March 17, 2008: San Francisco
Travis Bradford
Founder, President, and Director, Prometheus Institute for Sustainable Development
Travis founded the Prometheus Institute in 2003 as a means to connect the vast reach and power of industrial and capital markets with the technologies necessary to sustain and develop long-term economic well-being for people around the world. Travis is currently the Editor-in-Chief of PVNews, the solar energy industry's oldest newsletter, and is the author of Solar Revolution: The Economic Transformation of the Global Energy Industry published by MIT Press. He is also a partner at Atlas Capital, a hedge fund based in Cambridge, MA.
Jon Guice, PhD
Partner, AltaTerra
Jon Guice is a partner at AltaTerra, the research and advisory services firm helping organizations identify and capitalize on opportunities to deliver more efficient, environmentally sustainable products and operations. Previously Dr. Guice co-founded the premier clean technology design engineering consultancy, building a loyal client base of top-tier venture-backed startups and established companies such as SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq:SPWR). Earlier he had served in leadership and strategy roles in an early-stage renewable energy company, a 200-person NASA R&D organization and a new product research program at Stanford University and the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Jon Guice earned a doctorate in the first-ranked science and technology studies program at the University of California, San Diego, and has spoken and published widely on global industry trends, organizational change and product innovation.
Stephen T. Adams
Partner, Goodwin Procter
Steve Adams is a partner in the firm's Business Law Department and a member of the Securities and Corporate Finance Practice Group. Mr. Adams has practiced at Goodwin Procter since 1996.
Ben Cook
Director of Structured Finance, SunPower Corporation
Mr. Cook directs structured finance activities supporting SunPower's sales efforts worldwide. He was instrumental in arranging a $190 million project finance facility with Morgan Stanley to finance SunPower installations, and has worked closely with SunPower's major commercial customers such as Wal-Mart Stores, HP and Toyota. Prior to joining SunPower, Mr. Cook was a founder and chief executive officer of SELCO, which sells, services and finances solar PV systems in emerging markets. Prior to SELCO, he was an infrastructure project finance specialist at Bechtel Enterprises, the project finance and development group of the Bechtel Construction & Engineering group, concentrating on power and transportation infrastructure developments. Mr. Cook graduated from the University of Virginia with honors and undergraduate degrees in physics and economics, and holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Paul Detering
Founder and CEO, Tioga Energy
Paul Detering is an experienced leader of early stage technology companies with more than 20 years of experience in the clean technology, telecom and software industries. Previously, Detering led Larian Communications, which produced a next-generation voice messaging system. Detering was also CEO of Blueleaf Networks, an early stage optical networking and components company; Wildfire Communications, which he successfully sold to Orange Plc; and IQ Labs. Mr. Detering began his career at Nortel Networks and has worked at Raychem, Raynet Systems, and McKinsey and Company. He received a Bachelor of Engineering in Engineering Physics from the Royal Military College of Canada and a Masters in Business Administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, where he graduated with high distinction as a Baker Scholar.
Arno Harris
CEO, Recurrent Energy
Arno Harris is a solar industry veteran and successful entrepreneur. His career features a number of solar industry milestones, including the sale to Google of the largest US corporate solar generating system. Prior to Recurrent Energy, Arno was general manager of EI Solutions, serving large-scale commercial and government solar customers. EI Solutions was formed when Arno sold his pioneering solar business, Prevalent Power, to Energy Innovations in 2005. Arno's previous experience includes founder and leadership roles for startups that include WineShopper.com, RedEnvelope (NASDAQ:REDE), and Novo Media Group. His background combines marketing, sales and consulting with experience serving such clients as Berlex, Toyota Motor Sales USA, GlaxoWellcome, MCI, Apple Computer, Hewlett-Packard, Nikon Precision, IKEA International and NBC Digital Publishing. Arno writes about solar and renewable energy on his blog Clean Energy Future.
David Hochschild
Vice President of External Relations, Solaria
David Hochschild, is Vice President of External Relations at Solaria, a start-up solar manufacturing company in Silicon Valley. He has seven years of experience in the solar energy field. He first got involved with solar energy in 2001 when, as Special Assistant to the Mayor in San Francisco, he pioneered San Francisco's $100 Million solar bond initiative, and went on to co-found the Vote Solar Initiative, a 45,000 member non-profit solar policy organization. In that role, David spent much of his time working with a coalition of California groups to advocate for the creation of the $3.3 Billion California Solar Initiative, approved in January 2006. David has also served Executive Director of a consortium of the leading PV manufacturers including SunPower, Sharp, SolarWorld, Evergreen and others, and has worked with state legislatures in 10 states to advance solar policies and the federal solar tax credit extension. In addition to his responsibilities at Solaria, David currently serves as one of five commissioners at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, overseeing the regional power and water agency's $750 million annual budget. He is co-chair of the California Energy Commission's New Solar Homes Partnership and helped design the state's landmark new solar homes program. David has a BA from Swarthmore College and a Masters of Public Policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and daughters.
Hugh Kuhn (Not Pictured)
Vice President of Operations & Technology, Solar Power Partners
Hugh has 25+ years of sales, business development, and engineering experience. Hugh holds a B.S. degree from Stanford University in Environmental Earth Sciences and an M.S. degree from Colorado State University in Mechanical Engineering where his studies focused on Alternative Energy. He started his career in the 1980's with Pacfic Gas & Electric Company developing energy conservation, load shifting and cogeneration strategies for commercial and industrial customers. Hugh then pursued a full career with Hewlett-Packard, where he held positions in Strategic Account Sales, Venture Industry Partnering and Global Alliances. He returned to his roots with Solar Power Partners, where he is currently responsible for overseeing the design, engineering, construction and operations of SPP's solar energy facilities, as well as working closely with SPP's Integration Partners and technology suppliers to insure adherence to SPP's high quality standards. Hugh lives in Mill Valley CA with his wife and two daughters.
Robert Morgan
EVP & Chief Development Officer
Morgan joined Ausra in 2006 from Agile Energy LLC, where he was a co-founder. Prior to Agile he worked for 14 years at The AES Corp., a world leader in electric power generation. At Ausra, Morgan oversees power project strategy, siting, permitting, and delivery. Morgan received a bachelor's degree in economics and a master's degree in engineering economic systems from Stanford University in 1988.
Gregory Rosen (Not Pictured)
Vice President of Project Finance, Helio Micro Utility
Gregory Rosen is an eight-year veteran of the solar industry who develops residential, commercial, and governmental solar projects that are funded by investment banks. Prior to joining Helio mU, Mr. Rosen was most recently a Director of Structured Finance for SunPower Corporation, a multinational leader in solar electric systems. In this position, he arranged and financed dozens of multi-megawatt equipment sales and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for Fortune 500 companies and government entities, including the largest photovoltaic (PV) system in North America (15MW) at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. In prior years at PowerLight and SunPower, in addition to his financing duties, Mr. Rosen served as a lead developer for several projects including the 0.7 MW City of San Francisco Moscone Center project and the 1.1 MW Alameda County Jail project. He has also developed and managed regulated and voluntary-market Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) portfolios. Previously, Mr. Rosen worked in investment banking and as an environmental advocate at the League of Conservation Voters in Washington, DC. Mr. Rosen holds both a Bachelors and Masters Degree in resource optimization from the University of Pennsylvania.
David Rubin
Director of Service Analysis, PG&E
David Rubin is presently the Director of Service Analysis at Pacific Gas and Electric Company in San Francisco, where he has responsibility for economic development and distributed generation. From 1982-1985, David was responsible for energy efficiency, cogeneration and district heating with the City and County of San Francisco. He joined PG&E in 1985, and spent seven years in the marketing and rates areas. He left PG&E in 1992 to join the International Energy Agency in Paris, France. While at the IEA, he had responsibility for electricity restructuring, energy efficiency and demand side management. During this period he participated in a number of energy sector studies throughout Europe and the former Soviet Union. He returned to PG&E in 1995, and assumed his current job responsibilities in 1997. His educational background includes a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Maryland, and a Master of Science degree in engineering from MIT. David is a registered mechanical engineer in California.
