Solar Conference 2009 - Agendas
Monday, December 7th
7:15 am – 8:30 amBreakfast: Sponsored by Borden Ladner Gervais LLP 
8:30 am - 9:15 am
Opening ceremonies and Keynote address
The Honourable Lisa Raitt, M.P., P.C, Minister of Natural Resources Canada (Confirmed)
9:15 am - 10:30 am
Plenary I
A National Renewable Energy Strategy for Canada
This conference is taking place at the same time as the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change. What should Canada’s strategy be on climate change? What should Canada’s federal government be doing to encourage development and deployment of renewable energy across the country? We have assembled a panel of politicians and policy makers all with an interesting perspective.
Moderator
Tim Murphy, McMillan Binch (Confirmed)
Panelists
James Rajotte, MP Edmonton-Leduc, Chair, House of Commons Finance Committee,
Government of Canada (Confirmed)
Nathan Cullen, M.P., Skeena-Bulkley Valley, British Columbia,
NDP Energy and Natural Resources Critic (Confirmed)
Jeffrey Simpson, National Columnist for The Globe & Mail (Confirmed)
Martha Hall Findlay, MP, Willowdale, Official Opposition Critic, Public Works and Government
Services Canada (Confirmed)
10:30 am – 11:00 am
Coffee Break Sponsored By Canadian Solar Inc. 
11:00 am – 12:15 pm Breakout Sessions
Breakout 1: Opportunities and challenges for urban solar projects
Moderator
Patty Hargreaves, Greening Greater Toronto (Confirmed)
Panelists
Rob McMonagle, City of Toronto (Confirmed) Biography
David Eisenbud, Sunpower (Confirmed)
Mike Brigham, Toronto Renewable Energy Co-Operative (Confirmed)
David Mayes, Chairperson, Okanagan Environmental Industry Alliance (Confirmed) Presentation
Breakout 2: Domestic content: protectionism or the wave of the future
Moderator
Tim Murphy, McMillan Binch LLP (Confirmed)
Panelists
Ron Mantay, Schücco Canada (Confirmed) Biography
Michael Kergin, Senior Advisor, Bennett Jones LLP, Canada’s former Ambassador to
Washington (Confirmed)
Mike Andrade, Senior Vice President, Celestica (Confirmed)
Milfred Hammerbacher, President, Canadian Solar Solutions (Confirmed)
Vinod Mukani, Director Structured Finance, Nord/LB (Confirmed)
Breakout 3: Solar and Green Building in Canada
Moderator
Gordon Shields, Net Zero Energy Home Coalition (Confirmed)
Panelists
Larry Brydon, Reliance Home Energy (Confirmed)
Tex McLeod (Confirmed)
Rob Smith, Minto (Confirmed)
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm
Keynote Luncheon - Sponsored By SunEdison LLC 
Speaker
Colin Andersen, CEO, Ontario Power Authority
2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Plenary Session 2: Solar policy: what works, what doesn’t - here and around the world
With the election of Barack Obama in January of this year, public policy that supports the development and deployment of renewable energy has become mainstream mantra for North Americans. Other countries in Europe have actually been ahead of Canada and the US in this area. This panel will look at the policies that have been implemented in North America and Europe and discuss their effectiveness and where they believe they will lead.
Moderator
Linda Bertoldi, BLG (Confirmed) Biography
Panelists
Olivier Drücke, ESTIF (European Solar Thermal Industry Federation) (Confirmed)
Rick Gilliam, Vice President of Government Affairs, SunEdison (Confirmed) Biography
Miguel de Anquin, COO, Premier Power (Confirmed) Biography
Polly Shaw, Director of External Relations, SunTech America (Confirmed) Biography
David Herle, The Gandalf Group (Confirmed)
3:30 pm – 4:00 pm 
Coffee break – Sponsored By Thermo Dynamics Ltd.
4:00 pm – 5:15 pm
CanSIA Annual General Meeting
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm NABCEO / CanSIA Meeting (Stakeholders)
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm Solar Hot Water Deployment Agencies Meeting
5:15 pm – 7:30 pm
Cocktail Reception – Sponsored By SkyPower Corp. 
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm The Createch Group Hospitality Suite
Join Createch and find out how The Createch Group, in partnership with Tyre Ventures Inc. and Fred Ayoub, can assist with your Information Technology needs.
Tuesday, December 8th
7:30 am - 9:00 am
Phil McNeely, MPP, Ottawa-Orleans, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Government of Ontario (Confirmed)
Breakfast – Sponsored By Ontario Government 
9:00 am - 10:30 am
Plenary 3:
The CEO’s Panel
It’s been a busy year for the solar industry in Canada. The country seems to be coming out of its recession – but will that be helped by an increased presence of renewable energy technologies? New or increased incentives have been extended for the solar thermal industry. At the same time federal and provincial governments want to be assured that the technology and installations will meet expectations. For the PV industry, it has been all about Ontario – and what is the reality of that. This panel of Canadian CEOs will look at these and other questions as they look backwards at the year that is almost finishing and look into their crystal balls in terms of what they expect in 2010.
Moderator
Michael Vaughan, BNN (Business News Network)
Panelists
Kerry Adler, President and CEO, SkyPower (Confirmed)
Dr. John S. MacDonald, President and CEO, Day4Energy Inc. (Confirmed)
Dr. Phil Whiting, President and CEO, EnerWorks (Confirmed)
Peter Allen, President, Thermo Dynamics Ltd. (Confirmed)
Michael Carten, Executive Chairman and Co- Founder of Sustainable Energy Technologies (Confirmed)
Ted Lattimore, CEO, Carmanah Technologies (Confirmed)
10:30 am - 11:00 am
Coffee Break – Sponsored By Stikeman Elliott LLP 
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Breakout Sessions
1. Building a solar workforce
With the election of Barack Obama in January, we have now gone from Joe The Plumber to Joe The Solar Guy. What are the employment opportunities in the solar industry and how will we meet the demand going forward.
Moderator
Dave Kelly, Sedmek (Confirmed)
Panelists
Ezra Auerbach, Executive Director, NABCEP (Confirmed) Biography
Ed Knaggs, VP, Home Energy Solutions (Confirmed)
Barry Stevens, IBEW (Confirmed) Biography
Don Young, St. Lawrence College (Confirmed)
2. ST: Backflow preventers, CSA certification ...and all that jazz
Moderator
Rob Singlehurst, Enerworks (Confirmed)
Panelists
Rob McMonagle, City of Toronto (Confirmed) Biography
Nitya Harris, Solar BC (Confirmed) Biography Presentation
Ray Woo, CSA (Confirmed) Biography Presentation
Al Clark/Jeff Knapp, NRCan (Confirmed) Presentation
3. Utilities and solar – What is the future?”
Moderator
Jon Kieran, Director, EDF EN Canada (Confirmed)
Panelists
Doug Sullivan, ENMAX (Confirmed) Biography
Jamie Hopkins, Manitoba Hydro (Confirmed)
Joyce McLean, Toronto Hydro (Confirmed) Biography
John Maniawski, Director, Wind and Solar Energy, Enbridge Inc (Confirmed) Biography
12:15 pm - 2:00 pm
Awards Luncheon– Sponsored By EDF EN Canada 
Speaker
Tristan Grimbert, President & Chief Executive Officer EDF EN Canada (Confirmed)
2:00 pm - 3:15 pm
Plenary 4:
The Challenge and Opportunities of financing solar projects
Countries, provinces and states around the world are interested in solar for two reasons: renewable energy is expected to be a big part of everyone’s future and it should promise economic benefits. We have assembled a panel of bankers and investors who will look at the financing opportunities and tell what they think will be most attractive to them and their shareholders.
Moderator
Jonathan Weisz, Torys LLP (Confirmed) Biography
Panelists
Andrew Kinross, Navigant Consulting (Confirmed) Biography
Louis Bélanger, Director, Structured and Project Financing Stonebridge Financial Corporation (Confirmed) Biography
Stéphane Carrière, Vice President, DEXIA CRÉDIT LOCAL S.A.Canada Branch (Confirmed) Biography
Paul Ghezzi, Solar Income Fund (Confirmed) Biography
Thomas Kurfurst, Scotia Capital (Confirmed) Biography
3:15 pm - 3:45 pm
Coffee Break – Sponsored By Torys LLP 
3:45 pm - 4:45 pm Solar Thermal Action Committee on Codes and Standards (STACCS)
3:45 pm - 5:00 pm
Breakout Sessions
1. “Ontario – The agony and the ecstasy – FIT a few months after launch “
Moderator:
Michelle Chislett, Vice President, Skypower (Confirmed)
Panelists:
Jason Chee-Aloy, Director of Generation Procurement, OPA (Confirmed)
Dave Egles, President, Home Energy Solutions (Confirmed)
David Brochu, Recurrent Energy (Confirmed)
Jason Gray, Director-Canadian Operations, SunEdison LLP (Confirmed)
Ian MacLellan, President, ARISE Technologies (Confirmed)
2. “Selling solar in your community : solar companies, installers and utilities can learn
how to use the web, twitter, facebook and local media to sell solar"
Moderator
Alex Swann, Gandalf Group (Confirmed)
Panelists
Ed Lee, Managing Director, Com.motion (Confirmed) Biography
Mark Evans, ME Consulting (Confirmed)
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Update Sessions
1. NR Can update Presentation Presentation
2. Ontario FIT Program Update
Moderator
David Anderson, (Helios Energy)
Panelists
Jim MacDougall (Ontario Power Authority) Biography
Peter Fraser (Ontario Energy Board) Biography Presentation
Marcia Wallace (Ontario Ministry of Environment) Biography Presentation
Karen Slawner (Ontario Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure) Biography
