a university lecturer in Civil and Corporate Law; he is a collaborator of University “Gabriele d’Annunzio” in Pescara (Faculty of Economics – Civil Law Department). Marco worked at Chiomenti Law Firm in Rome and in Milan for nine years and at Bird and Bird Law Firm in Milan for over two years, in the finance and corporate department specialising in banking and finance transactions. In January 2019 he became a partner in PLC Law Firm until 2020 when he became a member of LEXIA Avvocati’s team.

Associate Professor in Agricultural Mechanization for the macro-sector 07 / C1 “Agricultural, forestry and biosystems engineering”. Task leader for Energetic Transition in the project "Department of Excellence" (Law 232/2016) DAFNE Project 2023-27 "Digital, Intelligent, Green and Sustainable (acronym: D.I.Ver.So)" Deputy Director of the Educational-Experiment al Farm "N.Lupori" of the University of Tuscia. Leader of WP3 Innovations in the agricultural and forestry sectors for energy sustainability in the SAFE-MED excellence Department. Scientific coordinator of the Agro-Energy Laboratory (ENERLAB) at the Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences of the University of Tuscia. PhD in Agricultural Mechanization XIXth cycle with thesis "Study and development of innovative technologies applicable to small and medium-sized enterprises, for the use of renewable energy resources".

After the University Degree in Agricultural Sciences at the Catholic University of Piacenza, he is active as agronomist consultant and founder of agricultural engineering studio “APIS Consulting Srl”, focused on design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of photovoltaic systems in the agriculture sector, cooperating with farmers and multi-utility companies

Jonathan Rotenberg is a Managing Partner of Olympia Engineering, a development company with 1.2 GW portfolio in Italy and Romania. The company is responsible in originating, developing, constructing PV and Agri PV projects. Jonathan is developing in Italy various projects for a combined capacity of ~600 Mwp in Italy following agrivoltaic national rules and advance agrivoltaic development system in Sicily and Sardegna. In his previous experience, he created a 1.3GW platform of PV development with 17 development agreements for publicly listed entity in Italy and directed the market entry in 4 new EU markets. Jonathan holds an MBA in Finance from Fordham University and a BA in Economics from Yeshiva University, both in NYC.

Marco Mazzi is an electrical engineer with over 20 years of experience in the renewable energy sector. Responsible for regulatory affairs and institutional relations for RWE Renewables Italia, in his career he has held various positions relating to the development of renewable source plants, trade in energy environmental products, finance manager for southern European countries and deepening the regulation of Iberian countries , South Americans and the Pacific area. Thanks to its in-depth transversal knowledge in the regulatory field of solar, wind and storage technologies, actively works with institutions and trade associations, supporting the growth of renewable sources to achieve decarbonisation targets, always placing attention to discussion and dialogue, promoting with particular attention the dissemination of knowledge of renewable sources.

Dee Yon Chng (pronounced Dion) is a project manager for Solarplaza spearheading the following events in chronological order: Agri-PV 2023, Floating-PV 2023, Energy Storage Spain 2023, Romania 2024, France 2024. Prior to Solarplaza she helped co-found a "floating" coaching company, and worked as sustainability consultant. She is a strong believer in knowledge sharing around sustainability topics, with 10 years of chairman experience in facilitating a collaborative and fruitful discussion.