Jeremy Leggett is a British green-energy entrepreneur, author and activist who is the founding director of Solarcentury, the UK’s largest independent solar electric company. Solarcentury, founded in 1998, is an international, profitable venture capital-backed downstream developer, EPC, O&M, owner of solar roofs and solar farms, and a BIPV solar product-developer.
Prior to founding Solarcentury, Jeremy worked as a geologist on the faculty of the Royal School of Minesat the prestigious Imperial College London. He researched, among other things, shale deposits, funded by BP, Royal Dutch Shell and other energy companies. He also serves as a Chairman of the Carbon Tracker Initiative, a think tank which was set up to align the capital markets with international climate policymaking.
Other roles include convening the UK Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security, a pan-industry group warning of a systemic oil-depletion risk to economies and serving on the New Energy Architecture Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum, a group primarily working on “black swans” in energy markets.
In addition, between 2000 and 2014 he was non-executive director of New Energies Invest AG, a private equity fund investing in renewable energy, and is a consultant on systemic risk to major corporations. On a more philanthropic level, Jeremy is an active fundraiser for charity and is also the founder of SolarAid, one of Africa’s fastest-growing poverty-alleviation charities, set up with Solarcentury profits.
Jeremy’s interest in renewable energy has grown significantly in the last decade and he is now considered a world leader in solar business and sustainability, making him the ideal keynote or after-dinner speaker on the subject.
