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Host Torsten Brammer wants to investigate the question; “What does it take to get solar to the next level?”. On the podcast he interviews industry experts, discussing their journey in the solar industry and opinions on current topics and events.
Episodes
Wednesday Jul 29, 2020
Wednesday Jul 29, 2020
Stefan Krauter is a serial entrepreneur and professor. In the 1970s, while his friends went onto demonstration against nuclear power plants, he searched for something he could support. This is when solar power caught his interest and he has not left the solar industry ever since.
He is a co-founder of the first publicly listed solar module producer Solon and co-founder of the technical advisor PI Berlin. On Twitter, he tries to compete with Trump by using a job title usually limited to the CEO of the catholic church. Officially, he claims that a former student gave him the title “solar-pope” (@solarpapst).
You can tell that his agenda is on eye level with the mayor of the Vatican when he discusses the pros of his new concept of measuring time (spoiler: it is related to tobacco).
Currently, he is a professor at the German University of Paderborn. He researches, all down-to-earth but always with-the-sun, innovative energy supply structures, energy efficiency, and load management.
Show notes
Interesting points covered in this episode for those of us on our own Solar Journey:
- Why is tobacco the centerfold of Stefan's new concept for time?
- Why did Stefan end up in the solar industry?
- What is Stefan's major advice for founders?
- Why was the German feed-in tariff from the year 2000 THE major global milestone for the solar industry?
- Why is German national security the mother of the modern solar industry?
- How did Germany lose its pole position of 50% market share in solar to China?
- Why is nuclear power 100 times more expensive than solar and coal?
- What are the biggest roadblocks for solar and wind?
- What can solar learn from Russian nuclear power plant giant Rosatom?
- Why should solar join forces with worker unions?
** Find this episode's transcript on The Solar Journey website > Blog > Interviews **
Wednesday Jul 29, 2020
Wednesday Jul 29, 2020
Having graduated with a Ph.D. from Helmholtz Zentrum in Berlin in 2005, Jens Schneider embarked on a career that took him from being an engineer at CSG solar to heading up the Solar Module Technology group at the prestigious Fraunhofer CSP in Halle, Germany.
Jens currently juggles a couple of different positions in the solar space, being a professor at Leipzig’s University of Applied Sciences and working with the Center for Economics of Materials (CEM) in Energy System Analysis.
We are pleased to have the professor on as our first guest on The Solar Journey podcast, bringing us back to school for this online masterclass.
So prof, show us the way to a 100% renewable energy future….
Connect with him on LinkedIn!
Show notes
Interesting points covered in this episode for those of us on our own Solar Journey:
- How does one survive an intercontinental flight when seated with our host Torsten?
- Where did the Solar Journey begin for Jens?
- How do students drive movements and nudge others along in doing their bit?
- How do you balance the fine line between science and politics?
- How will Covid-19 affect the movements towards a sustainable future?
- How cheap is solar really?
- What is a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)?
- Can solar stand on its own, or does the state need to assist this industry still?
- How do you understand the balance between electricity and heating requirements?
- Understanding how energy systems have to transition their business models from being OPEX to CAPEX based.
- How much PV would be needed in Germany for it to be powered by a hundred percent renewables?
- How many people are working in the renewable energy sector globally?
** Find this episode's transcript on The Solar Journey website > Blog > Interviews **