2018 Honorees
Companies

SolarEdge Technologies
Enterprise Company of the Year

SolarEdge Technologies
Enterprise Company of the Year
SolarEdge is a global leader in smart energy technology. By leveraging world-class engineering capabilities and with a relentless focus on innovation, SolarEdge creates smart energy solutions that power our lives and drive future progress.Established in 2006, SolarEdge developed the DC optimized inverter solution that changed the way power is harvested and managed in photovoltaic (PV) systems.
Continuing to advance smart energy, SolarEdge addresses a broad range of energy market segments through its diversified product offering, including residential, commercial and largescale PV, battery storage and backup solutions, EV charging, home energy management, grid services and virtual power plants, and uninterrupted power supply (UPS) solutions. SolarEdge is a global leading inverter manufacturer that has shipped over 7.5GW of its DC optimized inverter systems, and has over 600,000 SolarEdge PV sites monitored in 125 countries around the world.
Since its IPO on NASDAQ in 2015, SolarEdge has continuously shown significant growth in revenue and gross margin. The company’s financial strength and stability, combined with its cutting-edge technology, make SolarEdge the preferred partner for industry-leading installers, integrators, and other energy market participants.

Greensmith Energy, a Wärtsilä Company
Midsize Company of the Year

Greensmith Energy, a Wärtsilä Company
Midsize Company of the Year
Greensmith Energy, a Wärtsilä company, is a market leader in grid-scale energy storage solutions, integration and software - designing and deploying the world’s most advanced energy storage systems. As the leading provider of energy storage software and integration services, Greensmith’s mission is to make energy storage a fundamental part of a cleaner, more intelligent and distributed energy infrastructure. Its solutions enable customers to tap into the full value of renewable energy sources, every moment instantaneously, to respond to dynamic fluctuations in energy generation and consumption allowing the system to emerge more stable and responsive.

Low Impact Hydropower Institute
Non-Profit of the Year

Low Impact Hydropower Institute
Non-Profit of the Year
The Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to reducing the impacts of hydropower generation through the certification of hydropower projects that have committed to environmental, cultural and recreational stewardship pursuant to the Low Impact Hydropower Institute’s criteria.
LIHI is the only third-party, independent body offering certification for any energy source in the US. They provide an unbiased review of hydropower projects that voluntarily apply and provide in-depth details on the impacts of their projects. States such as Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Oregon as well as national programs such as the Green Power Partnership and Green-e voluntary Renewable Energy Credit market require its certification for hydro. The board consists of a mix of NGO and industry-related individuals on our board, helping to ensure a balanced view.

CleanCapital
Startup of the Year

CleanCapital
Startup of the Year
CleanCapital is a financial technology company that makes it easy to invest in clean energy. Despite the historic growth in clean energy, the flow of capital within the distributed space remains limited. CleanCapital is solving this challenge using proprietary technology to identify, screen, finance and manage clean energy projects. This unique approach is giving owners and developers the capital they need to grow while also providing investors with unique access to the distributed clean energy investment market.
Founded in 2015, 2017 was a pivotal year for CleanCapital. The company established strategic capital partnerships to finance distributed generation assets. To date the team has acquired nearly $150M in operating solar projects. In 2017 alone, CleanCapital doubled its state footprint and increased its megawatt production by 150%, and with current acquisitions totaling over 100 MWs in 12 states. CleanCapital also successfully launched the Experts Only podcast with over 30 episodes and 30,000 downloads to date and closed $3.7M in Series A financing.

CohnReznick Capital
Investment Organization of the Year

CohnReznick Capital
Investment Organization of the Year
CohnReznick Capital creates unprecedented firsts, providing investment banking services to the sustainability sector. Since 2010, CohnReznick Capital has executed 104 project and corporate transactions for renewable energy assets valued at $16.2 billion in aggregate. As the #1 ranked Renewable Energy Financial Advisor by IJ Global Magazine, CohnReznick delivers exceptional service for financial institutions, infrastructure funds, strategic participants (IPPs and utilities), and leading global renewable energy developers. Its team of experts help our clients breakthrough the dynamic and evolving sustainability sector by simplifying project finance, M&A, capital raising and special situations.

NEXTracker
TrueCapture Captures the Hearts and Financials of the Solar Industry
Best Integrated Media Campaign

NEXTracker
TrueCapture Captures the Hearts and Financials of the Solar Industry
Best Integrated Media Campaign
NEXTracker, a solar tracking company, has crafted a distinctive, powerful brand voice to build relationships, and ultimately trust, with its audience.
This was particularly true with its launch of TrueCapture product launch at Intersolar. The team implemented a multifaceted approach ranging from a traditional press release to video animation, blog posts and experiential advertising. Melded together, this multi-channel approach garnered millions of social media, website and trade publication impressions and views with customers all across the solar spectrum.

Carbon Capture Coalition with RENEWPR
Bipartisan Communications Campaign on Carbon Capture Technologies Breaks Through Washington Gridlock
Best Public Affairs Campaign

Carbon Capture Coalition with RENEWPR
Bipartisan Communications Campaign on Carbon Capture Technologies Breaks Through Washington Gridlock
Best Public Affairs Campaign
On behalf of a coalition of energy, industrial and technology companies, labor unions, and environmental and energy policy organizations, RENEWPR worked with the Great Plains Institute (GPI) and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) to develop and coordinate a communications campaign in support of carbon capture technologies. The ultimate goal was to support and promote adoption of policy solutions related to carbon capture technologies, specifically the passage of legislation at the federal level to reform Section 45Q of the U.S. Tax Code to promote carbon capture for enhanced oil recovery, other forms of geologic storage and other beneficial uses of CO2 that reduce emissions.
Via a three-pronged approach including media outreach and engagement, social media promotion and coordination of a communications working group comprised of coalition members, RENEWPR's coordinated communications efforts ultimately built strong support for action on 45Q legislation and helped ensure its inclusion in the budget agreement passed by Congress and signed by the President on February 9, 2018.
Individuals

Katherine Hamilton
38 North Solutions
Entrepreneur of the Year

Katherine Hamilton
38 North Solutions
Entrepreneur of the Year
Katherine Hamilton is chair of 38 North Solutions, a public policy consultancy specializing in clean energy and innovation. She founded the company in 2012 and has grown it to help more than 40 companies in the clean energy space. 38 North Solution has also evolved to manage a non-profit organization, Project for Clean Energy and Innovation.
Additionally, Katherine is an ambassador to the Secretary of Energy’s C3E Program under the Clean Energy Ministerial; is a co-host of The Energy Gang podcast through Greentech Media; serves as President of the Board of GRID Alternatives Mid-Atlantic; and is Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Future Council on the Future of Energy. As a result of her achievements, she has been asked to co-chair WEF's Advanced Energy Technologies Council for 2018-2019 and is a highly sought-after contributor and public speaker.
James Thomas
RES (Renewable Energy Systems)
Rising Star Under 30
James Thomas
RES (Renewable Energy Systems)
Rising Star Under 30
James Thomas is a Transmission Planner with RES (Renewable Energy Systems), the world’s largest independent renewable energy company active in onshore and offshore wind, solar, energy storage and transmission and distribution. He is a key contributor to the interconnection, solar site selection, engineering, origination, LMP analysis, and transactions for RES’ development projects.
Since obtaining a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology at the age of 26, James has contributed to the successful completion of over 500 MW of wind and solar projects and spearheaded the development of several business critical tools, including an automated basis risk calculation tool that drives energy pricing and a prospecting tool that automatically calculates available transmission capacity at all U.S. substations.
James is a published author in IEEE Transaction on Power Systems Journal and a contributing author in several IEEE conference publications and the North American Power Symposium.
Danielle Merfeld
GE Renewable Energy
Woman of the Year
Danielle Merfeld
GE Renewable Energy
Woman of the Year
Danielle is the Chief Technology Officer of GE Renewable Energy, reporting to the CEO. In this role, she leads technical efforts to develop differentiated products and services across the broadest renewable energy portfolio in the industry, including on-shore wind, off-shore wind, solar PV, batteries, and hydro. Danielle is also currently the co-leader of the GE Women’s Network, a global organization focused on the recruiting, retention, development and promotion of talented women across GE.
Danielle was named as Chief Technology Officer for GE’s Renewable Energy Business in 2017—the first female GE Tier I business CTO in the history of the company.
Among her many accomplishments in 2017, Danielle lead efforts to support and engage over 70,000 women across GE in support of individual career development and company-wide culture development as co-director of GE’s women’s network and sponsored the annual Women in Science and Engineering Symposium attended by over 2,000 women. She also led her team to develop Edge OS, a groundbreaking new operating system for industrial edge assets, enabling products, such as wind turbines and farms, to become ‘software-defined’. Such technology can help further lower the cost of renewable energy, speeding the energy transition and enabling the more rapid deployment of clean tech.
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