Our people

Dr. Karsten Wambach is head of the business unit SolarMaterial of Deutsche Solar AG, Freiberg, a subsidiary of SolarWorld AG. His main activities in SolarMaterial include the scaling-up of new technological processes like reclaimation of solar silicon and by-products, recycling of Solar Cells and Modules, acidic etching of wafers and silicon and development of new metallurgical purification processes for solar silicon.

He is a working group member in IEA PVPS Task 12, EHS issues in PV and is head of the working group “PV CYCLE” in BSW (German PV association) and EPIA. He has been working in PV for 20 years and on the recycling of modules for 15 years.

Dr. Martin Sommer is Director of global manufacturing module at Schott Solar AG and Executive Officer of SCHOTT Solar CR, s.r.o.. Dr. Sommer studied mechanical engineering and economics at RWTH Aachen. After his dissertation at Fraunhofer Institut of Lasertechnology Aachen he joined the Schott Group, where he worked in several management functions in the manufacturing field. Before taking over his current responsibility, he was Director of manufacturing at Schott Solar Inc. in the US.

Wilfried  Taetow studied electrical engineering at the Technical University in Darmstadt, where he received his Master Degree in 1979.  He started his professional career in the semiconductor industry at Analog Devices. During 16 years at Analog Devices he held several European and international management positions in sales and product marketing before he joined SANYO Component in April 1997.

At SANYO he started as European Sales Manager for the Rechargeable Battery Division.  During this time Wilfried was the representative of SANYO in the European Portable Battery Association (EPBA / Brussels) and in the Central Association of Electrical Industry Germany ( ZVEI).   Out of a battery working group of ZVEI the German Collection System for Batteries ( GRS ) did emerge in 1998.  Representing one of the foundation companies, Wilfried became one of the board members of GRS and hold this position for two years. In the following years he took over several management positions and tasks in SANYO Component. He was project manager for the introduction of SAP and also head of the SCM division for two years. In the last 3 years he was Vice President General Affairs and responsible for the Finance-, HR-, Administration-, PR- and IT-department of SANYO Component.   Since April 2010 Wilfried is corporate Advisor to the president of SANYO Component.

Luis López graduated in Physics in 1987 from University Complutense of Madrid and obtained his Msc in Microelectronics in 1989.

He began his professional career as researcher in gas sensors based on CMOS semiconductors. In 1991 he moved into the semiconductor industry as process engineer in Lucent Technologies, after several years he became metrology and SPC manager and then deputy operations director.

In 2002 he joined the solar energy industry in the R&D department of Isofotón. Nowadays he is head of quality and environment department, managing all matters concerning Isofotón's overall quality and environment subjects and actively taking part about in global initiatives aiming towards sustainable development.

Vågnes Eriksen is an Economist with wide-ranging knowledge of the energy sector and specialist expertise in sustainable value creation and good governance. She has a wide experience of strategy for sustainability value drivers, branding strategy, compliance and management systems, training programs, cost-benefit analyses and impact assessments. Vågnes Eriksen has been with the REC Group since 2008, reporting to the CTO in the Group Management. Prior to REC, she has worked with Statkraft, Sweco and Enco Environmental Consultants. She has for the past 10 years represented her companies in major sustainability forums like WBCSD, Eurelectric, EPIA and PV Cycle. As a Board member of PV Cycle, Vågnes Eriksen would like to contribute to the establishment of a sound financial model for PV Cycle with a cost-efficient operational scheme for collection and recycling of PV modules that is viable in the long term.

REC is a leading vertically integrated player in the solar energy industry. REC is among the world's largest producers of polysilicon and wafers for solar applications, and a rapidly growing manufacturer of solar cells and modules. REC is also engaged in project development activities in selected PV segments. Founded in Norway, REC is an international solar company, employing more than 3,000 people worldwide. REC had revenues in excess of NOK 9 billion in 2009

Eleni Despotou is Deputy Secretary General and Policy director of EPIA (European Photovoltaic Industry Association). She joined EPIA in 2002.

She studies Mechanical engineering with specialization in energy and political sciences with specialization in international relations.  

She has been living, studying and working since 20 years in Brussels, and she is familiar with all EU institutions, European legislation especially dealing with energy issues and lobbying for renewable energy policy.

Furthermore, she is Coordinator of the EU PV Technology Platform and Member of the Executive Committee of IEA PVPS and Member of different scientific committees. 

She is involved in the management of different European projects within Altener, IEE, FP 5, FP6, FP 7 etc. and is actively participating in European and International Conferences dealing with technical and policy matters (European legislation, positions etc) and is responsible for RTD, standardization and certification issues within EPIA.

Jan Clyncke joined PV CYCLE as Secretary General as of 1 April 2008. 

He graduated with a Bachelor of Law from the University of Ghent in 1991.He continued his studies at Ehsal and Vlerick Management School .In his early career he worked as a manager of Production & Logistics in the meat industry before moving into the waste management sector. He was employed by the Dutch  AVR-Van Gansewinkel Group where he worked as project manager, legal environment and government affairs manager Benelux.In the last three years before joining PV CYCLE, he was in this Dutch company responsible for Health,Safety and Environment. 

He has experience in setting up of voluntary and mandatory take-back schemes in Belgium and the Netherlands in household and industrial packaging waste, tyre waste,vegetable oil & fat waste, waste oil (lubricants), waste on electrical and electronic equipment, empty paint tin waste ,flat glass waste ,photochemical waste,etc.

Dr. Virginia Gómez joined PV CYCLE as Scientific & Operations Engineer in January 2009.

In 2003, she graduated as a Telecommunication Engineer at Universidad Pública de Navarra. She received her PhD in Engineering at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 2008, specializing in the characterization and fabrication of plastic and semiconductor microlenses.

In the framework of her PhD, she fruitfully collaborated with research groups all over the world and worked together with important industry partners.

She has been an active member of the Network of Excellence on Micro-Optics (NEMO), the European Union Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) and she has acted as a reviewer for international journals.

Anne Vleminckx obtained a Masters degree in Economics in 1975 at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. Her career covers academia, the financial sector as well as industry.  She occupied different functions in the field of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations. Before joining PV CYCLE, she acted as Chief Financial Officer of the Agfa-Gevaert group.

She joined PV CYCLE as Senior Financial Advisor in April 2010.

Olmina Della Monica joint PV Cycle in May 2010 as Management Assistant and first point of contact for Germany and Italy.

She graduated in 2004 from the University of Salerno  with a BA in languages. She continued her studies in Berlin and she achieved in 2006 a master in international trade and Marketing. She has worked in different European countries, lately especially in sales and marketing department.

She speaks fluently Italian, English, German and French.