Solstice AI is applying artificial intelligence to satellite imagery to identify solar panels and forecast solar generation, enabling more solar to be integrated into the grid at a lower cost. At a time when energy costs are soaring, we can’t wait to see them hit the market.
Solstice AI founders Julian De Hoog, Maneesha Perera and Peter Ilfrich met whilst working at IBM and quickly became friends. After their time in the lab came to an end, the team wanted to continue working together but needed a cracking project to work on. Their combined interest in solving climate change and skills in solar forecasting led them to found Solstice AI.
Maneesha’s background is in Computer Science, she grew up in Sri Lanka and moved to Australia to start her PhD at the University of Melbourne in 2019. She loves discovering new food, travelling and hiking with her partner and she would love to complete a half marathon one day.
Julian’s background is also in Computer Science, specifically the research and energy sectors. He has worked for many years in renewable energy and forecasting. He’s both Canadian and German and has lived in Australia for the past decade. As a Canadian, he naturally is a keen fan of ice hockey.
Peter is a Software Engineer and like the rest of the team, is passionate about helping to solve the problem of climate change. He studied Computer Science in Germany and later emigrated to Australia in 2011. He enjoys going running, playing pool and watching horse racing (and he’s even designed his own analytic platform for it)!
