Former SEIA CEO Abby Hopper, Octopus Energy, Palmetto LightReach, Ohm Analytics and more headline a full day of expert sessions — free to attend, with up to five NABCEP CEUs available

Aurora Solar, the leading platform for solar sales and design used by more than 7,000 organizations to design over 20 million solar projects globally, today announced Empower 2026, its seventh annual free virtual summit for solar professionals. The event draws more than 5,000 solar professionals each year and features keynote speaker Abby Hopper, former President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), alongside experts from Palmetto LightReach, Octopus Energy, Ohm Analytics, and more. Registration is free and open now — the summit takes place May 14 at aurorasolar.com/empower-2026.

WHAT: Empower 2026 — Aurora Solar's seventh annual free virtual summit for solar professionals
WHEN: May 14, 2026, 9:00 AM PDT / 12:00 PM EDT
WHERE: Virtual — free and open to all solar professionals
REGISTER: aurorasolar.com/empower-2026
CEUs: Up to 5 free North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) continuing education units (CEUs) available (PV Technical Sales (PVTS) and PV Design Specialist (PVDS) tracks)
SPEAKERS: Abby Hopper, former President & CEO (SEIA); Chris Collins (Ohm Analytics); Troy Roble (Palmetto LightReach); Sebastian Blake (Octopus Energy); Toni Werner (Energiekonzepte Deutschland), Mike Gilroy (Sungage Financial), and more
TOPICS: Solar financing and third-party ownership (TPO); whole-home electrification; homeowner market data; AI and soft cost reduction; commercial & industrial (C&I) strategy; Aurora Solar product roadmap

Empower 2026 is designed for a solar industry in transition. This year's summit theme, "The New Shape of Solar", comes at a pivotal moment: the 25D residential tax credit for cash and loan purchases expired, and the companies that will lead the next decade of solar growth are those actively adapting today.

New research from Aurora Solar underscores the urgency. The 2026 Aurora Solar Snapshot — Aurora Solar's annual survey of U.S. homeowner and installer sentiment — finds that 71 percent of homeowners say they have at least some interest in solar, yet 44 percent say it costs more than they initially expected, a barrier Aurora Solar calls “Cost Shock.” At the same time, 41 percent of homeowners say it is difficult to determine which solar companies are trustworthy — the second-largest barrier to adoption after cost. The full 2026 Aurora Solar Snapshot is available at https://aurorasolar.com/aurora-solar-snapshot/.

"The solar industry is at an inflection point, and the professionals who show up, adapt, and invest in getting better are the ones who will lead what comes next," said Chris Hopper, co-founder of Aurora Solar. "Empower 2026 is built around the market solar professionals are actually in — not the one we wish existed. The new shape of solar is defined by lower soft costs, smarter financing, diversified offerings, and customer trust. That is the playbook for this moment."

Sessions: What attendees will learn

Empower 2026 features seven sessions spanning the topics most critical to solar professionals right now:

• Abby Hopper will deliver the opening keynote: “Working Together to Create a Future of Solar for All,” addressing how solar businesses can lead through the current market contraction, covering customer trust, financing diversification, storage, and soft cost reduction.
• Financing in a post-25D market: Troy Roble, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Palmetto LightReach and Mike Gilroy, CEO at Sungage Financial, will break down how TPO structures, including Palmetto’s LightReach lease and Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) products — are becoming the primary path for residential solar customers in 2026. According to the 2026 Aurora Solar Snapshot, 65 percent of solar sales professionals anticipate that more than half of their 2026 projects will use TPO financing, up from 44 percent in 2025, and TPO has surpassed loans and cash to become the most popular financing option for the first time.
• Whole-home electrification: Barry Cinnamon, CEO, Cinnamon Energy Systems, Toni Werner of Energiekonzepte Deutschland, and Sebastian Blake of Octopus Energy — the UK-based clean energy company serving millions of customers across Europe — will show U.S. solar installers how to expand beyond panels into storage, EV charging, and electrified appliances, drawing on direct experience scaling whole-home energy solutions across European markets. The session is particularly timely: 53 percent of U.S. homeowners say the power grid has become less reliable, and 62 percent say extreme weather events are currently impacting their area, according to the 2026 Aurora Solar Snapshot.
• What homeowners are saying — and what it means for your business: Chris Collins, Founder of Ohm Analytics, will discuss findings from the 2026 Aurora Solar Snapshot and Ohm’s top data-driven findings for the year ahead. Key topics will include Cost Shock — the gap between perceived and actual solar costs — and how declining prices and improving trust can help installers close more deals.
• Additional sessions include: AI as a soft cost advantage, C&I in a post-Investment Tax Credit (ITC) environment, and Aurora Solar’s product roadmap.

"The data is pretty clear — homeowner interest in solar remains strong, but cost perception and trust are the real conversion barriers right now. Installers who address those two things directly will have a significant advantage this year,” said Chris Collins, Founder of Ohm Analytics.

Registration

Empower 2026 is free and open to all solar professionals. Attendees who complete full sessions are eligible to earn up to five NABCEP continuing education units across PVTS and PVDS tracks. Register now at aurorasolar.com/empower-2026.

About Aurora Solar

Aurora Solar is creating a future of solar for all. The company puts the power of data, automation, and AI into the hands of every solar professional to make solar adoption simple and predictable. Aurora Solar's cloud-based platform has been used to design more than 20 million solar projects globally, and more than 7,000 of the industry's top organizations rely on it to streamline workflows and grow their businesses. Aurora Solar has been recognized by TIME as a 2026 Top U.S. GreenTech Company, named to the Inc. 5000 and Deloitte Fast 500 in 2024, and listed among Solar Power World's Top Solar Software & Monitoring Products in 2024. The company is headquartered in San Francisco. For more information, visit aurorasolar.com.

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