Conference Session: Finding Talent and Managing Growth
Brad Collins, Jay Paidpati, Barry Cinnamon, Jeff Melby, Dan Shugar
This session set several fast-growing company CEO’s together to discuss the challenges of building a company in this sort of industry.

I had the chance to meet and work with Brad Collins, the director of ASES (American Solar Energy Society) before, so I was looking forward to this session all day. It didn’t disappoint, with a lively discussion and a good range of viewpoints. Some noteworthy statistics came up. For one, the total market for renewable and energy efficiencies exceeded $1 Trillion dollars in 2007, and is projected to grow rapidly. Within the context of solar alone, Jay Paidpati provided some interesting work from a report his firm had compiled. Their mean forecast stated that the industry will experience approximately 40% growth for the next 10-15 years, and between 2006 and 2016 is projected to be 26 times larger. This means transitioning from a 14,000 person workforce in 2006 to 100k+ workers in 2016.

Jeff Melvi provided some insights in to the process of running a business from the start, including many personal thoughts on the purpose of leadership and management and some of the philosophies of building a great team. He presented a roadmap of managing new technologies: Present state -> Vision of the Future -> Sustainable value relationship -> Technology management & refinement -> Strategic thrust. He also pointed out that technology is in no way a replacement for people, but rather should always be treated as another tool to help build the core competencies of the firm. Long term perspective with short-term emphasis on excellence will yield the best results, and the described his firm as “a dynamic, adaptive enterprise.” Dan Shugar, CEO of San Jose based SunPower (perhaps the largest market-cap pure-solar firm in the world) provided an enthusiasm for his chosen field, and described the history of the firm in detail (since he’s been there since it’s origination 20+ years previously). He described the transition from garage tinkerers to a multi-billion dollar multinational as a process filled with pitfalls and opportunities, and admitted luck was on their side more than once over the company’s history. He also outlined his thoughts on corporate culture in this industry by summarizing: Mission, innovation, opening to the “best ideas” no matter where they came from, access to executives by all levels of employee, and developing a bad-news-now attitude where no issue should be overlooked. Furthermore, he stressed the importance of building a company culture around “winning,” and pointing out that wins, no matter how small or seemingly trivial, always are a good thing for morale and reinforcement in the company’s purpose.

Conference Session: Closing Plenary
Isao Yukawa, Rick Andreen, Maria Cantwell
This final session provided the closing remarks on the conference.

This session was brief but featured two of the most notable speakers of the conference, the CEO of Sharp Power (the world’s largest solar panel manufacturer) and Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell from Washington State. Mr. Yukawa set the tone by describing the act of building new solar power power facilities akin to creating brand new, clean oil fields across the globe. He proposed a future where we reduce our dependence on foreign oil to pre-industrial levels, and summarized his vision succinctly: “The sun ultimately fuels human beings.”

Maria Cantwell was the final speaker of the session, and she was awarded the Solar Industry Person of the Year Award by the Solar Electric Industry Association for her work on the passage of the $25 billion Cantwell-Enson Amendment to the recent financial rescue package in the senate. She described the biggest challenges and opportunities ahead, including upgrading the nation’s power grid, implementing solar, wind, geothermal, and tidal where possible as quickly as possible, and beginning to shift our transportation infrastructure towards electric vehicles and better mass-transit solutions. She finished by pointing out that the biggest task the government must undertake is to support renewable energy through identifying where federal land can be allocated to clean energy projects, much like the oil industry has done over the 20th century.

Other notes and thoughts about the show

Beyond those speaking sessions, I took a substantial amount of time wandering the exhibit hall and meeting as many professionals as I could. Of course, the focus of my efforts was to reach recruiters or hiring managers within those companies, but I was also pleased to have several discussions about the industry and its future. Overwhelmingly the mood was optimistic, especially thanks to the passage of the ITC (Investment Tax Credit) which for some companies will offset as much as 30% of a solar power system installation through federal subsidies. Solar cell and module production is being revolutionized and streamlined, and cost efficiencies in production, distribution, financing, and long-term support abound.

Overall, this was a GREAT show, and students should definitely take advantage of the preferable student pricing when it comes around in San Jose in 2009. Stay tuned, as always to AltEnToday.com for more coverage of solar events and news as it happens!

Conference Session: CEO Panel
Kerry Dolan, Lyndon Rive, Jim Rodgers, Mike Ahearn, Santiago Seage
This session dealt with the overall industry and some of the challenges it faces in the future.

Each of the CEO’s at the stage brought with them different experiences from their own solar businesses, including utility-grade, commercial-grade, consumer-grade, and international development of the solar market. Of course, one of the pressing issues mentioned was the current financial market meltdown. For many homeowners and businesses, PPA’s (mentioned earlier) will provide a way to ensure stability in the market without the burden of a large initial capital outlay. Distributed ownership between building owners, third-party financial institutions, government, and utilities may be increasing to distribute the cost of capital. Additionally, the industry needs more skilled workers. Even the best installation crews working as 3 man teams can only install about 30kw per month; meaning a lot of installers need to be trained and deployed to the field. The experience curve is improving installation times, and again standardization of equipment and processes may help alleviate some of these burdens. At the same time, the slowing economy may provide an inhibitor on the need for large-scale baseload power facilities like coal and nuclear, and may also stagnate the willingness of utilities to invest in natural-gas fired “peaker” plants that provide greater-than-baseload power generation. Solar is a natural fit in this market condition because it can be installed in modules and segments, and as soon as a module is put in to place, it is already earning income. This means that utilities striving to meet the slowing growth of demand for power might install, say, a 10-megawatt solar installation that could have a maximum capacity for 100mw+ of power. As demand is realized, supply can increase relatively effortlessly.

Other emerging trends will impact the solar and renewable power industries. One of the dominant ones (something that was mentioned not just in this session) was the need to self-police the industry. The public needs to trust solar companies, and as the market grows, firms must be careful not to over-promise and under-deliver. It only takes one bad firm to create a media or community outrage. Also, as new technology comes to the homes, specifically plug-in electric vehicles, homeowners will likely see their power bill double. This may provide the mental reinforcement for homeowners to purchase solar to offset some of these costs.

Conference Session: CEO Panel 2 – Driving Down Costs
Martin Heming, Matt Cheney, Jeannine Sargent, Anton Milner
Similar to the previous session, this one focused on trying to identify costs in the industry and at individual firms, and root out solutions for reducing them.

Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to see this entire session, but there were some good nuggets that I was able to grab from it while I was there. Perhaps the most prevalent part of the discussion was focused on the current utility grid and the costs and losses inherent in trying to work within its framework. New infrastructure will be made necessary by the driving economic and political forces at work to provide greater flexibility and reduce the chances for brownouts and blackouts. This will require the development and investment of “smart grid” technology that will use real time information technologies to allow facilities on the grid to throttle up and down with greater effectiveness.

Another amusing tidbit was the notion that financiers across the world still view solar as some sort of “new” technology, even though the fundamentals have been in place for 30-50 years! We’re a factor of 2 away from being completely cost competitive with essentially every major energy source presently known, and industry efficiency improves by 5%+ per year, meaning that within 8-10 years solar will be cost competitive with nearly everything on the market, in almost all marketplaces. Concentrated solar electricity combined with innovations in electricity and energy storage (such as heated salts that retain their heat even overnight and can be used to create steam to power turbines) are very close to widespread viability. However, as a darker note, the current cost-of-capital in the solar market is estimated at $0.70-$1.00 greater than it was 2 years ago (before the financial crisis / credit collapse), which is distributed across the value chain. This means that the industry must work even harder to maintain the current momentum in its favor.

Conference Session: Workforce Development: What is needed and who is doing it
Jerry Ventre, Rebecca Eaton, Jeff Wolfe, John Carrese, Joseph Sarubbi
This session was designed to provide information for businesses to learn about where new industry employees may come from and how to develop a better workforce industry-wide.

The majority of this session was spent trying to discuss two main points – industry certifications and standardization (again) as well as the case of the Hudson Valley Community College solution which was implemented in Hudson Valley, New York. Some statistics were provided early on, such as the estimate that there are over 770 solar firms in California, employing over 17,000 people presently. Colleges need to identify those students with the aptitude and desire to be involved in the industry, and provide specific training for those individuals. Rebecca Eaton is the chairwoman of NABCEP, the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners, and she provided some summary information about their certification programs for installers of roof-mounted PV (photovoltaic) and thermal systems. Finally, Joe Sarubbi shared his story of implementing a New York state mandated grant for educating renewable energy workers at the Hudson Valley Community College. He pointed out that there was strong industry support for the program, which allowed them to continue to build the program, as well as find employment for nearly every graduate. He also pointed out that due to the success, a new facility called TEC-SMART is going to begin construction soon which will allow them to educate and train energy workers for a wide range of fields, all with their own dedicated facility.

Conference Session: Friction-Free Solar Market

Chuck Hornbrook, Daniela Schreiber, Joe Henri, JP Ross, Pam Newell, Nat Kreamer

This session focused on trying to discover where friction exists within the solar industry, and identify ways to free up capital, reduce stresses on the companies, governments, customers, and employees involved.

One of the first points was made by Chuck Hornbrook, who stated that the current solar incentives in California were burdened by internal costs. Up to 5% of the CSI (California Solar Incentive) was internal management & processing costs. Next, Daniela Schreiber provided insight from the European market. She described the actors in the marketplace including: Governments, Installers, Service Providers, Customers, and Utilities. She stated that industry clustering (like what is currently going on in the Silicon Valley as well as in Germany and southern Spain) increases efficiency by reducing logistical hurdles and increasing collaboration. The uncertainty and insecurity about the industry is creating transaction costs (in delayed decision processes and increased due diligence periods). All the markets across the globe are still in emergence stage, although Germany (where solar conditions are no better than anywhere in the United States) is leading in installed capacity and integration.

Pam Newell of Xcel Energy (a Colorado utility company) identified several ways to improve the customer process, especially where so much paperwork and processing was necessary to provide the government rebates and incentives. She stated that the key to widespread adoption may be as simple as simplifying the communications between parties. She identified the working group within their company, the “Solar Rewards Staff” as streamlining the process between customer, installer, the utility, and the government agencies involved. JP Ross, CEO of Sungevity, a solar sales and marketing firm, has built a unique online purchasing system that allows virtually any homeowner to virtually try out a system. He stated, however, that the biggest challenges that his part of the industry (home-based installations) faces will come down the road, when systems need maintaining. If even 1% of currently installed capacity were to fail, that would mean 14,000 failed solar modules. Unfortunately, without standardization, that means each repair or maintenance cycle is essentially a brand new installation. Standardization is key. (This sentiment, by the way, was echoed by many other speakers and attendees that I spoke with.)

Other presenters at this session included Nat Kreamer, CEO of SunRun, and Joe Henri, CEO of SunEdison (both power purchasing agreement (PPA) providers – solar leasing companies). Both men highlighted the need to simplify the message about solar power, as well as to simplify the way people buy it. Instead of forcing homeowners to face the high upfront-costs of basically starting their own rooftop utility company, PPA providers retain ownership of the panels by leasing the equipment to the homeowner, taking care of maintenance, support, and installation, and send just a simple monthly bill to the homeowner just like a cable bill. Mr. Henri brought up an interesting issue that I had not heard as well in that many fire marshals throughout the state of California were bringing up concerns about firefighters being on rooftops with high-voltage solar panels, and that is something the industry should address.

Conference Session: How to Monetize Solar Revenue Streams

David Kopans, Paul Detering, Hanson Wood, Jan McFarland, Andrew Byrnes

This session focused on identifying ways to make money from solar power outside of the obvious task of “selling power.” This dealt with energy markets as well as environmental ones.

This session was an interesting mix of business, environmental, and regulatory minds. Mr. Detering provided insight in to the hedging side of the industry – using consisdent and relatively predictable solar power to hedge against the volatility of the utility power marketplace. He provided some unique statistical models that broke down both the aggregate curve of increase in the costs of energy over the past twenty years, but also identified the statistical probabilities of future increases, both in amplitude (how much the rate may increase) and frequency (how often those rate increases may occur.) The end result was that in the past, the mean increase in prices in California is 6.8% per year; but volatility is increasing (towards both the up- and the down-side). Companies can purchase solar at a pre-determined rate of return, and the more solar they purchase and install, the greater their resistance to market volatility. Hanson Wood spoke about the Renewable Energy Credits (REC) market. He identified that there are two markets, the voluntary one of customers who want to “go green” and the compliance markets created by state Renewable energy Portfolio Standards (RPS) that mandate certain amounts of adoption of solar or renewable energy technology.

Alternatively, Andrew Byrnes of Spinnaker Energy spoke about the offset market, and painted a rather glo0my picture in relation with solar power. Simply put, there is as he described it a “gas bias” towards offsetting greenhouse gases other than CO2, and that solar will only “count” towards carbon offsets, making it an unattractive option. Some legislative ideas are in the works to update this bias and allow solar to participate more freely. The other point of note from this particular session revolved around a comment Jan McFarland mentioned that there should be incentives and value in zero net energy; business, buildings, or other things that traditionally use power but can be made energy neutral (or even energy-providers).

In summary however I can state that this was an absolutely terrific convention that was entirely worth the time and money (student rate was only $200!) The sessions were well paced, generally very entertaining, and filled with useful information. One thing I realized though is that the solar industry is absolutely jam-packed with jargon (much of which I’m only just beginning to become comfortable with) so I’m going to try to aggressively update the glossary section of the site.

Stay tuned for lots of follow-up from the show, and thanks for stopping by. If you happen to be someone that I met during the show and you got a card, please take a look at my resume page for more information about my background and drop me an email so we can continue our conversation.

I probably won’t be able to make too many updates during this week, but rest assured that I’ll have comprehensive post-game coverage of the event starting at least Sunday, and likely spanning most of next week and beyond. If you need to reach me, I welcome you to send me an email to dave - at - altentoday.com. Also, don’t forget that AltEnToday.com works great on mobile phone internet browsers, so get your daily dose of alt-energy news from anywhere you are!

That’s the words of Solyndra CEO Chris Gronet (formerly VP @ Applied Materials for those keeping score — who also got a nod from California Governor Schwarzenegger in the Merc for their latest 2.1 mW parking lot system), quoted from a recent San Jose Mercury news report, Fremont’s Solyndra goes from stealth to solar star. Check out the video after the jump…

Solyndra’s system is pretty interesting and unique - instead of using photovoltaic (PV) panels, these guys are generating tubes covered in PV material, and mounting them a foot above a roof surface. The idea? These panels never have to move or track; their tubular shape will provide relatively uniform absorption throughout the day - and the bottom of the tubes can absorb reflection energy from the roof of the building.

Tack on the fact that these systems can be mounted cleanly without having to drill and bolt everything on to the roof, and the tubes themselves are naturally secure in winds (the tubular shape doesn’t allow the wind to pick them up unlike traditional panels) and you’ve got yourself a pretty straightforward alternative to traditional tracking or south-facing panels. The price-to-output figures aren’t available since installations are essentially custom, but Solyndra does have a lot of support behind it; including billionaire Richard Branson.

Solyndra’s also done some amazing things with robotic-based manufacturing facilities which will hopefully keep their costs low enough to enjoy high production speed, 24×7 manufacturing, and low per-unit production costs that should allow them to achieve economies of scale to meet the cost accounting of most commercial businesses considering opening up their roofs to solar. Take a look at this quick video to see some of their manufacturing in action.

Right now my biggest challenge is figuring out my schedule! There are so many great conference sessions, not to mention the fact that I want to spend a lot of time in the expo hall. We’ll see if I’ve got time to get everything covered that I want to, but I’m looking forward to a very worthwhile event. Lots of coverage to come!

The new joint venture, Gemini Solar Development Company, will concentrate on 10 megawatt or greater facilities, including funding and financing supported by the newly passed renewable energy tax breaks and incentives included in the congressional bailout bill this week. Furthermore, according to the Mercury News, Suntech simultaneously acquired EI Solutions now called Suntech Energy Solutions, which is a significant integrated solar services and technology provider who’s client list includes Google, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Marin County government.

Obviously since this is a brand new story (and brand!) no immediate plans have been announced, but it’s encouraging to see new investment and activity in the US solar marketplace. 10mW systems should be able to provide enough power to support 7,000-9,000 homes per installation. In a down-turning economy, but with appropriate incentives, these systems may be able to help communities offset their peak power demands while simultaneously switching to abundant, low-environmental impact renewables.

These tax incentives were just a small part of the overall housing rescue plan, but perhaps this will prove to be one of the most thoughtful additions to an otherwise complex and partisan crisis. Time to see what Congress does on their end.

Unfortunately, our current economic turbulence has essentially shelved any plans to put a federal energy plan to work this year. According to USA Today, all efforts to push legislation through has stalled as congressional members are embroiled in a heated debate about bailouts, main street, wall street, credit markets, etc. The fact that this is a Presidential election year can’t possibly be helping push smart, structured, balanced regulation and incentives through the federal government. Nobody wants to be on the “wrong” side of an issue, so nothing gets done.

Frankly, I don’t mind the notion that the market will sort out the best solution to the multifaceted energy challenges we will face. Between our presidential candidates, the only clear advantage that I see is that McCain supports expanding nuclear power - something I think might be his strongest argument to date - on any issue.

The unfortunate reality is that we’re facing a slumping economy, and access to highly fluid credit markets is crucial to the construction and development of highly-capital intensive projects in wind and solar. The solidification of the credit markets should be a primary concern not just of the federal legislature, but also all the state and local governments that are heavily vested in the value of the property in their region. However, without clear congressional action on things such as subsidies, allocation of tax incentives and breaks, and vision for the future, it’s harder for new energy alternatives to come to market.