The Clean Energy Solutions Center, in partnership with the United Nations (UN) Foundation’s Energy Access Practitioner Network, offered this no-cost online webinar highlighting the International Electrotechnical Commission’s (IEC) work on renewable energy standards and its recent commitment to the UN Secretary General’s Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative. The IEC offered three packages of standards pertaining to rural electrification at a discounted price for qualifying practitioners to facilitate access to sustainable energy standards for stakeholders in developing countries.

The webinar explored the importance of global quality standards as a means of consumer protection and ways to reduce the barriers that practitioners traditionally face in having to obtain the standards at a high cost. It also provided information for practitioners, small and medium enterprises regarding the:

• IEC’s general procedures as a standards-making body
• New 62257 series of standards and their relevance to energy access, including but not limited to the new solar lantern standard
• Nature of the discounts and details of the standards that will be offered in the package
• How qualifying practitioners will be able to access the discounted packages, including a further discount offered by the International Finance Corporation.

Panelists

Francisco Boshell, Analyst, International Renewable Energy Agency

Francisco Boshell is an analyst in markets and standards for renewable energy technologies at the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). He supports IRENA’s activities aimed at promoting strong and growing markets for renewables through a wider use of standards and quality assurance mechanisms. His background is in mechanical engineering and he holds a MSc. in Sustainable Energy Technology from the Eindhoven University of Technology, in the Netherlands. During his career, Mr. Boshell has developed technical standards for quantifying GHG emission reductions from CDM projects as an officer at UNFCCC; supported the climate change negotiations under UNFCCC; provided consultancy services for the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in Latin America at KEMA Consulting; and designed and implemented infrastructure and energy related projects in the automotive manufacturing sector.

Guilaine Fournet, Head of Sales & Business Development, Electrotechnical Commission

Guilaine Fournet joined the International Electrotechnical Commission in 1998. First in the Information & Marketing Department, then in 2001 she became the Affiliate Country Programme's coordinator. In 2003, she was appointed Customer Service Centre Manager and in 2006 Sales Manager. Since 2008 she is Head of Sales & Business Development. Guilaine and her team are responsible for one third of the IEC annual budget.

Francoise Rauser, Executive Secretary & ILO, IEC Affiliate Country Programme, International Electrotechnical Commission

Before joining the IEC Affiliate Country Programme Secretariat in 2003, Françoise Rauser had been working at the IEC Central Office since 1987. She worked in IEC Technical Department as senior editor to ensure conformity between the French and the English versions of IEC bilingual International Standards. She collaborated directly with the Secretaries of IEC Technical Committees providing guidance to comply with ISO/IEC Directives. Françoise decided to bring her experience to developing countries to enhance their participation in IEC international standardization activities and technical work and is now in charge of the IEC Affiliate Country Programme. Since 2009, as to reflect her activities with numerous international organizations, Françoise is IEC International Liaison Officer and IEC focal point for the WTO and ITU-D.

Arne Jacobson, Director, Schatz Energy Research Center

Dr. Arne Jacobson is Director of the Schatz Energy Research Center and Associate Professor in the Environmental Resources Engineering department at Humboldt State University. Arne serves as the technical lead for product quality assurance for Lighting Global, which is associated with the IFC and World Bank's Lighting Africa and Lighting Asia programs. He is also an active member of Technical Committee 82 (photovoltaics) of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). He has a Ph.D. from the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley, a master’s degree focused on Environmental Resources Engineering (Humboldt State University), and a bachelor’s degree in physics (Earlham College). His areas of research and work include renewable energy technologies, energy access for low income people in off-grid areas, and clean energy deployment policy. Arne’s work is interdisciplinary, combining renewable energy engineering, energy policy, and a social geography based approach to international development studies. He has extensive international work experience in Africa, South Asia, and Latin America.

Richenda Van Leeuwen, Executive Director, Energy and Climate, Energy Access Initiative team, UN Foundation

Richenda Van Leeuwen is Executive Director, Energy Access Initiative overseeing the UN Foundation's work on energy access and its engagement with the UN’s Sustainable Energy for All Initiative. She founded and leads UNF’s Energy Access Practitioner Network, a 900-strong global network catalyzing market-led solutions for energy access in developing countries. She joined the UN Foundation in 2010 from Good Energies, a global renewable energy private equity firm where she led its work both on commercial emerging markets transactions and as a founding board member of the Good Energies Foundation, on the application of renewable energy technologies for poverty alleviation in developing countries. Prior to this, she served as the Executive Director of Trickle Up, an international microenterprise development non-profit organization from 2001-2005. A sought-out speaker on energy access, gender equity and poverty issues, she has over 20 years of executive management experience with the UN, private sector and non-profits on several continents, in particular focusing on impact investing for micro- and small and medium sized enterprises as well as post-conflict reconstruction, refugee issues and economic empowerment. She currently serves on the board of SELCO India, a leading renewable energy social enterprise focusing on energy solutions for poor families in India. She gained both her BS and MBA degrees from Durham University, UK.

Howard O. Barikmo, Emeritus Secretary, IEC’s Technical Committee 82: Solar Photovoltaic Energy Systems

Howard O. Barikmo lives in Scottsdale, Arizona and has been in various fields of the photovoltaic (PV) industry for over thirty years. His career in PV has included design and installation of various stand-alone systems and the manufacture of specialty PV modules. Later activities were as quality assurance manager of a photovoltaic testing laboratory, then as Secretary of the IEC’s Technical Committee 82, Solar Photovoltaic Energy Systems, a position he held for approximately seven years. This committee is responsible for writing all standards relating to photovoltaics for the IEC. He is now emeritus Secretary of this organization