RAJ AGRAWAL (Menlo Park) joined KKR in 2006 and is the North American head of KKR’s Infrastructure business. He is a member of the boards of directors of the Colonial Pipeline Company, El Paso Midstream Investment Corp, and Dollar General. Prior to joining KKR, he was a Vice President with Warburg Pincus, where he was involved in the execution and oversight of a number of investments in the energy and infrastructure sector. Mr. Agrawal’s prior experience also includes Thayer Capital Partners, where he played a role in the firm’s business and manufacturing services investments, and McKinsey & Company, where he provided strategic merger and acquisition counsel to clients in a variety of industries. He holds a B.A. with honors and distinction, Phi Beta Kappa, from Stanford University, and an M.B.A., Arjay Miller Scholar, from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

David Arfin is a Special Advisor to the US Department of Energy and CEO of First Energy Finance, LLC. He is driven to bring innovative finance offerings that will accelerate the adoption of renewable energy, energy efficiency and other clean technologies. Arfin invented the SolarCity's SolarLease, the first-of-its-kind solar financing program that enabled over 25,000 homeowners, commercial and government customers to adopt solar power, save money, and not have to make a large upfront payment. In November 2009 SolarLease was named by Scientific America as the first of twenty world-changing ideas to build a cleaner, healthier and smarter world. Arfin also received the first ever Innovation in PV Financing Award from the Solar Energy Industry Association. Prior to SolarCity, David was co-founder and CEO of GlooLabs, (acquired by Cisco Systems), and was founder and CEO of CLE Group (acquired by Practising Law Institute). Prior to launching companies, David was a lobbyist for the Association of American Universities, a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs in Los Angeles and an Intern in the Israeli Knesset. He received an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, an MA in Public Policy Analysis from the Claremont Graduate University, and a BA in Political Science from UCLA where he was graduated phi beta kappa.

Arfin serves on the Board of Directors of an energy efficiency software company (WattzOn), a progressive payment platform for bringing clean energy to under-electrified communities in India (Simpa Networks), and Camp Ramah of Northern California.

Keith Martin is co-head of the project finance group at Chadbourne & Parke LLP, a law firm headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York with 12 other offices in the US and abroad. The prestigious Chambers directory in London ranks Chadbourne number one in the US renewables market based on year-round interviewing of corporate law departments and peers at other firms. Keith is a transactional lawyer who worked last year for 188 companies and on projects in the US and eight foreign countries. He also edits the Project Finance NewsWire. He has been a partner at Chadbourne for 30 years. Before that, he was counsel to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D.-N.Y.) and a legislative assistant to Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson (D.-Wash.).

Carrie Cullen Hitt serves as Vice President of State Affairs for SEIA and was previously President of the Solar Alliance, which merged with SEIA on January 1st of 2012. Prior to joining the Solar Alliance, Carrie served as Vice President, Renewable Products for Constellation Energy. In this role, she developed programs and capabilities to help customers manage their business' impact on the environment through greenhouse gas reducing activities, including purchasing renewable power.

She also served as Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs from 2002-2007. From 1999-2001, she worked at Green Mountain Energy Resources as Director of Regional Business Development. She has also held energy related positions at the Massachusetts Legislature and Harvard University.

Carrie holds an undergraduate degree from Clark University and an MA from the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University. She currently serves on the advisory council of the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) and the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA).

John Schroeder serves as a leader in First Solar’s engineering department, and is a pioneer in the technologies of control systems, industrial communications, and performance analytics. First Solar is committed to driving down the costs for utility scale systems, and currently engineering a multi-gigawatt pipeline of projects worldwide, with over two gigawatts in construction. Prior to joining First Solar in 2005, John worked six years at GE in the infrastructure division. He holds degrees in electrical engineering from Purdue University, and an MBA from the University of Phoenix.

Danny Abajian, a Director in Finance at Sunrun, is responsible primarily for the origination, structuring and execution of project-level debt capital to support the growth of the company’s distributed residential solar fleet. Danny is currently focused on developing asset-backed financing solutions for residential solar. Prior to joining Sunrun in 2010, Danny spent five years in investment banking, at Barclays Capital and BNP Paribas, arranging $3 billion in structured debt and commodities transactions for infrastructure, power generation and energy assets in North America. Danny holds a Bachelor of Science degree from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Dan is President and Chief Executive Officer of SOLON Corporation, responsible for strategic growth in North America. SOLON Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the SOLON Group, is headquartered in Tucson, AZ, where it is a leading provider of solar solutions for commercial and utility-scale applications.

Dan previously served as Vice President and General Manager for SOLON Corp. and oversaw the company’s growth into a leader in utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) projects and a top provider of power purchasing agreements (PPAs). Under his leadership, SOLON has opened offices in Phoenix and San Francisco, and has increased its PV installations including major utility-scale projects with top US-based utilities such as Tucson Electric Power, Arizona Public Service and Pacific Gas and Electric.

Dan brings more than 20 years of experience in Project Management and Executive Leadership in automation and large-scale system design. Prior to his current role at SOLON, Dan held increasing positions of responsibility at the company as Director of Programs and Vice President of North America.

Before joining SOLON, Dan was the Business Unit General Manager of Automation Tooling Systems Inc. (ATS), where he was responsible for P&L performance as well functional management of all aspects of the business unit, including sales, operations, finance, and human resources.

Previous to this, Dan was with Remmele Engineering Inc. for 16 years, starting as a System Control Engineer and spending his last 7 years as a Project Manager, leading a department of engineers and program managers in the design and build of customer automation systems in the diagnostic, pharmaceutical, and consumer products industries.

Dan earned his BSEE from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and an MBA from University of Saint Thomas, MN.
 

Dr. John Barnes is a Co Founder and CEO at Solar Land Partners, Inc, a firm that provides complete services for the development of MW size solar PV farms.  Past clients include groups from Spain, Italy, Korea, China, and the US.  Over 450MWs of Utility Scale development projects were transacted for JV, or sale during 1H 2012. He is active in California solar legislative and CPUC programs.

Previously he was a founder at Solar Power Development Partners, a development services company, CTO at Solar Power Assets, a PPA solar provider, and VP of engineering for Ahura Energy, a CSP technology company. Before starting in solar in 2007, he spent over 25 years in semiconductor and computer product development with sales at the multi $B level, with several VP level positions. 

PhD from the University of Michigan and MS from the University of California, Berkeley, in Electrical Engineering.

Adam Blake is CEO of Brightergy, a company that finances, develops, owns, and manages commercial solar systems. Brightergy has offices in Boston, Kansas City, and St. Louis. Since its inception Brightergy has provided solar and energy efficiency solutions for over 400 clients ranging from large corporations to municipalities, school districts, and small businesses.

Prior to Brightergy, Adam founded Atlas Properties, a private equity firm that manages investments for family offices, individuals, and institutional clients in oil & gas, real estate, and solar.  He holds a BBA in finance, accounting, and entrepreneurial management from TCU.

Robert Benedict has been in the solar industry since 2005.  Robert teamed up with investors and built a solar installation company Soul-er, Inc as their CEO. He sold his stock and left in 2008.  Robert joined CA Solar as the VP of Sales and Marketing.  CA Solar is a Developer developing solar projects in Europe and the US.  Presently Robert is the Head of Business Development at Jinko Solar.

Robert started his career in management consulting at Anderson Consulting.  Years later as an Analyst he rose to the top of his career area to the Sr. VP of sales and marketing for Gulf Pacific.  His knowledge of sales and sales management is extensive having spent 15 plus years training different sales teams.  Robert was instrumental in increased revenues by up to 30% gross sales per year.  Industries where he has experience include the following:  Consulting, Software, Solar, Display & Internet Marketing, Construction and presently he writes for the San Francisco Examiner in the Business and Finance section: http://www.examiner.com/internet-business-in-san-francisco/robert-benedict

Dan Berwick is Borrego Solar’s Director of Policy and Business Development, based out of the New England regional headquarters.  Dan’s primary focus is on shaping Borrego Solar’s unique business strategies and product offerings across various geographic markets and solar incentive jurisdictions, with a particular focus on guiding Borrego’s SREC market participation.  Prior to joining Borrego Solar, Dan worked on renewable energy policy reform at the Texas House of Representatives.  He’s also worked in the utilities practice area at The Brattle Group, an economic consulting firm, and he supported Federal policy efforts for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.  Dan earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Sloan School of Management and his Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Mr. Boom-Wichers is responsible for leading REC’s module division in the Americas. Previously, Mr. Boom-Wichers led the development of REC Solar France SAS, overseeing the growth and development of territories of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Prior to joining REC, Mr. Boom-Wichers held various executive management positions for leading telecom, media and technology companies in which he drove aggressive international expansion strategies. He has over 15 years of experience as an operational and strategic executive, specializing in starting and developing profit centers in both established and emerging markets.

Mr. Boom-Wichers is a Dutch-American citizen, speaking 7 different languages fluently. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in Economics from Swarthmore College.

Brad Bowery has served as CEO of SRECTrade since the firm launched in 2008. SRECTrade provides transactional services and software to customers in the solar industry. In the retail sector, the firm works through a channel of 250 installation partners to aggregate and sell SRECs for over 50 MW of residential and small commercial projects. Among larger, institutional clients, SRECTrade is well known for its SREC brokerage services and portfolio management tools. The firm also provides solar procurement software designed specifically for the utility industry. As CEO of SRECTrade, Brad has been active in promoting effective solar policy across the U.S. He has advised several state advocacy and legislative groups, written papers on effective SREC market design and is a regular speaker at conferences. Brad started his career at Experience.com, an online software firm. He later joined The Investment Fund for Foundations where he evaluated alternative asset investments for the $8B network of non-profit foundations. Brad completed his undergraduate degree at Brown University in History and Business Economics and received his MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Adam is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Vote Solar Initiative, a non-profit organization with the mission of bringing solar energy into the mainstream. Vote Solar got its start with a successful ballot initiative for a $100 million solar revenue bond in San Francisco in 2001, and since then has been working with state and municipal governments on pro-solar policies with the goal of jumpstarting the national transition to renewable energy.

Prior to Vote Solar, Adam spent eight years with the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s San Francisco office, where he won the Agency’s top pollution prevention award for developing a program that reduced air emissions of mercury from gold mines in Nevada by over five tons annually.

Adam received a BA with Distinction from Swarthmore College in 1992, and served with the Peace Corps in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa.

Mr. Burke is global marketing director of DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions, one of the leading materials providers to the solar energy industry. Mr. Burke founded Innovalight in 2005 and served as the president and CEO until August 2011, when DuPont acquired the company. His career has spanned research and development, product management, marketing, sales, general management and operations in major global organizations such as NEC, AT&T, Lucent Technologies and Agere Systems, and abroad in Germany, U.K., and Japan. Before founding Innovalight, Mr. Burke was the Sr. Vice President of Worldwide Sales for Oclaro and was a venture partner at Sevin Rosen Funds. He has received the Technology Pioneer Award for cleantech innovations from the World Economic Forum, and in 2010 the President of Ireland presented him with The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. Mr. Burke attended The London Business School and received his B.S. in physics from University College Dublin and his M.S. in physics from Trinity College Dublin.

Barry Cinnamon is a long-time advocate of solar power and is a widely recognized solar power expert.  Mr. Cinnamon started his career in solar energy in the late 1970’s as a researcher into new flat plate and concentrating collector designs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). During the late 1970s and early 1980s, he designed and installed active solar, passive solar and ground coupled heat pump systems.

Mr. Cinnamon’s work in solar power computer modeling led him into the software industry, where he served as CEO of Software Publishing Corporation, and founded Allegro New Media a multimedia software publisher, which he led to an IPO in 1995.  He resumed his solar career in 2001 when he began installing rooftop solar power systems in California.  His work on reducing costs of rooftop solar power systems has led to over 25 issued or applied for patents held by Westinghouse Solar.

Mr. Cinnamon earned a BS Degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and an MBA degree in Marketing from Wharton.  He is a NABCEP Certified Solar Installer, a licensed California C-46 Solar Contractor, an active member of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, a member of the Board of Directors of the California Solar Energy Industry Association, Vice Chair of the Solar Energy Industries Association PV Division, and a Senior Fellow of ALF - American Leadership Forum, Silicon Valley.

Matt Denninger has devoted nearly 20 years to the high-tech and renewable energy industries, holding leadership positions in sales, marketing, services, and management at Advanced Energy, Applied Materials, Applied Films, and Marubeni. Matt is currently senior marketing manager at AE Solar Energy, Inc., where developing and driving business-wide marketing initiatives has been his primary focus.

He has a BS in Marketing and a BA in Japanese Language and Literature from Indiana University in Bloomington and is completing his Executive MBA at the University of Michigan.

As COO, Andrew Duggan is responsible for overseeing the company’s operational platform, which includes operations, proposal generation, sales, program, customer care and technology. Prior to OneRoof Energy, Andrew served as head of global technology strategy for Pershing BNY Mellon company where he led a $350 million technology spend to assist in the company’s global expansion. He was a senior member of the Technology Strategy Committee, the Portfolio Services Strategy Group, the Customer Technology Solutions Delivery Executive Committee and the Technology Prioritization Committee. Prior to BNY Mellon, Andrew was managing director and chief information officer at Dynamic Energy Partners, and Asset Based Lending investment fund. At Dynamic Energy Partners he led the efforts to source unique renewable energy technologies, performed due diligence and served on the investment committee. He was also responsible for building nationwide relationships with top tier Fund of Funds, Endowments, Foundation and Sovereign Funds. Andrew was also executive vice president and CIO at LPL Financial, one of the nation’s leading diversified financial services companies and the largest independent broker/dealer supporting more than 12,000 financial advisors nationwide. He helped LPL Financial grow from $700 million in revenues to $2.7 billion and was instrumental in managing the firm’s growth through technology innovation, operational excellence and business strategy. Prior to LPL Financial, Andrew held executive positions in management consulting organizations such as Accenture and Viant where, among other responsibilities, he led mergers and acquisition activities in the financial services and energy sectors. Andrew received his bachelor of engineering degree at the University of Limerick, Ireland. 

Noah Eckert has worked in PV project development for over six years for various manufacturers, including BP Solar, TSMC Solar and currently Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ). At Canadian Solar Mr. Eckert created the platform, hired the team and currently directs the US project business. The team has developed a methodology for valuing project assets both qualitatively and quantitatively, resulting in the successful acquisition and/or partnership on over 250MW of utility scale projects across the US. Prior to Canadian Solar, Mr. Eckert worked at BP, valuing commercial projects with Walmart and FedEx for sale to financial institutions.

Emily Felt manages renewable strategy development at Duke Energy Corporation, where focuses on the role of the electric utility in a future where renewable and distributed generation are widespread. From 2010-2012, she managed Duke Energy compliance with the North Carolina Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard. Prior to that, Emily worked as an industrial business developer for nearly ten years. She is a graduate of Stanford University (A.B., Japanese) and Harvard University (Masters of Public Administration, Kennedy School of Government).

Daniel brings to LRE more than two decades of experience in the energy industry. Most recently, he was CEO and chief development officer of ACCIONA Energy North America, overseeing the operation and development of its wind-and-solar energy portfolio throughout the United States and Canada. Prior to that, Daniel held a director, power marketing position with Invenergy LLC, a developer, owner and operator of large-scale electricity generation assets.

Additionally, he has held management positions with EnergyConnect, Automated Power Exchange, ComEd and Niagara Mohawk. He also served as a senior manager for Deloitte & Touche, where he provided risk-management consulting services to utilities and other energy-market concerns. Daniel is a frequent speaker and advisor on issues that range from wind power development, costs, financing and industry projections. He is a member of the Energy Advisory Board of U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R., Ill.), and also a board member of the American Council on Renewable Energy. As a U.S. Naval officer, he was trained in nuclear plant operations.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Notre Dame, a Master of Engineering degree from the State University of New York-Buffalo and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago.  

Terry Grant is Managing Director and head of the solar market practice for Marathon Capital. He is based in San Francisco and focuses on the power, alternative energy and energy technology sectors. Prior to joining Marathon Capital, Mr. Grant was a Managing Director with FBR Capital Markets focused on alternative energy and power portfolio restructurings in the Energy Group. Mr. Grant originally joined FBR in 1997 and founded the equity research practice in energy, covering the IPP and non-utility generation sub-sectors. From 2000-2005, Mr. Grant was involved in energy technology investment ventures both investing, and offering financial advisory services for energy technology and power asset companies. He founded and served as Portfolio Manager in a hedge fund focused on the energy sector. Prior to FBR, Mr. Grant held a variety of positions at US Generating Company – a PG&E and Bechtel partnership in the energy sector. He was involved in project financings totaling over $2 billion, corporate M&A work, and was responsible for project development for the South Western Region of the United States.

Mr. Grant received his BA from Wake Forest University and his MBA from the Babcock Graduate School of Business at Wake Forest University. Mr. Grant holds Series 7, 24, 63 and 79 licenses.

Tyson Grul began his solar career early 2006 and has most recently served as the Vice President of Business Development at RGS Energy. A recent addition to Sunetric, a Hawaii based solar EPC, Tyson will lead the development of strategy to promote solar energy across the Western United States.  Tyson’s career in solar began in the financial industry. After graduating Magna Cum Laude in economics from U.C. Santa Barbara, Tyson spent ten years on the Pacific Stock Exchange specializing in equity options. He distinguished himself there as “market maker.” While trading, Tyson became increasingly interested in the green companies and eco-minded stocks running across the ticker. He bought a solar system in 2006 and from there, decided to change careers and become more involved in the renewable energy industry. He has volunteered on the NABCEP Technical PV Sales Certification Committee and receives regular training from premier module manufacturers on system design and financial analysis. Tyson has been an instructor for the Solar Living Institute, specifically teaching solar sales and marketing classes.

Martin is a serial entrepreneur with 21 years of experience in the solar, clean-tech and high-tech industries. He founded 8minutenergy, which is now among the largest independent developers of solar PV in the U.S. with a portfolio of more than 2,000MWs, 15,000 acres under development and 1,000MW in interconnection agreements. 8minutenergy also accomplished closing 300MW in signed PPAs and 260MW that are now under construction.

Martin also developed a solar PV module manufacturing plant as Chief Strategy Officer with Advent Solar (later acquired by Applied Materials). Prior to his engagement in renewables, he owned a semiconductor tools company for 10 years, which he sold to Intel in 2001. For six years after the acquisition, he served as a member of Intel's senior management team, developing supply chains for the company's rapidly expanding mobile processor product lines.

Ben Higgins serves as the Director of Government Affairs for Mainstream Energy Corp., where he works closely with company and industry leadership, as well as state and federal policymakers to craft policies which make for a more stable, sustainable business environment for solar electricity generation.

Mainstream Energy Corp. is the parent company of REC Solar, an industry-leading solar provider specializing in grid-tied residential and commercial installations, and AEE Solar, one of the country’s largest distributors of renewable energy systems and equipment. With a presence in all major solar markets over 100MW installed, REC Solar and AEE Solar are committed to lowering the cost of clean solar energy through efficient processes, innovative products and outstanding customer service. Mainstream Energy Corp. is headquartered in San Luis Obispo, CA and employs more than 700 people nationwide.

Higgins has over a decade of experience working in Sacramento and Washington D.C. in the legislative and regulatory arenas, most prominently in the agricultural, renewable energy, and land-use sectors. In these positions and in his current role, Higgins has shepherded dozens of bills through legislative processes, impacted multitudes of policies, and given hundreds of presentations regarding current policy issues, political organization and positioning, local economic development, and renewable energy deployment.
 

Bill Hilliard is CEO and co-founder of CleanREIT Partners, LLC. His career includes experience as an operating manager and private investor in clean technology, real estate, specialty finance, and computer/software technology ventures. Before CleanREIT Partners, Mr. Hilliard founded Residential Growth Partners, a real estate fund and REIT together with Lew Ranieri, the father of the securitized mortgage market. Earlier, in 1993, he founded Sonnetech Ltd. (now part of VeriSign) and served as its CEO until acquisition in 2002. Prior to that, he served as a senior executive at two technology companies during their initial public offerings (MTSI and PTEC), and he began his career at Union Bank of California. Through Hilliard Equities, Mr. Hilliard has been a board member or observer representing investors in three venture-backed firms. Also, he is an inventor or co-inventor named on eleven issued US patents. Mr. Hilliard is a Partner in the Cleantech Circle mentorship organization and was a judge in the renewables category of the Cleantech Open. He is a member of the American Solar Energy Society; IREC, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council; the U.S. Green Building Council, Angels Forum, and the Band of Angels. In March 2010, Mr. Hilliard briefed the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation about solar project financing issues. Mr. Hilliard earned a master's degree in business from MIT’s Sloan School of Management; and a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematical economics from Pomona College. Concurrent with his business career, he was appointed as a Visiting Scholar at Wharton, and at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. His academic contributions were published in the Journal of Business Venturing, Venture Capital Journal, Knowledge@Wharton, and Wharton Magazine.

Yuri Horwitz has led the strategic development of Sol Systems’ SREC financing platform launched in 2008, and SolMarket, the transaction driven community Sol Systems launched in 2011.  Mr. Horwitz currently oversees the day-to-day operations of SolMarket, and is focused on the long-term strategic growth of Sol into a highly efficient global renewable energy finance platform for institutional and private capital.

Mr. Horwitz has been involved in the energy and environmental policy fields for the last decade and is a recognized subject matter expert on solar finance and SRECs.  Prior to Sol Systems, Mr. Horwitz was an attorney at Alton & Bird, assisting clients with the development and financing of wind and solar facilities throughout the United States. He has also provided pro-bono assistance to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Southern Environmental Law Center, and the Surfrider Foundation.  He serves on the Board of the regional SEIA chapter, and has presented at dozens of solar finance conferences and guest lectured at Georgetown University and the University of Maryland. He regularly consults with states and Public Utility Commissions on solar markets and SREC programs, and has helped a number of states and regional transmission organizations to implement their solar renewable portfolio standards.

Mr. Horwitz holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia and a dual BA from the College of William and Mary. 

Ty Jagerson is President of HelioPower, an integrated renewable energy solutions company with over 2500 systems installed. Ty has over 15 years of experience in renewable energy, technology development and finance. He joined HelioPower through the acquisition of Simple Energies, a renewable energy development company he founded in 2009. Prior to Simple Energies, Ty co-founded SolFocus, Inc., a pioneering CPV firm, and spent 5 years at PARC commercializing technologies and initiating PARC’s Cleantech Initiative. Ty spent 6 years in Eastern Europe and started one of the region’s first ESCO’s.  Ty holds an MBA from Wharton, speaks Russian, holds 4 patents, is on the board of trustees of UC Merced, and has worked professionally in over 25 countries.

Blair is the Director of Business Development at PowerSecure Solar, a subsidiary of PowerSecure Inc. PowerSecure is a pioneer in interactive distributed generation systems, with over 1,400 MW of DG installed and interconnected with over 250 different utilities. In 2012, PowerSecure acquired Southern Energy Management (SEM), a leading solar EPC firm, to integrate solar PV into its portfolio of DG products. Blair was a key member of the SEM Executive Team that has transitioned over to PowerSecure Solar.

At SEM Blair was responsible for new market development, strategic partnerships, commercial sales and business development. He joined the SEM at the end of 2006 and was part of the team that grew the company from $1 MM to over $32 MM in sales.

Prior to SEM, Blair spent 6 years in marketing consulting focused on technology and telecom, and before that he worked for 7 years in International business across a variety of industries.

Blair completed his MBA at Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC, holds a BA from the University of Virginia, and has completed graduate level work at UNICAMP in São Paulo, Brazil.

Danny Kennedy is a passionate activist, successful cleantech entrepreneur and recognized opinion leader on global environmental issues. Kennedy’s accomplishments in the cleantech sector have earned him numerous awards, including “Innovator of the Year,” from PBS program, Planet Forward, for pioneering an easy-to-access and affordable residential solar solution. The process, which Kennedy refers to as “Sunshine online,” harnesses the power of the Internet by using satellite images and aerial photography to assess rooftops remotely and deliver an online solar quote (or iQuote) within 24 hours and is used by the solar company he founded, Sungevity® Inc.

Jason Keyes co-founded Keyes & Fox, LLP in 2008.  Primarily, he represents the Interstate Renewable Energy Council in state utility commission rulemakings related to net metering and interconnection of renewable energy systems.  His background includes regulatory work related to renewable energy project development and finance, eight years of government contract management for a solar energy start-up, and integrated resource planning for a major electric utility.  Jason holds a JD from Seattle University School of Law, an M.A. in Economics from the University of Washington and a B.A. from Dartmouth College. 

Tom leads the development of strategy to promote solar energy across the U.S. As Vice President of Strategy & External Affairs, he oversees the departments of Communications, External Affairs, Membership, and Research. He also provides legal services to SEIA as General Counsel. Tom has been working in renewable energy since 2000, when he began supporting research, analysis, legislative, and planning efforts across all energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

In 2005, he created the Market Transformation effort within the Solar Energy Technologies Program (SETP) at DOE to help technologies cross the chasm from R&D to commercialization. Tom served as Director of Market Transformation through 2009, when he began service as Acting Program Manager, managing the entire $170 million solar energy program of the United States. While at DOE, Tom was a founder of the Solar America Initiative, a billion-dollar effort to accelerate solar commercialization. He led the creation of the Solar America Cities program, a DOE partnership with U.S. cities to develop innovative methods for the adoption of solar energy technologies.

Prior to his work in solar, Tom headed a DOE legislative team, founded a real estate investment firm, and practiced litigation for a multinational law firm. Tom currently serves as Chairman of The Solar Foundation, a nonprofit promoting the increased use of solar energy through education and research.

Thomas Koerner is the General Manager North America for Astronergy Solar as of January 2011 and is responsible for all business related activities including sales, marketing and market strategy. Thomas also supports Astronergy in worldwide product strategy and product marketing. He has recently established and completed Astronergy’s U.S office operations and distribution facility in South San Francisco, California.

He completed his studies as an engineer in Semiconductor and Microsystems Technologies with a Master of Business and Engineering (MBE) degree. With an extensive background in industrial and business, Mr. Koerner has been working the past 11 years for Heliatek GmbH in Dresden as VP Sales, Marketing, and Business Development and for Schuco International KG holding several key management functions such as Division Manager PV managing the global PV product portfolio, R&D and sourcing related activities of the PV division. He also served as VP Products and Business Development for Schueco´s North America Solar Business.

Gary Lakritz is the President and founder of Knollwood Energy.  Gary took his 20 years of fixed income and equity trading experience into the SREC market in 2005 and formed Knollwood Energy in 2006.  Knollwood Energy is now one of the largest aggregators of solar renewable energy credits in the country, with over 3,700 customers.  Knollwood customers benefit from Gary’s experience as a trader and his opportunistic transactions with buyers.  Gary has a BS degree in computer engineering from UCLA and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.

Evelyn Lim joined Chadbourne in August 2012 from Element Power where she served as senior vice president and general counsel. She spent eight years as an associate with Milbank and was a partner with McDermott before being recruited to be the general counsel at First Wind where she helped raise more than $2 billion from various sources. While in private practice, Ms. Lim worked mainly for lenders and underwriters in private and public offerings of debt and equity securities, high-yield and structured debt offerings, monetization of energy contracts and other structured products. She has also spent significant time on non-power infrastructure projects.  Ms. Lim graduated from Cornell University and Fordham School of Law.

Brian is a Vice President in Wells Fargo's Environmental Finance Group where his primary focus is originating, structuring, and negotiating solar tax equity investments. He also works closely with multiple business units to develop new renewable energy financing products and advance the bank’s commitment to other environmental finance opportunities. Outside of Wells Fargo, Brian helps manage Imagine H2O, a non-profit that empowers entrepreneurs to solve the world’s water challenges. Brian holds an AB with honors from Harvard University and a MS in Resource Economics from the University of California, Davis.

Jenya Meydbray is the Co-Founder and CEO of PV Evolution Labs (PVEL). An advisor to leading solar companies, Jenya has worked on developing methods of evaluating long-term solar panel performance for product development and bankability. Prior to founding PVEL, Jenya was the Senior Quality and Reliability Engineer at SunPower Corporation where he developed accelerated test methods for high efficiency silicon solar cells and modules. He researches and speaks regularly on topics related to the development and deployment of solar energy, including reliability outsourcing strategies, manufacturing quality best practices, and developing bankability packages for large scale solar project finance.

Jenya got his start at NASA Ames Research Center's hyper-gravity facilities where he was honored for his support of habitation studies in artificial gravity. Holding two photovoltaic-related patents, Jenya has studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University, received a BS in Electrical Engineering with High Honors from University of California Santa Cruz, and an MS in Electrical Engineering from Boston University. Jenya is an Advisory Board Member to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's International PV Module Quality Assurance Forum.

Bryan Miller is the Renewable Energy & Sustainability Director at Exelon Corporation. Exelon is the nation’s largest integrated energy company, providing retail and wholesale power, natural gas, energy efficiency, demand response, and renewable energy to two-thirds of the Fortune 100. Exelon owns three regulated utilities, ComEd in Illinois, PECO in Pennsylvania, and Baltimore Gas & Electric in Maryland. Through its subsidiary Constellation, Exelon is also one of the country's leading solar developers, designing, financing, and constructing utility-scale, commercial, and residential solar projects nationwide.

Bryan manages Exelon’s nationwide policy development and regulatory affairs for renewable energy issues, with a particular focus on the company’s growing solar business. Prior to joining Exelon, Bryan served as Senior Counsel in the Obama Administration at the U.S. Department of Energy where he managed legislative and regulatory affairs. Prior to his government service he practiced energy and regulatory law for ten years at a large, full-service law firm.  

Peter F. Moritzburke leads the solar project development group at E.ON Climate & Renewables North America. Peter has worked in traditional and renewable power development, water resources, and energy market and strategy consulting for over 15 years. Immediately prior to joining E.ON he worked with SunPower’s Utility and Power Plants group on projects in North America and Latin America. In water resources, Peter codeveloped new technologies and services for groundwater monitoring and production well rehabilitation, and managed startup company operations. With Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) he managed the power and natural gas research and consulting services for western North America. Peter holds a master’s degree in International Business Management and bachelor’s degree International Relations from University of California, is proficient in Spanish, and has worked and studied in Mexico and Spain.

Ms. Peterson is Vice President of the Solar Business Unit at EDF Renewable Energy, the U.S. renewable energy division of Electricite de France, in San Diego, CA. In this role, she manages solar M&A activities, project management and origination for utility scale and commercial solar, policy initiatives, and procurement functions. She has 22 years’ experience in the energy and infrastructure finance industries in the U.S., Asia and the Middle East, with the last five in the solar sector. At EDF RE, she is responsible for over 156MWp of PV solar projects currently under construction in California, Hawaii and New York. As a senior executive in project development, solar panel manufacturing and banking, she has been active in transactions worth over $4.3 billion globally.

Gregory Rosen, Chief Investment Officer at Solar Mosaic, is a twelve-year solar project finance and business development veteran currently focused on developing solar asset-backed finance products for individual investors. Previously he served as Vice President of Solar Finance at Union Bank where he originated and closed several tax equity, debt and syndication transactions. Prior to that, Mr. Rosen held various positions in solar finance and investment banking, including several years at PowerLight and SunPower Corporations where he financed many industry-leading solar projects. Mr. Rosen holds both a Bachelors and Masters Degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Sandy Roskes joined Astrum Solar in 2009. As Vice President of Sales he has played a central role in bringing Astrum to #2 on Inc.500’s list of fastest growing companies, with over 23,000% growth over 3 years. Prior to Astrum Solar, Sandy was Vice President of Business Development and Marketing at FiberZone Networks. He was previously General Manager of U.S. Investments for Portview Communication Partners, an international venture capital firm. Sandy earned a B.S. in Engineering Sciences from Harvard University and received a M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University. He is also a NABCEP-Certified PV Installer™.

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.  David is currently on the boards of the Solar Electric Power Association and SolarTech.  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.

Robert Schwartz is a Director of Business Development at SPG Solar. SPG Solar, headquartered in Novato, CA, is a solar energy company focused on delivering solar solutions to commercial and industrial customers throughout the United States. At SPG Solar, Robert is active in state and federal solar policy development, project development, economic analysis, and marketing strategy. Prior to SPG Solar, Robert was a consultant at Pace Harmon, focusing on strategic sourcing and technology strategy advisory. He holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and a BA from the University of Virginia.

Bill is the Vice President of Solar Sales Development for PetersenDean. Bill earned an MS in Environmental Management from the University of San Francisco and a BS in Economics from the University of Wyoming. His background includes sales, marketing, operational and executive positions during a career comprising more than 20 years in the renewable energy industry (solar and energy efficiency) and 10 years in information systems technology.

JC Shore is the founder and CEO of Austin-based Circular Energy, one of the fastest-growing downstream solar solution providers in the southern United States.  He actively directs the organization in shaping the company's expansion strategy and execution of its service & financing platform across both residential and commercial markets.  Prior to Circular Energy, JC served as Vice President of Sales for Amdocs, a $5B publicly-traded Enterprise Software company serving utility and communications clients, West Coast Managing Partner of BusinessEdge Solutions, a boutique technology consulting company later acquired by EMC, and management consulting roles for nearly six years at both Accenture and Ernst & Young.   JC graduated from the University of Texas with a BBA in Finance.

Bruce Sohn is currently President of MEGE Associates, a consulting firm focused on addressing the unique needs of building businesses in the greentech, electronics and energy products industries. His clients include Fortune 500 companies, venture capital firms and government entities.

Mr. Sohn was CEO of Fluidic Energy, a global, early-stage company that is developing disruptive energy storage products. He was previously President of First Solar and served on the Company’s Board of Directors during the formative and growth years. He had been at Intel Corporation for 24 years where he was a senior executive and highly respected thought leader in a variety of operational, managerial, strategic and technical capacities.

Mr. Sohn is an engineering graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a certified Jonah and has been a guest lecturer at several universities including MIT, Stanford, Duke, and Harvard. He has published papers in a variety of technology and business topics.

Mr. Sohn currently serves on the Board of Phononic Devices, chaired the US Commerce Department’s Manufacturing Council for the Obama administration, and was a Clean Energy Ambassador to the WWF. He is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and a Senior Member of IEEE.

Mr. Taggart’s career spans 24 years across aerospace, automotive, and renewable energy industries. Since starting his career in aerospace at Lockheed’s famous Skunk Works, Mr. Taggart has held leadership roles in four start-ups in the CleanTech sector including Hypercar, Inc., PowerLight (now SunPower) and later at OptiSolar.

Now at Belectric Inc., Mr. Taggart leads the North American operations of the world’s largest integrator of utility-grade PV power plants, providing industry leadership in long term performance guarantees, optimized project economics, and turn-key execution. 

Mr. Taggart holds a BS in Metallurgical Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, CA, a MS in Materials Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY, and Class B and C-46 construction licenses.
 

James Tong is senior director of government program management at Clean Power Finance, where he has researched and designed three projects awarded a total of $4.5MM from the Department of Energy SunShot Initiative. He is currently leading these projects, which address various “soft costs” of solar on a national scale. Mr. Tong previously served as VP of marketing at Acro Energy and consulted for solar lead generation companies. He brings expert knowledge of the key cost drivers for solar installation and barriers to massive adoption. Prior to entering the solar industry, he served various management positions at GE, where he completed its premier commercial leadership program and Six Sigma Black Belt training. Mr. Tong earned a BA in Economics from Yale University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. 

Mr. Toth, a long-standing member of SunEdison’s leadership team, oversees all aspects of SunEdison’s operations in the commercial, industrial and public sectors. His responsibilities include sales, finance, procurement and construction.  In his prior role as Chief Marketing Officer, Mr. Toth led our market entry strategy into the utility segment and contributed to SunEdison’s global expansion to 12 countries.  

Prior to joining SunEdison, Mr. Toth was a senior strategy advisor at McKinsey & Co., a leading management consultancy.  He advised Fortune 500 companies on sales and marketing in the energy and technology sectors.   Mr. Toth brings a strong conventional energy perspective to SunEdison, resulting from his experience in the electric utility and oil and gas sectors.

He holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.

Until recently, Rachel served as the Deputy Director of the SunShot Initiative at the U.S. Department of Energy. SunShot is a presidential level initiative focused on making R&D investments that will drive down the installed cost of solar so that it is cost competitive with traditional forms of electricity by the end of the decade. In this role, she specifically focused on how to reduce the non-hardware costs of solar energy systems such as customer acquisition, permitting, and installation. Additionally, Rachel developed programs and policies to make the U.S. globally competitive in solar manufacturing. Rachel joined DOE in the beginning of the Obama Administration, first focusing on international energy policy with partners such as China and the Latin American region.

Before coming to the DOE, Rachel worked at the former President Bill Clinton’s Clinton Global Initiative in New York as the Commitments Senior Manager focusing on clean energy. There she worked with organizations – from Fortune 500 companies to rural aid organizations – to scope and develop their work in the clean energy and climate space. Rachel has an MSc from the London School of Economics, and a BA with Honors from the University of Michigan, where she was President of the undergraduate student body and continues to be a diehard Wolverine.

Nitin Vaish serves as SunPower’s group product manager in the modules product group where he is responsible for product management, market analysis and module positioning.  In this role, Vaish leads module product differentiation initiatives and supports module profitability.  Prior to SunPower, Vaish worked at Celanese, where he led the company’s clean tech focused strategy in energy storage, nano-materials and bio-materials. Earlier in his career, he worked for GE and Deutsche Bank in various technology, marketing, and M&A advisory roles. Vaish holds a B.Tech from IIT Bombay, M.S. from Northwestern University and an M.B.A. from MIT Sloan School of Management.

Shayle Kann is the Vice President of Research for Greentech Media. He has spoken in conferences around the world and been cited in publications such as The Economist, New York Times, Wall St. Journal, Washington Post, Forbes, Bloomberg, Reuters, Financial Times, and more. He has also testified in front of the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee on the state and future of the U.S. solar market. Mr. Kann joined GTM Research upon returning from Australia, where he was a U.S. Fulbright Scholar studying renewable energy project finance during the credit crisis. Prior to this, Mr. Kann worked in the Clean Energy Markets division of Conservation Services Group, focusing on voluntary and compliance markets for renewable energy certificates. He has a Bachelor’s cum laude, phi beta kappa from Pomona College.

As a Solar Analyst at GTM Research, Andrew Krulewitz surveys multiple aspects of the global solar industry. Andrew maintains a database of performance-based incentives in major markets, tracks domestic utility-scale projects in all stages of development, monitors and reports sales supply agreements between large solar companies, and produces a comprehensive monthly news digest with a focus on important developments in the industry. Andrew also orchestrates all data collection and aggregation for the quarterly SEIA/GTM Research US Solar Market Insight Reports in addition to providing in-depth analysis on the domestic solar market. He is a graduate of Colgate University.

Shyam Mehta is a Senior Analyst at GTM Research, focusing on global solar markets. Before joining GTM Research, Shyam was a Financial Analyst at Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research where he covered equities in the alternative energy sector, primarily solar companies. Prior to Goldman, Shyam was a Research Analyst at The Brattle Group, an economic consulting firm, where his work focused on problems within the electricity industry. Shyam received his Bachelor's in Mathematics from U.C. Berkeley.

MJ Shiao is a Senior Analyst for GTM Research with a focus on PV inverters, electronics, thin flm PV and U.S. non-utility markets. A 5-year veteran of the solar industry, MJ has experience ranging from fabrication of crystalline silicon solar cells to PV project development. Before joining GTM Research, MJ managed and designed over 5 MW of residential and commercial PV projects with Solar Design Associates. Prior to project management, MJ consulted with the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) on residential solar rebate programs and with the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) on PV experience curves by technology. MJ 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 researched, installed and tested rural off-grid PV in India and Thailand and currently serves on the Steering Committee of SustainUS, a non-profit engaging U.S. youth in sustainable development advocacy.

Carolyn Campbell is a Research Associate at GTM Research, focusing on the solar market. She maintains a database of utility and commercial project development in the U.S, tracks quarterly performance metrics of manufacturers, and assists with data collection and analysis. Her internship experience includes work with energy demand management, sustainable development, and corporate environmental responsibility. Carolyn has a BA in Environment, Economics, and Politics from Claremont McKenna College.

Scott Clavenna has been leading high-tech market research firms for over 15 years. In his capacity as a trusted analyst and consultant, Scott has helped dozens of companies enter and succeed in complex and intensely competitive markets worldwide. He also has authored more than 30 reports that helped define important emerging market segments in optical and broadband communications.

Prior to founding Greentech Media, Scott was chief analyst at Heavy Reading, the market research arm of Light Reading, the dominant online media company in the telecommunications market. CMP bought Light Reading in 2005. Before creating Heavy Reading, Scott founded PointEast Research, providing strategic consulting and market intelligence to a broad mix of startups, venture capitalists and major suppliers in the communications/IT industry, and worked as director of research for Light Reading. In 1997, Scott co-founded Pioneer Consulting, which quickly grew into the leading market research firm covering the optical and broadband communications industry.