Continental Breakfast and Check-In
Morning Theme: U.S. Solar in 2015 and Beyond
GTM Welcome
GTM Research: The State and Future of U.S. Solar

This session will open the conference with a data-driven, visionary outlook on the U.S. solar market from the head of GTM Research. Bringing together analysis of current trends in project finance, regulation, policy and business strategy, this session will help illuminate solar’s future path in the U.S.

Shayle Kann, Senior Vice President, Research & Strategy, Energy Impact Partners

Energy Gang Live

In this special session, we present a live version of our popular podcast, The Energy Gang. The Energy Gang is a weekly show featuring GTM Senior Editor Stephen Lacey, SunEdison Founder Jigar Shah and 38 North Solutions Co-Founder Katherine Hamilton. Come join the Gang as they debate the future of solar in the U.S. with a special guest.

Moderator: Stephen Lacey, Senior Editor, Greentech Media

Mateo Jaramillo, Vice President of Products & Programs, Tesla Energy
Michael Picker, President, California Public Utilities Commission
Jigar Shah, President & Co-Founder, Generate Capital
Katherine Hamilton, Partner & Co-Founder, 38 North Solutions

Networking Break
Crowdsourced Market Insight: U.S. Solar's Biggest Questions

What will happen to the solar market in 2017? Which business models will survive the test of time? What are the biggest threats to PV growth in the U.S.? These are among the U.S. solar industry's biggest questions, and this session will offer attendees an opportunity to have their say. All attendees will vote on 10 of the industry's biggest questions, and our panel of experts will react and respond to the audience answers in this engaging, informative panel.

Moderator: Shyam Mehta, Lead Upstream Solar Analyst, GTM Research

Justin Baca, Director of Research, Solar Energy Industries Association
Josh Baribeau, Senior Analyst, Equity Research, Canaccord Genuity
Sanjay Ranchod, Senior Director of Policy & Electricity Markets, and Regulatory Counsel, SolarCity

Solar and the Utility of the Future

As solar penetration grows, an increasing chorus of voices in the energy industry is questioning solar’s impact on utility operations and business models. Will solar significant impact utility profits in the near future? What options are utilities considering to fight, or invest in, the solar revolution? What is the role of the utility over the long term? This session will address these questions while surveying the landscape of today’s developments at the nexus of solar and utilities.

Moderator: Shayle Kann, Senior Vice President, GTM Research

James Avery, Senior Vice President of Power Supply , San Diego Gas & Electric
David Frankel, Associate Principal, McKinsey
Tom Starrs, Vice President, Market Strategy & Policy, SunPower Corp.

Lunch

Sponsored by:

track 1
Distributed Generation
track 2
Utility Solar and Grid Integration
track 1
GTM Research: The DG Supplier Landscape

In the past year, the DG market has experienced M&A, consolidation, expansion, and new sales channels. Meanwhile, new players are circling the market and readying their entry into the still-nascent sector. In this session GTM’s SVP of Research will use proprietary data from the U.S. PV Leaderboard and U.S. Solar Market Insight series to analyze the landscape of players operating in distributed solar today, and which might be a leader tomorrow.

Shayle Kann, Senior Vice President, Research & Strategy, Energy Impact Partners

track 2
GTM Research: The Next Wave of Utility Solar Procurement

The Federal ITC is scheduled to drop at the end of 2016, but utility solar procurement is just heating up. At the end of 2013, the pipeline of projects with a PPA in place stood at just under 12 GW. Flash forward to today, and the pipeline has jumped to a record breaking 15 GW. But as RPS standards continue to wane and the Federal ITC’s expiration nears, why are utilities still procuring solar? What strategies are they employing to ramp up procurement? Who stands to gain as utility scale solar proves to be increasingly competitive with fossil fuels? Answers to these questions and more will be covered in this presentation on the future of utility solar procurement.

Cory Honeyman, Director of Business Development & Strategy, AES Distributed Energy

track 1
Models for Tomorrow's DG Compensation

Net metering is arguably the most important promotion policy for solar PV in the U.S. But it’s also one of the most controversial. As utilities around the country seek to change net metering laws in order to make solar customers pay for backup grid services, the solar industry is debating how — or if — to replace the law with something different. Value of solar tariffs? Minimum bill? Fixed charges? Wholesale compensation? In this session, we’ll ask what future compensation models might look like in states with lots of solar.

Moderator: Stephen Lacey, Senior Editor, Greentech Media

Tracy Idell Hamilton, Project Manager, CPS Energy
Owen Smith, Principal, Electricity, Rocky Mountain Institute

track 2
Hidden Growth Gems in Utility Scale Solar

Over the last two years, demand for utility scale solar has evolved dramatically. Utilities in surprising states such as Idaho and Utah are stepping up their solar procurement, while more than 3 GW of utility scale solar have recently been procured based on solar’s competitiveness with natural gas. Much of these off-the-radar procurement opportunities come from the growing appeal and competitiveness of smaller scale systems between 1 MW and 50 MW. This panel will explore where and why utilities are procuring smaller sized projects, and how developers are tapping into this booming segment of utility scale solar.

Moderator: Cory Honeyman, Solar Analyst, GTM Research

Eric Blank, Co-Founder, Community Energy
Katie Bush, Director of Project Acquisition and Finance, Bright Plain Renewable Energy
Noah Eckert, Chief Commercial Officer, BayWa r.e. Solar Projects
Matthew McCullough, Vice President, Latin America and U.S. Utility Project Development, Hanwha Q Cells

track 1
Residential Solar Installers: Who will be Left Standing?

The U.S. residential solar market is expected to exceed 1 GW for the first time and grow by more than 50% for the third consecutive year in 2014. However, the competitive landscape continues to evolve and it is yet to be determined which companies will dominate the market in the long run. Topics covered by this panel will include the benefits of various business models, the outlook for local installers versus national players, strategies for growth and geographic expansion, and opportunities for cost reduction.

Moderator: Nicole Litvak, Solar Analyst, GTM Research

Stephen Irvin, President, Amicus Solar Cooperative
Hugh Scott, COO and SVP, NRG Home Solar
Ken Schwarz, CFO, Sungevity
Rex Stepp, Leader, APS Renewable Energy Program, Arizona Public Service

track 2
Utility Solar in a Post-ITC World

The investment tax credit (ITC) for solar has dramatically influenced the economics of the utility-scale solar market over the last several years, fueling robust growth in the U.S. market. However, with the future of the ITC in question after 2016, new strategies and business models will be essential to the survival of utility solar. This panel will tackle the tough questions about where this segment is heading, while providing an overview of some of the exciting and innovative opportunities moving forward.

Moderator: Adam James, Solar Analyst, GTM Research

Edgar Arvizu, Vice President, Business Development, Sonnedix
David Brochu, Chief Operating Officer, , Recurrent Energy
Martin Hermann, Founder & CEO, 8minutenergy
Richard Rambaldo, Origination / Mergers & Acquisitions, Sempra U.S. Gas & Power

track 1
Networking Break
track 2
Networking Break
track 1
Cracking the Code on Small Commercial

Though the availability of capital for large commercial solar has increased over the past five years, it still remains difficult to finance and develop small commercial solar projects. These projects often have varying contract terms, power purchasers that lack credit ratings or easily assessed creditworthiness, and site-specific project requirements. As a result, small commercial installations have lagged while the large commercial thrived. But a class of companies are focused on this enormous opportunity and are beginning to find solutions. This session will discuss the future of the small commercial market, and how to break through the financing bottleneck.

Moderator: Sean Moran, Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

George Ashton, Chief Financial Officer, Sol Systems, LLC
Chris Diaz, Principal, Seminole Financial Services, LLC
Bert Hunter, EVP & Chief Investment Officer, , Connecticut Green Bank
Haresh Patel, CEO, Mercatus Inc.

track 2
Tomorrow's PV Integration - Policies and Regulations

The concept of the “smart inverter” or “smart PV system” is not new, but regulatory and offtaker requirements have been historically been mismatched with technology availability in the industry. In the utility sector, new compensation mechanisms and offtaker requirements mean that even well-established feature sets are always in flux and continued technology development has created the opportunity for PV to go beyond a passive generator. Meanwhile, distributed solar requirements in the U.S. are finally catching up to standards long established in foreign geographies. Panelists will discuss the potential for advanced grid integration to add value for the PV project owner and utilities alike as well as the oncoming landscape of technologies and regulatory solutions that will support these solutions.

Moderator: MJ Shiao, DIrector, Solar Research, GTM Research

John Berdner, Director of Global Regulatory Compliance, Enphase Energy, Inc.
Frances Cleveland, President and Principal Consultant, , Xanthus Consulting International
Brian Dupin, Technical Advisor – Distribution, Electric Power Research Institute
Jamie Ormond, Lead Analyst, Interconnection, California Public Utilities Commission

track 1
Commercial Solar's Comeback: Growth States and Channels

From a national perspective, the US commercial solar market is facing challenges to achieve scale, growing just 4% in 2013. But growth is still happening in concentrated pockets of states as incentive programs and rate structures are reformed to target particular project types and customer segments. Amidst this fragmented demand landscape, this panel will shed light on which states and customer segments represent the most attractive (and challenging) opportunities for growth heading into 2015.

Moderator: Cory Honeyman, Solar Analyst, GTM Research

Jesse Grossman, CEO & Co-Founder, Soltage
T.J. Kanczuzewski, President, Board Member, Inovateus Solar
Laura Stern, President, Nautilus Solar Energy, LLC

track 2
Lessons From The High-Penetration PV Future

As solar PV continues to come down the cost curve, the inevitability of a high penetration PV future is turning into reality. Pockets in the U.S. where the large adoption of PV has a disruptive impact continue to spread. In this presentation-based session, high-penetration PV and grid experts walk through case studies where PV has had a disruptive effect and the solutions that will enable the continued adoption in those areas.

Moderator: Ben Kellison, Director, Grid Research, GTM Research

James Loewen, Senior Analyst, CPUC Energy Division, California Public Utilities Commission
Robert Sherick, Manager, Advanced Technology, Southern California Edison
Bob Stojanovic, Director of Solar Power, North America, ABB

Networking Reception

Sponsored by:

U.S. Energy Storage Market OpportunitiesDay 2