Solar Energy International's Johnny Weiss to speak at AREDAY in Aspen

By Noah Davis, Solar In the Schools Coordinator

Solar Energy International is fortunate to have one of the largest renewable energy events taking place this summer in our own backyard. From Aug 19-22, the American Renewable Energy Day (AREDAY) annual conference, held since 2004 in Aspen, Colorado, plays host to a list of notable speakers including Solar Energy International's executive director, Johnny Weiss, on Aug. 21. Johnny will be part of a Saturday afternoon panel discussion focusing on solar energy futures. Rhone Rensch of the Solar Energy Industries Association will moderate the session, and panel members include Neville Williams from Standard Solar and John Woolard of BrightSource Energy.

The theme for 2010 is "Creating a New Clean Energy Economy at Speed and Scale." Scheduled speakers include Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, Ted Turner, T. Boone Pickens, James Cameron, Thomas Friedman, David Orr and Lester Brown, among many others. Summit highlights include creating climate wealth; renewable energy technology; food security; ocean systems; renewable energy financing; the Lungs of the Earth: The World's Forests; politics of climate change; and youth and climate. Solar Energy International will also be hosting a booth at the public AREDAY fair on Sunday, Aug. 22.

If you are in the Aspen neighborhood, or looking for a great travel destination with a purpose this summer, join Solar Energy International at AREDAY. For more information, visit the AREDAY website at http://www.areday.net.

About Noah

Noah Davis believes that nothing is more important than teaching today's youth how to deal with tomorrow's energy challenges - except maybe having fun while teaching today's youth how to deal with tomorrow's energy challenges. He taught middle school and high school in drought-stricken rural Australia until March of 2009. Noah's experiences with climate change and bushfires led him to focus exclusively on teaching energy conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. This inevitably led him halfway around the world to SEI, where he joined the Solar In the Schools team. Before teaching, Noah wrote outdoor magazine articles and video game manuals, and he has worked as a raft guide, newspaper reporter and snowmobile guide. His pastimes include juggling, kayaking, unicycling, writing, rafting, snowboarding and telling tired old jokes that he heard from his dad. Noah has two young children, Petunia and Dewey, who take up most of his time and endure most of his jokes.