If you were able to attend the 2009 Solar Power International at the Anaheim Convention Center and not feel overwhelmed by how massive it was, I applaud you! It was enormous!! I missed San Diego in 2008, but was able to make Long Beach in 2007 and the show must have grown 3 to 4 times in size since then. Incredible! The expo floor map may give you some taste of just how many vendors and square foot consumed the convention center, but it really was incredible seeing row after row after row of module manufacturers, businessmen dressed in flashy suits and taking the whole expo in.
While chatting to a friend who works for a prominent module manufacturer, she mentioned how she’d noticed a dramatic change in the maturity of the attendants she had been chatting with at her employer’s vendor booth. “They’re asking much smarter questions and already know a lot now”, she explained. It’s taken a few years for the industry to catch up with the demand and jargon surrounding the industry, but man do they seem ready to take over the world now!
Not to mention that just weeks before the expo, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation that will create a feed-in tariff system that could enable schools, local governments, farms and small business to be paid for the extra energy their solar photovoltaic systems produce instead of sending Southern California Edison a donation at the end of each year. Currently new systems are often purposely undersized to ensure that Utility Companies don’t receive anymore free handouts.
Even builders are beginning to install more systems on their own. Local Orange County Green Contractor John Steed recently installed his first solar photovoltaic solar system. He’s a one stop shop — his company builds custom homes from start to finish without using subs. Packing nearly every “green” building certification available to his industry, the few builders like John who have been silently investing in the future of building aught to do very well when State Assembly Bills like AB811 type programs begin to roll out. John Steed, Maverick Woodworking, Custom Home Builders, 949-697-5652.
