In the first quarter of 2011, the solar energy industry regained its status as the top sector of Cleantech VC investment, with 26 deals totaling over $600 million. As this influx of money suggests, solar remains a hotbed for innovation, with tremendous upside growth potential. However, along with technological innovation and expanding markets come new legal issues which corporate counsel must manage. Please join us for an in-depth look at some of the solar sector’s hottest technologies and the unique legal challenges they face.

This program will bring together leaders from diverse segments of the solar industry with expertise in distributed residential and commercial solar projects and utility-scale solar projects. They will share with us lessons learned on the front lines on issues like structuring and negotiating Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contracts, and avoiding the pitfalls in drafting power purchase agreements (PPAs). We will also discuss major regulatory changes and litigation trends that impact the sector, including:

• How will California’s new 33% RPS law impact the solar market on the investment side and on the project deployment side?
• What incentive programs are available to distributed generation projects and what are their limitations?
• Utility-scale solar projects have faced significant setbacks because of natural resource litigation. Will these challenges be overcome and how do they impact the broader market in solar?
• From a purely legal standpoint, what are the advantages and disadvantages of concentrated solar power (CSP) compared to photovoltaics (PVs)?

The program is designed to be highly interactive and significant time will be reserved for Q&A.