SOLAR POWER INTERNATIONAL 2015 CALL FOR EDUCATION PRESENTATIONS SUBMISSION GUIDE
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SOLAR POWER INTERNATIONAL 2015
CALL FOR EDUCATION PRESENTATIONS
SUBMISSION GUIDE
Contents
Overview ............................................................................................................................................... 1
Presentation Submission Policies ......................................................................................................... 2
Applicant Responsibilities ..................................................................................................................... 3
Tips for Developing Your Presentation ................................................................................................. 3
Step-by-Step Submission Guide ........................................................................................................... 4
Review Process .................................................................................................................................... 7
Review Process Timeline ...................................................................................................................... 8
Frequently Asked Questions ................................................................................................................. 9
Additional Track Details ...................................................................................................................... 10
Overview
Deadline: Submissions are due Tuesday, December 9, 2014 at 11:59 PM PST.
Solar Power International (SPI) is seeking outstanding leaders who are engaging speakers, cutting-
edge thinkers, and practitioners of adult learning techniques. SPI is North America's premier
education and business-to-business event for professionals in solar energy and related fields. No
other conference provides the scope, access to experts, and cutting-edge information needed for
solar success.
Presentation abstracts will go through an intensive vetting process to identify the most current,
innovative, and well-rounded ideas and topics, with the ultimate goal of offering the best learning and
sharing opportunities for the SPI audience. We strive to create a user-friendly process that is fair and
thorough to evaluate the hundreds of abstracts submitted. All education presentations will be
reviewed by the Review Committee, part of the Education Committee, which consists of over 100
professionals who represent a wide range of industry sectors. The overarching goal of the Education
Committee is to provide leadership and support in developing a compelling conference program. SPI
organizers do not provide any contact information for the Education Committee members. We have
high expectations of our speakers, so please review this guide thoroughly and carefully.
Primary presentation authors will be notified via email, whether or not their education
presentation abstract was selected, no later than April 3, 2015. Please do not contact SPI
organizers before this date as it will only delay the process.
1A note about the SPI Education Program
At Solar Power International, how you plan to deliver your session is as important as the content. SPI
is the solar industry’s education leader, and we want the conference education program to reflect that
leadership. Being selected to present at SPI 2015 is a privilege, and recognizes you as a top industry
expert. SPI staff will offer speakers a number of resources to help them develop great presentations
and increase the ROI for their companies. All speakers are asked to collaborate with SPI staff to raise
the bar on the quality of both content and delivery of sessions. Remember that this is a learning
experience. Even if you are not a seasoned trainer or facilitator, you can still meet this requirement by
researching and practicing some of the key strategies for facilitating learning:
Limit your use of PowerPoint as a delivery method. Ideally, your presentation should be a
maximum of 25% lecture or presentation. Utilize PowerPoint as a visual aid.
Interactive presentation and session design means that you should engage with the
participants and have them engage with one another.
Participants want content that is immediately applicable to their business and professional
development. Make sure that your objectives support this need. Think specifically about what
you want attendees to walk away with and be able to implement when they return home.
Presentation Submission Policies
Individual speakers may submit up to three presentations (as primary or co-author).
Solar Power International seeks to have a wide representation of speakers throughout the
show. We reserve the right to limit one session per author and company. National laboratories
are exempt.
Presentations that are based on advertisement, product, or service WILL NOT be accepted
into the program.
The Education Committee will combine presentation abstracts they feel complement each
other to make a stronger session.
The presenting author must accept full responsibility for the submission and presentation of the
abstract, and retain full copyright of his/her presentation, and/or full paper. By submitting a
presentation, presenting authors consent and authorize SPI to publish biographical and
presentation information in any conference publications. SPI will seek the speaker’s permission
separately for authorizing the publication of the final presentation and/ or paper.
2 Once your presentation abstract has been submitted, you may continue to revise it through the
submission deadline on Tuesday, December 9, 2014. You will have the option to save and
return to your abstract, but incomplete or late abstracts will not be reviewed or considered.
SPI reserves the right to reject any presentations for failure to comply with submission
guidelines. Due to the large number of presentations received for this conference, SPI is
unable to provide feedback on presentations not accepted for the program.
Applicant Responsibilities
Notify SPI organizers of any changes, additions, or corrections to the presentation title,
presenters (including availability of presenters to give a presentation at the appointed date and
time), etc.
Accepted presenters who are not able to attend must notify staff immediately. Replacement
presenters may be suggested. However, staff reserves the right to modify or cancel any
session based on a change in presenter.
Failure to meet these requirements will jeopardize your participation as a presenter in future
SPI programs.
All speakers must be registered for SPI by September 1, 2015.
All presentations must be uploaded to the Presenter Center by August 24, 2015. Failure
to do so may result in cancellation of the session.
Tips for Developing Your Presentation
Develop a well-written, concise summary of your proposed presentation abstract in a Word
document, and save a copy for your reference.
Proofread your presentation abstract several times so you submit your best work.
Know your audience and target your presentation accordingly.
Do not include marketing. You may submit presentations of a non-commercial nature, but no
obvious commercial sales pitches will be accepted. We frequently hear from attendees
objecting to the commercial nature of some presentations.
Save your confirmation email after you submit your presentation, as it includes your
Presentation ID number, login, and password.
3Step-by-Step Submission Guide
Important Process Change: The Education Committee will combine submitted abstracts with others,
at its sole discretion, to build strong sessions. If you choose to submit a panel, you will not be
combined with another panel. However, very few panels are selected, and non-selected panels will
be completely declined.
Step 1: Log In or Create an Account
The submission form resides on a vendor site, which requires a login using a password assigned by
the system. If you submitted a presentation for SPI 2014 or PVA 2014, please use your previous
credentials. If you’ve forgotten, the system will send you a reminder. If you are new, please create an
account and then follow the instructions on the site to set up a login and change your password.
Step 2: Start a New Abstract
Title (150 character maximum)
Submission Type
Note that the remainder of the tasks will vary based on the submission type you select.
o Topic: The Education Committee will combine your submission with other abstracts to
form a session. Almost all sessions at SPI 2015 will be created through topic
submissions. Additionally, QuickTalks will be chosen from the pool of topic submissions.
Only a single speaker is required and allowed for this submission type.
o Panel: A panel may consist of two to five speakers. The Education Committee will
consider the panel as a whole, when evaluating this submission type.
o Warning: Very few panel submissions will be accepted by the Education Committee to
be included in the SPI 2015 program. Note that for this submission type, the abstract
form asks detailed questions about how the panel plans to engage the audience in the
session and also for a timeline that thoroughly outlines the session.
o Poster: Posters facilitate the dissemination of research results, innovations, analyses of
practical problem-solving efforts, and recommended best practices to the solar
community. Posters are meant to be educational and may not include marketing. SPI
prints and hangs all posters, and they are on display in the exhibition hall for the
duration of the conference. One poster representative is required to attend SPI to
discuss the poster during the Poster Reception. Note, there is no formal speaking role
in correspondence with submitting a poster.
4Step 3: Presenter Profile
Please enter the presenter's contact and professional information. Note that professional information,
as you enter it, will be used for marketing closer to the conference. It is imperative that the email
address you enter is correct, as all correspondence regarding this submission will be done via
email through the online abstract system.
Step 4: Presentation Details
You will need to answer all of the following questions:
Track (select one): Finance; Utility & Grid Integration; Policy & Regulation; Business Trends;
Technology: Integration; Technology: Components, Storage; or Thermal
Scale (check all that apply): Utility, Commercial, Residential
Education Level (check all that apply): Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
Description (250 WORD maximum): Note when writing your description that the Education
Committee is looking for content that is informative and relevant, with clear and immediate
application to the learners' work and includes interactive and/or hands-on methods to support
the learning. Your primary goal must be the learning of the participant rather than a showcase
of your ideas, products, and services. You will naturally gain exposure of these things by giving
a stellar presentation and providing something tangible for the participants to take away.
Elevator Pitch (250 CHARACTER maximum): This description will be listed on the SPI
website and in the printed onsite guide. Please pay attention to capitalization, punctuation,
grammar, spelling, etc. Please do not write in all caps and do not include abbreviations.
For Panel submissions only
Panel Details – Audience Interaction: Please describe what techniques the session will use
to engage and interact with the audience participants. Please give specific examples.
Upload Panel Agenda: Please upload a detailed timeline that outlines speaker order and
length of each presentation; which topic each panelist will present on; and specifically when
and how you plan to include audience interaction.
5Step 5: Learning Objectives
You will be asked to answer the following questions in this section:
How will your presentation help an attendee perform his/her job responsibilities better?
Describe the tools, skills, or perspectives attendees will acquire through your presentation.
Learning Objective 1 (required)
Learning Objective 2 (optional)
Learning Objective 3 (optional)
Keep in mind that learning objectives are NOT statements of what you will do or cover during your
presentation or panel. Rather, they are statements that describe the knowledge, skills, or attitudes the
learner is expected to achieve as a result of your presentation or panel.
Recommendations for Writing Learning Objectives:
Ask yourself what observable behavior you want the learner to be able to do at the end of your
presentation or panel – use keywords such as apply, integrate, explain, repeat, analyze, etc.
Describe the information, tools, skills, or perspectives attendees in the session will acquire
through your presentation or panel.
Clearly identify the outcomes or actions attendees can expect to demonstrate as a result of
your presentation. Listening to a presentation is NOT a learning objective.
Write the learning objectives that relate to these outcomes and reflect the content of your
presentation or panel. They should:
o be stated clearly
o define or describe an action
o be measurable, in terms of time, space, amount, and/or frequency
o describe what attendees should know or be able to do at the end of the session that
they couldn’t do before
Example: “At the end of this session, you will be able to explain, list, recognize, etc…”
6Review Process
The SPI 2015 Education Committee, Review Committee, and staff are composed of solar industry
experts and will review all presentations received by the Tuesday, December 9, 2014 deadline. These
individuals use qualitative and quantitative questions to evaluate presentations to form a highly
educational and informative conference program that addresses topical and timely solar energy
industry issues.
The selection process follows a rigorous online review of every presentation submitted. The
committee also meets in person and by conference call to make recommendations for selections and
assist in planning other conference educational activities. Many presentations are submitted but only
the very best will be chosen and added to the program schedule.
Presentations are selected based on information submitted. Submitters are expected to follow the
instructions carefully and supply all requested information. Missing or incorrect information may make
the presentation ineligible for consideration.
All presentations will be reviewed and scored by industry experts in the related categories. These
rankings will be used to select presenters and sessions for the final program.
Evaluation questions include:
The proposed presentation provides attendees with relevant, timely, rigorous, and
applicable content.
The proposed presentation provides attendees with a strategy for profitability, an innovative
process for the industry, or both.
The learning objectives are clear, relevant to the topic presented and challenging to the SPI
audience.
The proposed presentation indicates that the session will employ the specified learning
format, including audience participation, in an effective manner.
The speaker is an expert who is highly qualified to speak on this topic and he/she has a
wealth of experience.
I would recommend this presentation to an attendee interested in this subject matter.
Note: While we are pleased when a speaker chooses to be a sponsor or exhibitor, a speaking slot is
never guaranteed for exhibitors or sponsors. All accepted presentations are based on overall merit
and/or slot availability.
7Review Process Timeline
The SPI Education Committee, Review Committee, and staff are composed of energy market experts
who will review all presentations received by the December 3, 2014 deadline.
Note that some of the items in the below timeline (starting with the Speaker Webinar) only apply to
the topic and panel submission types. If selected, poster representatives will receive a separate
timeline and variety of poster development resources.
December 3 at 11:59 PM
Presentation submission deadline
PST
Round One: Review Committee members review and rate
December
all presentations
Round Two: Education Committee reviews and rates all
February
presentations to develop the final program
Primary presentation authors receive notification. Please do
April 3
not contact SPI before this time, as it will delay the process
Speaker webinar for accepted presentations May 14
Conference call one for accepted presentations June
Conference call two for accepted presentations July
Conference call three for accepted presentations August
Final presentations due August 24
If you have any questions, please send an email to Solar Power International Education.
8Frequently Asked Questions
How long is each speaker slot?
At Solar Power International, we have many different speaking formats, including:
QuickTalks: 15 minutes by a single speaker on a narrow topic (like TED Talks)
Show Floor Education: Typically 30 minute cutting edge topic presentations
Concurrent Sessions: The sessions are 60, 75, or 90 minutes. Each session could have a
single speaker or up to four. Audience interaction is essential during a panel.
Are there preferred topics for submission?
Each year, SPI focuses on the key issues impacting the solar industry. This year, those
general topics are outlined in our tracks (Finance, Utility Grid Integration, Policy &
Regulations, Business Trends, Technology: Integration, Technology: Components,
Storage, or Thermal) with additional details listed below.
Does speaking at SPI have any cost for my company?
There is no cost for your company. Accepted speakers receive a significantly discounted
Full Conference registration pass.
What advice do you have for creating a successful submission?
Submit it on time. The education programming timeline starts 10 months before a show,
so plan ahead. Requests to speak after the deadline are rarely included in the program.
More is not better. We want to give as many companies the opportunity to speak as
possible, so we have a one speaker per company policy. We recommend two or three
submissions and no more than five per company.
Quality trumps. We’re looking for the best: the most current issues, the most innovative
ideas, the leaders of your company, etc. Put your best foot forward and please do not send
us the same abstract you’ve submitted three years in a row.
9 Focus on the audience. The Education Committee develops sessions that are highly
interactive and participatory. Sessions with four, 15 minute lectures and a few questions at
the end are no longer part of the conference. Your abstract should reflect this shift towards
adult education best practices.
Keep it simple. In order to have a great, interactive session, you have to focus on a few
key ideas you want to convey. Do not try to solve grid integration issues in your 60 minute
session.
Less technical is better. Although we are a technical industry, the sessions are offered to
a broad range of industry professionals. Therefore, write your abstract without acronyms,
jargon, excessive technical language / numbers, etc.
Additional Track Details
The Education Committee offers the following additional details for each of the tracks:
Finance Track – Session Topic Recommendations
Key audiences include:
State of the tax equity market – This session will discuss the current status of and the
latest trends in the tax equity market for residential, commercial and utility-scale solar
projects.
Debt financing for solar projects – This session will discuss the current status of and the
latest trends in the debt market for solar projects.
Innovative financing – This session will discuss various new or alternative financing
options for solar projects such as crowdfunding, PACE, Green banks, Green bonds,
securitization, pre-paid PPAs, etc.
Underwriting/bankability – This session will discuss what banks require/look for when
underwriting solar transactions.
Financing small non-residential projects – Finding sources of debt and tax equity
financing for small C&I projects can be challenging. This session will discuss how
developers have overcome this challenge.
Post-financing – This session will discuss how best to manage returns after financing has
been obtained (asset management, O&M, monitoring, etc.).
10Utility & Grid Integration Track – Session Topic Recommendations
Key audiences include: Utilities, engineers, financiers, and more
Evolving business model Storage - load shifting grid management
Distributed generation Forecasting
Advanced grid functionality Codes and standards
Safety, reliability, and maintenance Case studies
Policy & Regulation – Session Topic Recommendations
Federal update Quality assurance, codes and standards
111-D update Environmental issues, recycling and life
cycle planning
Rate design and net energy Metering
Solar in the community
Business Trends – Session Topic Recommendations
Growing markets Systems management
o Community solar o Communication
o Demographics o O&M
o Evolving channels o SAAS, utilizing Big Data
Logistics and best practices M&A
o Reducing soft cost o Vertical integrations
o Business process o Maturity and consolidation
improvement
o Modularity
11Technology: Integration – Session Topic Recommendations
Key audiences include: EPCs and Installers as well as others interested in the latest technology
trends to optimize both pre- and post- commissioning solar asset performance.
OAM
o SCADA o Automation
o Monitoring o Big Data – the value of analytics and
information
o Life cycle management –
managing total cost of
ownership through detailed
life cycle management
Design / Construction
o Code – trends and o Packaged systems
expectations of future
changes being advanced by o Value engineering
the standards bodies
o Tools and techniques
o Racking and tracking
Development
o Site analysis
o Forecasting
12Technology: Components – Session Topic Recommendations
Key audiences include: Manufacturers, engineers, financiers, entrepreneurs, and more.
Cells/Modules
o Silicon o Degradation (PID, LID, hot spot, etc.)
o Non-Silicon o Reliability
o Efficiency o Module integration
o Flexible cells/modules o Code compliance/standards
o BIPV o Technology trends
Inverters
o Efficiency o Technology trends
o Reliability/quality o Topology
control/durability
o Data, control, monitoring
o Failure modes
o MPPT
o Code compliance/standards
Racking/Trackers
o Design for O&M o Cost reduction
o Failure analysis o Automated installation
o Structural integrity o Reliability/QC
o Wind tunnel testing o Trends
o Dynamic wind effects o Automated stowing (trackers)
13 BOS
o Cables
o Sensors (irradiance, soiling, wind, rain, etc.)
o Calibrations
o Trends
SCADA
Module Level Electronics
o AC modules o Smart module
o DC optimizers o Shut-off/kill switch
o Monitoring o String stretcher
Storage Track – Session Topics To Be Announced
Thermal Track – Session Topics To Be Announced
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