The SunSpec Alliance
, along with its official media sponsor Solar Power World, has announced the lineup for the PV Finance Conference and Solar Asset Symposium, which will take place at Intersolar July 13 and 14 at the Intercontinental Hotel in San Francisco.
Now in its fifth year, the expanded SunSpec Solar Finance Conference and Asset Management Symposium brings together expert speakers from banking, market researchers, national laboratories, leading developers, originators, financiers and standards bodies to discuss the cutting-edge topics in solar financing and storage. A mix of keynotes and panel discussions will bring together companies that are shaping commercial and industrial financing today to answer key questions: How can you be well positioned for next year’s growth and what does a next-generation energy company look like?
“Fast and disruptive growth, changing regulatory and business models, grid technology, storage and the shift of focus from Capex to Opex are shaping today’s Distributed Energy industry,” said TJ Keating, SunSpec’s Director of Development. “SunSpec has expanded its partnership with Intersolar and brought on SEFA, the Solar Energy Finance Association, to host this unique cross-cutting forum addressing PV technology, asset and finance topics to gain fresh insights needed to tackle next year’s opportunities beyond policy and securitization to increase liquidity, reduce Opex, manage the 20GW installed base and bring even more solar online.”
The lineup of over 35 speakers includes important trend setters in today’s solar finance and asset management industries. Speakers will share insight from inside Bloomberg New Energy Finance, NRG Energy, Mercatus, SunEdison, Conergy, SunRun, Vivint Solar, SolarCity, Alectris Asset Mangement, T-Rex Group, 3Megawatt, Mercatus, CentroSolar, NREL, Solichambra, Heliolytics, OneRoof Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratories, SunSpec Alliance, TUV Rheinland, Stanford University, CAL ISO, Olivine, Divident Solar, SEFA, Sungevity and many more.
Solar Power World will have follow-up coverage on key findings from the two days. Kathie Zipp, managing editor of Solar Power World, said she’s excited the magazine could play a part in bringing this important conference to the solar industry.
“SunSpec and Intersolar have assembled a very impressive list of speakers at the two day Finance and Asset Symposium,” said Zipp. “The topics are spot-on in addressing today’s top opportunities for growth. What an amazing way to kick off Intersolar week and cover the complete finance and solar asset topic.”
Day one of the event, the PV Finance Conference, is a four-part treatment of today’s solar business and finance market, with special focus on what SunSpec Alliance dubs “mega-challenges”: fast growth, changing regulatory policy, the end (or not) of tax equity, and changing business models and grid technology. Special attention will be paid to how some in the industry are turning these mega-challenges into mega-opportunities. In its fifth year, the PV Finance Conference will let panelists and participants engage with experts from banking, market research, national laboratories, leading developers, originators, financiers and standards bodies to discuss the current market and new trends in solar finance.
Topics Include:
- Next steps in solar securitizations
- Next solar finance innovations
- The cost and availability of capital and tax equity
- ITC evolution 2015 to 2018
- Emerging standards
- The role of policy and the risk premium for solar PV in major markets comprising residential, commercial and utility scale
- The impact on cost of capital of new to solar funding vehicles such as asset backed securities, Yield Co’s and bond funds
- Business model implications of regulatory policy changes across the nation
- New technology
- New ancillary services and business models enabled by smart grid developments
Day Two, on the other hand, will be a Solar Asset Symposium. The U.S. installed base of solar assets grew beyond 20 GW (SEIA Q1 2015) and much of the solar industry focus is now shifting from the gold rush stage of new assets to the development of strategies to optimize the installed base of solar assets. The Solar Asset Symposium will be a venue for expert keynote speakers from market researchers, national laboratories, world class asset operations and management providers, leading service providers, independent engineers, financiers and standards bodies to engage with panelists and participants to discuss trends shaping the market.
Topics Include:
- Best practices
- Innovations and new skills needed for solar asset management, financial services, and solar operations and management to optimize performance, financial returns, and portfolio valuation of the installed base of solar assets
- Business model implications of secondary asset sales
- New technology
- New ancillary services and business models enabled by smart grid developments and storage
In addition to Solar Power World’s media sponsorship, the conference is also being sponsored by Powerhub, Mercatus, Alectris, Ballard Sparh and Centrosolar America.
This year, SunSpec Alliance has brought on SEFA (the Solar Energy Finance Association) as an associate producer.
Conference attendees will also receive one free pass to the Intersolar exhibition and can attend the Intersolar Opening Ceremony and Evening Networking Reception on July 13. For more information and to register for this event, visit the Intersolar website.
