Dust, David Gelbaum, Energy Storage: The Floor Chatter at Intersolar

SAN FRANCISCO -- Trade shows are my life. I spend at least 375 hours a year trolling around the hallways of cavernous convention centers gathering squishy balls and 9 x 12 glossy folders.

While some people despise them, I think they play an integral role in the technology industry. They are the modern day equivalent of the trade fairs conducted by the Hanseatic league. Besides, it gives me a chance to socialize. Here are some of the tidbits from the floor at Intersolar that took place in San Francisco this year:

• More than one person talked about dust and debris and the effect it could have on solar performance, particularly in desert nations like Abu Dhabi. It will also be a problem that Europe has to tackle if it wants to get large amounts of power from solar thermal plants in North Africa. Skyline Solar, which makes silicon modules with reflective concentrators, argued that the design of its module may lead to less debris. Dew that forms on the concentrator will roll off, carrying some solids with it.

• David Gelbaum, the secretive investor behind the Quercus Trust, was allegedly in town. I didn't see him. Then again, he might have been that guy in the Gavin Newsom mask.

• There are two companies using the name Solar Magic. National Semiconductor, of course, sells a product called SolarMagic to boost the performance of solar modules. Meanwhile, a Chinese company called Heze Solar Magic brands its solar thermal water heaters as solar magic. (National's SolarMagic helps get around the debris issue by allowing solar panels to act more independently.)

• Abe Yokell of Rockport Capital Partners stopped by. We chatted about storage. One of the issues that will likely begin to crop up in the hot, but almost nonexistent, storage market is the fact that the price between expensive, peak power and cheap nighttime power isn't that great. Or at least maybe not large enough to justify buying millions of dollars worth of equipment to balance electrical loads. Still, Rockport is looking into storage investments.