SOLAR TODAY - May 2011 - Innovative Design

perspective
Rally for Raleigh By Jeff Lyng
What do the Wright Brothers
and the American Solar
Energy Society have in common
No, the American Solar Energy
Society (ASES) isn’t working on a solarpowered
aircraft. The answer: Both are
pioneers, both pushed the envelope
in their fields and both embody true
American innovation. ASES was educating
Americans about renewable energy
and energy efficiency decades before
many of the nonprofit organizations in
this field existed. We are pioneers and
it’s appropriate that the ASES membership
rally in a place of true American
innovation during a critical time in
our nation’s energy history.
From May 17 to 21, the American Solar Energy
Society will descend upon Raleigh, N.C., for
its 40th annual National Solar Conference. For
four decades, this conference has been the premier
renewable energy educational gathering in
North America, perhaps in the world. For a few
days, Raleigh — a high-tech development center
to begin with — will be the capital city of solar
energy in the United States. And that’s appropriate.
North Carolina, with a 12.5 percent renewable
portfolio standard, a 35 percent personal tax credit
for renewable energy projects and a variety of other
incentives, is leading the Southeastern states into
the new energy economy.
North Carolina is leading
the Southeastern states into
the new energy economy.
Forty years ago, in 1971, solar energy was
barely a blip on the national energy scene. Space
satellites and manned capsules were orbiting with
solar arrays, but the technology was still far too
expensive for normal use down here on earth.
Today, Southern California Edison has found it
cheaper to install 250 megawatts of distributed
photovoltaics than to build a new natural gas
power plant. The cost of fossil fuels continues to
rise steadily, sometimes sharply, while the cost of
renewable energy falls month after month. We are
still four or five years from true grid parity without
Jeff Lyng is chair of
the American Solar
Energy Society
Board. Contact him
at chair@ases.org.
government incentives, but that target
is now clearly within reach, using
existing technology and business plans
already in progress.
So, why should you attend SOLAR
2011 Here are my top three.
1. Stay plugged in. Learn the latest
from industry experts on renewable
energy policy and technology developments.
2. Nerd out. Attend educational
sessions offered throughout the conference
for a deeper dive on topics of
interest.
3. Network and have some fun.
Meet the movers and shakers in industry
or reconnect with colleagues at any number of
the social events planned throughout the week.
At Raleigh, ASES will also launch a new Policy
Toolkit for use in local solar advocacy efforts.
Though discussions have begun in Congress on
a clean energy standard, there is little question
that the states have been, and will continue to be,
the change agents for clean energy deployment.
Although 32 states now have some form of renewable
portfolio standard, many of them could be
enhanced to more effectively grow distributed generation
markets. The new ASES Policy Toolkit is a
compilation of what’s worked and why. It will be a
touchstone for policy makers in states where movement
is occurring on the RPS front to enhance their
standards in a way that drives solar toward grid parity
and away from the need for incentives.
This year, too, registration at Solar 2011 carries
with it automatic membership in ASES (or, if
you’re already a member, a gift membership for
a colleague). Our goal is 5,000 attendance, and a
significant upswing in membership. In the last issue
of Solar Today, I focused this column on the
need for every SOLAR TODAY reader to become
an ambassador for the organization in generating
new membership. I called upon all readers to focus
on bringing in three new members this year. I think
every reader understands that the wider our grassroots
base, the louder ASES’ policy message will
be heard.
We still have plenty of work to do in educating
consumers, voters, utility executives, investors
and politicians before we achieve the vision of a
Solar Nation.
We’re entering the final lap to grid parity. Let’s
see a finishing kick. ST
SOLAR TODAY ®
Leading the Renewable Energy Revolution
solartoday.org
Shaun L. McGrath: ASES Executive Director
Editorial
Gina R. Johnson: Editor/Associate Publisher
editor@solartoday.org
Seth Masia: Deputy Editor
Mike Koshmrl: Associate Editor
Alexandria Abdallah: Associate Editor
Solartoday.org
Brooke Simmons: Manager of Online Publishing
Design
Allison J. Gray: Art Director
Dan Bihn: Photojournalist
Contributors
Richard Crume, Rona Fried, Chuck Kutscher, Joseph McCabe,
Liz Merry, Mick Sagrillo, Robert Ukeiley
Advertising
Annette Delagrange: Director of Sales,
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Bonnie D. Hunt: Eastern Sales Manager
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Magazine Advisory Council
Gabriela Martin, Chair
Dan Bihn
Paul Notari
Richard Crume
Alejandro Palomino
Frank Kreith
Mick Sagrillo
Chuck Kutscher
Bob Scheulen
Joseph McCabe
Robert Ukeiley
Dona McClain
Jane M. Weissman
ASES Operations
Carolyn Beach: Membership Manager
Richard Burns: National Solar Tour Manager/
Chapters Liaison
Christy Honigman: Director of Development
Kate Hotchkiss: National Solar Conference Director
Ann Huggins: Member Services
Dona McClain: Program Coordinator
Patty Michaels: Interim Bookkeeper
Joel Moore: National Solar Conference Assistant
Chris Stimpson: Executive Campaigner
Solar Nation, a program of ASES
ASES Board of Directors
Jeff Lyng, Chair
David Hill, Chair-elect
Bill Poulin, Treasurer
Jason Keyes, Secretary
Margot McDonald, ASES Immediate Past Chair
Toni Bouchard
Nathalie Osborn
Richard Caputo
David Panich
David Comis
Tehri Parker
Gregory Edwards
Jeff Peterson
Trudy Forsyth
Phil Smithers
Allison Gray
Mark Thornbloom
Mary Guzowski
Solar Today (ISSN: 1042-0630) is published nine times
per year by the American Solar Energy Society, 4760 Walnut
Street, Suite 106, Boulder, Colorado 80301, 303.443.3130,
fax 303.443.3212, ases@ases.org, ases.org. Copyright © 2011
by the American Solar Energy Society Inc. All rights reserved.
8 May 2011 SOLAR TODAY solartoday.org Copyright © 2011 by the American Solar Energy Society Inc. All rights reserved.