pv magazine USA Week 2026
pv magazine USA is hosting its annual multi-day virtual event focused on the key trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the U.S. solar and energy storage markets. At this year’s pv magazine USA Week, experts from across the solar and storage sectors will examine the latest developments in domestic manufacturing, distributed energy, and the growing role of clean energy in powering the AI-driven economy.
Each day takes a deep dive into a critical market theme. Discussions will cover the transition of U.S. solar manufacturing from announcements to large-scale implementation, the emerging opportunities created by energy storage, plug-in solar, and new distributed generation business models, and the accelerating demand for solar-plus-storage solutions as data center growth and artificial intelligence place unprecedented pressure on the grid.
Moderated by pv magazine, this live broadcast-virtual conference brings together the U.S. industry’s leading experts and innovators to discuss the latest and most pressing issues in the solar and storage sector in the U.S.
Free online registration will open at the end of summer.
SOLAR BUILDS THE AFFORDABLE GRID
As the domestic supply chain matures, the focus shifts from investment announcements and groundbreaking ceremonies to the rigorous work of scaling production. This session tracks the progress of the U.S. manufacturing base, the impact of OBBBA domestic content thresholds, and the logistical hurdles of turning policy-driven announcements into physical solar products.
Finlay Colville has been actively engaged with the solar industry for more than 20 years and is recognised as a leading analyst in the sector. For 15 years, Finlay managed market research business units at Solarbuzz and PV-Tech. He established Terawatt PV Research in 2025 as the working platform for his activities going forward.
Scott Graybeal is a veteran executive who led the Energy Solutions Segment at Flex Ltd (NASDAQ: FLEX), a $2B division within the company serving the solar, energy storage, and LED lighting markets. Under his leadership, Flex Energy became the third largest producer of PV modules outside of mainland China, and patented several key solar manufacturing innovations. Scott’s career spans several industries from construction tech to solar to semiconductors. Before joining Caelux, Scott was COO of Veev Group & CEO of Veev Build and has held key leadership roles at Intevac, Amonix, Oerlikon Solar, Veeco Instruments, Applied Materials, and General Electric.
Scott has guest lectured on renewables and entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon and Georgetown. He served with distinction as a nuclear submarine officer and is a certified nuclear engineering officer by the Departments of the Navy and Energy. Scott earned his MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management and his BS in Chemistry from UC San Diego.
Tracking the physical progress of the U.S. manufacturing base. This session addresses the real-world execution of policy-driven announcements, scaling domestic production, and navigating complex domestic content thresholds.
In the distributed generation space, energy storage has opened new opportunities for all stakeholders to realize benefits, and utilities across the country are interested. We explore the promise of VPPs, storage-forward business models, and more. Meanwhile, a grassroots movement for plug-in PV is bringing micro-scale solar to consumers.
Description: Exploring how large distributed generation players maximize deployments ahead of looming tax deadlines. Panelists will debate new monetization models for energy storage as utilities seek grid-interactive assets following residential sector policy shifts.
Analyzing how plug-in PV is successfully delivering micro-scale solar directly to everyday consumers. This discussion covers safety, standard compliance, and manufacturing challenges for plug-and-play residential solar hardware.
The massive power demands of the AI revolution are colliding with a congested grid, forcing a historic surge in capacity buildouts. In this two-part session, we first examine how grid-scale solar-plus-storage projects have risen to dominate new generation capacity additions across the country. Then, we dive into how hyperscale data center operators and heavy system integrators are pairing these assets with private wire configurations and isolated solar parks. This double-panel discussion highlights how large-scale solar and storage are uniquely positioned to provide the rapid, reliable, and dedicated energy delivery that traditional utility infrastructure currently cannot.
A presentation on how modern clean energy businesses are utilizing AI in everyday business processes to streamline optimization and deployment.
Tim Montague is a clean-energy strategist, consultant, speaker, journalist and media creator focused on solar, energy storage, microgrids, and practical AI adoption for energy businesses. He is President of Clean Power Consulting Group and host of the Clean Power Hour, one of the most widely followed independent podcasts covering the energy transition. He is author of Wired for Sun: The Commercial Solar Playbook (2025) and is completing Wired for Resilience: The Battery and Microgrid Playbook due out in 2027. He works with solar developers, EPCs, manufacturers, and utilities on strategy, growth, and go-to-market, helping organizations understand where the market is headed and how to compete within it.
Grounded in data showing that solar and storage represent over 90% of new U.S. grid generation capacity additions, this panel examines the rapid integration of heavy utility-scale storage. Experts will analyze how this combination dominates current and future energy asset buildouts.
Deep dive into how hyperscale data center operators use solar-plus-storage energy parks to feed massive AI power demands. Integrators will share details on utilizing private wire configurations to outpace slow, traditional grid infrastructure upgrades.
Deep Patel is the founder and CEO of Gigawatt Inc., the parent company of Unbound Solar and Real Goods. Unbound Solar has provided DIY solar kits and expert support for over 19 years, serving homeowners, contractors, and professionals. Real Goods, established in 1978, is a legacy brand in the solar industry known for reliable solar and energy storage products. Through these brands, Deep is focused on expanding access to clean energy by combining education, high-quality components, and a customer-first approach.
Agenda
In the upcoming weeks we will be adding more details. Stay tuned!
Expert Speakers
Finlay Colville has been actively engaged with the solar industry for more than 20 years and is recognised as a leading analyst in the sector. For 15 years, Finlay managed market research business units at Solarbuzz and PV-Tech. He established Terawatt PV Research in 2025 as the working platform for his activities going forward.
Scott Graybeal is the Chief Executive Officer of Caelux, a company that is commercializing perovskite solar technology that enables high density Double Power Layer modules. Caelux is headquartered in California with operations in Taiwan and India.
Scott has spent nearly two decades in solar, with hands-on leadership across the full value chain — from process equipment to project development to module manufacturing. He previously led the Energy Solutions Segment at Flex Ltd (NASDAQ: FLEX), a $2B division serving the solar, energy storage, and LED lighting markets, where under his leadership Flex Energy became the third largest producer of PV modules outside of mainland China and patented several key solar manufacturing innovations. He led Flex’s acquisition of Nextracker (NXT on Nasdaq). Scott’s broader career spans construction tech and semiconductors. Before joining Caelux, he was COO of Veev Group and CEO of Veev Build, and he has held key leadership roles at Intevac, Amonix, Oerlikon Solar, Veeco Instruments, Applied Materials, and General Electric.
Scott has guest lectured on renewables and entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon and Georgetown. He served with distinction as a nuclear submarine officer and is a certified nuclear engineering officer by the Departments of the Navy and Energy. Scott earned his MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management and his BS in Chemistry from UC San Diego.
Tim Montague is a clean-energy strategist, consultant, speaker, journalist and media creator focused on solar, energy storage, microgrids, and practical AI adoption for energy businesses. He is President of Clean Power Consulting Group and host of the Clean Power Hour, one of the most widely followed independent podcasts covering the energy transition. He is author of Wired for Sun: The Commercial Solar Playbook (2025) and is completing Wired for Resilience: The Battery and Microgrid Playbook due out in 2027. He works with solar developers, EPCs, manufacturers, and utilities on strategy, growth, and go-to-market, helping organizations understand where the market is headed and how to compete within it.
Deep Patel is the founder and CEO of Gigawatt Inc., the parent company of Unbound Solar and Real Goods. Unbound Solar has provided DIY solar kits and expert support for over 19 years, serving homeowners, contractors, and professionals. Real Goods, established in 1978, is a legacy brand in the solar industry known for reliable solar and energy storage products. Through these brands, Deep is focused on expanding access to clean energy by combining education, high-quality components, and a customer-first approach.
Moderators
Ryan joined pv magazine in 2021, bringing experience from a top residential solar installer and a U.S.-based inverter manufacturer. He holds a Master of Energy and Environmental Management degree at the University of Connecticut and a degree in Management with a certification in Sustainable Business Practices from the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Ben Zientara is a journalist, writer, and policy analyst in the solar industry, where he has worked since 2014. Currently the Associate Editor of pv magazine USA, his written work has informed a broad variety of audiences, teaching homeowners about the state policy and incentives that enable their dreams of going solar and keeping industry professionals up to date on the latest news about solar technology, finance, legislation, and regulatory policy.
In addition to his written work, Ben has hosted informational videos for the SolarReviews online platform and addressed audiences of industry professionals at multiple NABCEP CE conferences. His solar policy analysis work has been covered by both clean energy trade publications and national media outlets like Fast Company, NPR, Politifact, and the New York Times, and is currently included in the annual Community Power Scorecard from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.
Recap of pv magazine USA Week 2025
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