Chuck Whitaker passed away in May 2009 at the age of 50, after a battle with cancer.  Chuck was a member of the Solar ABCs Steering Committee and was instrumental in the development of this program.  During his distinguished career, he supported the development and implementation of most of the codes and standards for Photovoltaics, both in the U.S. and internationally. 

Chuck was Co-founder and Principal Engineer of Behnke, Erdman, and Whitaker Engineering, Inc. (BEW Engineering) and, previously, Vice President of Engineering for Endecon Engineering.  He designed and evaluated PV and other distributed energy resources since 1981. Chuck received his BS in Mechanical Engineering and Environmental Engineering from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo and his MS in Mechanical Engineering from New Mexico State University.

Through involvement with and management of projects such as Photovoltaics for Utility Scale Applications (PVUSA), he became intimately familiar with operations of the PV industry, the U.S. Department of Energy, and numerous government and academic research organizations and worked closely with their personnel. He was a champion of PV system AC power ratings for most of his career. He worked with Pacific Gas and Electric's R&D department to incorporate such ratings into the PVUSA procurement contracts, and worked hard to get suppliers and buyers to carry this tradition forward through today. His contributions to find common ground between buyers and sellers will endure. 

His active participation in domestic (IEEE, ASTM, UL, NEC) and International (IEC, IEA) codes and standards committees earned him the respect of experts around the world. Because of his contribution to PV utility interconnection standards, he supported State (California, Texas, New York) and National (IEEE P1547) interconnection standards development for distributed generation.

Chuck served on the Board of Directors of PowerMark Corporation, was the Convener for International Electrotechnical Commission Technical Committee 82, Working Group 6 (PV Balance of Systems Components), was a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Solar Energy Society, the California Solar Energy Industries Association, and the Northern California Solar Energy Association.

His colleague Jeff Newmiller observed that, “Chuck could combine detailed calculations with a visually-appealing presentation. I find myself pleased when I make the calculations work in Excel, but Chuck would identify the key results in the work and he would make them stand out visually, so that their purpose and results were clear to others.”

As Bill Brooks commented, “a huge hole is left in the PV industry with Chuck’s passing, and it is the hope of many of us in the codes and standards arena to be able to carry on his tireless work with a semblance of the skill, wit, and humor that was the hallmark of this amazing individual.”