Truly Smart Solar Prosumers: Managing Energy Bills & Supporting the Grid

Julie Horn is a Senior Strategy and Business Development at Virya Energy, specializing in renewable energy growth strategies. With deep expertise in solar, energy storage, EV charging, and smart energy management, she has led strategic initiatives, business development, and innovative product roadmaps. Julie holds dual master's degrees from Solvay Business School and has served as an expert evaluator for the European Commission.

Zoisa North-Bond is the dynamic CEO of three tentacles of Octopus Energy Group: Octopus Energy Generation, Octopus Energy for Business, and Octopus Electroverse. Octopus Energy Generation is on a mission to create an abundance of cheap, green energy for people around the world, managing over 4.2 GW of projects across 20 countries worth £7 billion. Zoisa's team develops innovative, tech-enabled products to challenge ingrained thinking about energy and positively influence the net zero economy. This includes Fan Club, which provides discounted energy for customers living near wind turbines, and Winder ('Tinder for wind') which has matched 40,000 communities with over 4 GW of potential wind capacity. Octopus' recently-launched platform, The Collective, enables everyday individuals to invest in renewable energy projects. Prior to joining Octopus as one of its early employees, Zoisa was UK CEO of Dutch Utility Eneco BV. She serves as a Trustee of the Octopus Energy Equality Foundation and Younity, Octopus' community energy joint venture with Midcounties Coop. In 2024, Zoisa was named by Tamarindo as one of the key players in driving EU storage deployment.

Dina Darshini leads LCP Delta's research on behind-the-meter solar and battery markets - supporting clients in sizing the market, shaping value propositions, and unlocking opportunities. She is also responsible for LCP Delta's commercial and industrial (C&I) research portfolio. Prior to that, she spent 10 years within LCP Delta's consulting team, directing and managing projects for international investors and global technology manufacturers, with a focus on making strategic investment decisions in new energy markets.

With over two decades of experience as an analyst, researcher, and energy trader, Jon Ferris has honed his expertise in markets, policy, technology and their complex interactions. At EIC, Jon managed a €1bn wholesale trading book for over 100 commercial and industrial companies, collaborated with retailers to create flexible tariffs and propositions for smaller consumers, and oversaw the delivery of market intelligence, procurement, and bill validation. He represented the TPI sector as an early member of Power Responsive. At the tech start-up Electron, Jon focused on local energy markets and demand response optimization in innovation projects from Orkney to South Korea. Over the past four years, Jon has been instrumental in developing LCP Delta's Flexibility and Storage research and data platforms where his reports and analyses have significantly influenced GB and European energy policy.

Luis Castillo is a seasoned expert in renewable energy. With a strong background in power generation and solar technologies, Luis has transitioned his career from research in the early stage to industry, gaining extensive experience with EPCs and manufacturers along the way. Currently serving as the Sales & Solutions Director for Sigenergy in the UK and Ireland, Luis is leading the charge in developing and implementing the next generation of distributed energy technology.

Gadi Hirsch is a senior strategy manager and lead market and policy analyst at SolarEdge Technologies. Gadi leads business analysis and strategy formulation efforts for key market segments, focusing on distributed energy resources and digitally enhanced energy business models. He also covers technological trends and policies, with an emphasis on European and North-American markets. He holds a BA in economics and has previously led economic analysis and management consulting teams.

Jan is Sr Policy Advisor at SolarPower Europe. He's responsible for rooftop solar, prosumers, and digitalisation in the EU's solar PV trade body. He leads the advocacy based on product and market trends in EU countries and legislation. He also consults members on regulatory developments. In the past, he has worked as a product and project manager for Pulse of Europe.

Dan-Eric Archer is CEO and co-founder of CheckWatt and also a board member of the Swedish solar association as well as board member of Power Circle (a Swedish nonprofit organization focused on building knowledge and networks to accelerate the energy transition). In his role at CheckWatt since 2017 the company has evolved to become the leading aggregator of flexibility in the Nordics, with a focus on battery energy storage. At the moment the virtual power plant of CheckWatt connects around 15,000 assets consisting of batteries, solar PV, wind power and thermal loads of all different sizes. The aggregated flexibility is delivered to the Nordic TSOs, those DSOs that have implemented local flexibility markets and/or flexible connection agreements as well as in bilateral trade with balance responsible parties and electricity retailers.