ConnectDER Hires Chad Conway, Former Tesla & SPAN Leader, As VP of Product

Former SPAN founding team member and Tesla veteran joins market-leading meter socket adapter manufacturer to drive next phase of product innovation

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- ConnectDER, the leading manufacturer of meter socket adapters (MSAs), or meter collars, for solar, home battery, and EV charging installations, today announced the hiring of Chad Conway as VP of Product amid rapid installer adoption of its devices. Conway will oversee product strategy and development across ConnectDER's suite of hardware solutions, focusing on advancing the company's flagship IslandDER™ product line, launched in 2025 to unlock seamless whole-home backup.

Conway brings 15 years of experience building hardware for the clean energy transition. He was a founding team member and Head of Products at SPAN, the smart electric panel maker, where he led development of the SPAN Panel from an idea to installations in thousands of homes across the U.S. His focus throughout has been total cost to the customer. At SPAN, that meant integrating the technology layer directly into the busbar so electricians could install the panel without extra field steps. His team's work also helped modernize the National Electrical Code, clearing a path to lower the cost of electrifying homes nationwide.

Before SPAN, Conway spent six years on Tesla's Energy team, helping take the Powerwall from concept to more than 50,000 annual deployments. In the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, he led on-the-ground teams working with local communities to restore power and design more resilient energy systems, work that reiterated the importance of resilience as a design priority.

"ConnectDER has built its reputation on product innovation, quality, and close installer collaboration," said Ivo Steklac, ConnectDER President & CEO. "As rising electricity costs and more frequent power outages drive growing demand for residential storage, the industry's biggest hurdle isn't battery availability—it's job site complexity that drives up total cost to the customer. Chad's experience scaling category-defining platforms at SPAN and Tesla makes him uniquely equipped to guide our product roadmap and keep our adapters the fastest, most cost-effective option for installers nationwide."

"Having spent my career building hardware platforms across grid storage, smart panels, and EVs, I see ConnectDER's technology as the key to unlocking mass adoption of batteries, solar, and vehicle-to-home power," said Chad Conway, ConnectDER VP of Product. "Nearly a third of the country is now paying more for a grid that performs worse. The future of home energy depends on giving installers simple solutions that cut installation time and give homeowners an affordable, resilient path to energy independence. ConnectDER is uniquely positioned to lead that shift, and I'm looking forward to driving our next wave of product development."

Conway's hire comes as American homeowners face a worsening tradeoff between cost and reliability. A recent county-by-county analysis of the U.S. grid found that in nearly one in three counties, electricity prices rose over the past decade even as outages got worse, meaning millions of Americans are paying more for a grid that performs worse than it used to. That combination is accelerating demand for home battery storage and backup power, and putting pressure on installers to deploy it faster and more affordably.

Enter ConnectDER. Traditional interconnect and home backup methods often require complex, expensive panel reconfigurations and days of labor. ConnectDER's patented MSAs solve this bottleneck by connecting solar, storage, and EV chargers directly at the meter socket, saving homeowners thousands of dollars and allowing installers to complete jobs in a fraction of the time. The advantage is compounding as many of the 4 million U.S. residents with existing rooftop solar retrofit their systems to participate in battery incentive programs like Virtual Power Plants (VPPs).

A core focus for Conway will be deepening ConnectDER's IslandDER™ capabilities, integrating higher levels of onboard functionality and bringing on new OEM partnerships. IslandDER™ has become the standard Microgrid Interconnect Device (MID) option for installers, eliminating the need for circuit relocations and subpanels on whole-home backup jobs. It's compatible with systems from SolarEdge, FranklinWH, Lunar Energy, EcoFlow, and Fox ESS, with additional partnerships already under agreement.

ConnectDER's devices have received major utility approvals across the U.S. for installation directly into the utility meter socket, including in California and Arizona, where MSAs are particularly beneficial due to the prevalence of meter-main combination panels on homes that would otherwise require a full day of circuitry work and reconfiguration. Where meter socket adapters are not yet approved by the local utility, ConnectDER's IslandDER™ device may be installed in an additional, separate meter socket without the need for utility approval. Visit connectder.com/installation to learn more.

About ConnectDER
ConnectDER has been a pioneer in designing and developing meter socket adapters (MSAs) since 2011, simplifying the connection of distributed energy resources (DERs) such as solar, battery storage, and electric vehicle charging equipment. ConnectDER's products help accelerate installations, avoid complex electrical work, and reduce costs for both installers and homeowners—making renewable energy solutions more accessible and affordable for all. The company's devices are UL-listed and NEC-compliant, approved by utilities across the U.S., and used by solar installers nationwide. Installers can purchase ConnectDER's meter socket adapters through their preferred distributor. Email [email protected] to talk to a ConnectDER sales representative. For more information, visit connectder.com.

Contact: Dave Armenti | Sr. Marketing Director, ConnectDER | [email protected]

SOURCE ConnectDER, Inc.