Roebyem Anders

'Accelerating the Solar Revolution: the biggest revolution after the internet'

The solar revolution is frequently called the biggest revolution after the internet. It's a surprising fact that capturing the energy in just one hour's worth of sunlight would enable us to meet the whole world energy needs for an entire year. But how to motivate consumers to do so? What is the solar economy? What are the driving forces behind the solar 'Rooftop Revolution’? What does it mean to be a social entrepreneur? How do you maximise social impact? Is the Netherlands well on track in energy transition?  Roebyem Anders, Chief Mission Officer, Sungevity International, will share with us her story how she became a ‘solar warrior’ and how she advanced solar revolution. For people who can read Dutch, please read her recent blog: https://www.sprout.nl/artikel/startups/vergeet-unicorns-hier-komen-de-zebras.

Roebyem Anders has been involved with sustainability before the term was invented. She studied Economics and Political Science and went to London to study Environmental Economics. She worked on clean energy at the VI/Institute for Environmental Science in The Netherlands, the Environment Department at the World Bank, the Renewable Energy Unit of IEA (International Energy Agency) and at BP Alternative Engergy. She also helped the Dutch Newspaper Telegraaf become the most sustainable media company in The Netherlands.Roebyem is a strong advocate of sustainability and she has been the co-founder and director of Sungevity Europe for over 3 years. Sungevity is the most advanced solar panel company in The Netherlands. Where Uber upsets the existing taxi companies, and AirBnB challenges the hotel sector, Sungevity breaks in many ways with the traditional market for home solar. With its patented software and aerial photos to design solar systems from a laptop, a relentless focus on delivering an ‘insane customer experience’ and an innovative referral marketing approach invented by the marketing guru of LinkedIn, Sungevity is different from the 1200 other players in the market.

Roebyem is a social entrepreneur and a new type of solar activist who predicted the current Rooftop Revolution ten years ago: the average family turns towards solar panels because they don’t want to be dependent on traditional energy companies, and they want to save money. She makes sure that solar energy is discussed in the media, and is involved in many sponsoring and crowdfunding activities, like Doneerdezon.nl.