Stephan Scherer is an engineer and co-founder of CraftStrom, with a mission to democratize solar by making it as simple as plugging in a lamp. Under his leadership, CraftStrom introduced lightweight, purpose-built panels for plug-in solar, advanced smart plug-in monitoring, and delivered its first U.S.-certified product in 2021. Today, CraftStrom serves customers in all 50 states and he has become a trusted subject matter expert to lawmakers and advocates across the country.

After early work in automotive and oil & gas—including roles from drilling in Russia to subsea pipeline projects in the Mediterranean—he shifted his focus to removing the barriers that keep everyday households from going solar. He helped pioneer plug-in solar in Germany and built CraftStrom (founded in 2019) to bring “permission-free” solar to the U.S.: affordable, DIY systems designed to work without the complexity that typically slows adoption.