Portrait
My career path in solar began as an advisor via the citizen’s initiative "Phönix" in Germany, 1990. It has been followed by many stages of training such as studies at the Technical University of Berlin (Germany), in the late 90’s. These included an intense student exchange consisting of four years at the Moscow Institute of Energy (Russia) at the chair of renewable energies. It allowed me to expand both my skills and my cultural horizon.eitern.
For a better operability, I earned an MBA (Master of Business Administration) trough distance education, from the Open University (United-Kingdom) at the end of 2011. Since 2005, I have exclusively devoted my professional life to solar energy.
I constructed my first private solar panel at the beginning of the 1990s in Berlin in a typical, old city building. It was, then, more a hobby than a career aspiration. Those beginnings have created in me a true passion for solar, passion that I have been able to deepen at both the Universities of Berlin and Moscow. My project, entitled "Solar collector on a balcony flower box", was particularly appreciated: the idea was to generate hot water for the shower, for washing or for cleaning through a very basic technology.
This was the starting point of different professional assignments as a specialized technical adviser in solar energy, energy saving and energy supply in Russia. Thereafter, I joined the sales department of ALSTOM’s thermal power plants for Vietnam, China and Thailand as a graduate engineer.
For the next five years, I was responsible for the strategic purchase of Q-Cells which allowed me to grasp in its entirety the photovoltaic value chain of the solar industry (silicon, ingots, silicon rods, solar cells, solar modules). Therefore, I was able to contribute to the birth of the fragile bud that was then, solar energy. My activity mainly led me to China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Russia but also India.
During the early years of Taiga Elements and my entrepreneurship, I learned about the joint Novartis-IBM project in Africa called “SMS for Life”. The idea of a “solar triangle” of mobile phones, mobile banking and data transfer via SMS was born. I created sketches and drafts and my technical approach combined existing solar technology such as solar modules, lamps and batteries with the rapidly developing uses of mobile phones and mobile banking in Africa.
By the end of 2010, my partner and I submitted our first patent application to the German Patent Office in Munich. The first functional prototype was ready in March 2011. The customer-oriented development of this technology led to the founding of DT Power GmbH (Dirk/Thomas) in Switzerland in early 2011, with pilot projects completed in Kenya and Tansania by 2013. These days, the business model is being technically and commercially implemented by Mobisol GmbH.
Currently I focus my work with Taiga Elements exclusively on grid-tied photovoltaic solar and thermal solar applications and projects.
