Tuesday, October 28

San Jacinto Hall - Multipurpose Room (SJH 207), 309 E. 21st Street, Austin, TX 78705
8:15 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.

8:15 a.m. |  Registration
Coffee & Breakfast Provided

8:50 a.m.  |  Welcome Remarks
Brian Korgel
Director, Energy Institute, The University of Texas at Austin

9:00 a.m. |  Panel 1 (Solar in Texas)

Moderator: Andy Uhler
Energy Journalism Fellow, Energy Institute, The University of Texas at Austin

Josh Rhodes
Research Scientist and Lecturer at The University of Texas at Austin

Doug Lewin
Author, Texas Energy and Power Newsletter, Host, Energy Capital Podcast, President, Stoic Energy

Russell Gold
Executive Vice President for Strategic Communications at T1 Energy

9:45 a.m. |  Panel 2 (Policies -> Projects -> People)

Moderator: Tiffany Wu
Energy Markets and Regulatory Consultant, McAdams Energy Group.

Timothy Harvey
Customer Renewable Solutions Manager, Austin Energy

Mark R. Stover
Executive Director Texas Solar+Storage Association (TSSA)

Micalah Spenrath
Deputy Director, Policy & Energy, HARC

10:30 a.m. |  Networking Break

10:45 a.m. |  Thin Film CdTe Photovoltaics 

W.S. Sampath
Associate Director, SPF2050: Center for a Solar Powered Future
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University

There are significant technical advantages for Thin Film CdTe photovoltaics for large scale power generation application in terms of manufacturing, cost, environmental impact, and reliability. On a lifecycle basis, CdTe PV has the smallest carbon footprint, lowest water use and shortest energy payback time of any current photovoltaic technology. Small area device efficiency of 23.1% have been demonstrated and module efficiency of 19.9% have been demonstrated. There is potential for further increase in efficiency. The manufacturing of CdTe PV will be compared to c_Si. The lamination process of PV modules for CdTe and c_Si without vacuum lamination will be discussed.

11:30 a.m. |  Fireside Chat: Solar Start-Up Highlights

Interlocutor: Brian Korgel
Director, Energy Institute, The University of Texas at Austin

Alex Hanson
Associate Professor, Chandra Family Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin

Amit Munshi
Assistant Professor at Colorado State University

12:00 p.m. |  Networking Lunch
Enjoy lunch and network with fellow attendees.

1:00 p.m. |  Readying new semiconductor materials: R&D for the launch of perovskite photovoltaics 

Joey Luther
Senior Research Scientist, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Perovskites offer outstanding potential to transform the marketplace for low-cost photovoltaics. It will be very interesting to see what transpires over the next decade with this emerging technology. Even at the nanoscale, perovskite quantum dots show excellent potential. This seminar will discuss the technology in reference to existing barriers to market entry.

1:45 p.m. |  Solar-Derived Microwave Power Beaming for Sustainable Commercial Aviation

Christian Claudel
Associate Professor, William J. Murray, Jr. Fellowship in Engineering No. 1, Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin  

In late 2022, ICAO member states adopted a long-term global aspirational goal (LTAG) to achieve net zero carbon emissions from international aviation by 2050. Despite considerable research on potential alternative fuels including e-fuels, Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), Hydrogen or Ammonia, and extensive research on purely electric propulsion, low-carbon propulsion methods are unable to scale or to offer favorable economics. A possible alternative to current propulsion technologies is to directly beam the required propulsive power to aircraft. Several techniques have been considered to date, in particular laser energy beaming and microwave energy beaming. This talk proposes a possible concept where future airliners are mostly powered with ground-generated power, leveraging specially designed large scale solar farms equipped with distributed phased arrays. This system has favorable economics and energy efficiency, with the ability to remotely power the low altitude economy (eVTOLs, heavy drones) and high altitude platforms (HAPS) as well. 

2:15 p.m. |  Networking Break

2:30 p.m. |  Photovoltaics Industry Update

Interlocutor: Andy Uhler
Energy Markets and Regulatory Consultant, McAdams Energy Group.

Partick Buckley 
Vice President, Development with Open Road Renewables 

3:00 p.m. |  High-integrity end of life management of solar installations and the opportunity of repowering

Etienne Cadestin
Founder and Board Member of the Longevity Partners Group

3:30 p.m. |  Networking Break

3:45 p.m. |  Panel 3 (PV industry, technology advancement and community advancement)

Moderator: Sergio Castellanos
Assistant Professor, Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin

Vatan Kumar
Engineering Manager, RWE Clean Energy 

Derek Adams
Managing Director, Permian Integrated Energy System (PIES) at PEDL

Omeed Badkoobeh
Vice President of Sales, ESS Division at Ampace Technologies

4:30 p.m. |  Between Two Cacti

Brian Korgel
Director, Energy Institute, The University of Texas at Austin 

Andy Bowman
Chief Executive Officer, Jupiter Power

5:00 p.m. |  Closing Remarks

5:10 p.m.-6:30 p.m.|  Networking Reception
Join us for food, drinks, and new connections.