Speakers

The following speakers will present at the Solar Resources and Forecasting Workshop.

Mark Ahlstrom

Mark has been the CEO of WindLogics since December 2000. Under his leadership, the company became an authority in the assessment, forecasting, operations, and integration of renewable energy.

WindLogics became a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources (formerly FPL Energy) in 2006, allowing it to expand its role as an applied R&D center and provider of services to utility, wind, and solar energy clients.

Mark's ongoing focus is on optimization solutions that enable low-cost, reliable, and sustainable power systems for North America.

Mark Ahlstrom
WindLogics Inc.
Mobile: 651-470-1108
Direct: 651-556-4262

Stan Benjamin


Nate Blair


Jim Blatchford

Jim has more than 30 years of project management experience in high-tech areas within the aerospace, computer-integrated chip manufacturing, and utility industries. Jim is a lead renewable integration specialist in the Smart Grid Technologies and Strategy Division of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). He has been with CAISO for more than nine years and has worked in the renewables area for eight of those. He is responsible for integrating the Participating Intermittent Resource Program (PIRP) into the CAISO Renewable Road Map Project. He is also responsible for ensuring the use of the latest wind and solar forecasting science and techniques within the CAISO market system to reduce the conventional carbon-based generation commitment and dispatch costs.

Jim has authored and co-authored numerous papers on the integration of wind energy into the PIRP program and forecasting needs for wind energy. Jim holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems from Chapman University and a Master of Science in electronic commerce from National University.

Forrest Collins

Forrest is a senior systems engineer for juwi solar Inc. (JSI). He has more than ten years of experience working in renewable energy and energy efficiency. As a senior systems engineer with JSI, he leads the equipment selection, system modeling and resource assessment, performance guarantees, system optimization, and research activities for the company. Forrest has supported technically the financing of more than 43 MW of projects and has successfully led the commissioning and acceptance tests on more than 46 MW of PV systems. He is also recognized as an NABCEP-certified PV systems installer.

Ronald Flood

Ronald is a senior consultant with Renewable Energy Technical Services, Arizona Public Service. He provides review and due diligence for conventional and renewable assets under consideration and provides the technical and development requirements for counterparty agreements. Other duties have included organizing and conducting studies that cut across organizational lines, reviewing and improving performance of assets under agreement, and evaluating new technologies. Currently, he is working on several research projects, including the variability of PV and its effects on transmission and distribution systems and the uses of energy storage for distribution systems and renewable generating systems.

Ronald's background includes 30 years in nuclear power, including plant manager and systems engineering management. He then worked on project development and project management for new, gas-fired power plants and renewable projects for Pinnacle West Energy before moving into renewable energy. Ronald earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Toledo and held a senior reactor operators license.

Jaclyn Frank


Ann Gaglioti

Ann is an entrepreneur with a passion for business, economics, and technology. Her career spans investment banking, interactive marketing, and renewable energy. At GroundWork, she experiments with implementing a virtual results-oriented workforce while she strives to provide exemplary service to her clients and employees. Ann is on the board of The Offset Project, a Monterey Bay nonprofit that offsets carbon emissions through local initiatives, including local solar projects and waste-free advocacy for schools, venues, and special events. Prior to GroundWork, Ann was an executive vice president with iCrossing, an interactive agency. In 2007, Ann was instrumental in the sale of Proxicom, a Web development firm, to iCrossing. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics and international relations from the University of Pennsylvania.

Ann Gaglioti
GroundWork
Work: 831-920-1687
Cell: 928-6070-1501

Christian Gueymard

Christian is a former research scientist at the Florida Solar Energy Center and is now president of Solar Consulting Services. He obtained a doctorate from the University of Montreal, Canada. He has been active in solar energy applications for more than 35 years and developed an internationally recognized expertise in solar resource assessment, solar radiation modeling, and their applications for energy production. His solar radiation models are widely used by the international solar energy community. He has published more than 130 scientific papers and contributed to various textbooks. He serves as associate editor of the major scientific journal in the field, Solar Energy.

Aron Habte


Andy Heidinger


Laura Hinkelman

Laura Hinkelman received her doctorate in meteorology from the Pennsylvania State University in 2003. In graduate school, she pursued research on the 3D radiative effects of clouds and evaluation of the representation of radiative and cloud processes in regional forecast models. Upon graduation, she became a research scientist affiliated with the NASA Langley Research Center and focused on surface energy budgets derived from satellite measurements. This included evaluating the GEWEX Surface Radiation Budget product against surface measurements and analyzing historical insolation trends. She also served on the committee organizing the GEWEX Radiative Flux Assessment, set up to establish best estimates and error budgets of surface and top-of-atmosphere satellite radiation products. Since 2009, she has worked with scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to study the spatial and temporal variability of insolation at different scales. She is currently on the research staff of the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean at the University of Washington (Seattle).

Laura M. Hinkelman, Ph.D.
Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean
University of Washington
P. O. Box 355672
Seattle, WA 98195-5672
Phone: 206-897-1722
Fax: 206-685-3397

Marissa Hummon

Marissa Hummon joined the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in January 2010 after graduating from Harvard University with a doctorate in applied physics. Her research focuses on numeric analysis and simulation for grid integration modeling. Her subjects currently include solar irradiance spatial and temporal variability and sub-hour modeling of demand response as an ancillary service.

Harjeet Johal

Harjeet received a B.Tech degree in electrical power engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India, in 2003; and master's and doctorate degrees in electrical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, in 2007 and 2008, respectively.

Harjeet joined GE Global Research in January 2009 and is currently working in the Electrical Power Systems Lab. Since joining GE, Harjeet has been involved in wind and solar grid integration. Harjeet was an integral part of the project team in the wind integration study on the island of Oahu. The results of the study suggest 400 MW of off-island wind energy, 100 MW of on-island wind energy, and 100 MW of solar PV can be integrated into the Oahu electrical system. Harjeet is currently involved with the solar integration study on the islands of Oahu and Maui. This study will examine the system impacts of today's installed solar PV as well as future scenarios with very high levels of PV and develop potential solutions to enable high penetration of solar on the island grid.

Harjeet's research experience also includes control and operation of distributed FACTS systems for bulk power flow control, demand response applications for ancillary services and for improving grid operation and control, and distribution optimization algorithms including volt/var control schemes from grid-connected distributed energy generators.

Adam Kankiewicz

Adam received a Master of Science degree from Colorado State University in atmospheric science. He has worked at WindLogics Inc. for the past three years as a research scientist leading all solar energy-related meteorological development efforts. Before joining WindLogics, he worked for ten years as a research associate at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State University, where he specialized in satellite remote sensing and cloud microphysics.

Ed Kern


Jan Kleissl

Jan Kleissl is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and vice chair of the American Solar Energy Society Resources Applications Division. Jan received a doctorate in 2004 from Johns Hopkins University in environmental engineering and joined UCSD in 2006. Jan supervises 12 doctorate students and three Masters students who work on solar power forecasting, solar resource model validation, and solar grid integration funded by the Department of Energy, the California Public Utilities Commission, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and the California Energy Commission. Kleissl received the 2009 NSF CAREER Award and the 2008 UCSD Sustainability Award.

Pramod Krishnani

Pramod is currently working in the Energy Research and Development Department at the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and performing work on solar modeling in relation to solar assessment and forecasting. Pramod graduated from California State University Sacramento with a master's in mechanical engineering and specialized in thermal and fluid systems.

Pramod Krishnani
Energy Research and Development
Sacramento Municipal Utility District
Sacramento, CA
Phone: 916-732-7106

Alexander Los


Kevin Lynn


Melinda Marquis

Melinda is the Renewable Energy Program manager at the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL). She is also the renewable energy lead for the NOAA Oceanic and Atmospheric Research line office. She is currently working to develop a NOAA-wide program that provides the atmospheric science and services required for growth of the nation's renewable energy industry. She is chair of the AMS Board on Enterprise Economic Development and co-chair of the AMS Renewable Energy Subcommittee. She joined the ESRL Research and Programs Office in the summer of 2007, after serving as deputy director for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group I. Before working for the IPCC, Melinda was the leader of two NASA Earth-satellite mission projects at the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado. She led and coordinated the efforts of two teams responsible for managing Earth science data from the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System aboard NASA's Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite and from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-Earth Observing System aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. She earned her doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Colorado in 1995.

Melinda Marquis
Earth System Research Laboratory
NOAA
Phone: 303-497-4487

John Miller


Steve Miller

Steve received his Bachelor of Science in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California San Diego and his Master of Science and doctorate in atmospheric science from Colorado State University. He has worked for the Naval Research Laboratory in Monterey as a satellite meteorologist and now serves as deputy director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State University. His area of expertise is in radiative transfer theory applied to satellite-based remote sensing of the Earth's surface and atmospheric properties, with an emphasis on clouds and aerosol. His interests in solar energy focus on improving short-term prediction of sunlight via physically based methods and development of observational/model hybrid systems.

Steven D. Miller
Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523-1375
Phone: 970-491-8037

Erika G. Nevarez

Erika Nevarez has been with Solar Millennium, LLC, since February 2011. She has a civil and environmental engineering degree as well as a master's degree in structural engineering. As a project development engineer, her main responsibilities include data collection and analysis for the Meteorological Department. She has improved data quality assessment techniques and is working to improve the integration of resource data and plant production models.

Erika G. Nevarez
Solar Trust of America
Solar Millennium, LLC
1111 Broadway, 5th Floor
Oakland, CA 94607
Office: 510-524-4517 x351
Direct: 510-463-6551
Cell: 408-206-4242

Kristen Nicole


Kirsten Orwig

Kirsten joined the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in 2009 to provide statistical and meteorological support for the Transmission and Grid Integration Group. She is researching and developing methods to quantify wind and solar energy variability, evaluating the impacts of variability on utilities, and developing techniques to model the impacts. She is also coordinating all of the solar transmission grid integration activities. She completed her Master of Science in atmospheric science and doctorate in wind science and engineering at Texas Tech University, researching the turbulence characteristics of high wind events through the use of traditional and nontraditional statistical methods.

Richard Perez

Richard is a research professor at the University at Albany's Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, where he directs applied research and teaches in the fields of solar radiation, solar energy applications, and daylighting. He holds a master's and a doctorate in atmospheric sciences (University of Paris and SUNY-Albany) and an undergraduate degree in electrotechnics (University of Nice, France). Two of his noted contributions to the field of solar energy are:

Perez sits on the advisory board of the GW Solar Institute at GW University in Washington, D.C., and has served multiple terms on the board of the American Solar Energy Society (ASES). He has produced more than 200 journal articles, conference papers, and technical reports and holds two U.S. patents on methods of load management using photovoltaics. He has received several international awards, including a Certificate for Outstanding Research from the U.S. Department of Energy; ASES' highest award, the Charles Greeley Abbot Award; and the 2008 First International Building and Daylight Award from the Villum Kann Rasmussen Fonden (Velux Foundation, Copenhagen, Denmark).

Dave Renné

Since 1991, Dave has been developing and managing programs on renewable energy resource assessment and analysis and the integration of resource data into geographic information systems (GIS). His expertise is in solar resource assessments. He currently manages the solar resource assessment projects supported by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) photovoltaic and concentrating solar power programs and serves as the operating agent of an International Energy Agency Solar Heating and Cooling Programme task titled Solar Resource Knowledge Management. Much of his recent work at NREL has been for international organizations such as the U.S. Agency for International Development and the United Nations Environment Program. In these programs, he has managed solar and wind energy resource assessments and the development of GIS tools for a number of countries, including several countries in Asia and South Asia, Central America, South America, and Africa. Prior to coming to NREL, he was a senior program manager at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, where he was heavily involved in domestic and international wind studies, such as the U. S. Candidate Site wind measurement program, and a wind resource assessment study for Egypt. Dave received his master's degree and doctorate at Colorado State University in atmospheric sciences and earth resources. He is currently a member of the board of directors of the American Solar Energy Society and is a vice president of the International Solar Energy Society. Dave also serves as an associate editor in the area of resource assessment for the Solar Energy Journal.

Jeff Ressler

As president of the Software Services Group at Clean Power Research, Jeff is responsible for the business and technical aspects of the company's suite of online services, including PowerClerk®, Clean Power Estimator®, SolarAnywhere®, QuickQuotes, and PowerBill™. Prior to joining Clean Power Research, he was director of product management for Microsoft Exchange Server, an e-mail, calendaring, and unified messaging server product that generates more than $2 billion in annual revenue for Microsoft. Jeff also served for more than two years as speech manager and assistant to Bill Gates, who was then both Microsoft chairman and chief software architect. Together, Gates and Jeff crafted content for hundreds of internal and external speeches and events. Early in his 10-year career at Microsoft, Jeff was a technical product manager and team lead on Visual C++, Visual Studio, and SQL Server. He holds an engineering degree from Stanford University.

Marie Schnitzer

Marie Schnitzer has more than 20 years of management experience in renewable and alternative energy power generation programs. Currently, she leads the solar services department at AWS Truepower. In this role, she provides strategic leadership, direction, and technical expertise in the development of the company's solar program, including resource and energy assessment, project consulting, due diligence, independent engineering, operational assessment, and forecasting.

Marie has authored several papers, including Smart Solar Resource Assessments and Evaluating Solar Energy Plants to Support Investment Decisions and presented at industry forums, including ASES and InterSolar NA. Presentations included Webinar: Solar Resource Assessment: Why it Matters, Reduce Uncertainties With Multiple Levels of Site Analysis, and SOLAR 2009: Quantifying Uncertainties in the National Solar Radiation Database.

She is an active member of SEIA and SEPA. Marie holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Clarkson University and a Master of Science in business administration from The College of Saint Rose.

Manajit Sengupta

Manajit received his doctorate in meteorology from Penn State University. His primary interest is in the area of clouds and their impact on solar radiation. He has more than 15 years of experience in modeling, assimilation, and observational analysis in atmospheric science from mesoscale to climate scale. He is currently a senior scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Dr. Hilary E. "Ned" Snell

Ned is a senior scientist and vice president of the Remote Sensing Division at Atmospheric and Environmental Research in Lexington, Massachusetts. He holds master's and doctorate degrees in atmospheric and space sciences (University of Michigan) as well as an A.B. in geophysics (University of Chicago).

Ned is experienced in theoretical and experimental remote sensing. This includes extensive infrared and ultraviolet radiative transfer model and retrieval algorithm development, including the design and implementation of upgrades to the FASCODE algorithm, the design and construction of infrared remote sensing instrumentation, and the analysis of data acquired from ground-based and space-borne sensors. He led the development of the infrared ozone retrieval algorithm for the Ozone Mapping and Profiling Suite and was the algorithm project manager for the Cross-Track Infrared and Microwave Sounder Suite, both part of National Polar Orbiting Satellite System. He continues to lead the development of end-to-end remote sensing simulation systems and tailored applications of radiative transfer models and remote sensing systems.

Dr. Hilary E. "Ned" Snell
Remote Sensing Division
Atmospheric and Environmental Research Inc.
Phone: 781-761-2288

Joshua Stein

Joshua is a principal member of technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories. He came to Sandia in 2001, after earning a doctorate from the University of California Santa Cruz in Earth sciences. Josh's specialty is modeling and analysis of complex natural and engineered systems, including assessments of uncertainty and sensitivity using stochastic methods. He currently develops and validates models of solar irradiance, photovoltaic system performance, and reliability. He currently leads the PV Modeling and Analysis and Solar Resource Assessment efforts at Sandia.

Joshua S. Stein
P.O. Box 5800 MS 1033
Sandia National Laboratories
Albuquerque, NM 87185-1033
Phone: 505-845-0936
Fax: 505-844-2890

Tom Stoffel

Tom began his career as an aerospace engineer at the USAF Propulsion Laboratory simulating gas turbine engine performance and infrared radiation signatures. Pursuing his interest in radiative transfer, he returned to school to study atmospheric science. Upon graduation, he worked at what is now NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory to analyze urban-rural differences in solar radiation. In 1978, he began his career in renewable energy at the Solar Energy Research Institute (now NREL). Today, he manages the Resource Information and Forecasting Group, providing national resource databases, characterizations of solar and meteorological measurement systems, and related research in support of increased uses of renewable energy for generating electricity and the study of climate change. He also continues to manage the Solar Radiation Research Laboratory (SRRL), developed in the early 1980s. Located on South Table Mountain, the SRRL provides continuous solar resource measurements, metrology services (including radiometer calibrations), optical radiation, and general-purpose electronics support.

Pascal Storck

Pascal heads 3TIER product operations, has been with the company since its inception, and has led many of its business and functional groups throughout his tenure. He is an internationally recognized expert on renewable energy assessment and forecasting. His background in systems analysis, optimization, and hydrologic sciences has played an integral role in the development and implementation of 3TIER's unique range of wind, hydro, and solar products. Pascal holds a bachelor's degree with distinction in environmental engineering from Cornell University, a master's degree in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a doctorate in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Washington, where he was also named a NASA Earth Systems Fellow.

Marcel Suri

A resident in Bratislava, Slovakia, Marcel holds a Master of Science and doctorate in geography and geoinformatics. From 2001 to 2008, he worked in the European Commission's Joint Research Centre on the PVGIS in the field of solar resource assessment, PV modeling, and Web mapping.

Marcel is active as an expert in tasks 36 and 46 of the International Energy Agency Solar Heating and Cooling and in the European project Weather Intelligence for Renewable Energies. He is working as a managing director of GeoModel Solar Company, which provides data services and consultancy for planning, financing, and operation of solar energy systems. GeoModel Solar has developed a new portfolio of solar and meteo databases and SolarGIS Web services.

Roger Tree

Roger has been monitoring environmental parameters for 30 years—much of that time working with light. For 21 years, Roger was lucky enough to be paid to travel to national parks to study air quality and visibility (horizontal extinction) with newly developed instruments, first with the John Muir Institute and then with Air Resource Specialists. For many years, he coordinated and participated in many National Park Service atmospheric science intensive studies. Roger joined Colorado State University and the USDA UV-B Monitoring and Research Program six years ago, where he continues to monitor solar irradiance. Five years ago he and two partners founded RMIData, a private environmental consulting firm, to work in the solar, wind, and meteorological fields. RMIData provides support for the National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center and a number military entities and green energy companies. Roger has his Bachelor of Science in physical science/environmental science from Northern Arizona University.

Roger Tree
RMIData
Cell: 970-214-4175

Frank Vignola

Frank has been measuring, analyzing, and modeling the solar resource in the Pacific Northwest since 1977. He operates a solar/PV monitoring network of approximately 30 stations that includes sites with the longest continuous record of high-quality beam and global measurements in the U.S. Frank created and operates a solar resource website with more than 100,000 distinct users from more than 140 countries. In addition, he has:

Steve Wilcox

Steve currently leads the NREL Solar Resource and Meteorological Assessment Project (SOLRMAP), a collaboration between NREL and industry to deploy high-quality solar measurement stations in the United States. Steve started at NREL in 1989 as a student intern and was hired full-time after receiving his degree. Since that time, he has developed software and procedures for automated quality assessment of solar radiation data and has worked at various locations around the world to foster the acquisition of high-quality solar radiation data sets. He managed the update of the NREL National Solar Radiation Database and led the team to develop the Radiometer Calibration and Characterization software for NREL's Solar Radiation Research Lab and the Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program. Steve is an enthusiastic mentor for students ranging in age from grade school to college and has received two Outstanding Mentor awards from the DOE Office of Science Undergraduate Research Programs.

Steve Wilcox
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
15013 Denver West Parkway, Golden, CO 80401-3393
Phone: 303-384-7785
Fax: 303-384-6391

John W. Zack

John is a principal and the director of forecasting at AWS Truepower, LLC, one of the leading renewable energy consulting firms in the world. He is also the president, chief scientist, and co-founder of MESO Inc., a company that specializes in the development and application of geophysical numerical models in a range of industries. In his role with AWS Truepower, he has directed the development and operational implementation of AWST's wind and solar power production forecasting system and the MesoMap wind resource assessment system. John is the author of numerous technical articles about wind and solar forecasting as well as other applications of geophysical numerical models, which have been published in the professional journals of the atmospheric sciences and other disciplines. He has earned a Bachelor of Science in meteorology and oceanography from New York University and a doctorate in atmospheric sciences from Cornell University.