The American Solar Energy Society (ASES) SOLAR 20/20 National Organizing Committee (NOC) has been monitoring the COVID-19 situation closely. After much deliberation, the NOC has ultimately decided to convert the live event in Washington D.C. to a virtual conference in order to ensure the safety and health of our attendees, speakers, and sponsors. We are using an interactive platform where important discussions, networking, and community building can take place from the comfort of your computer, tablet, or smartphone.

SOLAR 20/20 Conference Chair, Scott Sklar, has this to say about the virtual conference:

The clean energy community has faced a multitude of challenges and COVID-19 is yet another. Our ASES SOLAR 20/20 virtual meeting in June will empower all of us to broaden the participation by orders-of-magnitude to drive the goal of 100% renewable energy. We'll embrace new technology to leverage the entire portfolio of renewable energy, high-value energy efficiency and storage to rebuild the US economy, lower regulated and greenhouse gas emissions, and create a more sustainable world.

The conference has been consolidated to two days: June 24 and 25. In addition, the Beyond Net-Zero Design Workshop and NABCEP courses will take place on GoToWebinar June 26. The Early Bird discount rate is extended to May 29, 2020. The new Early Bird rate to the conference is $274, and increases to $299 after May 29. ASES members receive discounts between 15-70% on conference passes. Join today for as little as $22 at ases.org/join and register for the conference at ases.org/conference.

A key aspect of achieving the renewable energy vision is gaining public support for actions and policies that will rapidly advance the energy transformation. The Citizens Action session will feature policymaker interaction, stress the importance of public support, how to gain it, and how to promote necessary policies. During the Stronger Together Town Hall, participants will be able to engage with representatives from many organizations involved in advocacy and policy making such as Larry Sherwood of the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), Ari Bortman with Fossil Free Penn, Kelly Lynch with the Sierra Club, and many more.

SOLAR 20/20 also features many technical sessions covering buildings, systems, PV, solar thermal, and storage. The conference will have tracks in Education, Policy, Finance, and special sessions for Women in Solar Energy (WISE), ~switch presentations, and a panel of solar decathletes from the 2020 Solar Decathlon. Outside of our concurrent tacks, we will have our Keynote sessions featuring SOLAR 20/2o Chair Scott Sklar, the founder of Earth Day, Denis Hayes, past president of the International Solar Energy Society, Dave Rene, and other prominent speakers.

ASES is offering a wide range of high value sponsorships starting at $1,500. All sponsor levels provide opportunities for advertising at the virtual conference and online throughout the year through ASES outreach. If you are interested in sponsoring, please visit ases.org/sponsorsolar2020 or contact sales@ases.org to get started!

Register now for the virtual SOLAR 20/20: Renewable Energy Vision conference, and learn more at ases.org/conference.

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