Industry Summit Advisory Board

Begoña Molinete – BSC in Telecom Engineering by the University of the Basque Country (Bilbao School of Engineering). Strategic Area Manager at the Basque Energy Cluster for Solar PV, Smart Grids and Electromobility coordinating the Cluster activities in these fields, such as collaborative R&D projects at regional, national and European level, communication and dissemination workshops and activities, networking events, working groups and internationalization support actions for associated entities. Previously, researcher and project manager for 15 years in the fields of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and data analytics for Smart mobility services and applications.

Dr. Puzant Baliozian is a physicist specialized in photovoltaics production technologies and currently leads the Photovoltaics Equipment Sector Group at VDMA. Holding a PhD in microsystems enginnering for his work at Fraunhofer ISE, his research focused on developing passivated edge technology (PET) for separated solar cells, aimed at improving cell and module efficiency. He is involved in techno-economic studies on PV manufacturing capacities and innovation trends across the value chain. His team published the highly cited yearly International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaics (ITRPV). He supports building resilient supply chains and underscores Europe’s strategic position in the development of solar technology, with a focus on machinery and equipment.

Dr Radovan Kopecek received his diploma in physics from the University of Stuttgart in 1998 and studied as well at Portland State University (Oregon, USA), where he obtained a Master of Science degree already in 1995. In 2002, he completed his doctoral thesis in Konstanz in the field of crystalline thin-film photovoltaics.
Until the end of 2006, he was group leader for n-type cell technology at the University of Konstanz. As one of the founders of ISC Konstanz, Dr Kopecek has been a full-time manager and researcher at the institute since 2007 and was managing director, CTO and head of the Advanced Solar Cells department until June 2023 and head of the Strategy and Education department since July 2023. He is the author of several books and more than 200 articles and holds several patents for the production of n-type PV technologies. He is the organizer of several workshops that he started in Konstanz, such as nPV, bifiPV, tandemPV and BCworkshop.
Dr Kopecek was on the board of EUREC (Association of EU's R&D centers involved in renewables) from 2016 to 2021. In 2018, he co-founded ATAMOSTEC - a research and development center for desert modules and systems in Chile and has been on the board since 2022. In 2022, Dr Kopecek was also elected to the board of the ESMC (European Solar Manufacturing Council). Since May 2023, he has been one of the spokespersons for the PV Production Working Group of the BMWK (Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection).

Walburga Hemetsberger has been the CEO of SolarPower Europe since 2019. She has over 20 years of professional experience in Brussels, working for a utility, a trade association, the European Parliament, and the European Commission. Walburga has spent most of her career in the energy sector, in particular renewable energies and hydrogen. Before joining SolarPower Europe, Walburga headed the VERBUND Representation Office in Brussels and was a Board Member of Hydrogen Europe.

Dr. Wolfgang Jooss is a well-known renewable energy professional in the field of photovoltaic technology with more than 25 years of experience. His journey began as an expert in solar cell technology, which served as basis to develop a deep understanding of the entire crystalline silicon value chain. Over the years, he extended his expertise to encompass financial aspects related to the manufacturing of photovoltaic products, including areas such as cost of ownership and project financing.
With over 50 scientific publications and 10 patents to his name, Dr. Wolfgang Jooss has made significant contributions to solar cell technology and equipment process development. His work has not only expanded sector’s understanding of photovoltaics but also played a crucial role in the advancement of solar energy technologies.
Dr. Jooss completed his education at the University of Konstanz, holding a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Physics in 2002 and a Diploma in Physics in 1998 with multiple significant contributions in several academic conferences. Currently, he is Director Technology at RCT Solutions in Germany.