ISES Board of Directors 2024 - 2026
We are proud to introduce the esteemed members of the Board of Directors of the International Solar Energy Society. This dedicated group of volunteers represents a diverse and experienced range of professionals, united by a shared commitment to advancing solar energy innovation and sustainability across the globe.
Our board members are experts from various fields, including renewable energy, engineering, policy, research, and environmental advocacy. With a wealth of experience spanning continents, they bring invaluable global perspectives and insights to guide the Society’s mission of accelerating the adoption of solar energy worldwide.
As volunteers, each director is driven by a passion for creating a sustainable future and contributing to the growth of solar energy solutions. Together, they lead with a vision to not only meet today’s energy challenges but also to shape a cleaner, greener future for generations to come.
We are honored to have such an accomplished and dedicated group of individuals steering our efforts as we continue to champion solar energy as a key to a sustainable, carbon-neutral world.
ISES Executive Committee (ExCo)
Prof. Viktoria Martin
Prof. Viktoria Martin is Professor in Energy Technology at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. A graduate from KTH (MSc in Chemical Engineering 1993) and the University of Florida (PhD in Mechanical Engineering 1998), she has pursued a career in international research collaborations within the International Energy Agency as well as the EU, providing insight into a variety of leading research and education arenas. Dr. Martin has over 25 years of experience in education, research, and entrepreneurship in the area of sustainable energy, with special focus on energy systems analysis, sector-coupling, and thermal energy storage. She is the author/co-author of 100+ publications within her research area. Equally important to research is her work on high quality education within the field, and she is presently the director of an engineering BSc degree programme in Energy and Environment, and teaches master level courses in sustainable energy systems.
Dr. Andreas Hauer
Dr. Andreas Hauer studied Physics at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany. He made his PhD at the Technical University in Berlin. Now he is the Chair of the Board at the Bavarian Center for Applied Energy Research, ZAE Bayern, with about 60 scientists. There he is responsible for all national and international research and development projects focussed on thermal and electrical energy storage, thermal driven heat pumps / chillers for industrial and building applications. Dr. Hauer is an international known expert on sector coupling, energy storage in general and specialized on thermal energy storage. Today he is leading working groups within Energy Storage Programme of technology network of the International Energy Agency, IEA, where he is member of the Executive Committee. Within the World Banks partnership on energy storage (ESMAP/ESP) he leads a working group on “"Energy Storage for C&I – Decarbonizing Commerce and Industry by Implementing Energy Storage Capacities in Developing Countries". He is also active in the “Investors Dialogue on Energy” of the European Union, member of the steering committee of the working group on energy storage. On the national level, he is Vice-President of the 2012 established Bundesverband Energiespeichersysteme (BVES), German Energy Storage Systems Association, and member of the board of directors of the Forschungsverbund Erneuerbare Energien, FVEE, the renewable energy research association. He is Editor in Chief for the Wiley publication “Advances in Energy Storage”, which was published in May 2022.
Mr. Chiel Boonstra
Chiel Boonstra works as independent expert of his own company Trecodome in the application of advanced solutions for buildings and cities. He has international experience in applied research and real life construction and renovation projects at building and communities scale. He works with industrial partners, social housing organisations, architects, city planners. Focusing on low demand profiles and seasonal energy storage at community and city scale with the purpose of achieving real time 100% renewable energy driven communities.
Prof. Michael Leung
Prof. Dr. Michael K.H. Leung is a Chair Professor in the School of Energy and Environment, Shun Hing Education and Charity Fund Professor of Energy and Environment, and Director of the Ability R&D Energy Research Centre at the City University of Hong Kong. He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, U.S.A. in 1995.
He has 20+ years academic experience in energy engineering. His particular research interests include solar photocatalysis, fuel cell, and advanced refrigeration. He has published 200+ papers in peer-reviewed journals and is listed as the top 2% of the world’s most highly cited scientists according to metrics complied by Stanford University. He is also a Fellow Member of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.
Dr. Aline Kirsten Vidal de Oliveira
Aline is an electrical engineer graduated from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). During her undergraduate degree, she worked with microgrids and did an exchange program at Technische Universität München (TUM), in Germany, where she specialized in integrating renewable energy and electromobility. There, she also did an internship in energy management and electric cars at BMW AG. After graduation, Aline was a temporary teacher at the Federal Institute of Santa Catarina in Florianópolis for a year and also carried out technical trainings on the installation of photovoltaic systems. Since 2017, she is a researcher at the UFSC Solar Energy Research Laboratory (Photovoltaic / UFSC), where she did her PhD with a focus on the inspection of photovoltaic plants. There, she is now a Postdoc researcher and works in R&D projects in the area of photovoltaics, energy storage, green hydrogen and electrical vehicles. She is also a co-founder of the Brazilian Network of Women in Solar Energy (Rede MESol). Aline is also the 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 (PV CAMPER).
Dr. Gurleen Kaur
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.
Prof. Klaus Vajen
Prof. Klaus Vajen served as ISES President from 2020-2024. He is director of the Institute of Thermal Engineering at the University of Kassel, Germany, where he holds the chair of Solar- and Systems Engineering, and furthermore distinguished professor of the Technical University of Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek. He holds a PhD in applied physics and is (co-)author of 300+ publications about (solar) thermal engineering, university education and energy policy. He is founder and director of the MSc-programme “Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency” at the University of Kassel, as well as founder and head of the council “University Educations on Renewable Energies” with 150+ professors from German speaking countries. .
Klaus was member of the ISES Board of Directors from 2003-2011 and is a member again since 2018. He was Vice-president of ISES 2006-2007, founder of Young ISES (together with J. McIntosh) as well as Chair of the Solar World Congress 2011 and of the EuroSun 2022, both in Kassel.
Board Members
Dr. Andreas Häberle
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.
Dr. David Renné
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.
Christine Lins
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
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).
Prof. Genene Tessema Mola
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.
Francisco Beltran
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. Berta García Fernández
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). She is a member of the R&I Centre for the Conservation of Biodiversity and Sustainable Development-CBSD (UPM) and the topic of her most relevant research is focused on Optical Design, Solar energy, Sustainability, Color, Daylighting within the framework of both theoretical and experimental work.
Dr. Jianhua Fan
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.
Dr Ashvini Kumar
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
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
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.
Oluwatoyin Ogedengbe
Oluwatoyin is a seasoned energy professional with a unique blend of technical, financial, and strategic expertise. She began her career in the oil and gas industry, where she held various technical and managerial roles for a decade. This experience, coupled with her subsequent work in energy investment banking, equipped her with a deep understanding of the energy sector. Oluwatoyin is currently dedicated to developing large-scale renewable energy projects for data centers, aligning with her commitment to achieving a sustainable energy future. She holds a B.Eng in Computer Engineering from Covenant University and an MBA in Finance, Policy and Operations from The Wharton Business School. Oluwatoyin is eager to contribute to the renewable energy industry through active involvement in ISES.