Campus to hold first solar energy conference

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford will hold its inaugural Solar Conference on April 10 in the George B. Duke Engineering and Information Technologies Building.   

Co-sponsored by the American Refining Group/Harry R. Halloran Jr. Energy Institute and the Pitt-Bradford Sustainability Committee, the conference is free and will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Those who wish to take part in all or part of the conference can see the full schedule and register at upb.pitt.edu/solar-conference-2023.   

“This is a great chance for community leaders and landowners to learn the ins and outs of large-scale solar developments,” said Dr. Matt Kropf, director of the energy institute, who organized the conference with Christy Ruffner, executive director of philanthropy and strategic partnerships.  

“Community members and students who are interested in learning more about solar issues in general will also be able to learn a lot here.”

The keynote speaker is Tom Murphy, Team Pennsylvania’s senior managing director of strategic initiatives.   

Other presenters include Tim Mills, a senior project developer for New Leaf Energy; Daniel Dotterer, a sheep farmer; Dr. Beth Rezaie, assistant professor of mechanical engineering technology; Dr. Julia Morgan, assistant professor of philosophy; Kropf; Pitt-Bradford students; representatives of utility companies; and Navajo Power.   

Murphy will give two presentations: one about utility-scale solar development and a second about municipal approvals and community engagement. He has 38 years of experience working with public officials, researchers, industry, government agencies and landowners during his tenure with Penn State Extension.    

Murphy’s work is centered on educational consultation for energy transitions, specifically at the convergence of shale gas, hydrogen and renewables. More recently, his work has emphasized the wider deployment of utility-scale solar energy and the decarbonization implications of hydrogen for heavy industry and transportation. He has an ongoing partnership with the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors on the local implications of utility-scale solar energy across the Commonwealth.   

Rezaie will discuss energy and exergy analyses of a solar-based multi-generation energy plant integrated with heat recovery and thermal energy storage systems. She has extensive engineering experience in enhancing energy systems as well as in the automotive industry. Her research focuses include modeling energy storage systems and advancing environmental sustainability.   

Morgan’s area of specialization is environmental ethics, and her research focus is on challenging the assumptions of how we see and believe the world to be. While teaching at the Kaua’i Community College in Hawai’i, she served as the faculty sustainability coordinator.   

Mills and Dotter will lead a discussion about agrivoltaics. Mills has worked in the renewable energy and distributed generation industry for nine years. At New Leaf Energy, he works in Pennsylvania community solar and Texas stand-alone battery storage development and is responsible for all development, permitting and project origination.

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