As the premiere cleantech accelerator, Cleantech Open (CTO) events are a place to see what “NextGen” innovators are cooking up to combat climate change. The recent Western Regional Showcase which took place at the Fremont Marriott was no exception to that rule, with a healthy dose of entrepreneurs sharpening their pitches on everything from home delivery of vegetable gardens, to commercial building sensors that disrupt the sub-metering process.

CTO events are also a great place to get inspiration from industry veterans, such as Dan Shugar, formerly of Solaria, and current CEO of NexTracker based in the North Fremont/Ardenwood neighborhood. Dan highlighted his career in solar, which actually began with a stint at PG&E where he was exploring new generation technologies and “fell in love with PV’s” (photovoltaics). Why does Dan love PV’s? “They make energy with no moving parts, and no fuel.” Dan added that “solar is uniquely good for the grid” since sun coincides with peak demand for energy use.

The only issue with solar has been cost per watt. Dan’s career has focused on this issue ever since — first at Solaria with lightweight solar systems, and subsequently at NexTracker, where a motorized “tracker” system allows panels to follow the sun — tilting 120 degrees to yield more energy.

NexTracker is a young company, but has already had some impressive installations of its technology as seen in this video which shows a huge solar array in the Chilean Atacama Desert. The video is as beautiful as it is an inspiring.

 

Also inspiring is Dan Shugar’s leadership style. To borrow his phrase, “you need to go all in!” In working with people, Dan cites the following pillars in order to build a cohesive team – respect, clear objectives, encouragement of risk taking, and group problem solving. With the NexTracker team, and many other advancements in the industry, solar truly is “unstoppable”.