(Fremont, Calif., July 28, 2026) VDE Americas, a global leader in technical advisory and risk assessment services for solar and energy storage projects, today announced that Jason Weeks, Ph.D., has joined the firm as a principal engineer. An expert in lithium-ion battery chemistries and battery energy storage systems, Weeks will help VDE Americas meet expanding market demand for its due diligence and technical risk-mitigation services.
After decades of underinvestment, the U.S. bulk power system is ill-equipped to accommodate the unprecedented electricity demand driven by hyperscale data centers while also maintaining reliability amid increasingly frequent and severe extreme weather events. Together, these trends have made speed-to-power and grid resilience essential to economic growth and energy security. Solar, energy storage, and solar-plus-storage facilities are uniquely positioned to provide grid operators with critical generation capacity and essential grid support services.
In his role as an energy storage subject matter expert, Weeks will lead VDE Americas’ energy storage advisory services, including modeling and validating system performance, identifying and mitigating technical risks, and reviewing commissioning and acceptance test practices and results. In addition to a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin, Weeks has supported the financing for more than 65 renewable energy projects, with a cumulative capacity of over 11 GW.
“The world of energy storage is an expanding and evolving market,” said Weeks. “With the advent of new energy storage solutions, increasing energy demands, and the rise of data centers, we can expect energy storage to be a critical aspect of the U.S. energy growth cycle. As part of the VDE Group’s global technical advisory team, I look forward to supporting market-leading project developers, investors, lenders, asset owners, and manufacturers.”
VDE Americas has also bolstered its engineering team with two additional hires. Edward Ibe, P.E., has joined the firm as a principal engineer with expertise in power conversion for solar and energy storage assets. Previously, Ibe worked in technical roles at Silicon Ranch, a leading U.S.-based independent power producer, and TMEIC, a global industrial power electronics company. Chase Varner has joined the firm as a senior project engineer, bringing expertise in utility-scale solar and energy storage due diligence. Collectively, these new team members deepen VDE Americas’ technical expertise while enhancing its ability to support new and existing customers.
“Growth in utility, community, and commercial and industrial markets continues to drive demand for our owner’s engineering and independent engineering services,” said Lisa Casey, director of technical advisory at VDE Americas. “With extensive solar and storage expertise, Jason, Edward, and Chase will help our clients reduce technical risk associated with increasingly complex and diversified energy assets and portfolios.”
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About VDE Americas
VDE Americas provides technical advisory and risk mitigation services to renewable energy stakeholders—from project owners and financiers to equipment manufacturers and tVDEahose who construct, operate, and insure large-scale power generation and energy storage facilities. A wholly-owned subsidiary of the VDE Group, VDE Americas is recognized globally as the leading authority in solar project hail risk intelligence and loss prevention. The company’s expertise and innovative solutions have facilitated billions of dollars of investment in renewable energy assets.
For more information, visit: www.vde.com/en/vde-americas
About VDE
VDE, one of the largest technology organizations in Europe, has been regarded as a synonym for innovation and technological progress for more than 130 years. VDE is the only organization in the world that combines science, standardization, testing, certification, and application consulting under one umbrella. The VDE mark has been synonymous with the highest safety standards and consumer protection for more than 100 years.
For more information, visit www.vde.com
Media contact:
Mission Control Communications for VDE Americas
vde@missionc2.com
