Focus Solar

Dr. Sibylle Petrak is the founder and president of Focus Solar. She is the woman behind the satellite. After a career in particle physics she discovered her interest for solar energy in 2002 and has focused on renewable energy ever since. Sibylle obtained a PhD in physics from Humboldt University Berlin, Germany. Her first job position was at the Stanford Linear Accelerator SLAC, a Department of Energy laboratory in Menlo Park, California. Back then, her research already dealt with energy, however, on a more fundamental level. These days, she is more concerned with the practical uses of energy, advancing solar energy applications. Her experience as shift leader and scientist at SLAC comes in handy for putting solar energy in touch with high-profile technology. Weather satellites, for example, have long been used, and in the form of TV weather reports have become part of daily life, but their use in solar energy is just now being realized. These developments are pioneered by a small group of scientists of which Sibylle is a part of.

The quality of service at Focus Solar reflects the same properties that SLAC trusted putting the operation of the accelerator in Sibylle's hands. Capitalize on this unique expertise and build your solar success with Focus Solar!

A long-standing teaching history connects us with the MSc courses at the University of Oldenburg:

• European Master in Renewable Energy,
• Postgraduate Program Renewable Energy.

Our products are the result of numerous research projects funded by the European Union, the German ministry for education and research, and the Helmholtz foundation:

• Energy Meteorology at the University of Oldenburg,
• European Solar Radiation Research Project (Heliosat3),
• PV System Performance Check with Satellite Data (PVSAT),
• Virtual Institute of Energy Meteorology (vIEM),
• Grid-Computing Initiative for Energy Meteorology (WISENT).

Focus Solar is funded by a startup grant from the German ministry for business and technology through the Exist-Seed program. Additional support is provided by the VentureLab Oldenburg, the business incubator of the University of Oldenburg. The city of Oldenburg, located in Lower Saxony, Germany has a vibrant entrepreneurial culture in the renewable energy sector which is bundled in the Energy Cluster Oldenburg.

Our solar energy products have developed out of many years of experience from the Energy Meteorology Department at the University of Oldenburg in Germany. In particular we would like to thank Elke Lorenz and Annette Hammer for their continued support, stimulating scientific discussions, and warm atmosphere at their Oldenburg group. The group has made important contributions to the new field of energy meteorology. Furthermore we received excellent support from our international colleagues. We gratefully acknowledge NOAA's CLASS help desk, Richard Perez and Marek Kmiecik of the University of Albany, NY, the National Geophysical Data Center and the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center.