Agricultural PV - Applications, Technology, & Profitability

Stefan Meitinger is Policy Officer at the Brussels office of the German Farmers Association (DBV). In the DBV Brussels office he is responsible for the Renewable Energies, Common Agricultural Policy and all animal husbandry topics. These topics are are very linked in case of Agrivoltaics. With Copa-Cogeca - the european farmers and agri-cooperatives organisation he worked out with other members a paper on initial reflections on photovoltaic systems in agriculture and forestry.

An internship in a solar association in 2009 was the starting point of his professional career in the field of renewable energies. During his studies Stephan Schindele worked several times for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). After completing his MBA program at the California State University East Bay (2011) he was employed as a PhD candidate and project manager at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE. There he built up the new business field of agri-photovoltaics, wrote numerous publications on the topic of Agri-PV and received several awards for his work (2012-2020). Between 2015 and 2020 he taught energy policy at Reutlingen University. He is also Co-Chairing in Land use and Permitting Workstream SolarPowerEurope. In 2020 Stephan Schindele joined the BayWa r.e. family as Head of Agri-PV. He supports the global Agri-PV market development and successfully leverages the synergies of the agricultural and energy industry.

Dr. Simone Fungipane is Founder & Chairman of iGreen System Srl. In his professional growth, he has held different roles, ranging from commercial management to process business consulting, with the opportunity to get to know different contexts and sectors in depth. Strengthened by the multidisciplinary skills acquired over time and thanks to previous experience in the field, in January 2023 he founded iGreen System with the challenging goal of designing and building highly innovative and high-performance Advanced Agrivoltaic Systems, concretely bringing the agricultural and photovoltaic sectors closer together. Driven by a great passion, he plans business growth strategies, builds and consolidates partnerships and relationships in the area, developing and strengthening the presence on the market.

Dr. Djaber Berrian received his Ph.D. in photovoltaic engineering from the University of Freiburg, Germany, in 2020. Previously, he worked as a research and development engineer specializing in thin-film silicon solar cells at the CDER research center in Algeria. In 2017, he joined ISC Konstanz in Germany as a Ph.D. student, focusing on various research projects related to energy yield prediction for fixed-tilt and tracking bifacial PV systems. Additionally, he served as the R&D solar module manager for lightweight flexible PV modules at OPES Solar Mobility. Throughout his career, he has engaged in numerous scientific activities within the renewable energy sector. Currently, he is an Expert and Deputy of Innovation & System Design at BELECTRIC GmbH.

Alice Lefort is an Agri-PV Product Manager at BayWa r.e. Global, supporting the development of the Agri-PV market segment across Europe. She holds a master's degree in Agroecology and Agricultural Engineering from the National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse. Alice began her career at BayWa r.e. France in 2019 as an Agricultural Engineer, working to integrate renewable energy solutions into farming communities and support agri-environmental measures. In 2022, she took on responsibility for Agri-PV development at Ib Vogt France, leading solar energy strategies on agricultural land and fostering EU-wide collaboration in the agrivoltaics sector. In 2023, she rejoined BayWa r.e. With her background, Alice is deeply engaged in promoting synergies between solar energy and agriculture, leveraging Agri-PV as a catalyst for agricultural and energy transition. She co-authored the paper "How Agri-PV Can Boost the Transition to Regenerative Agriculture in Europe" in collaboration with BCG.