Intersolar North America expands conference offerings, off-site tours, networking opportunities

Intersolar North America, the most attended solar industry exhibition and conference dedicated to the North American market, will feature an expanded conference program, including four conference tracks and access to the co-located ASES conference SOLAR 2016.

Over the course of three days, conference speakers will discuss the key technologies in the areas of solar and energy storage, financial tools and legislative actions driving the North American solar market, and the solar industry’s worldwide growth.

The event will be held July 11–13 at the InterContinental Hotel in San Francisco, and program registration is now available online. In honor of Intersolar’s 25^th anniversary, a 25 percent discount is available on all conference registrations until May 6^th.

With more than 200 reputable solar executives confirmed to speak, attendees will learn about the new technologies and financing options innovating and improving the North American solar energy market, as well as the drivers behind the global expansion of solar. Confirmed program tracks include:

• Markets, which includes sessions on global PV markets, such as “Emerging Markets Across the Americas: Mexico / Chile / Brazil”, “A Sustained Boom Across North America?”, “Asia’s Support Policies,” and “Net Metering: Present and Future”, among other sessions, including Asset Management Sessions and the popular Growth Company Forum.
  
• PV Technologies, which includes panels such as “Crystalline Silicon PV: Addressing the Future”, “PV Plants: Design, Reliability and Monitoring”, “Balance of Systems: Inverter – the Pacemaker of PV Power Plants”, and “The Future of PV: Executive Panel”.
  
• Smart Renewable Energy, which will feature the sessions “Building a Smarter Grid”, “Grid Structure & Big Data”, and “State Approaches to Distributed Energy Sources”.
  
• Finance, which will offer discussions like “Improving the Bankability and Investability of Solar”, “Smart Energy Asset Management”, and “Advanced Topics for New Business Models and Operations”.   

Several conference sessions, such as “The Future of PV: Executive Panel” and “Hot Spots of the U.S. Storage Market” will cover the broad policy, financing and technical trends shaping the solar and energy storage industry.

Intersolar North America organizers drew on the input and expertise of its roster of conference partners to develop this year’s program. This year’s partners are the California Solar Energy Industries Association (CALSEIA), American Solar Energy Society (ASES), Fraunhofer ISE, Greencity Freiburg, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), Joint Forces for Solar, NAATBatt International, the North California Solar Energy Association (NorCal Solar), Solar Energy International, NABCEP and the Sunspec Alliance.

Key information on the rapidly evolving U.S. solar market

“Year after year, Intersolar is a major event for North America’s solar industry. CALSEIA is proud to partner with Intersolar event organizer to bring the latest news on financing, net metering and smart grid technologies to this international stage,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of CALSEIA. 

“We have designed sessions at Intersolar 2016 to provide attendees with key information to help them master the rapidly evolving U.S. solar market.”

Private Tesla factory tours

Additionally, due to popular demand, Intersolar North America has expanded the number of its special events and site tours. These events provide valuable networking opportunities, in addition to showcasing landmark Bay Area solar installations, as well as some of the companies moving the solar and energy storage industry forward.

Attendees can register for private Tesla factory tours, tours of San Francisco solar sites, a SF Bay Area sailing tour, and a trip to a solar-powered winery, which benefit CALSEIA and NorCal Solar. New this year is the Sol Systems Run for the Sun, a 5k benefitting CALSEIA.

A full schedule for the Intersolar North America conference program, including off-site events, is available online.

Registration for the Intersolar and ees North America conferences brings added value this year in the form of access to the co-located SOLAR 2016. All Intersolar and ees conference attendees (either the full three-day package or one-day ticket) can gain access to concurrent tracks at the other event free of charge.

ees North America upgraded from a program track to a standalone event

After a successful debut at last year’s Intersolar 2015, where conference panels drew standing-room only crowds, ees North America has been upgraded from a program track to a standalone event. ees North America’s 2016 program tracks, curated with NAATBatt and other industry partners, will discuss emerging policies promoting adoption of renewable energy solutions and showcase the latest energy storage and management technologies.

“This year’s ees program includes an inside look at the energy storage technologies transforming our relationship with solar energy,” said James Greenberger, executive director of NAATBatt International.

“From financing to applications, panels at ees in 2016 will share how developers can maximize profits with innovative energy storage solutions.”

Additionally, Intersolar is proud to announce that the 2016 conference will also be held in conjunction with the American Solar Energy Society’s (ASES) SOLAR 2016.

ASES SOLAR 2016 will discuss the advancement of renewable energy in the United States, and share cutting-edge research contributing to the advancement of the PV, solar thermal, and energy storage industries. The powerhouse combination of Intersolar North America, ees North America, and SOLAR 2016 will provide attendees with the most comprehensive overview of factors driving solar industry growth. 

source: http://www.solarserver.com