Photo: NRG
Thursday, April 28, 2016
2:00pm EST/11:00am PST
With hardware costs expected to fall 41% in the next five years and EPC costs stable, solar soft costs—from permitting fees and customer acquisition to installation labor and design—have been the focus of much attention. Soft costs represent the most flexible aspect of solar overhead, directly impacting the bottom line.
Fortunately, professionals across the industry are working hard to find ways to reduce soft costs, and four solutions include:
- Using web-based, automated financial technology to increase access to capital
- Providing complete, high-quality training to installation teams
- Working efficiently with local government to create solar opportunities
- Adopting new software tools to accelerate project development
Join us for a one-hour, wide-ranging conversation to help your company lower soft costs, as we learn from the following experts who will share their knowledge and best-practices:
Graham Smith will discuss how solar companies can reduce financing costs through standardization and automation. He will touch upon how financing costs can hinder the development of solar, particularly in the commercial and industrial sector sector, and why financial technology can help increase access to capital.
Kathy Swartz, using Solar Energy International’s 25 years of solar training experience as the backdrop, will explore how in-depth training reduces installation soft costs. The presentation will include case studies from installation companies, the role of accreditation and certification and opportunities for further soft cost reduction.
Chad Laurent, Esq., will draw on his experience with the U.S. Dept. of Energy SunShot Initiative, providing technical assistance and outreach consulting for the SunShot Solar Outreach Partnership, the Rooftop Solar Challenge II and the newly launched Solar Powering America by Recognizing Communities (SPARC) program to discuss how to reduce solar PV soft costs, thereby creating and maintaining solar opportunities within local communities.
Paul Grana will discuss current trends in the solar software landscape and how software can help installers reduce soft costs. He will discuss new tools, techniques and workflows that accelerate proposal-to-project speed while shrinking costs.
Featured Speakers
Chad Laurent, Esq., Senior Consultant and General Counsel, Meister Consultants Group
Chad specializes in renewable energy law and policy, sustainable business strategies and renewable energy project development. He is a nationally recognized expert in solar PV soft cost reduction strategies, currently working with the U.S. Dept. of Energy. He holds a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School where he was a Rappaport Honors Fellow in Law and Public Policy, and a B.S. from the University of Michigan in Environmental Policy & Behavior and Natural Resource Ecology & Management. He is admitted to the Massachusetts Bar.
Paul Grana, Co-Founder, Folsom Labs
Paul is responsible for sales and marketing at Folsom Labs. His passion for data analysis began at an early age. At 13 he cracked his first code, figuring out the cheat codes for Madden ’94. Paul began his professional career in management consulting and later joined the solar industry, where he ran product management for Tigo Energy, the module-level electronics manufacturer, before co-founding Folsom Labs, which develops the advanced PV system design tool HelioScope. Paul holds an SB in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Chicago, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Kathy Swartz, Executive Director, Solar Energy International
Kathy is honored to serve as SEI’s Executive Director, even more so because she is one of more than 45,000 alumni of SEI. She took her first PV class in 2004, which kickstarted her career in solar. With a background in environmental education, Kathy’s goal is to ensure that SEI’s Training Program prepares participants with the knowledge and hands-on experiences needed to safely and successfully work with renewable energy systems.
Graham Smith, CEO and Founder, Open Energy Group
Graham has over 15 years of experience in renewable energy finance and building capital markets brokerage platforms. He founded Open Energy in 2013 to unlock financial technology innovation and drive increased debt financing in commercial solar. Prior to Open Energy, he founded two brokerage firms – Axiom Global in 2004 and Phoenix Partners Group in 2006, co-running the latter for seven years. Graham studied at both the University of Cambridge and University College in London.
Sponsored by:
Aurora Solar
