Record-Breaking Attendance at Solar Power International Conference
The crowd goes wild for solar power! Photo Credit: Democractic Underground
24,000 people attended the Solar Power International Conference, making this the greatest turnout to date. This was also the most diverse attendee group yet, with 27% of those guests drawn from outside the US. In total, 99 countries were represented. The show was so successful that the co-presenters, Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) and Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), have formed a new group, Solar Energy Trade Show, LLC, to host this event and others like it. All these actions speak volumes for the solar industry worldwide.
Solar Power International is America's largest business-to-business solar energy event in America, and this year, they doubled the exhibition floor space with 929 companies representing all aspects of the solar industry supply chain. The Public Night event, a free night that is held annually, attracted an additional 2,700 people from the surrounding southern California region around Anaheim.
"The size and scope of Solar Power International reflects solar energy’s potential as an engine of economic growth,” said Rhone Resch, president and CEO of SEIA. “Now, as attendees head back to their offices and project sites, they need to focus the energy they felt at SPI onto their local and federal leaders, and demand policies which allow solar to compete fairly, let consumers to choose, and expand the U.S. solar market. We’re headed back to Washington ready to lead the fight to foster a policy environment that will create more jobs and more opportunities for consumers to go solar. We need everyone in the solar industry to come together and put our message into practice.”
The article also says that industry leaders expect growth in the coming year due to demand in emerging markets, the cost of solar electric power generation falling, the increased presence of the utility sector in the solar space, and the continuing technological innovations the industry is seeing.
The newly formed Solar Energy Trade Show, LLC will be looking forward to producing next year's Solar Power International 2010, to be held in Los Angeles (October 12-14, 2010), and PV America 2010 in Washington DC (April 8-10, 2010).
For those of you who want to rub shoulders with the industry or make your way into it, these type of events are great ways to do it. Even if it's just a few companies offering a seminar in your locale and you're planning on making the career switch or utility switch, attending one would be a good idea (depending on the topic and your interest, of course). I would imagine that the smaller the show, the better, because you're most likely to get the ear of a rep and plenty of time to speak to them.
Source: RenewableEnergyWorld.com
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