Wacker’s Christian Westermeier elected SolarPower Europe president

SolarPower Europe announced today that Christian Westermeier has been elected the organization’s new president.
Westermeier is the Vice President, Marketing, Sales & Application Engineering of German chemical company and polysilicon manufacturer Wacker Chemie. Wacker is one of the world largest polysilicon producer.

Wacker has always championed free trade in the solar manufacturing industry and has fought any kind of duties for solar products. In March 2014, the company reached an agreement with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) to facilitate its export of solar-grade polysilicon to China. As a part of the deal, Wacker agreed that it would not to sell polysilicon on the Chinese market below a specific minimum price, while the Chinese government refrained from applying anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs on its products.

Westermeier said his mission will be defining new framework for solar in the post 2020 period. “We will also continue our efforts to finally get rid of the unnecessary trade tariffs on solar panels and will work with the [European] Commission to build an industrial strategy for solar in Europe,” said Westermeier in his statement.

SolarPower CEO James Watson stressed that Westermeier will continue the work of the organization “following the last 3 years of re-invigoration and animation of the association.”

SolarPower Europe also announced it has appointed three more vice presidents, Riccardo Amoroso (Enel Green Power), Jodie Russell (Trina Solar Schweiz AG) and Jochen Hauff (BayWa r.e. renewable energy GmbH).