Howard Wenger is passionate about enabling a clean all-electric future powered by a 100% renewable grid and distributed generation. He has worked for more than 35 years in the solar and utility power field and has served in leadership and board positions of industry-leading companies.
Wenger currently serves as President of Nextracker Inc., the leading provider of solar tracker and software solutions used in utility-scale and distributed generation projects. He founded Wenger Ventures in 2017, an active clean power venture capital fund which has invested in over twenty companies and clean energy funds.
Howard Wenger served as President of Solaria Corporation from 2020-2021 and as a Board Director from 2019 to 2022. Other experience includes 15 years as President at SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR), President and CEO of SunPower Systems, and as Executive Vice President and board director at PowerLight Corporation, a leading commercial and large-scale solar power company acquired by SunPower in 2007. Wenger also held management positions at Pacific Gas & Electric Company of San Francisco, AstroPower Corporation (acquired by GE), and Pacific Energy Group, a company he co-founded.
During his career, Howard Wenger has led and scaled companies, driven the establishment of public policies to mainstream solar including the first solar net metering law in the United States (California, 1994), written, or co-authored more than 75 clean-energy papers and reports, and written software programs and tools that are still used today to design and engineer solar power systems.
Wenger currently serves as a board member for the California Solar and Storage Association and the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), and as a trustee for the University of California at Santa Barbara. Wenger holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from the UCSB, and a master’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Latest Insights from RAP Experts
![](https://www.raponline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/pexels-miko-pslt-1151922510-21282824-680x420.jpg)
借鉴北京经验,推动北方地区清洁供暖
热泵是实现可再生能源高效利用的技术路径,是热电转换的最佳途径,是全球公认的节能减碳技术措施。中国清洁取暖国家战略的实施,推动了热泵供暖的广泛应用。作为全国“煤改电”先进示范区域,北京制定了多项清洁取暖政策,以全社会减碳量为目标,综合考虑能源结构和价格系统,对比多种技术间的减碳效益和经济成本,鼓励可持续长期减碳的高效热泵技术发展,禁止、限制新增及改建热源中高碳排放的燃煤、燃气供热占比,为北方地区城市供热发展提供了积极参考。 北京市的发展经验可为京津冀地区转向以高效热泵为供暖主体提供样板。本文着重回顾了北京出台的用于支持热泵供暖的相关政策和技术路径,并提炼出几点可供其他地区参考的建议: 加强推广新能源取暖,将“电代煤”、“电代气”列为工作重点,明确高效热泵技术的“替代”效果。 提供热泵应用财政支持,激励企业和居民选择热泵进行供暖改造,并逐渐减少对化石能源供暖的资金支持。 与城市规划目标一致,结合国家和城市的“双碳”目标制定规划。对未来可能削减的工业和火电热电联产的余热,要充分考虑项目存续周期,论证余热利用的经济性后再投入建设,避免推高社会层面上实现“双碳”目标的经济成本和社会成本。 制定清晰可行的指标,设定有科学依据、数值明确、逐步增量的新能源供热采用目标。 促进热泵设备质量提升,引导用户选择能效比高并且性能稳定的供热设备,并定期更新产品质量要求。 本文精简版首刊于《中国电力报》,2024年6月24日… Read More +
![grid transmission line](https://www.raponline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/pexels-brett-sayles-932177-680x420.jpg)
对燃煤发电电量上网电价和中长期市场支持灵活性的五点建议
随着电力体制改革的深入和电力市场化的推进,中长期市场和现货市场发展迅速。长期以来,电力中长期合同被视作保供稳价的“压舱石”,随着改革的不断深入,中长期市场中存在的两个关键问题逐渐暴露出来,即不合理的上网电价机制以及对电力调度产生的深层次影响,进而延缓了新能源入市进程。针对这些问题,我们对现状进行了梳理并总结了一些国际经验,对完善燃煤发电上网电价和通过中长期市场支持系统灵活性等方面提出了五点思路。… Read More +