Charlie Gay

Founder of Greenstar Foundation

Dr. Gay has over 50 years of experience in renewable energy. He is the creator of the Greenstar Foundation, an organization that delivers solar power and internet access to villages, scaling microenterprise in the developing world. He has significant private-sector experience, including past tenures as president of Applied Solar for Applied Materials, chairman of the technology advisory board for SunPower Corp, president and chief executive officer of ASE Americas, president and chief operating officer of Siemens Solar Industries, and president of ARCO Solar. Dr. Gay’s public service includes Director of the Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office and Director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Charlie has a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Riverside. He holds numerous patents for solar power devices, won the Gold Medal for Achievement from the World Renewable Energy Congress, was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 2013 for leadership in the development of the global photovoltaics industry and in 1989 received the Individual Outstanding Alumnus award from the University of California Riverside.