What to expect
Connect. Learn. Grow.
Empower is the industry event for solar professionals who want to move their careers forward and connect with a like-minded community of solar leaders. Now in its fourth year, this virtual summit will explore how digital innovation is helping organizations grow and transforming the industry.
See the Replays
Why watch
See the next phase of solar growth and how you can seize opportunities to grow your solar career, business, or both. We’ll cover topics for:
- Design, operations, and engineering
- Sales and marketing
- Senior management and business owners
Come connect with peers & explore new opportunities!
Something for everyone
Design, Operations, and Engineering
- Get your hands dirty with Aurora and HelioScope workshops
- Learn actionable strategies for using tech to improve your workflows and operations
- See how automation can make your large scale projects more efficient
Sales and Marketing
- Boost your sales and marketing with techniques from experienced solar marketers
- Discover how to attach storage to every sale
- Explore the latest in solar sales tech, from lead gen to closing
Leadership and Management
- Find out how solar leaders are navigating the latest bumps in the “solar coaster”
- Learn the ins and outs of the IRA, NEM 3.0, and other policy changes — and how they affect your business
- Discover how digital transformation is driving the future of the solar industry
One inspiring day
Free virtual summit for aspiring solar professionals. Available in replay.
Opening Remarks
Managing Through Complexity and Change — Solar in 2023 and Beyond
It’s a story as old as solar panels themselves: The industry has some great tailwinds, but also faces new and continuing headwinds. There are many exciting positives like the Inflation Reduction Act and and the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office’s billions in loan authority, and also potential drags like high interest rates, an uncertain economy, and other policy issues. In this keynote, Jigar Shah, the Director leading the Loan Programs Office, will investigate what he sees coming down the road and even look at innovative ideas like virtual power plants that promise to bring new opportunities to solar installers across the country.
California’s Solar & Storage Market: Where we’ve been, Where we are headed
This keynote will take a fresh look at California’s distributed solar and storage market as it stands in the summer of 2023. It will provide a retrospective on what the industry has just been through with regards to various policy challenges, and it will lay out the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for one of the world’s largest clean energy markets.
CEOs Speak: The Challenges and Opportunities Solar Leaders Are Talking About
What’s happening in solar for the rest of 2023 and beyond? More importantly, how are the most innovative solar leaders preparing for what’s to come — and dealing with the current market conditions? This panel of solar founders and leaders, from companies of all shapes and sizes, will address these very questions, and more, with real-world experiences and actionable insights.
Shedding Light on AI: Demystifying Artificial Intelligence in the Solar Industry
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has taken the spotlight across all industries and sectors. Bill Gates recently remarked, “The development of AI is as fundamental as the creation of the microprocessor, the personal computer, the Internet, and the mobile phone,” and many businesses are investing big to try to harness its power and get ahead. So, what does this mean for the solar industry? AI’s popularity grew quickly, while at the same time the application of the technology won’t just happen all at once. This session brings together experts and thought leaders to facilitate a dynamic exchange of ideas and insights on AI, as well as the impact AI will have on the solar industry.
Sales
Powering the Future: Unlocking Business Growth through Solar Storage
As demand continues to grow for solar storage, installers are in a great position to benefit by expanding their product offerings. Join industry experts to learn the nuances of selling storage to homeowners, the market outlook, trends, and more. *SEIA predicts that by 2025 one in every three residential solar systems will be paired with storage.
The Sales Objection Throwdown
In this fun (and informative) session, we’ll hear from sales experts across the industry on how to handle tough homeowner objections, and get tips for refining your sales pitch so that you can crush your solar sales this year. We’ll also have live voting so you can choose who answered each objection best (with prizes awarded to the winner!).
Operations & Engineering
Operations unlocked: Using tech to streamline your solar processes
Uncover the strategies and technologies that can revolutionize your approach to solar. In this panel discussion, we’ll dive deep into how technology can unlock your operations bottlenecks. We’ll investigate how cutting-edge tools can streamline processes, best practices that save you time and elevate your team’s capabilities, and tackle real-world scenarios with inventive solutions.
Design Mode 101
In this session you will learn some of the best practices when using Aurora's Design Mode to create accurate designs. We will cover the basics on navigating through the Design Mode interface, pre-design, site and system modeling, post-design, and will share some additional resources to get you designing like a pro in no time! This session is a sample offering of our Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT) content that will be offered later this year through the NEW Aurora Academy!
Commercial & Industrial
Decoding the IRA for C&I: Insights and Opportunities
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is the most transformational clean energy policy in history. Over the next decade, the IRA will more than double industry employment and 5x the amount of solar capacity installed today. But how will supply chain issues in the short term meet rising demand? Join policy experts to understand the implications of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) for commercial solar projects and discover where potential opportunities exist to grow your business.
Solar’s Digital Frontier: Automation and Digitalization in Large-Scale Solar
Automated workflows and streamlined processes are the driving forces behind high-growth companies. In this panel discussion, we’ll explore how automations can revolutionize large-scale Commercial and Industrial (C&I) businesses. We’ll be joined by industry pioneers who will share their real-world experiences, success stories, and lessons learned from implementing solar technology to streamline processes and optimize project efficiency.
Featured Speakers
Conner Allen
Residential Sales Manager, GRNE Solar
Carina Brockl
Acting CRO, Aurora Solar
Abby Buchmiller
Co-Founder, RDCL Services
Kyle Callert
Customer Success Manager, HelioScope at Aurora Solar
Rebekah Carpenter
Founder, Fingerlakes Renewable Energy
Bernadette Del Chiaro
Executive Director, California Solar and Storage Association
Barry Cinnamon
CEO, Cinnamon Energy Systems
Mark Culpepper
General Manager, Solar of Zeitview
Stephen Gerken
Product Marketing Manager, Aurora Solar
Paul Grana
General Manager of HelioScope, Aurora Solar
Tracy Hawker
Senior Product Manager, Aurora Solar
Chris Hopper
Co-Founder & CEO, Aurora Solar
Max Issokson
Analyst, Wood Makenzie
Dan Javan
President & CEO, Suntiuity Renewables
Tyler Lancaster
Partner, Energize Capital
Rachel Liddell
Sr. Product Manager, Aurora Solar
Rich McCoy
Founder & CEO, Rivus Energy
Joe Mousakheel
Owner, The Solar Academy
Tim Montague
President, Clean Power Consulting Group & Host of the Clean Power Hour podcast
Davis Nunez
General Manager - Proposals, SalesRabbit
John Powers
Co-founder & CSO, Elexity
Jigar Shah
Loans Loan Programs Office Director, U.S. Department of Energy
Andrew Santiago
President, Andrew Consulting Group, LLC
John Sheldon
Director of New Business Capabilities, Renu Energy Solutions
Steph Speirs
Co-Founder & CEO, Solstace Power Technologies
Ashleigh Tatarcyk
Owner, Urban Sol Energy
Benoy Thanjan
CEO & Founder of Reneu Energy / Host of the Solar Maverick podcast
Chris Thompson
Vice President Product & Technical Marketing, Solaredge
Sharat Singh
Founding CEO & Chief Architect, Quandrical AI
Matt Wrightsman
Customer Training Manager, Aurora Solar