The Orange County Renewable Energy Society (OC Renewables) is a non-profit member organization and a local chapter of the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) founded to promote the use of renewable energy and energy efficient technology through education, outreach, and public policy advocacy.
Mike Harmanos, President mharmanos@ocrenewables.org
Mike Harmanos is a marketing professional and the proprietor of HonestConversation.com, an online marketing agency. Mike has been a four year member of the American Solar Energy Society. Mike attended business school at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University from 2002 to 2004. He attended class full time and began consulting government, political, and private enterprise to improve their marketing campaigns. Prior to his MBA, he worked for Congressman Paul Kanjorski as a Legislative Assistant in Washington, DC.
Yair Crane, Vice President of Membership
Yair Crane is the Managing Director of Next Global Stage, LLC. As an international advisor and consultant for the clean tech and renewable energy industries, Yair provides strategic business development and government relationship management for clients, as well as facilitates capital from strategic investors, including carbon finance projects, specializing in monitoring and verification of energy, water, waste, transport and GHG emissions through to generation of credits. With an emphasis in Mandarin and International Relations, Yair graduated from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California with a joint degree in Business and East Asian Studies. Yair has traveled extensively and has lived and worked in Asia including Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong, and held prior financial roles at the Bank of Ireland, Citibank, UBS, and E*Trade.
Adam Plesniak aplesniak@ocrenewables.org
Adam Plesniak is the Advanced Technology Architect at Amonix, Inc., the worlds leading designer and manufacturer of of concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar power systems. At Amonix, he is responsible for creating, nurturing and leveraging technologies aimed at accelerating commercialization of CPV. Prior to joining Amonix, Adam was the Engineering and Design Lead for the Boeing Solar Energy Technology Program, funded in 2007 by the DoE and private partnerships to develop and commercialize the high performance XR700 Concentrating Photovoltaic (CPV) power system. The developed technology was exclusively licensed to Sterling Energy Systems for continued commercialization in early 2010. He has several patents pending, holds a MS from Stanford in Electrical Engineering and a BS from Rensselaer in Mechanical Engineering.
Dr. Lori Greene, Treasurer lgreene@ocrenewables.org
Dr. Lori Greene is the Director of Research Development and Outreach for the UC Irvine Center for Solar Energy. Dr. Greene received her Ph.D. in Materials Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. Her dissertation research focused on nanotechnology and solar energy conversion. Her Nanowire Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells paper is now one of the most cited articles in Nature Materials, a premier peer-reviewed journal. At UCI, Dr. Greene is the Research Development Officer and Outreach Coordinator for the Center for Solar Energy in the School of Physical Sciences and leads the development of grant proposals, the graduate student lunch forum on solar energy, and university activities and community outreach programs relating to solar energy and other green technologies.
Mike Kilroy, Communications Director
Mike is a veteran PR executive with experience in leading award-winning communications programs for top-tier, mid-sized and emerging companies. He believes in the power of communications to transform the fortunes of any organization and possess a keen determination to help an organization compete and succeed while demonstrating value. In the past few years he has spearheaded the integration of social media into companies' communications programs. Mike has done several green PR programs in his career, including one for Toshiba America, and was the publicity chair for the OC Interfaith Coalition for the Environment for several years.
OC Renewables 2012
Officers and Board of Trustees
Mike Harmanos is a marketing professional and the proprietor of HonestConversation.com, an online marketing agency. Mike has been a four year member of the American Solar Energy Society. Mike attended business school at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University from 2002 to 2004. He attended class full time and began consulting government, political, and private enterprise to improve their marketing campaigns. Prior to his MBA, he worked for Congressman Paul Kanjorski as a Legislative Assistant in Washington, DC.
Yair Crane, Vice President of Membership
Yair Crane is the Managing Director of Next Global Stage, LLC. As an international advisor and consultant for the clean tech and renewable energy industries, Yair provides strategic business development and government relationship management for clients, as well as facilitates capital from strategic investors, including carbon finance projects, specializing in monitoring and verification of energy, water, waste, transport and GHG emissions through to generation of credits. With an emphasis in Mandarin and International Relations, Yair graduated from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California with a joint degree in Business and East Asian Studies. Yair has traveled extensively and has lived and worked in Asia including Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong, and held prior financial roles at the Bank of Ireland, Citibank, UBS, and E*Trade.
Adam Plesniak is the Advanced Technology Architect at Amonix, Inc., the worlds leading designer and manufacturer of of concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar power systems. At Amonix, he is responsible for creating, nurturing and leveraging technologies aimed at accelerating commercialization of CPV. Prior to joining Amonix, Adam was the Engineering and Design Lead for the Boeing Solar Energy Technology Program, funded in 2007 by the DoE and private partnerships to develop and commercialize the high performance XR700 Concentrating Photovoltaic (CPV) power system. The developed technology was exclusively licensed to Sterling Energy Systems for continued commercialization in early 2010. He has several patents pending, holds a MS from Stanford in Electrical Engineering and a BS from Rensselaer in Mechanical Engineering.
Dr. Lori Greene is the Director of Research Development and Outreach for the UC Irvine Center for Solar Energy. Dr. Greene received her Ph.D. in Materials Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. Her dissertation research focused on nanotechnology and solar energy conversion. Her Nanowire Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells paper is now one of the most cited articles in Nature Materials, a premier peer-reviewed journal. At UCI, Dr. Greene is the Research Development Officer and Outreach Coordinator for the Center for Solar Energy in the School of Physical Sciences and leads the development of grant proposals, the graduate student lunch forum on solar energy, and university activities and community outreach programs relating to solar energy and other green technologies.
Mike is a veteran PR executive with experience in leading award-winning communications programs for top-tier, mid-sized and emerging companies. He believes in the power of communications to transform the fortunes of any organization and possess a keen determination to help an organization compete and succeed while demonstrating value. In the past few years he has spearheaded the integration of social media into companies' communications programs. Mike has done several green PR programs in his career, including one for Toshiba America, and was the publicity chair for the OC Interfaith Coalition for the Environment for several years.