Christoph Prahl

Building the Future of Renewable Asset Intelligence | Co-Founder & CEO/CTO at Volateq (AI + Drones for Solar)

Greater Almería Metropolitan Area

About

Sustainability and curiosity are the driving forces for both my professional and private life. Solar energy has fascinated me in different ways: During my physics studies, it was astronomy and the science of how the sun works. Since then, the focus has shifted and I'm more interested in how humanity can use this energy source. it's not so much about technical challenges as it is about regulatory hurdles and collective attitudes in people's minds. My current challenge in the professional environment is to prepare a start-up for automated condition monitoring of solar power plants.

Experience

  • Co-Founder / CEO at Volateq
    Oct 2020 - Present · 5 yrs 9 mos

  • Freelancer at SunOyster Systems GmbH
    Jul 2014 - Dec 2021 · 7 yrs 6 mos

  • Concentrating Solar Power Reseacher at DLR e.V. Institute for Solar Research
    Oct 2007 - Oct 2020 · 13 yrs 1 mo

    Development and implementation of the award winning QFly technology http://helioscsp.com/dlr-innovation-qfly-receives-the-solarpaces-technology-award drone based optimization of solar power plants) Acquired 2.5 Mio. Euro of third party funding for R\&D projects in the renewable energy sector (Federal Foreign Office, DLR Technology Marketing, BMWi) Implementation of capacity building, training courses and teaching materials (e-learning) for the enerMENA project in Spain, Morocco, Tunisia, and Brazil (DKTI) Capacity Building and knowledge transfer course in the framework of the NETRA CSP project (India) Proof of principle and successful validation of the cloud camera based short term solar resource assessment tool WOBAS Establishing consistent software engineering and know-how management in the department of qualification Coordination and empowerment of large multidisciplinary project- and developer teams Developing metrology and standardization (quality infrastructure) for solar systems

  • Professional Freelancer at Concentrating Solar Power Services - CSP Services GmbH
    Mar 2008 - Nov 2016 · 8 yrs 9 mos

    development of image processing based QC measures for CSP systems

  • Student Intern at Fraunhofer-Institut für Solare Energiesysteme ISE
    Oct 2001 - Oct 2005 · 4 yrs 1 mo

    research assistant on the topic of production and optimization of dye-sensitized solar cells