SOLAR 2008 Plenary (Keynote) Sessions

Plenary Sessions at SOLAR 2008 will all focus on the conference theme, and will be designed to showcase speakers of the highest caliber – the acknowledged leaders of the Renewable Energy community. Attendance at Plenary Sessions is included in full conference registration.

We are currently inviting and confirming Plenary Speakers. As they are confirmed, we will add speaker information here.

Plenary Session Schedule

Click on the Speaker to see a photo and brief biography, or scroll down to see this information about all confirmed plenary speakers.

Sunday, May 4	6:30pm Conference Opening Plenary Donna Frye, San Diego City Councilmember Irene Stillings, Executive Director, California Center for Sustainable Energy Tom Kimbis, Program Manager, US DOE Solar Energy Technologies Program Office John Reynolds, Chair, American Solar Energy Society Tony Haymet, Director, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Molly Tirpak Sterkel, Supervisor, California Solar Initiative and Distributed Generation Section, California Public Utilities Commission
Monday, May 5	8:30am Policy and Marketing Solutions Renewable energy is taking off.  With this success comes the need for smart policies and market sustainability.  We have a line up of dynamic speakers that will make this opening plenary session one that you will remember as some of the hard issues and innovative strategies are discussed. Van Jones, Founder and President, Green for All Senatory Gary Hart, Scholar in Residence at the University of Colorado and Distinguished Fellow at the New America Foundation Julie Blunden, Vice President, Public Policy and Corporate Communications, SunPower Corporation Michael Dworkin, Director of the Institute for Energy and the Environment and Professor of Law, Vermont School of Law 7:00pm Awards Banquet Randy Udall, Director, Community Office for Resource Efficiency
Tuesday, May 6	8:30am Renewable Energy Technology Solutions Speakers will provide an overview of the current state of the industry, and their vision for where the industry will be in 20 years. Jigar Shah, Chief Strategy Officer, SunEdison Chuck Kutscher, Principal Engineer and Manager of the Thermal Systems Group, National Renewable Energy Laboratory Ed DeMeo, President, Renewable Energy Consulting Services, Inc. Craig Cornelius, Principal, Hudson Clean Energy Partners 6:30pm Emerging Architecture An examination of the San Francisco Federal Building Brandon Welling, Morphosis Architects Erin McConahey, ARUP Maria T. Ciprazo, AIA, GSA Property Development Division 9PCE 8:15pm Emerging Transportation The documentary “Who killed the electric car” has mainstreamed interest in electric vehicles and has brought attention to the auto industry’s role in delaying the availability of clean renewably powered vehicles. Chris Paine, director of the film, and Chelsea Sexton, one of the main characters in the documentary will speak on their continuing efforts to promote vehicles that can be charged from renewable energy. Steve Heckeroth the Chair Renewable Fuels and Sustainable Transportation Division will wrap up the plenary with a presentation the many advantages of solar electric mobility. Chris Paine, Papercut Films Chelsea Sexton, Plug In America Stephen Heckeroth, ASES Renewable Fuels and Sustainable Transportation Division
Wednesday, May 7	8:30am Community Solutions Edward Mazria AIA, Founder, Architecture 2030 Daniel Lerch, Post Carbon Cities Program Manager, Post Carbon Institute Timothy N. Tutt, first advisor to Jackalyne Pfannenstiel, Chair, California Energy Commission

Confirmed Speakers

Julie Blunden
Vice President, Public Policy and Corporate Communications
SunPower Corporation
Julie Blunden joined SunPower in April of 2005 and serves as vice president, public policy and corporate communications.  She is responsible for public relations, financial relations, public policy, and market development.  Prior to SunPower, Ms. Blunden was a consultant at KEMA-XENERGY on energy markets, renewable resources and policy to industry, utilities and state and federal governments.  In this capacity in 2004, Ms. Blunden supported the Schwarzenegger administration in developing the Million Solar Homes Initiative.  In 1997 she co-founded Green Mountain Energy Company, a national retail electric supplier of renewable power.  Ms. Blunden began her career doing development and acquisitions in the independent power generation business at the AES Corporation. Ms. Blunden received her MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and an AB from Dartmouth College majoring in engineering, modified with environmental studies. She serves on the Board of Directors at the Center for Resource Solutions and the Real Goods Solar Living Institute, as well as on the Board of Advisors for Vote Solar.

Craig Cornelius
Principal
Hudson Clean Energy Partners
Craig Cornelius joined Hudson Clean Energy Partners in January 2008.  Prior to joining Hudson, Cornelius served as the Program Manager of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Program, where he led the $1.5 billion "Solar America Initiative" and secured a 240% increase in annual program funding over his tenure. Prior to joining the DOE’s Solar Program in 2005, Cornelius directed strategic reviews of the DOE’s 11 Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy programs, which totaled approximately $1.2 billion in annual R&D funding at that time, guiding improvements in program strategies, R&D portfolio management, and market research.  Cornelius came to DOE from NASA, where he served he served as Chief of Staff for Development Programs.

Ed DeMeo
President
Renewable Energy Consulting Services, Inc.
Ed DeMeo has been an independent consultant in renewable energy since early 1999, providing technical and management support to several federal and state programs aimed at advancing renewable power.  Focusing primarily on wind for the past several years, he is a strategic advisor to the DOE-NREL Wind Energy Program, the Utility Wind Integration Group and the National Wind Coordinating Collaborative.  From 1976 to 1999 he managed utility-oriented renewable energy programs at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), where he had responsibility for major development and test programs in photovoltaics, solar thermal electric and wind power.  While at EPRI, he was a recipient of Discover Magazine’s 1993 Annual Technology Award in the Environment Category.  And in 2004, he received the DOE Wind Energy Program’s Outstanding Program Leadership Award.  Ed is an electrical engineering graduate of RPI, and holds Masters and PhD degrees in electrical engineering science from Brown University where he served as an associate professor (research) on the engineering faculty.

Michael Dworkin
Director of the Institute for Energy and the Environment and Professor of Law
Vermont School of Law
Professor Michael Dworkin is a nationally recognized leader in energy and environmental law. He has been a utility regulator, an environmental litigator, and a successful small businessman.  Professor Dworkin heads the Institute for Energy and the Environment, at the Vermont Law School, which offers an advanced curriculum on energy and regulatory law, provides forums and conferences for professional education and issue development, and serves as a center for graduate research and publication on environmental and energy issues. Michael Dworkin earned his B.A. degree in history from Middlebury College, summa cum laude, in 1975 and his J.D. from Harvard Law School, cum laude, in 1978.  Michael Dworkin is a director of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy and an 'outside' director of the Electric Power Research Institute.

Donna Frye
San Diego City Councilmember, District 6
A successful business owner with a bachelor's degree in business, Donna Frye has served the public and City of San Diego as a Councilmember since 2001. During her tenure, Frye has distinguished herself as an independent thinker who fights relentlessly for an open and honest government that is accountable to the public. For her work, Senator Christine Kehoe honored her in Sacramento as the 2004 Woman of the Year. Councilmember Frye chairs the Natural Resources and Culture Committee and serves on both the Budget & Finance Committee and Rules Committee. She is also the Chair of the Mission Bay Technical Advisory Committee and the San Diego River Conservancy.

Senator Gary Hart
Scholar in Residence at the University of Colorado
Distinguished Fellow at the New America Foundation
Since retiring from the United States Senate, Gary Hart has been extensively involved in international law and business, as a strategic advisor to major U.S. corporations, and as a teacher, author and lecturer. He is currently Scholar in Residence at the University of Colorado and Distinguished Fellow at the New America Foundation.  He was recently named chairman of the Council for a Livable World and is chairman of the American Security Project. He was co-chair of the U.S. Commission on National Security for the 21st Century. The Commission performed the most comprehensive review of national security since 1947, predicted the terrorist attacks on America, and proposed a sweeping overhaul of U.S. national security structures and policies for the post-Cold War new century and the age of terrorism.

Tony Haymet
Director
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Dr. A.D.J. "Tony" Haymet became Vice Chancellor for Marine Sciences, Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Dean of the Graduate School of Marine Sciences, UC San Diego, in September 2006. Dr. Haymet is a highly distinguished researcher who comes to UC San Diego from his position as the Science and Policy Director and former Chief of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Australia's national science research agency. CSIRO is one of the largest and most diverse research agencies in the world. Dr. Haymet is a tenured professor of oceanography at Scripps. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and a Doctor of Science from the University of Sydney.

Stephen Heckeroth
Owner/Founder
Homestead Enterprises
Homestead Enterprises specializes in renewable energy products, solar design, electric vehicles and Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV). He is currently vice-president for Product Development at Solargystics LTD. He has designed and built over 30 passive solar homes. His writing on solar energy has been published in Mother Earth News, Home Power, SOLAR TODAY magazine and many other regional publications. His work has been featured on national and international TV and in magazines and books since 1992. He is currently an Advisory Board Member at Solmetric Corp. and Chair of ASES and ISES Renewable Fuels Transportation Division.

Van Jones, esq.
Founder and President
Green for All
Van Jones is working to combine solutions to America's two biggest problems: social inequality and environmental destruction. In 1996, Van and Diana Frappier co-founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, which is now headquartered in Oakland, California. Named for an unsung civil rights heroine, the Center promotes positive alternatives to violence and incarceration. Over the past five years, Van has also emerged as a national environmental leader. Under the slogan "green jobs, not jails," Van Jones today is calling for green economic development in urban America through his latest venture, Green For All, a national campaign for green-collar jobs and opportunities.

Tom Kimbis
Program Manager
US DOE Solar Energy Technologies Program Office
The Solar Technologies Program Office has a $168M budget in 2008 to facilitate the development and commercialization of new solar technologies that will improve environmental quality and be more economically attractive. Prior to this position, Tom was Director of Market Transformation under the Solar America
Initiative (SAI). By complementing DOE's solar R&D activities, market transformation efforts contribute to reaching the SAI goal of cost-competitiveness for solar electricity across all U.S. market sectors by 2015. Key areas of focus under market transformation include codes and standards, net metering, training and certification, Solar America Showcases, Solar America Cities, and utility, city, and state technical outreach. Tom holds a B.A. in Political Science / International Relations from Williams College (MA), and a J.D. from the University of Virginia.

Chuck Kutscher
Principal Engineer and Manager of the Thermal Systems Group
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Chuck Kutscher has worked at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado for 29 years. His research interests include concentrating solar power, solar heating, and geothermal electricity generation. He served for nine years on the Board of Directors of the American Solar Energy Society (ASES), including a two-year term as Chair (2000-2001). Dr. Kutscher was General Chair of the SOLAR 2006 National Solar Energy Conference held in Denver in July 2006, which brought the nation’s top climate scientists and renewable energy experts together to develop solutions to global warming. He is editor of the ASES report, Tackling Climate Change in the U.S., available at http://www.ases.org/climatechange/.

Daniel Lerch
Post Carbon Cities Program Manager
Post Carbon Institute
Daniel Lerch is the author of Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty, the first major local government guidebook on peak oil and global warming.  Mr. Lerch is a program manager with Post Carbon Institute, and has worked on urban planning issues for over ten years in the public, private and non-profit sectors.  He authored one of the first local government policy assessments of peak oil while a Policy Associate at Metro, the regional government of the Portland, Oregon area. He also co-founded The City Repair Project, an award-winning non-profit organization working on community public space issues. Mr. Lerch has a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from Rutgers University in New Jersey and a Master of Urban Studies from Portland State University in Oregon.

Edward Mazria AIA
Founder
Architecture 2030
Edward Mazria is an internationally recognized architect with a long and distinguished career. His architecture and planning projects span over a thirty-year period and each employs a cutting-edge environmental approach to its design. His published material includes technical papers, articles for professional magazines, and a number of published works including The Passive Solar Energy Book published by Rodale Press. He outlines his strategy for addressing today's most pressing global challenge, climate change, in his article "It's the Architecture Stupid!" (Solar Today) and in subsequent pieces "Turning Down the Global Thermostat" (Metropolis) and "Blueprint for Disaster" (On Earth). He is the founder of Architecture 2030 (www.architecture2030.org), a non-traditional and flexible organization focused on protecting our global environment. He speaks nationally and internationally on the subject of the architecture, design, energy and climate change.

Chris Paine
Film Producer, Director, Writer
Wrote and Directed "Who Killed the Electric Car"
Chris Paine's documentary feature film Who Killed the Electric Car? premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2006 before its worldwide release by Sony Pictures Classics. Three years in the making, the  film's murder mystery take on an almost unreported story captured public attention, won numerous awards, and helped to stimulate change in the industry. Outside of media, Chris is an entrepreneur and environmentalist.  His technology company Internet Outfitters went public in 1999 as part of AppNet/CommerceOne.  His firm Mondo-tronics, (founded with his highschool friend Roger Gilbertson) provided materials for the Mars Pathfinder mission.  Chris' activist work includes campaigns to stop nuclear testing in Nevada, block a freeway in California, and promote urban street trees.

John S. Reynolds F.A.I.A.
Chair
American Solar Energy Society
John S. Reynolds joined ASES in 1975, and served on the board from 1984-1990, and as Vice Chair 1985-1987. John received the American Solar Energy Society’sPassive Pioneer Award in 1997, and was elected a Fellow in 2000. He served as Chair of three ASES national conferences in Portland, Oregon: 1981, 1987, and 2004. A Professor of Architecture Emeritus, at the University of Oregon, John was named a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 2003. He was also named Distinguished Professor by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture in 1998. He is currently a board member and Vice President of the non-profit Energy Trust of Oregon. He is co-author of "Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings," 6th through 10th editions, published by John Wiley & Sons. His grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, 1995-96 resulted in "Courtyards: Aesthetic, Social, and Thermal Delight"  © 2002, John Wiley and Sons.

Chelsea Sexton
Executive Director
Plug In America
Chelsea Sexton is a Los Angeles area native who found her passion at an early age with the General Motors EV1 electric vehicle program. When General Motors ended the EV1 program in 2001, Chelsea continued to focus on how cars and energy technology may be used to improve our global economy and environment through her non-profit, Lightning Rod, and serves as the Executive Director of Plug In America, Chelsea is one of the key individuals featured in the 2006 film, “Who Killed the Electric Car?” by Sony Pictures Classics, the book “Plug-In Hybrids, the Cars that Will Recharge America” by Sherry Boschert, and in the Sundance Channel Series, “Big Ideas for a Small Planet.”

Jigar Shah
Chief Strategy Officer
SunEdison
Jigar Shah is a founder and a member of the board of directors for SunEdison. Shah has extensive experience in both the PV solar and wind industries. Before founding SunEdison in 2003, Shah worked in mergers & acquisitions, corporate strategy, and sales - specializing in national commercial accounts - for industry giant, BP Solar. Along with working for the Department of Energy on alternative vehicle and fuel cell programs, Shah has worked in an engineering capacity for both AstroPower, the largest publicly traded pure-play PV solar company, and Atlantic Orient Corporation, a leader in the medium sized wind turbine market. Shah earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana and his MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.

Irene M. Stillings
Executive Director
California Center for Sustainable Energy
Stillings has held various executive positions at New York State Electric & Gas Corporation, ConneXt, Inc., a software company providing premier products and services to the energy industry, and Navigant Consulting, Inc., a multi-national firm providing a wide array of consulting services to utilities, insurance, and financial firms. She is also the owner of imsMENTOR, a consulting firm focusing on enhancing individual and organizational effectiveness.

Molly Tirpak Sterkel
Program Supervisor
California Solar Initiative and Distributed Generation section
California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC’s) Energy Division
Molly Tirpak Sterkel's career has focused on the development of policies and programs related to clean energy, including climate change, renewable energy and energy efficiency. Prior to joining the CPUC in 2005, Ms. Sterkel worked for ICF Consulting, PG&E, and helped start two clean energy related non-profits— the California Climate Action Registry and the Center for Resource Solutions. She received her Master's degree in Public Policy from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a BS from Georgetown University.

Timothy N. Tutt
First Advisor to Chairman Jackalyne Pfannenstiel
California Energy Commission
Tim has worked at the Commission since 1990, primarily addressing renewable energy, energy efficiency and forecasting issues.  Prior to his current position, Tim served as the Technical Director of the Renewable Energy Program (REP), helped start the REP in 1997, and worked for five years on energy efficiency, air quality, and demand forecasting issues.  Prior to joining the Commission, Tim was at Southern California Edison for eight years and at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for 3 years, including work on solar economics issues.  Tim received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Social Science from the California Institute of Technology in 1979.

Randy Udall
Director
Community Office for Resource Efficiency
Randy Udall is one of the nation’s leading activists in promoting energy sustainability. CORE’s partnerships with individuals, governments, and utilities have led to some remarkable accomplishments, including Colorado’s first solar energy incentive program, the world’s first Renewable Energy Mitigation Program which has raised $6 million, the world’s stiffest carbon tax, and some of the most progressive green power purchasing programs in the country. Randy wrote his first article on climate change in 1987. A solar retrofit of his home in Carbondale, CO will keep 300,000 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere during the next 20 years. Udall is also co-founder of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil – USA, and speaks widely on why “energy is an IQ test Americans tend to fail.”