10/28/2025 Leon Liebenberg
Written by Leon Liebenberg
Editor’s Note: This story highlights the innovative and interdisciplinary approaches that define the Master of Engineering in Energy Systems program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Offered through the Department of Nuclear, Plasma & Radiological Engineering in The Grainger College of Engineering, the program prepares students to become leaders in the transition to a sustainable energy future—integrating technical expertise in power generation, renewable energy, and energy markets with practical, industry-driven experience.
Learn more about how you can advance your career through Illinois’ M.Eng. in Energy Systems program at go.illinois.edu/energysystems.
The world is undergoing an energy revolution unlike any in history. Solar power capacity has doubled roughly every three years — a tenfold increase each decade. Few technologies in history have grown this quickly — and none are as vital to our future. Ten years ago, when solar power was just a tenth of its current size, many experts still regarded it as marginal. Today, it is one of the fastest-growing sources of electricity worldwide.
Looking ahead, the implications are profound: the next order-of-magnitude increase in solar capacity would dwarf the scale of current nuclear infrastructure. In many scenarios, solar — combined with storage and grid flexibility — is projected to become one of the dominant sources of electricity by the 2030s. And by the 2040s, solar could lead not just in electricity generation but play a dominant role across sectors — assuming strong technological, infrastructural, and policy support. Unlike most other major infrastructures, solar continues to grow cheaper year after year. With radical abundance on the horizon, energy may cease to be a constraint — becoming instead a springboard for imagination.
A Builder of Energy Futures
Meet Steve Vavrik, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduate (BS Mechanical Engineering '90, MS '91), with a JD from Yale University Law and a Master’s in Public Policy from Princeton University. As CEO of Earthrise Energy, he spearheaded the development and fundraising of more than $600 million to supercharge Illinois’ clean energy transition. Under his leadership, Earthrise launched transformative projects, including a 270-megawatt solar farm near Gibson City — one of the largest in the region.
Vavrik’s impact, however, extends far beyond Earthrise. During his career, he has been part of the development teams at large companies such as GE and Enron and small start-ups like First Wind and Apex Clean Energy. The result: more than 6 GW of clean-energy projects — wind, solar, and utility-scale batteries — now operating from Maine to Texas and Oklahoma, helping to reshape the U.S. power grid into a more diverse system with lower greenhouse-gas emissions.
For Vavrik, the motivation has always been clear. “I decided to develop power plants as a career because they are large infrastructure projects that improve the lives of a lot of people,” he said.
He relishes the complexity — thermodynamic systems, cross-disciplinary teams, and the communication challenges of bridging engineers, financiers, policymakers, and local communities. More than anything, he is driven by the tangible legacy of renewable projects. “I always enjoy pointing to a power plant and saying, ‘I was part of the team that built that. It is here because of our perseverance and hard work,’” Vavrik said.
I always enjoy pointing to a power plant and saying, "I was part of the team that built that. It is here because of our perseverance and hard work."
-Steve Vavrik
Navigating Energy Transitions
Vavrik’s career is, however, not just about building projects, but about understanding the broader forces shaping clean energy. Energy transitions are rarely single moments; they unfold over decades of risk-taking, persistence, and collaboration. For Vavrik, the defining “turning events” of the 21st century have been advances in solar cells and electric vehicles, driven by the interplay of policy and private enterprise.
State Renewable Portfolio Standards in places like California and New England created guaranteed markets for non-fossil generation, giving entrepreneurs and investors the confidence to scale solar manufacturing. At the same time, California’s clean car incentives allowed companies such as Tesla to raise the capital to deploy lithium-ion batteries — once used mainly in camcorders and cell phones — into mass-market vehicles.
The result? Solar panels today cost less than one-fiftieth of what they did twenty years ago, and electric vehicles are rapidly dominating global car markets. As Vavrik notes, these outcomes are not accidents of history but the product of consistent risk-taking by inventors and investors and long-term vision of policy leaders.
A Call for Imagination and Conviction
What happens when clean energy becomes radically abundant? For Vavrik, that’s where imagination takes over. Cheaper, cleaner power unlocks possibilities across industries and communities — reshaping how we live, move, and create. But to seize that opportunity, the U.S. — and the world — will need people with the drive and conviction to build.
Vavrik’s journey — from a UIUC engineering classroom to leading renewable ventures worth hundreds of millions — exemplifies the role of engineers and entrepreneurs in decarbonizing our world. His career shows that progress depends not only on technology, but also on teamwork, communication, and the courage to take risks.
As he recently told students in UIUC’s Master of Engineering (Energy Systems) program, “Engineers should spend more time south of Green Street. It’s important to understand management, communication, politics, and other so-called ‘soft’ issues. Students don’t need to master all of them, but that experience helps build the multi-disciplinary skills needed to take ideas to the limit.”
As Illinois and the world continue their rapid energy transformation, alumni like Vavrik show what it takes not just to envision the future — but to build it.
(Photos: Background: Aerial view of the first stage of Earthrise Energy’s 270-MWe solar farm, designed to host more than 595,000 bifacial 590-W solar modules and 75 four-MWe inverters. Inset: Steve Vavrik confers with construction teams at one of Illinois’ largest solar undertakings — a 270-MWe Gibson City project fueled by $600 million in investment. Images credited to Earthrise Energy.)