PPC staff, speaker or author?
Event Speaker

Byron Kominek

photo of Kominek in front of solar panels
Title & Affiliation
Owner and Manager Jack's Solar Garden
Bio

Byron Kominek is the owner and manager of Jack's Solar Garden, our country's largest commercial research site for agrivoltaics. Byron provides consulting services to those wanting to learn more about agrivoltaics and design agrivoltaic solutions to incorporate more community members and to preserve, if not enhance, soils and the local environment. He also serves as the Executive Director of the Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center that focuses on teaching high school students, community members, and policymakers about agrivoltaics through on-site experiences. ​Byron got into solar development and agrivoltaics as a means to make his family's farm more revenues than selling hay and to be a better contributing member of his community. Prior to Jack's Solar Garden, Byron was a U.S. diplomat with the Agency for International Development serving in Zambia and Mozambique using taxpayer dollars to support forestry and wildlife conservation activities in those countries. From time to time, he consults on USAID environmental projects in Africa. Byron also served with Doctors Without Borders and as a Peace Corps Volunteer more than a decade ago. Byron lives adjacent to Jack's Solar Garden where he is learning more about soils and means by which to enhance the agricultural potential of his family's land. He speaks French and Portuguese, has traveled to over 45 countries, and through-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2016. Byron holds a M.Sc. in Environmental Engineering from UNC-Chapel Hill and a B.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Iowa.