Solar Power World

Editorial Director Frank Andorka sat down with SEIA President and CEO Rhone Resch and SEPA President and CEO Julia Hamm at the PV America event in Philadelphia last week. In a wide-ranging discussion, Resch and Hamm discussed what they've seen so far in 2013 for the solar industry and what may lay in store as the year continues. In Part One of the interview, Resch and Hamm discuss the state of solar in residential, commercial and utility segments, financing and the state of the policy debate at the federal and state levels. Listen to Part One of the interview, and let us know what you think.  

Welcome to another edition of Solar Speaks, Solar Power World’s podcast series that gives you the opportunity to hear from the industry’s biggest newsmakers in their own words. We spoke with Rick Gilbert, vice president of Florida-based solar installer Solar Source. Rick discusses his company, as well as the training and public awareness of solar it provides through the Solar Source Institute. He also shares his thoughts on Florida's solar market and what it will take to push solar into the mainstream in the United States.

Welcome to another edition of Solar Speaks, Solar Power World’s podcast series that gives you the opportunity to hear from the industry’s biggest newsmakers — in their own words. Matt Denninger, senior marketing manager of Advanced Energy Solar Energy, presented a paper at a conference this year where he talked about his list of eight ways to lower PV costs, and he joined us to discuss it.

Welcome to another edition of Solar Speaks, Solar Power World’s podcast series that gives you the opportunity to hear from the industry’s biggest newsmakers in their own words. We spoke with Robert Forster, Vice President of Strategic Planning at Solarrus Corporation, and Jeanne Schwartz, Vice President of New Venture Commercialization at Assurant. The two discussed how their companies are working together to reduce project risk and improve the long-term financial viability of commercial solar installations. They also shared their thoughts on what 2013 will bring for the U.S. solar industry.

Welcome to another edition of Solar Speaks, Solar Power World’s podcast series that gives you the opportunity to hear from the industry’s biggest newsmakers in their own words. We spoke with Paul Wise, COO at Colored Solar. Paul discusses how Colored Solar manufactures colored solar panels to blend in with surrounding architecture and landscape. He explains how such panel options are breaking the barrier for those interested in going solar without sacrificing aesthetics.

Welcome to another edition of Solar Speaks, Solar Power World’s podcast series that gives you the opportunity to hear from the industry’s biggest newsmakers in their own words. We spoke with Alan Lee, CEO of ecoSolargy. In light of the International Trade Commission’s vote to allow 24 to 36% tariffs imposed by the U.S. Department of Commerce last month to move forward, Alan offers the perspective of how a small business will be affected by the decision.

Welcome to another edition of Solar Speaks, Solar Power World’s podcast series that gives you the opportunity to hear from the industry’s biggest newsmakers in their own words. We spoke with Levent Gun, CEO of Ampt. Levent discussed a bit about Ampt and its role in the HDPV Alliance.  With some of the biggest inverter, junction box and module makers in the industry, the alliance aims to advance industry adoption of lower cost, higher performance PV systems. To find out more about the HDPV Alliance, visit www.hdpv.org

I have made my way around Europe, and my steps around the U.S. are growing thanks to my following solar events. But I still lack travels in many major U.S. cities: Boston, Seattle, etc. But I did get to cross Chicago off my list as I had the opportunity to attend Schneider Electric's editor's event this week. The contrast of the skyscrapers to the colored leaves in Millennium Park was beautiful and I came back with a much better understanding of what the city is all about. I can say the same about my understanding of Schneider. From my work in wind and solar I mainly knew Schneider as an inverter manufacturer, but it was fascinating to learn about the company's other markets. For instance, the sign you see on the highway telling you how long it will take to get to the next exit could very well be the work of Schneider. The company has also released several new software suites as a part of its StruxureWare software. These suites are helping data centers, electric grids and healthcare and water applications become more efficient and sustainable. Schneider had lots of news to share at its Invest event, including: -Promoteing Energy Savings and Environmental Responsibility with the Conserve My Planet Program -Introducing its Energy University, an Online Professional Energy Manager Certification -Investing in Energy Education Advancement -Achieving ISO 50001-Certification at the Smyrna, Tenn. Facility -Cutting the Energy Consumption of its own sites by 25% -Having its EVlink Indoor EV Charging Station selected by Pecan Street Inc. -Investing in New Product Technologies and Innovation Below is some audio from the event concerning renewables. Allen Breeze, SVP of Schneider's U.S. Power Business, has some interesting comments on the future of homes as energy control centers. And Jeffrey Drees, President of Schneider Electric U.S., answers some questions on Schneider's solar business and shale gas as a threat to renewables.

Welcome to another edition of Contractors Corner, a Solar Power World podcast series in which our editors talk with solar contractors and installers just like you. This podcast series is a companion to the Contractor’s Corner column in the back of our print magazine and on our website, so make sure you look for our featured solar contractors in our October/November issue. In this episode, we spoke with Andrew McCalla, founder and president of Austin, Texas-based Meridian Solar.

Welcome to another edition of Solar Speaks, Solar Power World’s podcast series that gives you the opportunity to hear from the industry’s biggest newsmakers in their own words. We spoke with Mike Dooley, Vice President of Marketing at Advanced Energy. Mike discussed a bit about the company, as well as industry trends and inverter challenges he sees in the overall U.S. solar market.  

Welcome to another edition of Solar Speaks, Solar Power World’s podcast series that gives you the opportunity to hear from the industry’s biggest newsmakers — in their own words. Today, we are talking to Peter Lynch, who has worked, for 35 years as a Wall Street security analyst, an independent security analyst and private investor in small emerging technology companies. He has been actively involved in following developments in the renewable energy sector since 1977 and is regarded as an expert in this field. Lynch also sits on the board of advisors for the Principal Solar Institute. Lynch recently published a white paper titled Feed-In Tariffs: The Proven Road Not Taken... Why Not? He spoke with our Editorial Director Frank Andorka about his conclusions.

Welcome to another edition of Solar Speaks, Solar Power World’s podcast series that gives you the opportunity to hear from the industry’s biggest newsmakers in their own words. We spoke with Andrew Duggan, COO of OneRoof Energy, a San Diego-based solar company that develops, owns and operates residential solar systems. Andrew discussed the building blocks of a fully-integrated residential PV package, a topic suggested by one of our listeners. He addressed considerations at the component level to create a no-frill, functional solar system that won’t break the bank.

I was having a conversation with my colleagues here yesterday about how surprised we were that our readers don't seem to be reading our material closely. We often get severe criticism for things we don't say or even imply. We shrug that kind of stuff off because, hey, it comes with the territory.But this morning, I walked into this office and heard a voicemail that I never expected to hear. Apparently, I have become a conservative Romney supporter overnight. I laughed out loud (not in the LOL way, but actually laughed out loud) when I heard it.As you'll hear, he doesn't specify the article, but I believe he's referencing this one. As you will also hear, I believe he missed this one. Or this one. Or this one.Give it a listen — it should give those of you read me regularly a chuckle on this Friday.(We edited out the gentleman's name out to protect his anonymity, but that's the only part we removed.)Have a great weekend, everyone.

The Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy (CASE) hosted a briefing for reporters to review the October 3 hearing before the International Trade Commission on their investigation into imported solar cells from China. During the briefing, companies such as SunEdison and GT Advanced Technologies had a chance to voice their opposition to SolarWorld's aniti-dumping complaint filed last year.For example, Kevin Lapidus, senior vice president of legal and government affairs at SunEdison stressed how well the U.S. industry is doing. He says the challenge for the industry is not the importation of Chinese solar modules, but the movement to grid parity. In his opinion, SolarWorld's business is suffering not because of China's action, but because of its business decisions and lack of understanding as to how solar prices work in the United States. He also says it's good for incentives to decrease to reach grid parity. But the the trade war is not helpful to the nation's solar industry. He also explains that the primary objective of the International Trade Commision case is to determine if there has been harm to the United States solar market, which he doesn't believe there has been. Lapidus says many companies are actually doing quite well. His comments and also clips from Hoil Kim, vice president and chief administrative officer for GT Advanced Technologies, can be heard in the audio piece below.The Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy also released a statement opposing SolarWorld's actions:Today’s hearing before the International Trade Commission (ITC) provided an opportunity for those in favor of furthering solar energy’s ability to compete with fossil fuels to present their case in a highly politicized public forum. It is clear that Germany’s SolarWorld, in an attempt to obtain government intervention to raise the price of solar energy, is willing to threaten the future growth of America’s solar industry to achieve its own goals. SolarWorld opponents countered SolarWorld’s claims by demonstrating that the structure of US solar programs and competition with natural gas have been the forces behind driving down the price of solar cells, not imports from China. Module costs were driven down in parallel with declining incentives for solar energy which has resulted in making solar energy affordable in the US. To the extent that companies such as SolarWorld are not doing well, this reflects their own failures, including being late-comers to the utility segment and to module innovation. In this environment, only those solar module manufacturers that have invested, innovated, and cut costs are equipped to survive.The ITC will announce it's final decision by November 7, 2012. 

Welcome to another edition of Solar Speaks, Solar Power World’s podcast series that gives you the opportunity to hear from the industry’s biggest newsmakers in their own words.We spoke with Kristina Peterson, VP of EDF Renewable Energy’s solar business unit. Kristina discussed enXco’s integration into the EDF Group, and also her perspective on the U.S. solar industry in general.