Carlos Alberto Velázquez López is Program Director at IREC, where he oversees Puerto Rico programs including the Puerto Rican Solar Business Accelerator, a position he also held at The Solar Foundation prior to the merger of the two organizations in 2021. An environmental manager by education, Carlos Alberto has been able to bring an interdisciplinary perspective to problem analysis and solutions. After completing two tours in the United States Marine Corps, he was honorably discharged in 2006 and quickly transitioned to serving Puerto Rico by advising environmental and political organizations on federal, environmental, and energy matters. Instrumental in the early coalitions that advocated for net metering and interconnection of distributed generation in Puerto Rico, he eventually became the managing partner for a local energy and photovoltaic design and installation company. After Hurricanes Irma and Maria, he led an exemplary team of engineers, financial experts, and community economic development professionals to put together a conceptual design for a community-based renewable energy microgrid. That initiative became the basis for an ongoing energy cooperative model that is in development in rural areas of Puerto Rico.