Executive Leadership

Cherif Kedir, CEO and President

Cherif Kedir is the CEO and president of VDE Americas, a leading provider of technical advisory and risk mitigation services for solar and energy storage assets, and its sister company VDE RETC, a pioneering testing laboratory for solar modules, inverters, racking products, and battery energy storage components. Unifying executive leadership across the VDE Group’s two North American business units, Kedir strengthens their combined ability to identify and mitigate technical risks and help protect the bankability and insurability of critical energy assets.

A solar industry veteran of more than two decades, Kedir joined VDE Americas with an extensive background in solar and semiconductor durability, reliability, and certification testing, as well as expertise in product research and development, failure analysis, and performance enhancement. Before joining RETC, which the VDE Group acquired in 2021, he held senior leadership positions at Solaria, a solar module company, and Xilinx, now part of AMD.

Kedir holds an MBA from Santa Clara University. 

Taylor Geer, COO

Taylor Geer is the COO at VDE Americas, implementing and overseeing the company’s strategic plans and operations. Engaged in the renewable energy transition for over 25 years, he has global experience with solar, energy storage, and wind projects across all stages of development and operation.

Prior to joining the VDE Group, Geer spent 5 years working in project development, including serving as vice president of engineering at Emeren US and vice president of technical analysis at Ørsted Americas. Previously, he held a variety of roles over a 17-year tenure at DNV, including leading the advisory firm’s M&A due diligence team.

Geer holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Engineering from U.C. Berkeley, as well as a BA in Philosophy from U.C. Santa Cruz. He also earned an MS degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Renewable Energy Research Lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and an MBA at the University of Oregon. 

Lisa Casey, Director of Technical Advisory

Lisa Casey is director of technical advisory at VDE Americas with nearly 15 years of experience in engineering and project management. Leveraging her experience as a former U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Programs technical lead, Lisa supports stakeholders through project development, construction, financing, and operations, by evaluating project designs, major equipment, site conditions, performance assumptions, and long-term operational considerations to help clients make informed investment decisions.

Prior to her work at the DOE’s Loan Programs Office, Lisa spent over a decade at Clark Construction Group as an engineer and project manager. During her tenure at Clark Construction Group, she managed complex, high-value projects and developed company-wide risk management and training initiatives.

She received her BS degree in Civil Engineering with a minor in Earth and Ocean Sciences from Duke University. Lisa also holds a Certificate in Energy & the Environment from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment.

Our team has extensive experience reviewing distributed generation (DG) and utility-scale renewable energy and storage projects on behalf of project sponsors or banks providing various types of project financing. We maintain a core team of salaried technology experts and professionals to manage customer accounts and projects while also relying on a deep bench of contributing subject matter experts using personal connections and our 36,000+ member strong VDE Association which includes preeminent technology leaders from industry and academia. This approach has enabled us to establish a distributed network of talented and trustworthy resources across the world with diverse backgrounds and experience. Our deep bench of talent includes industry professionals who have dedicated their careers to the advancement of renewable energy.