Discussion Facilitators of GNZ Interest Group Meetings

Kathy Bash

AIA, LEED AP, architect and solar owner with broad experience in several solar technologies. As an engineering-educated architect, Kathy has experience with residential and commercial systems and uses her quirky humor to share her extensive knowledge.

Kathryn Gray

Kathryn Gray is an urban planner, designer, UrbanSun passive solar home design business owner, and a net zero homeowner with years of experience designing systems throughout the northwest.  Kathryn has received Portland Office of Sustainable Development Build It Green grants for cutting edge technology projects and designed the first convective loop solar storage systems in Oregon.

Doug Boleyn

Doug Boleyn is currently the Commercial Solar Program Manager for Energy Trust of Oregon.  An early innovator, he built his first solar home in 1974 and just completed his latest, a net zero home, in 2009. Doug worked for PGE as their solar and renewable energy expert and designed energy conservation marketing programs, performed research and development and worked in many roles relating to energy conservation and renewables. Prior to joining Energy Trust, Doug ran Cascade Solar Consulting. Doug has been a board member and officer of Solar Oregon since its inception in 1981.

Dan Weldon

Dan Weldon, has been active in the Portland Sustainability community with numerous presentations on finance’s role in supporting the region’s green economy.  He is a Commercial and Residential Mortgage Banker with River Capital Finance with over 20 years of banking experience.   He has served in advisory capacity for Mayor Sam Adams sustainability initiatives, and currently volunteers his time on the board of directors for both Voice for Oregon Innovation and Sustainability (VOIS), and Solar Oregon.

Mark Pengilly

Mark Pengilly, is with Oregonians for Renewable Energy Policy (OREP) and has recently signed up for a PV system under the first phase of Oregon's new solar incentive program. Mark was an adviser to Multnomah County Commissioner Lisa Naito on renewable energy and was a participant in the Governor's Renewable Energy Working Group.  He lobbied in the Oregon Legislature for the new solar incentive program and was part of the Oregon Public Utility Commission rulemaking process for the program.

Kay Newell

Kay Newell is the proprietor of Sunlan Lighting Inc., a light bulb shop on N Mississippi.Newell believes passionately in the emotional healing and practical effect of the right lighting. Kay is the only woman who has started a business like hers in the Northwest. She’d already been a dental hygienist, restaurant manager, private detective, and advertising writer and worked in nursing homes. She started her lighting business in 1989 after working six weeks for a local lighting firm and becoming disgusted at the overcharging she observed. Self-taught, she devoured technical manuals and catalogs. Her selection of lighting products is tremendous, she will special-order anything you want, and her shop is just plain fun to visit.

Robert Batten

Robert is the Applications Engineer at Azuray Technologies, a power electronics company focused on renewable energy.  He has his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Oregon State University.  His interests include effects of shade and mismatch on PV systems, simulation of PV systems and effective application of technology to renewable energy systems.  Azuray Technologies designs both power optimizer and micro-inverter solutions for the PV industry.

Markus Stoffel

Markus is the Executive Director of Solar Oregon. Previously he founded and managed Environmental Building Supplies (now Ecohaus), a retailer of green building products in Portland. In 2005 Markus remodeled his house to be energy-efficient and solar-powered. It was featured on Solar Oregon’s first Goal Net Zero Home Tour in 2008. Markus lives with his family in NE Portland where he is part of the Ainsworth Street Collective, a neighborhood community that supports community and environmental stewardship.

Michel Maupoux

Michel Maupoux grew up and obtained his first engineering degree in France, then spent six months in South America, and two years in West Africa. His first engineer job was in a small French pump manufacturing company, where he designed an innovative solar photovoltaic pumping system. He came to graduate school in the USA in 1979, spending two years as a research assistant in the Solar Energy Applications Lab of Colorado State University at Fort Collins, CO, and wrote his MS-ME thesis there on a solar grain drying application. He left the renewable energy field for a while and spent 1982 through 2004 in Hewlett-Packard, in engineering, marketing, service & support, management, and environmental programs, in the USA and Europe.

With Portland-based non-profit Green Empowerment since February 2005, Michel has provided design and installation of solar water pumping systems in Nicaragua and the Philippines, and of community solar electrification in Peru and Ecuador. He has taught workshops and coached young engineers, on solar and ram water pumping systems and photovoltaic or wind electrification for remote communities in Peru, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and the USA, in English and in Spanish.

Norris Thomlinson

Joe has been involved in the building design and construction industry for over thirty years. His experience includes residential and commercial architectural design, construction management, estimating, and general contracting. For the last ten years Joe has provided construction and building envelope consulting services. He is an architect licensed in Washington and Idaho, and a LEED Accredited Professional. Joe is owner of Johnson Construction Consulting, providing consulting for owners, contractors, and architects. 

Sean Larkin

Sean has been with SolarCity since 2007 providing residential and commercial consulting here in Oregon. He has successfully managed multiple community programs such as SolarizeNE, Solarize Salem, and Solarize Beaverton. Sean is an active member within the solar community and has guided seminars on a variety of topics. Sean has been essential in the launch of Oregon's first SolarLease program beginning January 1st of 2011. With the launch of SolarLease he has educated hundreds of residents with public seminars and educational outreach to provide venues for questions and discussion about the difference between a lease and purchase of a system.  slarkin@solarcity.com

Andy Kerr

Andy Kerr (andykerr@andykerr.net) of The Larch Company (www.andykerr.net) mainly consults, lobbies, and writes on public lands, wildlife conservation and energy issues in the American West. He's recently completed his 4th photovoltaic residential installation and and is on his 5th solar hot water residential system. He has written several articles for Home Power magazine. He splits his time between Ashland, OR and Washington, DC.