New networking opportunities promise to connect start-ups with investors and seasoned executives

SAN FRANCISCO, May 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Intersolar North America, the most attended solar industry exhibition and conference dedicated to the North American market, will showcase two exhibition pavilions at this year's event that highlight innovative start-up and mid-stage companies. After a successful debut at last year's event, the California Solar Energy Industries Association (CALSEIA) will once again host the California Pavilion, featuring member companies in the solar and storage industries. New to this year's exhibition is the Powerhouse Pavilion, hosted by Powerhouse—the world's first and only incubator and accelerator dedicated to solar. The Powerhouse Pavilion will highlight solar software, finance and storage startups.

In addition to showcasing products from established companies, Intersolar North America highlights groundbreaking products and services from start-up, early and mid-stage companies. As the first major solar industry event of the year in North America, Intersolar will unveil the next-generation products to help reduce costs, boost efficiency and drive the solar market forward. The event will feature more than 500 exhibitors and host an expected 18,000 visitors.

The CALSEIA California Pavilion, located on the first level of Moscone West, will allow attendees to connect with solar and energy storage companies from one of the country's leading markets. The expanded pavilion will educate attendees on the latest trends shaping the California solar and energy storage economy, and offer access to CALSEIA representatives to learn more about the organization's policy initiatives in the state and get involved.

"The companies exhibiting in the California Pavilion represent a cross section of CALSEIA's member companies that are working together to ensure the continued growth of California's solar industry," said Kelsea Jones, membership and marketing director for CALSEIA. "From the diverse to the ingenious, and from the entrepreneurial to the enduring, California is the playing field where the new gets tested and the old gets perfected."

The Powerhouse Pavilion, located on the second level, will feature both new and established solar software, financing and energy companies. As part of the California-based incubator's activities at Intersolar North America, Powerhouse will host the Powerhouse Circle conference side event. During this "speed-dating" event, 25 investors and executives will meet 1:1 with 25 entrepreneurs and startups, granting each the opportunity to make valuable business connections.

"The best word to describe Powerhouse Circle is intense. Startup founders have 90 seconds to pitch and executives or investors have 90 seconds to respond. We put the 'speed' in speed dating," said Emily Kirsh, Powerhouse co-founder and CEO. "This isn't a five-minute pitch on stage at demo day—this is a true elevator pitch. Powerhouse Circle gives everyone what they want. Startups get to meet with potential customers and investors and industry leaders and investors get to see months worth of deal flow in a couple hours. Everybody wins."

The Solar Foundation joins Intersolar North America exhibition for the first time this year. Known for its annual National Solar Jobs Census, the organization is dedicated to delivering analysis and actionable information to inform solar policy decisions across the country. Representatives from The Solar Foundation will discuss job creation within the solar industry and new programs to maintain, grow, develop, and train the solar workforce. Through a new initiative, The Solar Foundation will collaborate with Intersolar and CALSEIA to produce a white paper focused on the potential solar workforce opportunities and challenges that come with solar-plus-storage system configurations, which will be published and presented at this year's event.

"America's booming solar industry is now a major job creator and a key driver of economic growth," said Andrea Luecke, president and executive director of The Solar Foundation. "We are excited to come to Intersolar and share our ongoing research on the rapid increase in solar jobs nationwide as well as our initiatives on workforce development and solar jobs training."

The Intersolar North America exhibition will be held July 12 - 14 at the Moscone West Center in San Francisco and is co-located with both ees North America, the ideal platform to connect stakeholders in the rapidly growing energy storage market, and SEMICON West, the world's marketplace for micro­electronics innovation. Registration for the exhibition and conference is available online. For a full listing of exhibition events, visit the online schedule.

In addition to visiting the exhibition floor, registrants for this year's Conference will also be able to use this same registration to attend the American Solar Energy Society's SOLAR 2016 and ees North America program tracks to get an unparalleled overview of the renewable energy industry worldwide.

About ees North America
The ees global exhibition series is the electrical energy storage industry's hotspot for manufacturers, distributors, users and suppliers of stationary and mobile storage solutions. ees exhibitions are organized in cooperation with Intersolar, the world's leading exhibition series for the solar industry.

The ees exhibitions and accompanying conferences are focused on storage solutions for renewable energy, from residential and commercial applications to large-scale storage systems for stabilizing the grids. ees also features energy management, electric transportation and uninterruptible power supply (UPS).

There are three ees events around the world—ees North America in San Francisco, ees Europe in Munich, and ees India in Mumbai. The ees North America debuted in 2015 as a special exhibition in San Francisco. In 2016, ees North America becomes a stand-alone exhibition co-located with Intersolar North America.

With 100 expected exhibitors and 18,000 visitors at the co-located events, it will be the most-attended solar-plus-storage event in the U.S.

For more information on ees please visit www.ees-northamerica.com

About Intersolar North America
With events spanning four continents, Intersolar is the world's leading exhibition series for the solar industry and its partners. It unites people and companies from around the world with the aim of increasing the share of solar power in our energy supply.

Since its establishment in 2008, Intersolar North America has become the most attended solar event and the premier networking platform for the North American solar industry. Co-located with SEMICON West, Intersolar North America takes place annually at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, in the heart of the United States' pioneering solar market. The event will expand to host a co-located energy storage-focused exhibition, ees North America. ees grew out of Intersolar North America's popular energy storage exhibition segment.

A total of 521 exhibitors and around 17,835 visitors participated in Intersolar North America in 2015. The conference and exhibition program featured 47 sessions with more than 200 speakers and 25 workshops.

Intersolar North America's exhibition and conference focus on photovoltaics, energy storage systems, smart renewable energy and solar heating & cooling technologies. Since being founded, Intersolar has become the most important industry platform to connect manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, service providers, policy makers, start-up founders, financiers, installers and partners in the global solar industry.

With 25 years of experience, Intersolar has the unique ability to bring together members of the solar industry from across the world's most influential markets and solar supply chain. Intersolar exhibitions and conferences are held in Munich, San Francisco, Mumbai, and São Paulo, and, starting in 2016, in Dubai. These global events are complemented by the Intersolar Summits, which take place in emerging and growing markets worldwide.

For more information on Intersolar North America, please visit: http://www.intersolar.us