Hopefully many of you will have received Victron Energy’s calendar at the beginning of this year. If you didn’t I thought it would be nice to catch up on the photos of the months to date and to learn something of the background to the calendar and who created it.

That person is in fact Marianka Pranger. Here, in her own words, is a little about the process of making the calendar.

“It is a pleasure to make the Victron Energy calendar every year and each year it is a real challenge to make it different to previous years. For the 2017 version we thought it would be nice to use ‘real’ people instead of models (unlike previous calendars) and to do that I shot the photos with the Victron product applications along with the people who own those products. This year’s calendar is a desktop version, whereas earlier ones were wall hanging versions.

I’m already busy with preparations for the 2018 calendar – all I can say about that is it’ll be different yet again, when compared to preceding years!”

No 2017 Calendar?

If you didn’t receive this year’s calendar, here’s a sample of the months to date. I’ve left out the circuit diagrams, secondary photos and the full Victron system specifications – this is simply so you can see the principal photos and get a flavour of Marianka’s work.

January

Tiny House, The Netherlands: this is Marjolein Jonker’s Tiny House. She has been living here since 2016 and, with her Victron Energy solar system, is completely self-sufficient. Photo: Marianka Pranger.

February

Deventer, The Netherlands: Toedus is a musical duet comprising Ernst van der Sloot (vocals/lead guitar) and Joke van der Sloot-Huisman (bass guitar). Thanks to the Victron system they can play at any venue. Photo: Marianka Pranger.

March

Tilburg, The Netherlands: This is Theo Smeele in his bicycle taxi which uses electric assistance for pedal power. Theo is showing his passenger Lieke Paijmans around the city of Tilburg. The taxi’s batteries are charged by a Blue Power IP65 charger. Photo: Marianka Pranger.

Conclusion

I know Victron Energy MD Matthijs Vader really appreciates his calendar. Here’s what he had to say when the first one came out in 2014:

"Guess what I found on my desk this morning? The result of a secret calendar project!

The whole project has been managed by Marianka Pranger, plus she even took all but one of the photos herself. Marianka has multiple work roles within Victron and now we know, that besides her normal 'day job', she also has a fantastic creative and photographic talent. It is really remarkable."