Changes on Solar Energy Industries Association’s Board & Leadership Team

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The U.S. Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has been a tremendous leader for U.S. solar companies for years. Its board representation is a big part of that, critical for representing different components of the solar market and providing the expertise needed to push relevant industries forward. SEIA recently made some changes to the board, and it also added a few people to its leadership team. Anyone interested in solar in the U.S. should take note. Here are the two announcements:

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SEIA Elects New Board Chair, Adds Solar Racking Manufacturer to Board of Directors to Kick Off Ambitious 2024

WASHINGTON D.C. — The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the leading voice for America’s solar and storage industry, today announced new changes to its board of directors.

Darren Van’t Hof, managing director of environmental finance for U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance, a subsidiary of U.S. Bank, was elected chair of SEIA’s board of directors.

PanelClaw, an Enstall Company and manufacturer of solar racking and mounting equipment, is also joining SEIA’s board as an at-large member. PanelClaw CEO Costa Nicolaou has served as an elected SEIA board member for ten years.

“As we head into a consequential election year for clean energy, we’ll need strong leaders and advocates by our side,” said SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper. “Darren, Costa, and our new roster of board leaders have decades of experience working in renewable energy and are motivated to help SEIA deliver an abundant, prosperous clean energy future.”

Darren Van’t Hof has served on SEIA’s board since 2011 and is a leading industry voice on solar and storage finance issues. Van’t Hof regularly appears at solar and storage industry events where he offers expertise on trends in project finance and tax equity.

“Now more than ever, SEIA is one of the most well-positioned organizations to lead its members into the energy transition,” said Van’t Hof. “The solar industry is set to grow exponentially in the years ahead and SEIA’s commitment to ensuring equitable outcomes to that growth has always impressed me.”

PanelClaw manufactures rooftop solar racking systems that have been installed on 13,000 projects worldwide totaling more than 3 gigawatts of capacity. In Costa Nicolaou’s tenure as an elected SEIA board member, he has served as chair of SEIA’s distributed generation and manufacturing divisions. Nicolaou is a longtime advocate for effective trade policies that promote the development of solar projects and investments in domestic manufacturing.

“I am delighted PanelClaw is joining SEIA’s board, and I am committed to leveraging the company’s resources to help shape policies that spur innovation and sustainable growth in the renewable sector,” said Nicolaou.

Van’t Hof and PanelClaw are joining SEIA’s board along with a slate of newly elected executive committee members. These individuals serve a one-year term on SEIA’s executive committee in 2024. In addition, SEIA’s board of directors has approved three elected at-large members, as well as division chairs and vice chairs, to serve two-year terms.

SEIA Board Chair

• Darren Van’t Hof, U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance

SEIA Board Vice Chair

• Laura Stern, Nautilus Solar

Treasurer

• Ryan Pfaff, EDP Renewables

Secretary

• Ben Airth, Freedom Forever

Elected Executive Committee Representatives 

• Gilbert Campbell, Volt Energy Utility
• Yuri Horwitz, Sol Systems
• Scott Moskowitz, QCells
• Meghan Nutting, Sunnova

Elected At-Large Members

• Deepa Ananthakrishnan, Scale Microgrids
• Dana Clare Redden, Solar Stewards
• Karla Loeb, Loeb Consulting

Division Chairs and Vice Chairs

Distributed Generation Division

• Chair: Jennifer Mrzlack, PSG Energy Group
• Vice Chair: David Schieren, Empower

Utility-Scale Solar Power Division

• Chair: Gilbert Campbell, Volt Energy Utility
• Vice Chair: Frank DeRosa, DeRosa Advisors

Energy Storage Division

• Chair: Yan Brandt, FlexGen
• Vice Chair: Lauren Glickman, Encore Renewable Energy

Manufacturing Division

• Chair: Kendra Hubbard, FTC Solar
• Vice Chair: Ernest Gallegos, Unirac

Solar Services and Consumers Division

• Chair: Chris Diaz, Seminole Financial Services
• Vice Chair: Laura Jones, Hunton Andrews Kurth

Solar Heating and Cooling Division

• Chair: Will Giese, Sunearth
• Vice Chair: Tara Prieto, AET Solar

SEIA Affiliate Representatives

• Gil Hough, TenneSEIA
• PJ Wilson, SESA-PR

Learn more about SEIA’s board of directors and its goals for the Solar+ Decade.

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SEIA Elevates Trio of Policy Experts to Leadership Roles

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) announced today that Ben Norris, Sara Birmingham, and Kevin Lucas are now vice presidents at the organization.

Norris is SEIA’s vice president of regulatory affairs, Birmingham is vice president of state affairs, and Lucas is vice president of policy analysis. These experts collectively hold decades of experience in energy policy and energy market roles, and have deep knowledge of the challenges facing the U.S. solar and storage industry.

“Ben, Sara, and Kevin are three of the brightest minds in the energy policy space, and all three have been key pieces of SEIA’s advocacy success over the last several years,” said SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper. “It’s a critical time for the solar and storage industry and these leaders will help us capitalize on recent policy wins and deliver a robust, equitable clean energy future.”

Birmingham has been with SEIA for more than a decade and will oversee the organization’s state policy team, while Norris will lead SEIA’s growing regulatory team to further engage with the White House and federal agencies.

As vice president of policy analysis, Lucas will expand on his work as an expert witness for regulatory dockets and build the organization’s expertise on a range of issues, including energy storage integration, rate design, utility resource planning, cybersecurity, and interconnection.

“I am thrilled to continue my tenure at SEIA and lead state advocacy efforts on behalf of the entire solar and storage industry,” said Birmingham. “There is so much important work happening at the state level that will determine how solar projects of all sizes can be deployed, and I look forward to bringing my decades of experience to this new role.”

“We’re coming off an unprecedented year for solar as implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) rapidly advances and agencies consider new rules on interconnection and project siting,” said Norris. “It is a privilege to lead the solar and storage industry’s advocacy work on these issues as we stand at the forefront of America’s energy transition.”

“I am excited about this new role and look forward to working across the industry on a range of policy issues that are shaping the energy transition,” said Lucas. “SEIA will continue to build out its team of subject matter experts as we tackle a variety of challenges such as cybersecurity, rate design, long-term resource planning, distribution system planning, reliability, and interconnection everywhere solar and storage is deployed.”

These personnel changes are effective immediately.

SEIA advocates on behalf of the entire solar and storage industry in the United States. These personnel changes reflect a broadening of SEIA’s policy and technical expertise to better advocate on behalf of its 1,200 member companies.

Learn more about SEIA and its Solar+ Decade vision.