u.s. solar market insight 2016

Billy Parish is Founder & CEO, of Mosaic, the largest lender for home solar in the U.S., named one of the world’s 10 most innovative companies in energy by Fast Company for the past two years. In 2002, he dropped out of Yale to found the Energy Action Coalition and grew it into the largest youth clean energy organization in the world with over 340,000 members. He was lead architect of the Clean Energy Corps proposal to create 5 million new green jobs, which was incorporated into the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and was used to expand Americorps with a new “Clean Energy Service Corps”. He was #22 on Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business”, honored as a Rolling Stone magazine “Climate Hero,” and was elected as a Fellow by Ashoka, the global association of the world's leading social entrepreneurs. His book Making Good: Finding Meaning, Money & Community in a Changing World was an Amazon bestseller.

Rebecca Sternberg leads SolarCity’s commercial private sector project development team.  Her team serves  Fortune 1000 and large private commercial customers in their journey towards solar energy and storage.  Prior to joining SolarCity, Rebecca founded and led sustainability consulting and software practices at firms including Accenture and Ernst & Young.  In that role, she helped global corporations develop and execute on their sustainability and renewable energy goals.  She spent the first decade of her career improving customer and care experiences for healthcare patients. Rebecca has an MBA in Sustainability from Presidio School of Management, a Masters in Health Science from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a Graduate Certificate in Economics from the University of York (England) and a BA cum laude from Mount Holyoke College.  She lives in Oakland, CA with her husband and three children, ages 4,4 and 5, and her dog Raleigh, who provides emotional and comedic support to the family.

Kendall Helm is a PhD economist and has been with the Sempra Energy companies since 2012. Kendall joined Sempra as Manager of Corporate Economics, where she provided research on the company’s valuation, capital structure, and corporate strategy. In 2014, she became Sempra’s Director of Investor Relations. She joined SDG&E in 2016 as Director of Origination and Portfolio Design. In this role, Kendall oversees the procurement of all long-term energy resources. Prior to joining Sempra, Kendall was Senior Economist for International Affairs and Trade at the U.S. Government Accountability Office where she reported to Congress on topics relating to climate change, energy export promotion, and international competitiveness. Previously, she has consulted for clients including the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, Georgetown University, and the World Bank. Kendall received a bachelor’s degree in economics and international studies from the University of Denver and earned a doctorate degree in economics from American University.

Chris Diaz is a principal with Seminole Financial Services, LLC (SFS) a full-service national investment management / financial services organization. Mr. Diaz is responsible for the identification, evaluation, and negotiation of renewable energy finance transactions focusing on solar and wind projects between $2 million and $40 million in need of construction / interim financing; permanent debt financing; and tax credit equity. To date SFS has closed over $780 million in Construction and Permanent Financing for Renewable Energy projects, totaling 320+ MW as well as $150 million in ITC tax credit equity. Seminole Financial Services (SFS) provides construction financing; permanent debt financing; and tax credit equity for Renewable Energy Transactions as well as investment management services to various real estate investment vehicles. Currently, SFS manages over $330 million in commercial real estate and renewable energy assets nationwide, for the benefit of various public employee pension and retirement plans. Chris is a frequent National Speaker at industry conferences regarding Renewable Energy Finance and Energy Credits. He has published multiple articles regarding Renewable Energy Finance. Chris is Vice-President of the Board of Directors for the Distributed Wind Energy Association (DWEA) and an elected Alternate to the Board of Directors for the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA). Mr. Diaz has been involved with tax credits and financial services for over fifteen years previously with Credit Suisse, MMA Financial, and the Midland Companies. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science with emphasis in urban and regional planning from Florida State University and an MBA from Nova Southeastern University.