Chris Bennett | Sustainable Energy Financing Adviser

Chris Bennett has been active in energy PPA since 1999. Mr Bennett has been involved in every aspect of energy projects. Chris has managed teams for some of the most successful solar organizations to date.  He worked for the first ever solar company Real Goods, launched SolarCity’s Commercial Division and led Clean Power Finance into the market and today runs with his partner James McCorkle a niche municipal strategy with Municipal Solar.

In addition, Chris has been instrumental in the mass market adoption of several financial vehicles to move solar energy towards mainstream markets as well as LEDs. With clients like Nordstroms and other top Fortune 500 brands Chris is know as a trailblazer.

Pyramyth Liu | Renenwable Energy & IoT Financing Lead

A proactive global operations and business development executive with a Masters in International Economics and over 25 years executive experience in solar/clean-tech and high-tech industries. Expertise in establishing and growing the profitability, performance, and value of companies. Multi-lingual with extensive international experience. Proven management skills in motivating and inspiring multi-cultural teams to overcome obstacles, resolve problems, and move initiatives forward during challenging situations.

Built and manage a team to develop, finance, operate and sold 30 Megawatts of solar PV projects (over $66Million) at Hanergy America within first 24 months. Built a team to develop 15 Megawatts ($43Million) of solar PV Projects targeting commercial and utility customers in the US within 18 months for Gloria Solar. Established solar PV system business for Gloria Solar. Restructured and rebuilt portfolio companies of iD Ventures America; achieved breakeven and executed M&A.

Established internal start-up within Acer America Corporation – ShopAcer internet site – amongst the first PC brands to conduct E-Commerce.; Project Sales – Build Commercial and Utility solar PV thin film project pipelines. Focus on large (above 250kW) commercial solar PV opportunities in California, targeting Investor Owned Utility (IOU) Fast Track solar PV projects.

Alexander Fassbender | Chemical Engineering & R&D Program Manager

Alex Fassbender is an innovator and inventor in the fields of energy and water with four R&D 100 awards and 14 patents. His seminal contributions to the field of carbon capture and zero-emission clean-coal technology have earned him appointments to the National Coal Council by Energy Secretaries Bodman and Chu.

In addition to pressurized oxy-fuel and CARMON processes, he led the technical development and commercialization of a cost-effective method to recover ammonia from wastewater treatment plants. He serves as Chief Technology Officer of the Earth Council Alliance where is applies his experience in product stewardship, sustainability and the energy-water nexus to pressing issues of our time. Mr. Fassbender advanced Product Stewardship at Lockheed-Martin Corporation where he evaluated the use of hazardous, scarce, rare earth and nano materials across product lines and developed strategic plans to reduce/eliminate business, technical and environmental risks. He led projects to evaluate the technical feasibility of advanced material and chemical processing methodologies to achieve corporate sustainability goals and improve design, performance, life cycle costs, manufacturability, and reduce or eliminate environmental waste/hazards. His team implemented a successful program to use reusable fixtures in place of disposable packaging for aircraft components resulting in a 50% savings, reduced handling time, and a 100% reduction in packaging waste.

He joined ThermoEnergy Corporation as Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President in 1999 and provided strategic planning and project management for technology programs. He was the lead evaluator for all corporate R&D projects and made funding down-select decisions. He created innovations and led R&D program portfolio providing technical management oversight and performance tracking. As a corporate officer his duties also included risk identification/mitigation, milestone criteria achievement, and return on investment assessments. He assembled a team of international R&D team partners comprised of the ThermoEnergy, University of Nevada, Reno, CANMET, Reaction Systems Engineering and Babcock Power. In 2006, he participated in a trade mission to China led by Commerce Secretary Gutierrez. In 2008, he participated in a professional mission to China organized in concert with the past president of the Water Environment Federation.

At the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory he served as an early change agent implementing the technology transfer mandate of the Bayh Dole Act. His assigned portfolio included advanced research programs focused on both government and industry funded clean energy and environmental research projects. His team solicited research proposals across all PNNL technical portfolios, developed evaluation criteria, participated in proposal evaluation; established research funding priorities based on commercialization potential of selected projects, and managed an Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio from basic research through prototype stages.

He received awards for Excellence in Technology Transfer from the United States Federal Laboratory Consortium in 1988 and 1995. He is a Registered Professional Engineer and earned his Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering in 1988 and his MBA in 1980. His MBA thesis was based on the experience of Battelle Development Corporation and titled ‘Valuation of Technological Innovation.