Scientific Committee

Ignacio Antón is Full Professor at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and Head of the Instruments and Systems Integration research group at the Institute of Solar Energy, focused on high efficiency PV technologies, particularly in the fields of applications, characterization and system design and integration. One of the current research lines aims at the modeling of the solar resource and energy production in VIPV, as well as on the development of characterization procedures and equipment for PV curved surfaces. He is member of the IEC TC82 WG7 and participates in the project on the international standardization of the vehicle integrated photovoltaics.

Kenji Araki is a Distinguished Professor at University of Miyazaki (Japan), IEC TC82 WG7 convenor, IEA PVPS Task-17 (PV in mobility) expert, presiding the car-roof PV international web meeting, and currently working for modeling and measuring 3D solar irradiance onto the car body as well as standardization on the measurement of the VIPV.

Kaining Ding studied material science at the RWTH-Aachen University in Germany. He is with the Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany since 2010 and currently leading the silicon heterojunction solar cells and modules department at Forschungszentrum Jülich. Research experience and interest include silicon heterojunction solar cells, modules, applications (e.g. vehicle integrated PV) and systems (e.g. PV integration into road traffic).

Antonin Faes is leading the PV Module and Reliability activity at EPFL PV-Lab and Solar Mobility Area Manager at CSEM Sustainable Energy Center. He graduated as materials science engineer at EPFL in Lausanne and got his PhD in 2010. From 2012, he developed the advanced Smart-Wire Connection Technology (SWCT®) with Meyer Burger. He is Work Package leader in HighLite EU project about monitoring advanced solar module technologies including automotive bonnet. Aside being part of the IEA PVPS task 17 about VIPV, he is enthusiastic about all vehicle powered by the Sun!

Keiichi Komoto is working as a senior consultant at the Mizuho Research and Technologies, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan. He has been in the field of PV technology, especially from viewpoints of environmental and socio-economic aspects. He is in charge of organizing the IEA PVPS Task17: PV and Transport, which is aiming to discuss how to integrate PV into transport sector. As well, he is contributing to the IEA PVPS Task12: PV Sustainability, as a Japanese representative.

Robby Peibst received the Diploma in Technical Physics from the TU Ilmenau, Germany in 2005, and the Ph.D. degree in the field of microelectronics from the Leibniz University Hannover, Germany in 2010. In 2010, he joined the Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin, Germany, where he has been leading the group “Emerging Solar Cell Technologies” since 2013. Since 2016, he has been a Professor with the Leibniz University Hannover. His recent research focus has shifted towards special applications of photovoltaics, in particular VIPV. In this context, he is coordinating the national funded project “Street”, in which an electrically-driven light commercial vehicle with VIPV for range extension was developed.

Joe Simon is a senior researcher and the program area lead for solar manufacturing and competitiveness at the National Renewable Energy Lab of the U.S. Department of Energy where he coordinates a portfolio of industry-integrated projects that seek to increase the speed and scale of solar adoption across multiple sectors, including emerging work with vehicle integrated photovoltaics. Additionally, he has had development or leadership roles with several national and international collegiate competitions including the Solar Decathlon, the Solar District Cup, and the EnergyTech University Prize that prioritize and encourage innovation. He is a licensed Architect with an Masters of Business Administration, Masters of Architecture, and Bachelors of Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. 

Zhengrong Shi (Sunman Energy, China)

Loïc Tous is leading various projects related to automotive applications at AGC Europe R&D center located in Gosselies, Belgium since September 2022. He graduated as a materials science engineer at INSA Lyon (France) in 2009 and completed his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at the KU Leuven (Belgium) 2014. From 2014 to September 2022, he worked as a senior researcher and later on as a team leader of the PV module activities at imec, Belgium. Since 2014, he has been leading various projects dealing with VIPV and he is enthusiastic about the many possible applications and products that are possible with VIPV!

Dr. Pierre J. Verlinden is a PV technology expert and has been working in the field of photovoltaics for more than 40 years. He is currently Managing Director of AMROCK, a PV technology consulting company, Adjunct Professor at Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, and at UNSW in Sydney. He is also a non-executive director at Oxford PV (UK) and BTimaging (Australia). Dr. Verlinden has received the 2016 IEEE William Cherry Award and the 2019 Becquerel Prize for his work at the forefront of PV technology and is also recipient of the 2017 Chinese Government Friendship Award. Previous roles include Chief Scientist at Trina Solar (China); Principal Scientist at Solar Systems (Australia); Solar Technology and Operation Manager at Origin Energy Solar (Australia); Director of R&D at SunPower (USA); Assistant Professor at UC Louvain (Belgium).