Prof. Dr. Andreas Häberle is director of the Institute for Solar Technology SPF at the University of Applied Sciences HSR in Rapperswil, Switzerland. Dr. Häberle is a physicist from the Technical University of Munich and earned his PhD at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Freiburg, Germany in the field of concentrating solar thermal collectors. In 1999 he co-founded the company PSE AG that offers various technologies and services for the solar sector.

The institute SPF has been a driving force in research and development of innovative energy technologies for more than 30 years, with focal areas in energy efficiency and renewable energies in general, as well as solar thermal and solar electrical energy in particular.

Aline Oliveira is the Vice-President of the Brazilian Association of Solar Energy (ABENS) and the Director of External Relations in the Photovoltaic Collaborative to Advance Multi-Climate Performance and Energy Research (PVCAMPER). She is also a co-founder of the Brazilian Network of Women in Solar Energy (Rede MESol), an organization with the aim to support women working with solar energy in Brazil. Since 2017, she has been a researcher at the UFSC Solar Energy Research Laboratory (Fotovoltaica/UFSC), where she is currently doing her PhD with a focus on the inspection of photovoltaic plants. There, she works in R&D projects in the area of photovoltaics, energy storage, green hydrogen and electrical vehicles.

Dr. Renné served as President of the International Solar Energy Society from 2010 - 2019.  From 1991 until his retirement in 2012 Dr. Renné managed the solar resource assessment activities at the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).  In 2012 he formed the consultancy Dave Renne Renewables.  He is dedicated to the concept of urgently achieving 100% renewable energy to meet all of our end use energy requirements as the best solution to the climate crisis.

In May 2017, Christine Lins co-founded GWNET, the Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition, which aims at empowering women in the sustainable energy sector.From July 2011 until April 2018, Christine was working as Executive Secretary of REN21, the Renewable Energy Policy Network of the 21st Century, headquartered at the United Nations Environment Programme in Paris/France. Between 2001 and 2011, Ms. Lins served as Secretary General of the European Renewable Energy Council in Brussels. Previously, she worked in a regional energy agency in Austria promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.

Geoff Stapleton specialized in solar (PV) energy in the final year of his electrical engineering degree in 1981. He has worked in the solar industry since 1987. In 1998 he was one of the co-founders of Global Sustainable Energy Solutions Pty Ltd (GSES). GSES is a multi-disciplinary organization specializing in professional engineering and training services across the Renewable Energies sector. In 2010 through funding from REEEP, GSES acted as project manager and helped the industry in the Pacific create their own industry association known as Sustainable Energy Industry Association of Pacific Islands (SEIAPI). 

Genene Tessema Mola is a Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and an experienced researcher in the field of Condensed Matter Physics and Energy Materials. In the last fifteen years, he has been engaged in research that deals with thin film solar cell technology with an emphasis on Polymers and Perovskite. Consequently, he has trained nearly 45 postgraduate students in the field of solar cell technology some of whom are currently working as Academician/Researcher in various higher education institutions. Meanwhile, he has published over 155 research articles in highly reputable international journals, which are contributing to science and create awareness among society about the potential benefits of solar energy. He is serving as an Associate Editor for several scientific journals including Solar Energy.  He is committed to the efforts of 100% global renewable energy supply.

Dr. Gurleen Kaur is a Technology and Solar Specialist at the International Solar Alliance, a coalition of over a hundred countries devoted to easing solar deployment globally. An engineer by profession, her profound appreciation for the liberal arts fuels her commitment to using technology for the greater good. Through her professional endeavours, she is dedicated to making affordable and clean energy solutions accessible to every household, thereby creating impactful solutions for people and the planet.
 
Dr Kaur's PhD from the National University of Singapore in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore paved the way for impactful research. Her doctoral research focused on developing low-cost and high-efficiency architectures for solar cells using contact passivation and has a significant global reach. With over a decade of experience in R&D and teaching, she has made specific contributions to the development and characterization of thin films, silicon solar cells, module reliability, and emerging PV technologies like Agrivoltaics and Floating PV.
 
For her enterprise, Dr Kaur has been recognized on numerous occasions. She has been named the Female Science Talent, Future Energy Leader (11 in the world) by BP plc, BP Scholar, One Young World Ambassador, Youngest International Energy Agency Delegate, Emerging Young Leader in Asia, and Young India Fellow.

In her free time, she likes to paint and travel.

Francisco Beltrán holds a degree in Industrial and Mechanical Engineering from Universidad de la República in Uruguay, and boasts over a decade of experience in the energy sector. With a Master of Science in Sustainable Energy Engineering from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, he is currently pursuing a PhD at the same institution, focusing on solar photovoltaic-thermal technology and heat pumps. Francisco also teaches various master-level courses at KTH, such as Energy Management, Solar Energy Systems for Buildings and Cities, and Energy Supply Systems for Buildings.

Additionally, Francisco assumes leadership roles, presiding over the Swedish Student branch of ASHRAE and chairing Uruguay’s National Future Energy Leaders Program of the World Energy Council. His contributions have been recognized globally, being selected as a Global Future Energy Leader by the World Energy Council.

Prof. Dr. Berta García Fernández is Professor of Physics in Department of Forest and Environmental Engineering and Management, School of Forest Engineering and Natural Resources, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM). She studied Optics at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), M.Sc Technical Optics UCM and Ph.D. in Advanced Optical Systems for natural lighting in Architectural Environments (UCM). He has 25 years academic experience in Optics. The topic of your most relevant research is focused on Optical Design, Solar energy, Sustainability, Color, Daylighting within the framework of both theoretical and experimental work.

Dr. Fan, an Associate Professor at the Technical University of Denmark, specializes in solar energy research. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and completed postdoctoral research focusing on solar heating systems. With nearly 20 years of experience, Dr. Fan has led multiple EU and international projects, contributing significantly to solar thermal utilization and seasonal heat storage. He has published nearly 200 papers and serves as an associate editor for the journal Solar Energy. Dr. Fan's innovative work in efficient solar energy conversion and large-scale heat storage has contributed to the development of solar district heating systems in Denmark and Europe, showcasing his commitment to interdisciplinary research and collaboration.

I have about 40 years’ experience in the field of renewable energy, especially solar energy, working in academics, R&D, policy planning and implementation of national programmes, and presently working with Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, a think tank in the space of sustainability and clean energy in India. At Shakti, we work with various stakeholders to identify and scale energy system interventions that will reduce GHG emissions and tackle climate change. During SWC2023, I worked closely with ISES, especially the scientific committee.

During my career, I had the opportunity to head Solar Energy Corporation of India, a Corporate under administrative  control of the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, and also to work with the Government in developing and launching national solar mission in India. By education, I did my masters in Physics followed with a Ph.D. in solar energy in 1981 from IIT Delhi.

Andreas Kazantzidis is the Head of Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics and Professor in the Physics Department, University of Patras, Greece. His main research activities focus on solar resource and forecasting with the extensive use of radiative transfer models in synergy with ground-based and satellite measurements. His experimental activities include measuring of solar broadband/spectral radiation using various types of instruments, monitoring of atmospheric parameters as well as data analysis, quality control and reliability of atmospheric measurements. He participates in IEA PVPS Task, dedicated to solar resource for high penetration and large scale applications.

Dr. Saman Nimali Gunasekara is an Assistant Professor at Energy Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. She obtained her PhD in Energy Technology (2017) and MSc in Sustainable Technology (2011) from KTH, Sweden, and BSc. in Chemical and Process Engineering (2007) from University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. She has over a decades’ research and teaching experience on thermal energy storage, district heating and cooling, renewable energy technologies, and from recent years additionally in refrigeration and heat pumping technology. In-parallel, Dr. Gunasekara has also been collaborating with various International Energy Agency (IEA) technology collaboration tasks and annexes, particularly concerning Energy Storage. She has numerous scientific publications as author/co-author and is actively engaged in education covering bachelors, masters, and PhD-level, towards realizing sustainable energy systems.