PV America in Philadelphia, Pa. is a small show with a lot of energy. Although the booths and attendees are limited, the innovation and conversations are enough to make your time worthwhile. One major theme I’ve seen so far is a call for more action, less talk and for unification to push the solar industry forward.
Here are some notes and quotes from some of the great discussions I’ve had so far:
Allan Bennett, VP solar market development at Hydro Aluminum
-CSP is tailing off
-We need to focus more on making products efficient instead of just pushing the product out to sell
-I feel like I’m banging my head against a brick wall
Paul Wise, COO at Colored Solar
-Energy efficiency should be our key focus. Solar is just a way of doing that.
-A house is a system
-Most installers don’t do upgrades, like installing LED lights
-Our customers are driving solar
Colleen Ayers, marketing director at PanelClaw
-There is more risk involved with ground mounted solar
-The Sun Bear is compatible with any foundation
-A-thermalized: allows for expansion and contraction
Costa Nicolaou, CEO of PanelClaw
-Only 5% of lenders are involved in the solar industry
-Right now you have to be a solar expert to invest in solar
-truSolar aims to create and analyze data to score PV projects
-Let’s keep attacking this thing. Let’s become cost competitive.
-If you’re not about lowering life-cycle costs you don’t get it.
-Everything we do is about accelerating the adoption of PV worldwide.
-Let’s stop talking about what we need to do. It’s time to take action.
-This not what I signed up for. We, the solar industry, are more than this.
George Gisel, senior director of module sales for Hanwha Solar
-Let’s keep moving forward
Ben Higgins, director of government affairs at REC Solar
-There are three approaches to renewable policy in states: RPS, state tax credits and SRECS
-Hawaii’s tax credit is huge. It cost the state $40 million in 2011 and is up to $173 million now.
-The industry is weathering storms, it’s not that we aren’t growing
-The East Coast will be the engine of growth for the solar industry
Jeanne Schwartz, Vice President of New Venture Commercialization at Assurant
-One word, such as performance, can have 20 different meanings. truSolar is working to give that word a common meaning.
-We need to think about a solar project in the same way.
Brian Korgaonkar, product manager at Enphase Energy
-Efficiency, warranty and communications are a big deal to installers
-What’s wrong, and how do you get at it?
-Concerning power optimizers vs microinverters, you have to consider efficiency, points of failure, DC vs AC and cost
Thomas Koerner, general manager at Canadian Solar
-How is solar different from when I started in 2001? Well, now it’s an industry.
-We must think beyond the component to construction, financing etc. and become a one-stop shop.
-We have to act more like a car company, we have to provide solutions.
