May 20-23, 2024 | George Washington University | Washington, D.C.
We are excited to announce that we’ll be hosting our 53rd Annual National Solar Conference, SOLAR 2024, in Washington, DC, on May 20-23! The deadline was December 1, 2023. Please contact conference@ases.org with any questions.
Message from the Chair
As Conference Chair of the American Solar Energy Society’s SOLAR 2024 National Solar Conference in Washington, D.C., at George Washington University on May 20-23, 2024. I heartedly invite you to this conference and hear speakers present in person or virtually, as well as interact with a wide variety of experts and practitioners, as well as educating your Congressional representatives.
The conference theme, “Connecting Technology & Policy,” will promote the ASES mission to “accelerate equitable solar adoption and universal sustainable living by educating and building community.” And will focus on models and tools for negotiating the challenges to advancing renewables by following justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) principles.
Never before is such a meeting needed in our nation’s capital, before the 2024 national elections for President and Members of Congress.
There is much good news as a result of bipartisan passage of the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (December 2021) and the Inflation Reduction Act (August 2022), which resulted in over 80 manufacturing plants all over the USA being constructed, which will be producing solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, electric vehicles, and batteries for vehicles, buildings and the electric grid. And more renewable energy has been connected to the US electric grid over the last two years than fossil fuels, a historic set of achievements.
However, forces are attempting to push back on these successes at the federal, state and local government levels in part by old legacy energy industries, certain political constituencies, and frankly just fear of change, similar to what the cellular industries and the internet-based industries faced in their market evolutions & revolutions. So those of you within the clean energy industries, local governments, community leaders, environmentalists, economic development practitioners, and many others need to be involved in a higher-level information sharing, Congressional education, and media interaction that I know this Conference will deliver for you.
Aside from presentations of all types, ASES will have a. technology and services show, an on-Capitol Hill education day, and a huge time for attendee interaction.
The George Washington University campus is five blocks from The White House in downtown Washington, DC. GWU has five buildings with photovoltaics, three buildings with solar thermal systems, the GWU Hospital with a large combined heat & power system, and GW’s other renewable energy project includes the Capital Partners Solar Project with Duke Energy Renewables, which began in 2015 and provides GW with half of its electricity from three solar farms in North Carolina. https://provost.gwu.edu/capital-partners-solar-project. All will contribute to the university’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2040 for GWU with over 8,000 professors and 44,597 students.
With impacts of Climate Change upon us. Global conflicts. Sustainability of ecosystems threatened. Access to clean water is a global threat. Now is the time as never before to come to Washington, DC, exchange information, interact, educate others, and push for a sustainable energy future for ALL in this nation and on this planet. As one who has been over 40 years in this field, I am excited to meet and interact with you at this critical event.
Scott Sklar Conference Chair, ASES 2024 Conference Adjunct Professor & Sustainable Energy Director of GWU’s Environment & Energy Management Institute (EEMI) President, of The Stella Group, Ltd, a 23 year old global Clean energy owner’s rep company. Awarded the prestigious The Charles Greeley Abbot Award by the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) on April 26, 2014
Why attend SOLAR 2024?
The National Solar Conference is America’s leading conference on the emerging trends, technology, and opportunities shaping the new energy economy.The American Solar Energy Society’s cutting-edge conference series introduces attendees to the leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs moving the industry forward. With the solar energy and energy efficiency sectors changing at an unprecedented pace, this conference helps participants understand the changes and uncover the billion-dollar opportunities. ASES supports the global initiative that a world equitably transformed to 100% renewable energy is an urgent necessity.
Through the ASES National Solar Conference, SOLAR 2024: Connecting Technology & Policy, we will elevate public, institutional, and governmental awareness of the critical role solar energy is playing in the global energy landscape. We must ensure that access to and the benefits from clean energy will be enjoyed by all communities, especially those that have been denied those benefits in the past. SOLAR 2024 will promote ASES’ overall goal to “accelerate equitable solar adoption and universal sustainable living by educating and building community.” The conference will focus on research models, examples, and tools for negotiating the challenges to advancing renewables by following justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) principles.
Meet Remi Akinwonmi, a University of Colorado Boulder Masters student studying mechanical engineering. He dives into his favorite parts of the ASES National Solar Conference and looks forward to seeing many students and emerging professionals at SOLAR 2024.
WHO ATTENDS? Over the last 52 years, thousands of professionals from public, private, and industrial sector organizations have attended the ASES National Solar Conferences. Attendees include:
Educators
Contractors
Developers
Architects
Engineers
Installers
Consultants
Homeowners
Policy Makers
Researchers
Manufacturers
Solar Enthusiasts
Students
Sponsorship opportunities are now available for SOLAR 2024. Make your mark and get in front of your audience early and often. Visit ases.org/conference for details and contact Brian Searles, ASES Development Director, at bsearles@ases.org to sponsor.
