SolarCon 2023

Fresh back from SolarCon 2023

Too much to talk about…

This industry is buzzing with activity and excitement.

SolarCon 2023 was held in Salt Lake City over three days (Thursday through Saturday) with a ‘platinum’ day on Wednesday for those who wanted to plug a little deeper into the industry and get some exclusive training.

Over all it was a really good event that had way more information put out than I could handle. There were breakout events that I had to choose between and thus missed entire sections because I could only be in one place at a time.

That said, I would like to summarize my take-aways and things I found either vitally important or really interesting.

In no order of precedence or importance:

- The industry speakers nearly all cautioned that the solar industry needs to seek to regulate itself before regulations are thrust upon it.

- There are only 3.5 million of about 65-80 million solar-appropriate/eligible homes with solar actually installed. There is no ‘saturation’ of markets and projections of acceptance rates shows exponential installs coming.

- The IRA basically puts ~4billion into incentives for rooftop solar. Once that is spent, some say the next ~4billion will be paid by those who refused to install solar because the ‘carbon tax’ will be paid by those who consume legacy oil derived power.

(The time to get solar is now, before the other shoe drops…)

- Battery technology is good. The time to consider batteries with regards to technology has basically arrived.

- Solar power on a home, especially with a battery, isn’t so much of a ‘return on investment’ as it is an upgrade to the home. Nobody asks how much a new kitchen will save them (unless swapping in energy efficient appliances), it is an upgrade.

- For the first time ever, homeowners have an option to get their power from somewhere other than the monopolistic utility that was arbitrarily attached/assigned to the home they own.

- Sales bros are in the industry for sure, but the lead gen guys are much worse.

- There are call center operators who are responsible for millions of calls a year- all pounding on the information people submit on those advertisements.

- There are data (lead) sellers who specifically ignore the do-not-call-list (I don’t know the guy but I was overhearing an alarming discussion while waiting in line for lunch on the platinum day). Basically- those on do not call list are ‘better’ because those are like ‘verified’ numbers.

- Some lead gen folks despise the shady operators and predict that the call center ops guys will ‘burn the solar industry’ the same way they’ve burned other industries. Basically- what I gathered is call centers have been regulated out of several industries and it is only a matter of time before that happens in the solar industry.

There are some incredibly impressive people involved in the solar industry. The technology is absolutely viable, reliable, and in many cases affordable (especially with the IRA).

When the IRA runs out, what will happen? Over time, will there be more regulation on emissions that result in taxation? I don’t know, but industry leaders certainly think so.

If you are looking into getting rooftop solar for your home, the time has never been better- consider checking out my upcoming book Tucson Solar Insider Desk Guide for Buying Solar by clicking here

Be Good!

Curtis