Stoel Rives LLP is the Salt Lake City host for the monthly ABA/ACORE Renewable Energy Teleconference Series. The title of this month's teleconference is "Solar: The Future King of Renewables?"

About this webinar
Installed solar photovoltaic (“PV”) capacity in the United States continues to be dwarfed by wind generating capacity. In fact, solar lags behind all other established forms of renewable power generation, including biomass, hydroelectric and geothermal power. However, current circumstances suggest that our most ubiquitous resource may be about to come into its own in the renewable energy arena.

Among other things, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 extended the 30% solar investment tax credit (ITC) for eight years for both residential and commercial solar installations (i.e., through December 31, 2016), eliminated the $2,000 cap on the investment tax credit for residential solar electric installations placed into service after 2008, and made public utilities eligible to claim the tax credits. Critically, the costs of PV technology (on a per kWh generated basis) continues to rapidly decline. One analyst suggested in 2009 that the day had arrived where PV installations had reached grid parity and could now produce electricity as cheaply as traditional competitive generation sources, while others forecast that occurrence by 2015 In any event, PV module production continues to grow exponentially, with more manufacturing capacity expected to be announced.

Yet, much continues to stand in the way of PVs becoming a leading source of electric energy in the U.S. Beyond the difficulty of accessing capital as our economy struggles to recover, the solar PV industry is still not working under a mature set of policies, regulations, local ordinances and commercial arrangements – all of which are needed for PV generation to become a substantial portion of the nation’s generation portfolio. Please join us for a lively and provocative discussion concerning the issues that will dictate the future of PV generation in the United States.

The distinguished panel of industry experts will address the following issues:

1. How has PV generation evolved and where is it going? Must we move from tax incentives to feed in tariffs, rate and better lending incentives to reach the next level in the US?
2. What practical realities must the developers of utility-scale PV generation face, and how are they coping?
3. What are the legal impediments to small scale PV installations, and what successful models are available for state and local governments that wish to diminish or remove the hurdles?
4. How can States, counties and local governments actively encourage the use of solar energy, and what are they actually doing?
5. Is there value in standardization of product, interconnection, financing and commercial contracting; will that work?

Q & A Submission:
Q & A both on the teleconference and live at the host firm sites, will follow the speakers' presentations. Please email questions to abaquestions@acore.org.

Call Times:
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm Eastern
11:00 am - 12:30 pm Central
10:00 am - 11:30 am Mountain
9:00 am - 10:30 am Pacific
8:00 am - 9:30 am Alaskan

Click here to register online, or contact Jenn Oblad at joblad@stoel.com or (801) 715-6662. The discount pass code (if you are attending the teleconference via the Stoel Rives location) is UT0910HF. The discount pass code (if you are attending from your own office) is UT0910GR. Click here for more information on this event.