Solar Power World

Join Solar Power World and Top Solar Contractors for a live roundtable discussion on the best business practices the installation community has adopted for energy storage systems, large and small.

The rise of extreme weather has many homeowners concerned about keeping the lights and refrigerators on through extended power outages. And with more utilities looking at energy storage to improve the resiliency of their grids, the storage market has finally hit its tipping point. Solar installers across all markets will describe how they’ve incorporated batteries into their service offerings along with the important installation considerations that come with storage systems.

Participants

Brent Bergland, Energy Storage & Solutions Market Director, Mortenson

Brent Bergland is a 25-year veteran of Mortenson and the construction industry. Brent is the Market Director for Mortenson’s Energy Storage business and leads the energy storage team’s strategy, growth, and project operations. Brent has been dedicated full time to the energy storage industry for more than five years and has been directly involved with 13 projects in AL, AZ, CA, CO, NC, and TX, totaling 3,300+MWh. Brent’s role of Market Director has him responsible for setting/implementing the strategy and ensuring Mortenson’s business goals are achieved for their utility, IPP, developer, and system integrator customers.

2021 marks the beginning of Brent’s 20th year dedicated to renewable energy. Prior to energy storage, Brent dedicated 14 years to the wind industry in several leadership roles. His wind experiences included 6 years leading Mortenson’s project acquisition and positioning efforts in the Canadian market. In addition, Brent played a key role in Mortenson’s international diversification efforts in Australia. His experience building complex, utility-scale energy projects internationally has provided him a unique know-how in the industry.

Brent is a native Minnesotan, having grown up in Maple Plain, and currently resides in Saint Paul with his wife Raina and daughter Kensley. Brent holds a BS in Construction Management from North Dakota State University.

Molly Brown, EVP of Energy Development, GenPro Energy Solutions

Molly Brown is the EVP of Energy Development for GenPro Energy Solutions based out of Piedmont, South Dakota. Her background in quantitative economics has allowed her to see and create market opportunities in underdeveloped regions. After being promoted to VP of Energy Production in the Fall of 2016, GenPro has shot up  Solar Power World’s Top Solar Contractors list and has a sterling reputation for best-in-class installations.

In Nebraska and South Dakota, Molly has been involved in many firsts. She developed and project managed the first municipal utility solar farm for the City of Lexington that was at the time the largest system (AC) in the State of Nebraska. She also oversaw the construction of the two pilot projects for Nebraska Public Power District’s SunWise Community Solar Program, a program which has since expanded and includes the 4.6MW AC system in Scottsbluff, NE that was placed online in 2020, and the first solar + storage project in Norfolk, NE that will begin construction in the Spring. In South Dakota, she developed a 960kW roof-top portfolio for Black Hills State University which, with the combination of hydroelectric power from WAPA, will allow them to meet their goal to be 100% renewable.

Molly is actively developing projects in 10 states and 5 countries while managing EPC work for the GenPro service team. This year her team will construct systems in Nebraska, South Dakota, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Arizona, and The Bahamas.

Scott Maskin, Co-Founder and CEO, SUNation
Scott Maskin, CEO and Co-Founder of SUNation Solar Systems, began his career in 1980 as a skilled electrician, working as a stage production crew member for the next seven years on various music group tours. Later pursuing a conventional electrical path, Scott obtained his Master Electrician’s License in 1994, at which time he established his own electrical contracting business. He spent the next seven years growing this business before venturing into solar energy in 2001. At that time, Scott’s cousin and co-founder, Mike Bailis, was researching the solar market in California, discovering a projected untapped industry for the East Coast. Scott became certified for LIPA’s Solar Pioneer Program, and together with his wife and a friend, designed and installed one of the earliest systems built on Long Island, establishing the foundation for what would become “SUNation Solar Systems” two years later.

It is Scott’s belief that giving back to society and supporting the community is a corporate and social responsibility, and thus has incorporated philanthropy into the core of SUNation’s values. Scott established SUNation Cares in 2016 as SUNation’s non-profit corporation, providing free electricity for life to Long Island families in need. He proudly supports and sponsors the efforts of organizations such as The Family Service League, Last Chance Animal Rescue, HIA-LI, Make-A-Wish Foundation, United Way and Long Island Cares, many of which he is also a board member.  Scott’s dedication to goodwill has branded SUNation as a compassionate company dedicated to leaving an altruistic footprint on the world around them and distinguishes SUNation from others of its kind.

Moderator: Kelly Pickerel, editor in chief, Solar Power World
Kelly has been involved with publishing in the solar industry since 2011. She joined the Solar Power World staff in 2014 and enjoys working on contractor profiles and hearing about new projects. Her areas of focus include solar panel manufacturing, energy storage, the Contractors Corner podcast and the development of Solar Power World’s annual Top Solar Contractors list. Kelly graduated from Kent State University with a degree in magazine journalism and lives in Northeast Ohio.

Learn more and register for the webinar here. 

Sponsored by Panasonic 

Please join us on Zoom for this special Earth Month event to learn about solar options for your farm, home, or business.

Our Speakers Will Be:

Jeff Berggren manages GenPro Energy Solutions projects in Nebraska from the company’s office in Central City. He has worked in the renewable energy field since 2008 when he founded Husker Wind Power. With his construction and agricultural background, Jeff has managed multi-million-dollar energy efficiency projects for counties, school districts, and municipalities across Nebraska. Community projects to date include Lexington, Gothenburg, Aurora, Central City, and Fremont.

Michael Shonka, owner of Solar Heat and Electric based in Omaha, has over 30 years of experience in the solar industry. Recent projects include design and installation of multiple 25-kilowatt and 50-kilowatt systems for grid-tie applications. Specific examples of Michael’s work include: Nebraska’s first community solar project at Central City; Nebraska’s first Solar Lab at Metro Community College; an Army Corps of Engineers 50-kilowatt water pumping system; Nebraska’s first center pivot irrigation system, a 25-kilowatt project. 

All Nebraska solar installers are invited to attend this event and contribute to the Q&A and discussion that will follow their presentations.

Moderator & Q&A Facilitator: Leo Arens, Nebraskans for Solar President. Please send your questions to: Leo Arens sirsolarman77@gmail.com.

Use this link to Join the Zoom meeting: 
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89193196410?pwd=cnhEY0g2SHZJWC91SlQ0K2l1VGNHQT09
Meeting ID: 891 9319 6410
Passcode: 015253

Gardening is something most people can do to help the planet – and you don’t need a big yard or a plot in your local community garden to make an impact!

This webcast will introduce regenerative gardening: what it is, how it works, and how you can personally participate in this climate change solution. Let us inspire you to transform your window planter, balcony, lawn, or nearby parkways into spaces that can build healthy soil, capture CO₂, and produce nutritious food!

Our webcast will begin with an introduction to Green America’s Climate Victory Gardens campaign presented by Executive Co-Director for Corporate & Consumer Programs Todd Larsen. You will then hear from Acadia Tucker, author of Tiny Victory Gardens: Growing Good Food Without a Yard, about what inspired her to become a regenerative farmer and how you can utilize regenerative practices on a smaller scale in your own container garden!

REGISTER HERE.

Description
Appalachia and Wyoming are dramatically different places, but they also offer each other cautionary tales, success stories, and reasons for resilience and hope. Last year, the Energy News Network and WyoFile captured this complex story in a six-part investigative series, Reckoning in Coal County, now available as an ebook or paperback.

Join the Energy News Network and WyoFile for an online panel discussion where we’ll explore the cultural, political, and economic obstacles faced by rural communities hoping to survive and thrive in a world without coal.

Featuring:
Mason Adams, journalist, Floyd County, Virginia
Shannon Anderson, Powder River Basin Resource Council, Wyoming
Heidi Binko, Just Transition Fund, Virginia
Dustin Bleizeffer, journalist, Casper, Wyoming

Moderator:
Ken Paulman, Director, Energy News Network

REGISTER HERE.

Description

PV Magazine reporters William Driscoll and John Fitzgerald Weaver will provide play-by-play descriptions and color commentary, respectively, on these technologies, and how they are gaining traction in several states.

William Driscoll’s reporting focuses on expanding the market for distributed solar. He previously presented at Energy Exemplar’s 22nd Annual Electric Market Forecasting Conference, on “Storage Technologies, Costs and Modeling: Present and Future.”

John Fitzgerald Weaver is a solar power professional, known digitally as the “Commercial Solar Guy.” His company has general contractor licenses in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and sales people on the ground throughout the northeast USA. The company is developing commercial PV projects ranging from 50 kW through 20 MWac nationwide, and storage projects as well.

William Driscoll has been a reporter for PV Magazine USA since 2018, specializing in technologies and strategies that can make room for more solar on the grid. He previously presented at Energy Exemplar’s 22nd Annual Electric Market Forecasting Conference, on “Storage Technologies, Costs and Modeling: Present and Future”–a presentation that was likewise based on his reporting for PV Magazine USA.

Join the webinar here.