Top 20 influencers in renewable energy industry in Australia

Renewable energy and solar PV in particular are having a great impact on the recovery of the economy after COVID-19. Governments, investors and society have all realised the importance of establishing a Green Strategy urgently.

Nevertheless, some countries have been leading the way for some years now.

In Australia 7.8% of total energy generation comes from solar energy, that is more than double the percentage of the total contribution of solar worldwide.

Surprisingly, residential (small-scale) solar accounts for 5.3% of the total generation capacity of the country (12,269 GWh), equivalent to more than 2.5 million households powered by solar over the course of the year.

Discover the ins and outs of the Australian renewable industry. Download the State of Green report: Australia

In total, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the installed capacity of solar photovoltaic in Australia is 15.9 GW, an increase of 40.9% since 2018 (11.3GW).

Now, if you are reading this, you probably already know the importance of Australia in the solar industry. However, do you know who is leading the voice of this progress?

Leaders of the energy transformation in Australia on social media

First of all, please note that this list is by no means exhaustive, rather it is a diverse sample of particularly active accounts that we love! In fact, most of the people and organizations listed below are passionate about sharing news and articles of many industries and diverse renewable energy matters.

Sonja Basson

Sonja is passionate about energy since the age of 10. Accredited as Professional Engineer in South Africa, Chartered Engineer in Ireland and Australia and RPEQ in Queensland, Sonja’s international career has motivated her to become a motivational speaker & author while at the same time working as Senior Manager of Energy & Resources in Deloitte.

Leon Gerard Vandenberg

Leon has over 30 years of experience in innovation, R&D, technology commercialisation, technology transfer and technical management of start-up companies on an international scale. Currently CEO at Sunified Group. On twitter as @Leon_Vandenberg

George Phani

George is passionate about applying his solar energy experience and skills to a diverse set of industries with quality and client satisfaction as his main concern. Currently working as Head of Sales and Business Development at Yingli Solar in Sydney.

Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA)

Leading Australia’s efforts to deliver affordable renewable energy across the nation. ARENA's aim is to inspire and support viable, world class renewable energy technologies and to influence change and growth in the sector by sharing knowledge from all of the projects we fund. On Twitter as @ARENA_aus

Richard Corkish

Dr Corkish is currently COO of the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics, the premier Australian photovoltaics R&D partnership, an Advisor to the Indian National Centre for Photovoltaics Research and Education and an Editor for the IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics. His current research activities are life cycle assessment of photovoltaics technologies and photovoltaics recycling.

Alba Ruiz Leon

Having worked at Australian largest solar farm, Limondale (349 MW) in NSW and with +15 years of energy market experience in the APAC region, Alba is now leading the Melbourne team at Cornwall Insight Australia. Supporting the company expansion from the UK and Ireland to Australia.

Steve Blume

One of Australia’s most experienced energy experts and advocates, Steve has more than 20 years experience in the energy sector after 25 years in ITC. President of the Australian Smart Energy Council; Director of the Global Solar Council; Treasurer, New Zealand & Pacific Solar & Storage Council; Director, Australian Institute of Energy and Director, & Steering Committee Chair, Asia PV Industry Association. CEO of NoCarbon Pty Ltd, a smart energy consulting firm. Steve is a former political adviser, private & public sector senior executive, and change advocate assisting the adoption of clean energy solutions as a primary climate change response.

Nima Khoshsirat

Entrepreneurial passion for solar energy with over 7 years of experience in R&D in the field of photovoltaic devices and solar cells. Nima is also active on twitter as @NKhoshsirat

Maaike Gobel

Renewable energy and energy efficiency expert with focus on clean energy and climate change mitigation & adaptation. Currently Maaike works as country manager for OpenSolar, Maaike specializes on impact investment, climate change policy and energy start ups.

Rachel Thompson

Currently working as commercial manager for Smart Commercial Solar, Rachel is a renewables enthusiast looking to implement smart energy solutions to a wide range of businesses.

Discover the ins and outs of the Australian renewable industry. Download the State of Green report: Australia

Richard Vargas

Founder & CEO of United Solar Group Australia, Richard has been passionate about renewable energy for 12 years. With an electrical, computing and telecommunications background, he has built a business stretching over 3 continents.

Sarah Haskmann

Sarah has worked on the development, design, construction, and O&M of several utility solar farms in the South Queensland region as Project Officer for the University of Queensland. Additionally, Sarah works closely with renewables peak bodies, such as the Clean Energy Council, to ensure project based engagement in policy development or undertaking bespoke projects on behalf of UQ, including hydrogen production plants, BESS installations or various demand response initiatives.

Clayton Eigenmann

Business executive with multinational experience across the renewable energy, building and electrical infrastructure sectors. Clayton works as GM of project delivery at Solgen Energy Group, Clayton has extensive experience in engineering, construction and operations resulting in a solid track record of strategy development and implementation, major contract negotiation & execution.

Dr Jemma Green

Cofounder & Chairman at Power Ledger, EY Fintech and Entrepreneur of the Year, Jemma has become the voice of sustainability and corporate social responsibility in the business while at J.P. Morgan. Afterwards, she completed a PhD in electricity market disruption and became a research fellow at Curtin University and chair of Climate-KIC Australia . Also active on twitter as @msjemmagreen.

Luke Shavak

Currently working as Australia & International Sales Manager at Smart Energy Council, Luke is a voice for the renewable industry in Australia and is passionate for renewables and creating a cleaner and greener planet for future generations.

Chris Young

Chris is leading the development of tailored comprehensive asset management and reliability engineering solutions as Senior Reliability Engineer in Entura.

Carlos López López

Managing Director at Gransolar Group in Australia, Carlos has extensive experience in engineering, development, problem solving, sales and project management.

Clean Energy Council (CEC)

Peak body for the clean energy industry in Australia, the Clean Energy Council is committed to accelerating the transformation of Australia's energy system to one that is smarter and cleaner. Additionally, the CEC represents and works with hundreds of businesses operating in solar, wind, energy efficiency, hydro, bioenergy, energy storage, geothermal and marine along with more than 5000 solar installers.

Finn Peacock

Environmentalist, entrepreneur, explorer and a pioneer in his field. Founder of SolarQuotes, Finn is a chartered electrical engineer, author & green entrepreneur and driven to empower people to make good energy choices.

Muren Guler

Mauren is Managing Director of Global Energy, Muren has expertise on project and business development related to renewable energy, particularly utility scale Solar PV by focusing on origination, development, co-development and investment opportunities in various regulated and unregulated markets in Europe, Northern Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, LATAM, Middle East, Central Asia, South East Asia.

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