Workshop: First Look at DOE’s Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X) 5-year Strategic Roadmap 
12:30 - 2:30 p.m. PT
i2X is a new program aiming to develop innovative solutions to enable faster, simpler, and fairer interconnection of solar energy, wind energy, and energy storage, while enhancing the reliability and resilience of our nation’s distribution and transmission grid networks. Join this workshop, hosted by SETO’s Ammar Qusaibaty, to go through an early draft of the i2X 5-Year Strategic Roadmap, and share your experience to help shape a practical roadmap for improving interconnection procedures nationwide. 

General Session
8:30 – 9:15 a.m. PT
Hear from DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm at the conference’s general session.  

Emerging Energy Technologies & How to Work with National Labs to Develop Yours
9:30 – 10:30 a.m. PT
Tune into this panel, featuring SETO’s Peter Lobaccaro and several national laboratories, to hear how voucher programs connect researchers with private sector innovators and learn about the latest emerging technologies coming out of this work.

Pathway to 1 Million Workers: Tools For Scaling Workforce Growth 
9:30 – 10:30 a.m. PT
Join SETO’s Nicole Steele who will moderate this panel discussion about workforce development. They will discuss the role of organized labor, the value of apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships, the role of community partners, and recruitment, placement and long-term mentorship from a diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice-centered perspective. 

Lessons Learned from DOE’s Inclusive Solar Outreach Awards 
12:00 – 12:30 p.m. PT
Adoption of residential or community solar can reduce energy burden for individuals, especially those in frontline and disadvantaged communities. SETO’s Inclusive Solar Outreach Awards are designed to recognize communications campaigns that help expand solar energy adoption and solar careers in underrepresented communities. Hear SETO’s Gabby LaVerghetta and Michele Boyd discuss the best practices employed by the winning campaigns from the inaugural Inclusive Solar Outreach Awards and introduce DOE's new Best Practices Guide for Inclusive Solar Communications.

Quicktalk: The National Community Solar Partnership's Pathway to Success
1:30 – 2:00 p.m. PT
DOE’s National Community Solar Partnership (NCSP) brings together community solar stakeholders to expand access to affordable community solar. This presentation, featuring SETO’s Nicole Steele and Anna Balzer, will explore how to leverage the new NCSP resources to accelerate community solar deployment, including the technical assistance program, collaborative efforts with state energy offices and regulators, the Credit-Ready Solar Training Program and Marketplace, and the NCSP's approach to awareness and trust-building through recognition and messaging. 

American-Made Solar Prize Pitch Showcase 
2:00 – 3:30 p.m. PT
Join SETO’s Dr. Becca Jones-Albertus, Peter Lobaccaro, and more at this exciting pitch showcase. For almost a year, entrepreneurs across the country have accelerated their innovative solar solutions through the Solar Prize Round 5. They’ve turned ideas into inventions; proposals to prototypes. Now, finalist teams are pitching their technologies to the solar industry. Watch these ingenious innovators compete for part of $1.4 million.

American-Made Solar Prize Winner Announcement 
5:00 – 6:00 p.m. PT
SETO’s Dr. Becca Jones-Albertus will announce the winning teams from the American-Made Solar Prize Round 5. More than $1.4 million will be awarded to startups for their innovations that are changing the solar industry as we know it. Stick around for a celebration after the winner announcement! 

RE+ Tech Funders Breakfast
8:00 – 9:15 a.m. PT
Join members from across DOE at this networking breakfast event, which seeks to bring together public and private funders to engage with researchers, entrepreneurs, and others to discuss commercialization and financial resources.   

SEPA - Rise and Shine: Expanding Community Solar through State and Federal Action
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. PT
Engage with SETO’s Nicole Steele as she speaks about how community solar enables utility customers across the spectrum to access carbon-free energy. Learn how federal and state governments are supporting and prioritizing community solar and how policymakers and utilities are tapping community solar to benefit low-to-moderate-income households.

The Path to Carbon-Free: Making Sense of the Clean Energy Roadmaps  
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PT
As the Biden Administration pursues its goal to decarbonize the U.S. economy by 2050, analysts have put forward visions for how to achieve these targets. But do these models all lead to the same place? How should energy developers apply the findings from these roadmaps to their business decisions? Panelists, including SETO’s Dr. Becca Jones-Albertus, will discuss how to make sense of the similarities and differences between the myriad clean energy roadmaps, explore what industry participants should know as they plan for the future and what is needed to prepare for the transition to a carbon-free future. 

SolarAPP+ results: How is the application working?
12:00 – 12:30 p.m. PT
Hear this presentation on SolarAPP+™, an automated solar permit plan review tool that cuts through the red tape of solar permitting and compliance procedures. The national labs will provide an overview of SolarAPP+™, its adoption and impact thus far, an update on how the program is improving permitting processes in local jurisdictions, and how it will provide useful implementation data.

U.S. Department of Energy Solar Incubator Awardee Showcase
12:00 – 1:30 p.m. PT
Join SETO’s Dr. Becca Jones-Albertus at this awardee showcase, featuring pitches from Manufacturing and Competitiveness program awardees and the opportunity to network with SETO and companies developing technologies for installation automation, novel coatings, solar-thermal energy storage, cybersecurity, and more.

Workshop: Building-Integrated Photovoltaics: Beyond the Shingle
8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PT
This DOE-hosted workshop will engage stakeholders on the current challenges and opportunities of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). DOE’s Solar Energy Technologies Office and Building Technologies Office expect to get feedback from this workshop that would assist in deciding future activities. The workshop will include presentations from various experts related to the solar and buildings industries, and findings from DOE’s previous research.