The Soiree included an informative question and answer session, where attendees learned valuable information about the benefits of solar power. Featured speakers included Laureen Peck, Vice President of Marketing for Solar Energy World and moderator for the event, Ann Elsen, founder of Elsen Energy, Susan Greene, President ofAmerican Solar Energy Society, Stelli Munnis of SunPower Corporation, as well as Summer Reed and Sara Callaghan, also of Solar Energy World. Topics included financial incentives, SRECs, and the factors that caused the women of the panel to become involved in solar energy.

Solar Stars Soiree Panel of Speakers

Homeowners listened to presentations about solar energy, the financial and environmental benefits, and the process of installing a solar power system in a home or business. In addition, Candice Stankus, a homeowner and Solar Energy World customer spoke about her experience with the company, and with solar power in general. Summer and Sara of Solar Energy World discussed SRECs, incentives, and net-metering, and attendees participated in a question and answer session with the members of the discussion panel.

POW! Awards

Several prominent and influential attendees received the Solar Energy World 2012 POW! Award (Power of Women)

About the POW! Award Winners

POW! Award winner, Kim Parson is President of Maryland-based Automotive Collision Technologies, one of Baltimore Business Journal’s 50 Largest Woman-Owned Businesses. She is devoted to running her business with integrity when it comes to customers, and the environment.

POW! Award winner, Ann Elsen was a contributing speaker at the Solar Stars Soiree and is the founder of Elsen Energy and the Executive Director of the Howard County Green Business Association, and, as a member of several other green organizations, is a consultant to the local government on energy issues.

POW! Award-winner, Stephanie L. Dunn-Hunt is President of Dunn & Associates Public Relations, another company listed in the BBJ 50 Largest Woman-Owned Businesses. She is the sole creator of the Baltimore African-American Home & Garden Show, and has been featured in Baltimore Smart CEO Magazine.

POW! Award-winner, Lisa  Ambrose is founder, President, and CEO of Tithe Corp., also a BBJ Largest Woman-Owned Business. Tithe Corp. is a green, internationally recognized, and 100% woman owned and operated business specializing in innovative HVAC solutions.

Thank you to all of our speakers and guests who attended this event that celebrated the influence of women in green technology and renewable energy! To view even more photos from the event, please visit our Solar Stars Soiree album.

Susan Preene, President of ASES, speaks at the Soiree

Thank you Solar Energy World for inviting ASES to the Soiree! This article was republished courtesy of Solar Energy World. 

BOULDER, Colo., July 2, 2012 — “We’re saddened that Abound Solar was undercapitalized to compete in a fast-maturing market,” said Susan Greene, president of the American Solar Energy Society (ASES). “Every industry goes through a similar period of consolidation as it achieves economies of scale. We applaud Abound for the way it helped move cadmium-telluride toward broader adoption as the low-cost solution for utility-scale photovoltaics.”

“While solar installations in North America doubled and redoubled during Abound’s launch period, the plunge in solar module prices, led by very large factories in China, forced a number of American and European start-ups to slash prices before achieving full-scale production. Abound is, unfortunately, among them.

“We’re encouraged that General Electric has chosen to build its Primestar Solar factory in Colorado, and confident that Abound’s valuable intellectual property and production equipment will find a home within the cadmium-telluride segment of the thin-film PV industry.

“Every market study published this year predicts another doubling of solar installations, leading to long-term growth of about 40 percent per year over the next decade. Abound was a vigorous chapter in the early history of a thriving global industry.”

Abound was founded on technology developed at Colorado State University, and scaled up with technical assistance from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Nation Science Foundation. The goal was to ramp up to 200 MW of annual production, at a manufactured cost below 50 cents per watt, competing with First Solar and Primestar (now owned by General Electric).

Beginning in 2007, Abound’s business plan attracted $300 million in private investment capital and $68 million underwritten with a $400 U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantee. Production began in 2008 in Longmont, Colo., and a second factory was scheduled to open in Tipton, Ind.

About the American Solar Energy Society (ases.org)

ASES, founded in 1954, promotes renewable energy in North America. It produces the National Solar Conference (this year in Baltimore, in April, 2013), conducts the National Solar Tour (Oct. 6, 2012) ,and publishes SOLAR TODAY magazine and Solar@Work.

Greene brings to the job a long record of accomplishment in the nonprofit, private and government sectors. Most recently, she was senior vice president at The Cable Center, where she created and expanded The Center’s informational, educational and professional development programs for the cable industry, university students and the public. She has been president of Women in Sustainable Energy (WISE), where she led the growth of this professional educational and networking organization, establishing its 501(c) (3) status, creating regularly scheduled educational and networking programs and recruiting corporate sponsors.

Previously Greene held executive positions at NBC, HBO, Citigroup and Time Warner Cable, where she worked to build new businesses at the intersection of content and technology. Earlier in her career, Greene was an attorney at the Federal Communications Commission.

“Susan Greene brings to ASES a strong track record in building growing enterprises, and especially in managing the critical interface of public policy, regulation and competitive business practice,” said ASES Board Chair Jeff Lyng. “As a media-savvy executive, she is the ideal person to guide ASES as it grows into a more powerfully effective voice for renewable energy.”

“I am delighted to join the ASES team,” Greene said. “The coming together of public policy, consumer interest and new and more cost-effective technologies in the renewable energy sector provides a unique opportunity for ASES to play a central role in the creation of the new energy landscape.”

Shaun McGrath stepped down from the executive director position to pursue an opportunity in public policy.