solar summit 2017

Julie Arnold is the Community Solar Manager for Nexamp, a commercial solar developer based in Boston, Massachusetts. She helped launch Nexamp’s Community Solar program in early 2015, and is currently managing the growing team. She has directed all marketing and account management efforts, and has extensive experience designing outreach campaigns in local communities.

Julie has had over ten years of experience as a Sales and Marketing professional in sustainability and renewable energy. Prior to joining Nexamp, Julie supported the successful launch of the Community Solar program at Next Step Living, a home energy efficiency company based in Boston, MA. She began her career in renewable energy in 2007 as a Sales and Marketing Coordinator for Second Wind, a domestic and international leader in wind site assessment based in Somerville and Newton, MA.

Julie completed training in 2015 and became a Climate Reality leader for former Vice President, Al Gore. She represented Climate Reality in Paris, France at COP21 to help educate the public on climate change and renewable energy. Julie is the Boston Chapter leader for Women in Solar Energy (WISE). Julie studied Psychology and Environmental Science at Boston University.

Jim leads Vote Solar’s grid integration program focused on making the operational and planning changes needed to repower the western grid with solar and other clean energy technologies. Jim chairs a Western Electricity Coordinating Council committee charged with long-term transmission planning for the western US and is a member of the Board of Directors for Interwest Energy Alliance.

Jim has nearly three decades of experience in the utility industry, including roles with PG&E, where he helped administer the California Solar Initiative program, and Alameda Municipal Power, where served as a rate analyst and EV program manager.

Jim has a B.S. in economics (magna cum laude) from the University of South Carolina.  When he’s not in Commission meetings or on his laptop, he can be found on the soccer pitch refereeing his daughter’s matches, which it turns out is not too dissimilar from regulatory proceedings.  He’s also an automotive enthusiast, avid San Francisco Giants baseball fan and music lover – especially blues, rock and jazz.

John is President and Chief Executive Officer of Sunnova Energy Corporation, the leading privately-held U.S. residential solar and storage service provider whose technology-enabled service platform is centered on providing a better service at a better price through its unique 25-year service commitment with every homeowner’s customized solar or solar + storage system. With more than two decades of experience across various sectors of the energy industry, John is an energy entrepreneur who has always supported free market competition, consumer choice and the advancement of energy technology to power energy independence. Before Sunnova, John served as Founder and Chief Executive Officer at SunCap Financial, a residential solar system lease provider. He also founded Standard Renewable Energy (SRE), a top-10 provider of renewable energy and energy-efficient products and services. John received his MBA from Harvard Business School and graduated cum laude from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering.

Mr. Bluford has more than 30 years of professional marketing and business development experience and more than five years experience in the solar industry. He has successfully guided several firms from start-up to acquisition. Mr. Bluford is responsible for the strategic vision and development of EnergyBin LLC’s solar ecommerce platform and its membership.  Prior to EnergyBin.com, he served as Sr. Vice President of Marketing & Sales of Sunora Energy Solutions, a solar EPC firm responsible for the implementation of more than 76 MW of solar projects from small distributed generation to large-scale utility projects. In addition to business development for Sunora’s EPC services, Mr. Bluford was responsible for creation and development of a new business unit and introduction of a new residential solar product.

Mr. Bluford has spearheaded and managed startup operations for several technology firms with vertical solutions spanning the energy, manufacturing, financial, medical and other industries. He has expertise in strategic business planning, partnership-relationship development and product positioning. He has also guided companies through the process of pre-acquisition and business development to successful acquisition. In addition, Mr. Bluford is experienced in post-acquisition operations. He has functional expertise in mobile marketing, social media, business intelligence, business process optimization and workflow, and financial, credit union and transaction-intensive industries.

He holds a B.S. in Marketing from Oklahoma State University and is a seasoned speaker. He has received several major industry awards for his outstanding efforts in business.

Peyton is a Managing Director at EnterSolar, where he is responsible for solar project origination, development and financing activities for Commercial & Industrial clients. Before joining the EnterSolar team, Peyton led solar development activities for Fortistar, and was previously the founder of a renewable energy development firm based in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Prior to entering the solar industry, Peyton was an investment banking professional for 15 years with J.P. Morgan and Bank of America, primarily focused on private equity transactions, M&A advisory services, and the coverage of corporate clients across a range of industry groups.

Peyton is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and has a NABCEP Technical Sales Certification. He earned a BA from Cornell University and holds an MBA from the Columbia Business School.

Ray is the Manager of the Arizona Public Service (APS) Renewable Energy Program.  Ray's responsibilities include providing oversight of the company's distributed energy resource policy, interconnections, representing renewable energy programs at the Arizona Corporation Commission, and interfacing with the media and other public stakeholders as the company's principal spokesperson for the company’s 1.4 gigawatt renewable energy portfolio.

A lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps reserve, Ray has held multiple leadership roles as a military officer, to include two tours in Afghanistan, a congressional fellowship with the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, and tours as a US defense security cooperation policy expert in the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions.  Ray is a graduate of Emory University and the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

Anthony Carroll is Vice President for the Solar Business of Schneider Electric. He manages Sales and Service for the Residential, Commercial and Utility Scale Solar divisions of the company, and also their Storage business unit. Anthony holds an eMBA from Juan Carlos I University in Madrid and has led other global solar and industrial corporations over the last decade with focus in the Americas, Asia and Europe.

Steven Chan is an established thought leader in the North American photovoltaic energy industry, currently serving as the Chief Executive Officer of Sungrow North America where he oversees the expansion of the world’s largest pure-play inverter manufacturer in the US and Mexican commercial and utility market.  Prior to Sungrow ,Chan was VP at NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) from 2012 to 2013 serving as head of residential solar for its NRG Residential Solar Solutions business. Mr. Chan created the strategy and built a team and operation to enable NRG to become a leader in residential solar lease financing.

Mr. Chan was with GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Limited as EVP, Strategy and System Sales where he helped to build out a system sales division for GCL in North America including establishing and serving as a board member at Sunora Energy Solutions, a joint venture with NRG Energy to focus on utility and commercial solar installations.

Prior to that he was with Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP) for five years serving most recently as President of Suntech America and previously serving as Suntech’s President of Global Sales and Marketing, Chief Strategy Officer and VP Business Development. At Suntech, Mr. Chan was instrumental to building the US and European teams and sales channels that enabled Suntech to achieve #1 global market share including selling over 20+% of all modules sold in North America in 2011.

Mr. Chan earned an AB degree in political economy (high honors) from the University of California at Berkeley and received a JD law degree from the Boston College Law School.

JinkoSolar (NYSE: JKS) is a global leader in the solar industry. JinkoSolar distributes its solar products and sells its solutions and services to a diversified international utility, commercial and residential customer base in China, the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Chile, South Africa, India, Mexico, Brazil, United Arab Emirates, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, and other countries and regions. JinkoSolar has built a vertically integrated solar product value chain, with an integrated annual capacity of 8.0 GW for silicon wafers, 5.0 GW for solar cells, and 8.0 GW for solar modules, as of December 31, 2017

JinkoSolar (U.S.) Inc. works closely with top financial institutions and key stakeholders in the solar industry.  Publicly vetted by trusted industry third party laboratories, JinkoSolar is one of the fastest growing and most reliable PV suppliers in the United States and Canada. The North American headquarters is located in San Francisco with 5 regional sales offices.

Arturo's passion has been clean and cost effective energy solutions that can help ensure the future of our planet. In 2008 by the age of 18 installed his first PV grid tied system, which would become one of the first 5 systems installed in Mexico.

In 2011 created Ecotiza, to help optimize his installation business practices, creating the first solar software proposal tools in the Mexican Market.

Today he is a co-founder in Sunwise a SaaS platform designed to combine functions that optimize, simplify and control a Solar PV Mexican business.

Also co-founded ExelSolar, Mexico’s leading PV products and solutions wholesaler.

A member in both Mexican solar energy associations ASOLMEX and ANES.

His personal mission is to push the sustainability revolution in Mexico, to help ensure the future of our planet.

Mark Fillinger is responsible for developing First Solar’s utility-scale solar projects and leading the origination team in the California market. A 25-year energy industry executive, Mr. Fillinger has extensive experience with siting, permitting, financing and negotiating all project related contracts, including over 3,000 MW of utility scale Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).

Prior to First Solar, Mr. Fillinger worked with NextLight and OptiSolar, where he led both development and project finance activities (both companies were acquired by First Solar). Previously, he worked at PowerLight Corporation (now SunPower) where he developed the company’s power purchase agreement offering, negotiating and closing the first $40 million of projects developed under this structure. While at the California Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority, he developed a third party PV acquisition program for State agencies. Mr. Fillinger also worked at Enron North America, where he served as Director of Power Origination. Previous experience also includes Calpine Corporation, where he implemented unique financing structures and Security Pacific Merchant Bank, and where he analyzed, structured, and closed over 1,000 MWs of independent power projects.

Mr. Fillinger holds a Bachelor of Science degree in energy economics from the University of California, Davis and an M.B.A in Finance from Columbia University.

Ben is a SME, Carbon & Emerging Technology, for Wood Mackenzie's Energy Transition Practice. Previously at Wood Mackenzie, Ben was a senior solar analyst specializing in PV systems and balance-of-systems components. Before joining Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables, Ben worked in China and the U.S. in cleantech manufacturing and for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Ben holds a bachelor’s degree in East Asian studies from Skidmore College and a master’s degree in international environmental policy from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.

Dr. Charlie Gay is the Solar Energy Technologies Office Director for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). In this position he is leading the SunShot Initiative, a team that is dedicated to research, manufacturing and market solutions to make solar energy cost competitive with other forms of energy by the end of the decade.

Dr. Gay is an internationally recognized pioneer in photovoltaics. After starting his career in 1975 designing solar power system components for communications satellites at Spectrolab, he later joined ARCO Solar, where he established the research and development program and led the commercialization of crystalline silicon and thin film technologies.

In 1990, he became president and chief operating officer of Siemens Solar Industries, and from 1994 to 1997, he served as director of DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. In 1997, he was named president and chief executive officer of ASE Americas, and from 2001 to 2005 served as founding chairman of the technical advisory board at SunPower Corporation.  He joined Applied Materials in 2006 as corporate vice president and general manager of the Solar Business Group. He served as president of Applied Solar and chairman of the Applied Solar Council from 2009-2013. As president, Dr. Gay was responsible for positioning Applied Materials and its solar efforts with important stakeholders in the energy industry, technical community and governments around the world.

He earned a Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside and was elected a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 2013. He established the Greenstar Foundation in 1997 to demonstrate an economically sustainable model that delivers solar power and internet access for health, education and microenterprise projects to developing world villages.

Mr. Levent Gun has over 25 years of technology experience having worked in technical and senior executive-level positions while establishing a track record of successful leadership at both start-ups and mature companies. Levent joined Ampt as its first CEO shortly after its Series A funding and lead all aspects of Ampt’s product and go to market strategies as well as built the team and Ampt’s customer driven culture. Under Levent’s leadership Ampt has created a new category of optimizers for the utility segment of the Solar PV market and became the #1 optimizer company worldwide for this largest segment.

Prior to joining Ampt as CEO, Levent was president and CEO of Kleer, a wireless audio semiconductor company that was acquired by SMSC. Prior to Kleer, Levent was president and CEO of Iospan Wireless, a pioneer in MIMO technology, which was acquired by Intel Corporation. Previously, Levent co-founded and led US Robotics’ Cable Data Business and transformed this fledgling start-up into a $100 million business after 3COM’s acquisition of US Robotics. Earlier in his career, Levent held various engineering management and leadership positions at Motorola and IBM, as well as research positions at several universities and labs.

Levent holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland and undergraduate degrees in engineering and mathematics from Bogazici University in Turkey. He has published extensively in technical journals and holds 14 patents and numerous awards for his pioneering work in high speed data communications and broadband access. An accomplished speaker, Levent is often invited to speak at industry events as well as present papers.

Arthur has extensive regulatory, transactional and litigation experience across a broad range of energy sector issues. His legal work has involved negotiating significant and innovative renewable energy power purchase agreements, as well as permitting, financing and assuring transmission for precedent-setting solar power projects. He has also contributed to the development of major renewable energy regulatory and policy frameworks, including California’s Renewables Portfolio Standard and its procurement mechanisms, wholesale energy and capacity markets, and transmission and land use planning initiatives.

Arthur’s prior experience includes serving as Vice President, Regulatory Affairs for BrightSource Energy and as counsel at Pacific Gas & Electric Company, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and several national law firms. Arthur has been appointed to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee (REEEAC), and has served as President of the Large-scale Solar Association (LSA), Chair of SEIA’s Utility-Scale Power Division, and on the boards of several energy organizations, including the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technology (CEERT).

Lon Huber directs Strategen’s private sector consulting practice. In this capacity, Lon provides independent analysis, strategy, and policy solutions to some of the energy sector’s most controversial issues. On behalf of a diversity of clients, he is involved in numerous public proceedings across the US, covering such topics as rate design modernization, community solar, energy storage policy, and the designing of new ratepayer friendly market structures.

Prior to joining Strategen, Lon worked for the consumer advocate office in Arizona, in the private sector for solar technology firms, and in academia at an energy focused research institute. Due to his efforts in the community, Mr. Huber received a congressional recognition award for his work in educating citizens about solar energy. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree and MBA from the University of Arizona Eller College of Management.

A senior professional with over 10 years’ experience, Anne spent all her career in the energy industry.
She currently is Solairedirect’s Business Development Manager for the Americas zone. Solairedirect – which is part of the ENGIE group since 2015 - is one of the global leaders of competitive utility-scale solar.
Anne has been involved in Mexico’s renewable power auctions since their inception, back in 2015. She spearheaded Solairedirect’s efforts in the first 2 Mexican auctions, contributing to the award of ~ 150MW of solar projects to ENGIE.
Before joining Solairedirect, Anne worked at ExxonMobil in France, Belgium and Singapore. Her assignments at ExxonMobil included roles such as Aviation Pricing Advisor for the Asia Pacific zone, Strategic Planning advisor for Retail in the EAME and Asia Pacific zones, as well as Project Development and Operations Management roles.
She graduated from HEC Paris.

Sarah Johnson Phillips is a partner in the firm's Energy Development practice group, where she focuses on energy project development, buying, selling and financing energy projects, and energy regulatory matters. She advises large wind and solar project developers on permitting and real estate matters, including obtaining major project permits, negotiating leases and easements, and title work. She also has particular experience working on distributed solar and communityshared solar projects, including negotiating offtake agreements, leases, financing arrangements, M&A transactions, interconnection agreements, and regulatory matters. In addition, Sarah works with large energy consumers on a range of regulatory issues and proceedings affecting ratepayers and regularly appears before the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. Prior to law school, Sarah worked for five years in the renewable energy nonprofit sector in Minnesota, concentrating on energy policy, community wind energy and climate change issues.

Lynn is Chief Executive Officer of Sunrun (Nasdaq: RUN), the largest dedicated residential solar company in the United States, and the creator of the solar-as-a-service model for the residential market. Lynn co-founded Sunrun in 2007 with a passion for creating simple solutions to difficult problems. From a young age she was a competitive athlete who was also drawn to innovation, infrastructure and the environment, all of which prepared her for her current role. Lynn began her career as one of the only female venture capitalists at Summit Partners, a leading growth equity investor. While at Summit she evaluated myriad business models and financing structures and completed investments with an aggregate market value of over $900 million in the financial services and technology sectors. But it was during a summer internship in China while attending business school at Stanford University that she witnessed firsthand the magnitude of the impact that the rapid consumption of natural resources was having on the environment. She knew then there had to be a better way. While back at school Lynn and classmate/ co-founder Edward Fenster recognized the solution to this complex environmental issue could be in simply offering consumers a better choice. By enabling homeowners to purchase clean power in a simple, affordable and more efficient way, Sunrun could pave the way for a cleaner more innovative future – and disrupt the massive and archaic residential energy industry in the process. From the beginning, Lynn helped shape Sunrun’s vision and served the Company in many roles from personally selling Sunrun’s first customers to leading the Company’s growing sales and marketing operations. She subsequently became President and co-CEO and eventually was named Chief Executive Officer in February 2014. She believes in empowering individuals to reach their full potential, a theme prevalent in Sunrun’s vision to create a planet run by the sun.

Stephen Lacey is Editor-in-Chief of Greentech Media. He manages a team of writers focused on solar, storage, efficiency, mobility, and grid modernization. He’s also host of the Energy Gang podcast, a weekly roundtable on the latest energy and environmental news.

One of the early solar pioneers, Tom Leyden began his solar career in 1980 and over the years has held a number of executive management positions. He was VP of Sales and Marketing at EPV, a thin-film PV manufacturer, and at WorldWater, a remote-power and solar-water pumping company that installed solar projects in Africa and Asia. He served as VP of East Coast Operations for PowerLight, the commercial PV pioneer bought by SunPower, where he became SunPower’s East Coast Managing Director, and later was VP of Commercial Development at SolarCity. In 2012 he became CEO of the energy storage start-up Solar Grid Storage that was acquired by Sunedison in January 2015 where he became VP of Energy Storage Deployment.

Tom has served the industry in various other roles, including President of MDV-SEIA and Mid‐Atlantic Solar Energy Industry Association, board member of national SEIA and PV Now, and advisor to the Interstate Renewable Energy Council. He holds a BA from Princeton

As Senior Vice President of Development, Eric is responsible for overseeing the origination, development and acquisition of solar projects.

Eric brings over twenty years of experience in the renewables and infrastructure industries. Prior to joining SoCore, Eric was responsible for origination of distributed solar opportunities within Edison International’s subsidiary, Edison Energy, as well as day-to-day coordination with the SoCore and Edison teams.

Eric was a Director and later a Managing Director at Edison Mission Energy (EME), a competitive power generation business of Edison International. Eric was responsible for project origination and development primarily focused on the wind generation market. Responsibilities included originating, structuring, and closing new wind energy investments as well as managing all phases of development of a portfolio of Edison wind projects. During that period, EME acquired, developed and constructed nearly 1,800 MW of wind projects located throughout the US.

Eric joined the Edison companies (Edison Capital) in 2000 as a Senior Associate focused on structuring and pricing infrastructure and mezzanine investments. Prior to joining Edison, Eric worked in the project finance group at the Fluor Corporation where he evaluated major infrastructure project investments.

Eric received a Bachelor’s from the University of California at Berkeley and an MBA in Finance from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.

Justin Marron is a Managing Partner and Head of Origination for Altus Power America, Inc. Before joining Altus, Mr. Marron served as Senior Vice President of Business Development for Conti Solar, a leading global EPC Corporation. Prior to Conti, Mr. Marron co-founded Wind Farm Capital, which was acquired by American Wind Capital/Barclays where he served as the Vice President of Acquisitions. Before Wind Farm Capital Mr. Marron founded Level Communications, a wireless infrastructure firm, which was acquired by Wireless Capital Partners, where he served as Senior Vice President. Mr. Marron began his career when he co-founded Fidelity Communications, a cell tower development company where he served as the Director of Business Development until it was acquired by a publicly traded REIT. Mr. Marron brings over 17 years of business development, finance, renewables, infrastructure, executive leadership and entrepreneurial experience to Altus Power. Mr. Marron holds a BA from Rollins College in Florida.

Peter Mathews leads the North America team as General Manager for SolarEdge in the Americas and is responsible for all business activities. He is a veteran of more than 25 years in the global semiconductor and solar industries in senior sales, marketing and business development roles.  He has led various companies through the start-up, IPO and growth phases including Enecsys, Solyndra and FormFactor.

Kate McGinnis is Managing Director for North America at Fluence, a joint venture between Siemens and AES Corporation and a leading global provider of energy storage systems and services. In this role, she leads sales to utilities, IPPs, and developers in the region. Prior to joining Fluence, she spent three years working with AES Energy Storage, resulting in nearly 200MW of contracted projects in the western US. Her start in storage was with Chevron Technology Ventures, where she led development of stationary storage projects co-located with oil & gas infrastructure globally. She has nearly two decades of experience in the energy space, and has worked in areas including energy efficiency, carbon markets, and a variety of renewables. Kate is a board member and past chair of the California Energy Storage Alliance. She holds a BS in Environmental Science from George Washington University and an MBA from Cornell.

Mike Mehawich is responsible for NEXTracker’s corporate marketing, product management, corporate strategy, and corporate development functions. A veteran of the solar industry, he has spent the past 10+ years commercializing transformative solar technologies for global markets, with an emphasis on commercial and utility ­scale applications.

Prior to cofounding NEXTracker, Mehawich served as VP of Product and Strategy for Solaria Corporation, an innovative solar panel manufacturer. His experience has encompassed a broad series of leadership positions in marketing, product management, and business development with companies ranging from pre­revenue stage to the Fortune 500. Mehawich began his career in management consulting with numerous engagements in financial services, healthcare, and utility industry verticals. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BS in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University.

Allison is a Solar Analyst at GTM Research, focusing on the competitive landscape of the U.S. downstream solar market.  Prior to joining GTM, Allison was a Senior Analyst at Compass Lexecon, an economic consulting firm, where she did research and data analysis for litigation and regulatory cases in the electricity and natural gas industries.  Allison holds a B.A. in Economics from Colby College.

Ms. Palmer currently leads the team that procures energy and electric infrastructure for Google Inc. Key efforts of her team include managing the company's energy portfolio, and sourcing as much renewable energy as possible to power Google's operations. As a result of these initiatives, Google has announced over 2.6 GW of renewable energy purchases around the globe, and is the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy.

Prior to joining Google, Ms. Palmer held several positions at PG&E, where she quickly rose to become the Director of Corporate Development.  She has also worked for Goldman Sachs, serving clients in the electricity sector.
Ms. Palmer holds an MBA in Finance from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and a BS in Civil Engineering from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo.

Austin Perea is a senior analyst for Wood Mackenzie and is the lead analyst for the U.S. Solar Market Insight report series. Prior to joining Wood Mackenzie, Austin worked at The Boston Consulting Group, where he supported the energy practice as a research associate. He graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in economics and political science and a minor in Middle Eastern studies from the University of New Hampshire.

Fazli brings over 25 years of utility, consulting, financial and energy-industry experience as Executive Vice President of EPC and Chief Technology Officer of Hecate Energy.  He is widely respected in the industry for optimizing project financial returns through innovative use of technology and transaction structuring.  Fazli is a founder of Hecate Energy, and in addition to EPC, leads Hecate’s international project development efforts and project financial structuring.

Prior to Hecate Energy, Fazli was a founder of OCI Solar Power’s predecessor, CornerStone Power Development, where he served as Senior Vice President of EPC & Operations.  There he developed the concept of bringing the solar power manufacturing supply chain to San Antonio, Texas along with 800 permanent high paying jobs as part of an economic development package associated with a 400MW PV solar power project with CPS Energy of San Antonio.  Fazli identified and built the manufacturing supply chain consortium and led economic optimization of the 400MW PV solar facilities in San Antonio that resulted in the winning proposal for the project’s PPA. Fazli also oversaw the development, design and construction of the 3 MW Delsea Drive solar PV project in Vineland, New Jersey, the 3 MW Forbes Street solar PV project on a landfill in Rhode Island and a 1 MW solar PV project in Georgia.

Fazli has held numerous leadership positions during his career.  He has previously worked as a management consultant at AT Kearney and has been the head of the Market Intelligence group at DTE Energy.  At DTE Energy, he developed the industry’s leading forecasting model for electricity, gas, coal and emissions allowance prices.  Fazli was also responsible for evaluating business development decisions, M&A and asset divestitures along with developing DTE’s coal fleet’s long-term environmental compliance strategy.  Fazli has also led strategic sourcing efforts for some of the largest corporations that resulted in billions of dollars of annual spend savings for his clients.

Daniel Roesler is the co-founder of UtilityAPI, which automates​ ​utility data access. The goal of UtilityAPI is to lower the installed cost of solar by 5-10%. Previously he was a project manager at a​ ​commercial solar company, a project engineer for an air quality testing company, and the CTO of a popular fitness app. In his spare​ ​time, he works on open source security and cryptography projects.

Miles C. Russell joined the executive team at Yaskawa - Solectria Solar as the Director of Product Management in October 2016.  In this role he has responsibility for the company’s product roadmap to ensure that our solutions continue to exceed customer expectations and market demands, and further the company’s success. This involves navigating the always-changing global landscape of solar markets, and the various forces that shape it. He brings the perspective of a solar industry veteran and accomplished leader in the field.

Prior to joining Yaskawa - Solectria Solar, Miles led the engineering team at SunEdison in the development of a micro-inverter and AC module -- a role that came about through the acquisition of his 2006 startup, GreenRay. Miles has broad industry experience including product innovation, engineering design, simulations and modeling, codes and standards, business development, and an overarching drive to advance the solar industry.

Originally hailing from central Illinois, Miles has called Massachusetts home since coming east for a position in solar at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory, following completion of his graduate degree at Stanford University.  He enjoys staying fit and hopes to be driving an electric vehicle in the near future.

Jigar Shah is the President and Co-Founder of Generate Capital. Jigar was the founder and CEO of SunEdison (NASDAQ: SUNE, TERP), where he pioneered “no money down solar” and unlocked a multi-billion-dollar solar market, creating the largest solar services company worldwide. He is the author of Creating Climate Wealth: Unlocking the Impact Economy. After SunEdison, Jigar served as the founding CEO of the Carbon War Room, a global non-profit founded by Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Unite to help entrepreneurs address climate change. Generate Capital, the Carbon War Room and SunEdison all follow from Jigar’s vision that business model innovation will unlock the largest wealth creation opportunity – resource efficiency. Jigar is committed to helping entrepreneurs and large companies alike implement resource efficiency solutions using “pay as you save” project finance models. Jigar holds an MBA from The University of Maryland and BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. He sits on the boards of sPower and the Rocky Mountain Institute.  Jigar lives in New York City and is trying to find the perfect cocktail.

MJ Shiao currently serves as the Director of Community Solar at Arcadia Power, where he works to connect residential customers with community solar projects developed by Arcadia Power's partners. Before Arcadia, MJ held various positions at Greentech Media and Wood Mackenzie, including leading GTM Research, a 30-person team tracking, analyzing and forecasting the evolution of the solar, energy storage and grid edge industries.  MJ is a leading expert in the transformation of the electricity sector. He has spoken at numerous conferences, testified in front of the U.S. International Trade Commission on solar trade issues and quoted in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg and Buzzfeed. Before joining GTM Research, MJ managed and designed several MWs of residential and commercial PV projects. He holds a bachelor's in electrical engineering from the University of Delaware, where he was named a National Truman Scholar. A believer in the social benefits of solar power, MJ has also researched, installed and tested rural off-grid PV in India and Thailand.

Paul Smerchanski is Senior Manager of Energy Storage and Business Development at Recurrent Energy, a leading U.S. solar and battery storage project developer. Paul currently oversees Recurrent Energy’s energy storage origination activities across the United States. During his four and a half years at the company, he has also worked on Corporate Strategy, Project Development and EPC Procurement. Prior to joining Recurrent Energy, he worked in energy efficiency as a mechanical engineer designing mechanical systems for commercial and industrial buildings. Paul holds an MBA from the University of Toronto and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Manitoba.

Brandon Smithwood is the Director of Policy at Dimension Renewable Energy, a national developer of solar and energy storage projects. Prior to joining Dimension, Brandon worked in solar trade associations, first as the California Director for the Solar Energy Industries Association and then as the Policy Director for the Coalition for Community Solar Access. Brandon’s previous energy policy work included managing state policy work for the non-profit Ceres and federal policy work for Westborough-based energy efficiency program administrator Conservation Services Group.

Brandon has a master’s degree from The Fletcher School at Tufts University and a bachelor’s degree from Colby College. Brandon began his career as a corps member of Teach for America where he taught fifth grade in New Mexico.

As the President and CEO of Shoals Technologies Group, Dean Solon is responsible for running all facets of the business. Dean has a proven executive management track record and over 20 years of experience driving sales and technological growth in the solar industry. Dean founded Shoals in 1996 with partners and in the year 2000, bought all their shares in the business and changed the course of Shoals from manufacturing for the automotive industry to the solar industry. While solar was in it’s infancy, Dean saw an opportunity to bring his extensive automotive knowledge and experience to a fledgling industry. Prior to the founding of Shoals, Dean worked in technical sales at multiple automotive tier one and tier two companies. During that time, Bosch Automotive approached Dean with a request for him to start his own manufacturing business and become their sole vendor for automotive brush cards. This request was the catalyst for Dean to found Shoals Technologies Group and supply Bosch Mexico with product for many years. Dean attended college at Purdue University in 1988 and studied mechanical engineering.

Mark has twenty years of experience building software products in Silicon Valley. Before founding Hot 4 Solar, Mark was responsible for software sales tools at SolarCity. He holds an engineering degree from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

With more than 15 years in corporate leadership positions, Mike Teresso brings a wealth of experience in growing dynamic businesses – combining exceptional customer support, leading edge product and service offerings and driving impressive profitability. Leveraging his wealth of business and management experience, Teresso has made Baker Electric Solar one of the top 10 fastest growing privately-held companies in San Diego.  As president, Teresso is responsible for strategic and operational planning. His hands-on leadership, knowledge of sales, marketing, forecasting, budgeting and cost control helps ensure the Baker’s solid financial foundation and exponential growth. Teresso’s passion for renewable energy has positioned him as a respected thought-leader, active in solar energy policy and driving the future of the industry. Previously Teresso served as president of a bathware manufacturer, St. Thomas Creations, Div. of Villeroy & Boch, where he led the company in a turnaround effort – achieving record profitability. Most recently Teresso was director at LAUFEN North America, Bathroom Culture Since 1892. Teresso received his M.B.A. from Texas Christian University, M.J. Neeley School of Business. He resides in San Diego.

John Tucker is responsible for Genability’s tariff rates, customer integrations, QA and testing and energy market research. John is Genability’s energy price guru and works with our current customers to incorporate their feedback into our offerings. John has overseen nearly all of Genability integrations with the leading solar, storage, EV and connected energy companies.

Vishnu joined Solar Analytics as its first non founding employee in Australia and a few years later moved to Oakland, California to expand Solar Analytics into the United States.

Brian von Moos is Vice President of Origination for Coronal Energy, powered by Panasonic. In this role, Mr. von Moos manages a team of solar professionals focused on deal origination with utility and corporate customers across North America. With more than 12 years of solar industry experience, Mr. von Moos joined Coronal Energy in March 2017 from Borrego Solar Systems, Inc., a leading EPC and O&M provider of large-scale solar solutions.

During his tenure with Borrego Solar, Mr. von Moos held a wide range of leadership roles in solar project development, business development and consulting, most recently serving as Vice President of Utility Project Development. Mr. von Moos launched, built and lead the utility project development team from 2009-2017, focusing on growing a portfolio of utility scale PPA and EPC projects in North America. He also served as Director of Consulting Services from 2009-2012, when he established and managed a new consulting division to provide PV expertise to IPPs, cities, product manufacturers and Fortune 1000 companies. Previously, he was Director of Business Development from 2007-2009, providing leadership to a fast-paced, growing sales team. He started his career at Borrego Solar in 2004 as a residential and commercial solar system Solar Technician.

Julian Willenbrock - is Enlight`s Cofounder and CEO. Julian has over 10 years of experience in the German, Spanish and Mexican PV market. He cofounded Enlight in 2011 and today Enlight is one of the leading companies in the DG segment in Mexico. Julian led the company to close their Series A funding with Engie beginning of 2017. Prior to Enlight, he found and operated the distribution center Operadora Farmaderm, for a 50-store pharmaceutical chain in Mexico.  Julian also worked for the german PV company SEN - Solare Energiesysteme Nord on utility projects in Germany and Spain. Julian holds a BS in Industrial Engineering (Tecnológico de Monterrey) and an Executive MBA from IPADE Business School.

José Zambrano is President and CEO at Galt Energy, Mexico's leading residential and small commercial solar developer. In the four years since its founding, José has led Galt Energy to more than 1,000 residential and small commercial systems amounting to more than 5 MW of installations, of which 30% have been financed through its own fund. José is board member of the Energy Cluster for the state of Nuevo León and holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas.

Prior to founding RPM, George was a Portfolio Manager at SolarCity where he started and led the Portfolio Management group. In this role, he managed the company’s $4 billion, 750 MW portfolio of solar assets and directed investor relations with all funds. Additionally, he was a leading contributor to the successful structuring and issuance of distributed solar’s first three rounds of asset backed securitization. Prior to SolarCity, George worked at Sunrun, where he built up and led the Corporate Finance and Asset Management teams (overseeing over $1 billion of solar assets). George’s experience at solar’s two leading solar developers granted him unique insight into the needs and challenges of building an effective asset management solution and is what inspired him to start RP