Schäfer will take the reins from Winfried Hoffmann, amember of the supervisory board at Germany's SMA Solar, who was elected president two yearsago.

Brussels-based EPIA, the EU’s pre-eminent PV lobbying group,also announced that Reinhold Buttgereit will step down as secretary-generalfrom the end of this month, and it did not immediately name a replacement.Buttgereit has held his position since May 2011.

Last week it emerged that the European Renewable Energy Council(EREC) – the umbrella lobbying group for various EU renewables associations,including EPIA – has entered liquidation after being unable to pay the rent onits premises in Brussels, the Renewable Energy House, where EPIA is also based.

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