What is your role and how would you describe your job?
I am the Executive Vice President Sales & Marketing of meteocontrol, a leading global provider of monitoring and control solutions for PV plants. We deliver complete solutions for professional portfolio management software for investors, project developers and system integrators. Simultaneously, I am the Managing Director of our Dubai office, so I bounce between worlds. I am responsible for all sales activities of meteocontrol and I am also in charge of our international subsidiaries, logistics, technical support and marketing. My job is to strategically develop the company, penetrate new markets and coordinate our global business activities. We are now very well positioned in the Middle East and the long-term potential here is tremendous. We have been able to build up great partnerships in recent years and work very closely and trustfully with many companies in the region.
How did you start your journey in the solar industry?
My career in the solar industry started in 2007 at a large German inverter manufacturer, where I was primarily involved in grid-forming stand-alone systems based on photovoltaics. In 2015, I joined meteocontrol and was mainly responsible for the internationalization of the company in different roles
What is your most memorable moment in Solar?
I remember well the times when the general opinion prevailed that photovoltaics could not achieve the so-called “grid parity”, i.e. to be able to compete with conventionally generated energy. We have succeeded in proving the opposite in a very short time. Nowadays I am more than happy to see that photovoltaic is among the most cost effective ways of energy production worldwide.
What I’ll also never forget is the moment when I was involved in the commissioning of an island PV remote plant in a small African village, which was far away from the public power supply, for the supply of a school and a doctor’s office. It was absolutely overwhelming to witness the joy of the villagers. It was the very latest at that moment that I was convinced that I was doing the right thing.