Solar Washington's Board of Directors is comprised of industry professionals, solar supporters and others who volunteer their time to help the organization with its mission to provide educational resources and opportunities. It is a working board where members provide general oversight but may also engage in the organization's programs and activities. Board members serve two-year terms and are elected by the current Solar Washington members and sponsors. The Executive Director is generally responsible for the execution of Association's business. 

Contact [email protected] for more information. To contact a board member, mentions "to "board member name" in the re: line.  To send a message to the board, mention "To the Board" in the re: line.

Richard Hartung - President

Richard is a consultant, writer, investor and volunteer board member focused on sustainability. He is the co-founder of Asia Sustainability Angels, serves on boards of non-profits including Solar Washington and the Centre for a Responsible Future, and writes about sustainability for Wealth & Society as well as blogs and non-profits. Richard is also a consultant on retail banking with more than 20 years’ experience in financial services and is the author of Changing Lanes, Changing Lives. He has installed solar and organized a neighborhood group to promote solar. Richard has a BA from Pomona College and an MBA from Stanford University.

Dever Haffner-Ratliffe - Vice-President

Dever began her career working at a solar installer and was a founding board member of WASEIA, where she served as the Legislative and Policy Chair. She then went to work for the state, including Department of Labor and Industries on labor topics, Department of Commerce on low-income housing, solar, electric vehicles, and energy efficiency, and then worked on utility scale renewable energy at the Department of Natural Resources. She now works in government affairs for a public utility district, where she gets to bring all of these subjects together. She recently launched a website to help consumers shopping for solar.

Charlee Thompson - Secretary

Charlee advances distributed energy resources, energy equity, and clean energy policy at the NW Energy Coalition. She passionately advocates for and helps to design policies and programs that empower communities to engage in the clean energy transition, recognizing solar as a vital part of the solution. Charlee holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an M.P.A. in Environmental Policy from the University of Washington. Her expertise and commitment to fostering a clean energy future that both sustains the planet and benefits all communities make her a highly valuable prospective member of the Solar Washington Board.

Chris Muench - Treasurer

Chris has been an industrial professional for over 30 years starting his career in Germany as a Software Architect for Siemens. In 1996 he moved to Redmond to manage the relationship between Siemens and Microsoft, then joining Microsoft as a manager for Windows Embedded.  He started his own company focusing on the industrial IoT in 2009. He is very passionate about zero carbon and climate improvement with his goal to have his home carbon neutral by 2025. Last year he installed a large Solar System with battery backup on his home and was stunned by the fact how little these systems are integrated with other energy management systems. His hope is to not only extend the usage of Solar in Washington by working with partners and the legislative but also drive innovation and integration of Solar with other energy production, storage, distribution, and consumption systems.

Alex Nephew - Immediate Past President

For the past several years, Alex, with Brown & Brown insurance, has worked alongside the construction community with insurance services. Being presented with a few unique opportunities to benefit members of the renewable energy community, he helped to create a Renewable Energy Team where he specifically focuses on solar. His local company now works with almost every facet of the renewable energy industry with the goal to connect different parties together and help grow the industry!  Alex is constantly educating himself and growing more each day, whether listening to podcasts, reading articles, or gathering information to further his knowledge of solar. "We need to be ready for what comes next, and I look forward to being a part of the solution."

Chris S Brown - Board Member

Chris is a tax and business attorney. He attended the University of Washington School of Law and has been practicing law for 29 years. He is currently a partner at Holland & Knight in Seattle. He is a big supporter of solar energy. He is a student of the Inflation Reduction Act and has been advising clients on this important law since it was introduced. For the last 4 years, he has been studying solar energy policy and legal developments in Washington state, making contacts in the community, and learning about the role of renewable energy in Washington. Along the way he has written articles on the topic of solar energy tax credits and financing. He is convinced that solar energy has a big role to play in Washington’s energy development. Previously, Chris served as a board member for Plymouth Housing Group board and the Seattle Alternative Investment Association.

Shane Frye - Board Member

Shane is the lead for SnoPUD's net metering program and, as such he adds a valuable public utility perspective to the Board. Shane has been with the PUD for 15 years, and in his current position for about a year. In his short time working in solar, he has made significant progress towards streamlining utility processes for the benefit of solar customers and installers. Most recently, he has built on this experience to better define PUD standards and review processes for net metered solar projects that include battery energy storage, and is exploring how the PUD can better utilize solar for the benefit of income-qualified customers.

Dever Haffner-Ratliffe - Board Member

Dever began her career working at a solar installer and was a founding board member of WASEIA, where she served as the Legislative and Policy Chair. She then went to work for the state, including Department of Labor and Industries on labor topics, Department of Commerce on low-income housing, solar, electric vehicles, and energy efficiency, and then worked on utility scale renewable energy at the Department of Natural Resources. She now works in government affairs for a public utility district, where she gets to bring all of these subjects together. She recently launched a website to help consumers shopping for solar. 

Dayne Goodheart - Board Member

Dayne is a member of the Nez Perce Tribe from Lapwai, Idaho, and the Tribal Program Construction Manager and Installation Trainer at GRID Alternatives, with more than 9 years specializing in installation of commercial and residential photovoltaic systems. His commitment to energy sovereignty and environmental justice is evident through his hands-on approach to solar installations and his dedication to education, having trained individuals from diverse backgrounds and age groups, empowering them with the skills needed to participate in the renewable energy sector.  In 2024, he was nominated for the national Energy Justice Award by Vote Solar, highlighting his contributions to advancing green energy initiatives within tribal communities.

Nora Hawkins - Board Member

Nora is a senior energy policy specialist at the Washington State Department of Commerce where she works on renewable energy and battery energy storage. She has worked on clean energy policy in several states and in the federal government, including at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). One of her most formative experiences was working on the Solar for All program that is reducing energy burden of low-income residents in Washington, DC through solar deployment. Nora is passionate about expanding access to solar and storage and finding new ways to bring the benefits of the clean energy economy to communities through innovative policy, regulation, and program implementation. Nora completed a Master of Environmental Management at the Yale School of the Environment.

Thomas Honles - Board Member

As a solar advocate, professional engineer, and solar project manager over many years, including 2 decades with the Los Angeles DWP solar program, Thomas has seen the solar industry develop from kilowatt-scale rooftops to multi-megawatt utility scale solar plants combined with battery energy storage systems. He moved to Washington 5 years ago where he remains committed to advancing the industry and more importantly, to build a sustainable energy future at the local and the national level. He served as Director of Solar Development with a Texas-based engineering services firm, and many developers are seeing opportunities to power energy hungry computing facilities with renewable energy.

Dan LeFree - Board Member

Dan serves as the president and CEO of Community 1st Credit Union and ezSolarLoan, an online platform to finance solar and energy storage projects for Washington homeowners. He is also very interested in extending the benefits of solar and reduced energy costs to multifamily housing and to disadvantaged communities.

Chantal Stevens - Executive Director

Chantal has over 25 years of experience as a nonprofit executive director, including 8 years at the helm of Sustainable Seattle and over 10 years with the Community Indicators Consortium. She also held leadership positions at the King County Auditor's Office and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and served on various boards and commissions including the Puget Sound Consumer Coop (PCC) and the Issaquah Planning Commission.  Her areas of expertise include performance management, strategic planning, sustainability and placemaking.  She holds a BSc, MMA and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management, all from the University of Washington.