The Solar Journey Podcast

In the final episode of Season 2 of The Solar Journey, Torsten tackles one of the most debated areas of energy transition technology: green hydrogen production and usage. Putting the hydrogen-hype under a microscope, this episode taps the knowledge of a global expert in the field who, somewhat surprisingly, has some inconvenient truths to share. Joining Torsten is Dr. Klemens Ilse, a physicist and...

In the penultimate episode of season two, we've got a double header for you! Torsten reconnects with returning guests Christian Langen and Tobias Schütt, co-founders of Cleantech Bridge, a startup bridging the gap between venture capital and infrastructure funding for the rollout of innovative clean technologies. With decades of combined experience in the solar and energy storage industries, Chris...

This week on The Solar Journey, Torsten speaks with Oliver Schulz-Wittmann, CTO of Holosolis, a veteran of the solar technological development. With a career spanning innovative startups, major R&D projects, and important roles in solar manufacturing, Oliver has seen a lot! From humble beginnings analyzing samples for radioactivity post-Chernobyl during his time in civil service, Oliver is cur...

This week on The Solar Journey, Torsten sits down with Karolina Attspodina, the dynamic CEO and co-founder of WeDoSolar. Karolina’s journey into the solar industry was informed by the desire to expand the boundaries of PV applications – giving apartment dwellers and renters the chance to benefit from the technology.  Her company, WeDoSolar, specializes in smart balcony solar systems. And she has p...

In the first episode back after our mid-season break, Torsten reconnects with Andrew Blakers, who he studied under at the Australian National University back in the nineties. Andrew is a true trailblazer in renewable energy and a developer and fierce advocate for solar technology. This episode explores Andrew’s journey from a student of physics at UNSW to renewable energy visionary. With a blend o...

This week's episode of The Solar Journey takes us to sub-Saharan Africa with Ndiarka Mbodji, CEO and founder of Kowry Energy, as the company rolls out sustainable energy solutions across the continent. Ndiarka's background in chemistry and business management, plus a 15 year tenure in the corporate world at Rolls-Royce, led her to excel in operational roles. But it was her deep connection to Seneg...

This week Torsten sits down with one of the most influential voices in the solar research community, Martin Green, aka “the father of modern PV,” for a retrospective look at the early history and rapid progress of solar technology. Martin’s groundbreaking work has shaped the industry as we know it, and his story is one of innovation and grasping opportunities as they arose. His early interest in m...

In a special extended episode of The Solar Journey , Torsten Brammer speaks with influential industry voice, Gunter Erfurt , former CEO of Meyer Burger Technology AG , in his first interview since parting ways with the European manufacturing giant. From his beginnings as a student of physics to one of the most well-known faces in Europe's solar manufacturing segment, Gunter's solar journey has tak...

In our second episode of the season, Torsten is joined at The smarter E in Munich by trailblazing solar analyst Jenny Chase , who was the first member of the BloombergNEF solar analyst team. Jenny, who has spent over 17 years shaping solar market intelligence, shares her journey from studying physics at Cambridge University to leading one of the world’s top sources for solar data and analysis. Jen...

We're kicking off Season 2 of The Solar Journey with solar industry leader Howard Wenger, President of Nextracker! In this episode, host Dr. Torsten Brammer dives deep into Howard's incredible 40-year journey, from waiting in gas lines during the 1970's oil crisis to leading one of the world's most innovative solar tracker companies. Howard shares how he fell in love with photovoltaics (spoiler: h...

In episode #022 of The Solar Journey, Dr. Torsten Brammer talks with Christian Langen Founder and Senior Advisor of Dynago. Christian has been active in leading solar businesses for about 20 years, from manufacturing wafers, cells, and modules with Sovello, building solar systems, and selling components with Conergy to selling inverters worldwide as Executive VP for SMA. For 10 years, he has been...

In this episode, Torsten Brammer talks to Tim Meyer, the owner of 3Epunkt, a consultancy for renewable solutions with renewable energy & sector coupling. Tim has more than 27 years of technology and management experience in the renewable energy and energy industry. Together with Torsten, he takes a closer look at our current situation in the European Energy market – specifically Germany. What chal...

In this episode, Dr. Torsten Brammer talks to Dr. Volker Quaschning, a professor of renewable energy systems at the Berlin University of Applied Sciences Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin. Moreover, Volker is a co-founder of Scientists for Future, the author of multiple books, and a successful podcaster and YouTuber for renewable energy topics. So this talk is about the dedication to ma...

This episode is truly inspiring ☀️. Renewable energy can really make a difference in the world and improve living conditions and perspectives of whole communities. Africa GreenTec, empowers people to achieve more self-determination and growth through sustainable energy solutions. But it is easier said than done because electricity works differently in other countries. It is not only about access,...

In this episode, Torsten Brammer talks to a pioneer in the field of quality insurance for PV power plants. Jörg Althaus is the Director of Engineering Services, QA, and ESG at Clean Energy Associates. CEA provides engineering and technical support services for #PV and battery storage. Before his current position, Jörg held various positions at TÜV Rheinland, a leading Testing, Inspection, Certific...

In episode #017 Torsten Brammer and Jürgen Sutterlüti talk about the optimization of solar power plants by using Edge computing and cloud-based processing.   Jürgen Sutterlüti is responsible for the energy business segment and cloud platform development at Gantner Instruments, a global leader in modular and flexible data acquisition systems. He gives an overview of the key challenges in operating...

In episode #016 of The Solar Journey Podcast, Dr. Torsten Brammer Speaks with Dr. Charles Gay. Charlie Gay is a pioneer in the PV manufacturing industry with over 45 years of solar experience. He served most of his career in the private sector as leader at ARCO Solar, Siemens Solar Industries, ASE Americas, and Applied Materials. Dr. Gay also led the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) for the...

In episode #015 of The Solar Journey podcast, Dr. Torsten Brammer speaks with Mario Schirru. Mario Schirru has been in the renewable energy business since 2008 when he started his career as a Project Developer for GEO mbH. Five years later, he moved to Germany and started working as an Investment Manager for Capital Stage AG, now Encavis AG. In 2015 he was appointed Investment Director and took ov...

In episode #014 Dr. Torsten Brammer speaks with the University of Freiburg located in Fahnenbergplatz, Germany. Dr. Brammer is the host and founder of The Solar Journey Podcast, and currently serves as the CEO of WAVELABS Solar Metrology Systems GmbH, and CEO for Photovoltaic Research and Consulting. With the University of Freiburg, Dr. Brammer discusses his personal solar journey and what he's le...

In episode #013 Dr. Torsten Brammer speaks with Dr. Pierre Verlinden. Dr. Verlinden is a photovoltaic (PV) scientist with 40 years of experience in high-efficiency silicon solar cell technology, IBC silicon cells, Concentrator photovoltaic (CPV), multi-junction III-V solar cells, detectors, optoelectronic and power devices. The founder and managing director of Amrock, he specializes in design, pro...

Another new episode this way comes with double the power. This week Dr. Brammer is joined by Konrad Perényi and Steffen Mangold of Solytic. Solytic is a digital platform used to maximize solar performance to save costs, drive profits, and extend life cycles. Its mission is to automate top performance for solar PV. Konrad Perényi and Steffen Mangold are two of the four founders and focus on the mar...

The hits keep on coming with another episode of The Solar Journey with Dr. Torsten Brammer. In episode #11 Dr. Brammer speaks with Andreas Bentzen of Otovo . Based in Oslo, Norway, Andreas acts as CTO and Co-Founder of Otovo , and Owner and Founder of Beacon . Andreas received his Master of Science in Physical Electronics at NTNU and his Ph. D. in Physics at UiO . In this episode, Torsten and Andr...

We're back with another episode of The Solar Journey podcast with Torsten Brammer! This week, in episode #010, Torsten speaks with Radovan Kopecek, Co-founder and Director of ISC Konstanz. Dr. Radovan Kopecek, born in Brno (former Czechoslovakia), obtained his Diploma in Physics at the University of Stuttgart in 1998 in the field of Superconductive Fullerides. In addition, he studied for one year...

We were very fortunate on Episode #009 of The Solar Journey Podcast, to host Tobias Schuett, CEO of German company DZ-4. DZ-4 is Germany’s first distributed utility company that sells solar PV energy to residential homeowners in a “behind the meter” concept. Tobias is a true entrepreneur and solar PV passionate with a proven track record of successfully developing, executing, and growing new busin...

On Episode #008 of The Solar Journey Podcast, we're honored to host Harald Överholm, founder (and CEO) of Swedish solar company Alight. Founded in 2013, Alight (previously Eneo) is the leading solar Power Purchase Agreement provider in the Nordics. Alight is committed to helping large corporations save money and do good, now and in the long term, through sustainable solar technology. Harald Överho...