solar summit 2018

Trends in Solar Technology and System Prices and The State of Corporate Procurement: Offsite and Distributed Solar

A live recording of GTM's new podcast on clean energy news and politics, from a bipartisan perspective.

What does it mean to be an inverter company in an age where solar is rapidly disrupting the energy paradigm? As software, AI and other digital trends change the way energy is managed and consumed, inverter suppliers must look beyond selling hardware and into a whole host of new services and markets. Looking to lead the charge, solar power electronics companies are increasingly shifting into service-driven markets and utilizing the PV inverter as a platform for technology integration and digitized energy. Hear Pierre-Pascal Urbon, CEO of SMA Solar Technology, speak to the coming transformation to the solar power electronics space and how global companies like SMA must respond.

For distributed solar providers in the U.S., achieving scale and turning a profit has been the industry's equivalent of having your cake and eating it too. In this panel, we'll discuss which types of installers and developers are actually profitable. Within that discussion, we'll assess (and debate) what parts of the value chain make sense to be vertically integrated, and which types of companies and business models will drive the next wave of distributed solar over the next several years.

Join us for a discussion about new and emerging markets for distributed solar in the U.S. We'll be covering new policies and incentive programs and the strategies and best practices to address these opportunities.

"The storage market is ____ years behind the solar market” is a popular refrain when discussing the storage market today. But where is the solar-plus-storage market today in terms of size and success, as well as geographical growth? And when will we see the market become “mature?” Come for a rousing discussion of the distributed market’s future, and learn what states and regions will provide the next opportunity for growth.

2017 was a tumultuous year as hurricanes rocked Texas, Florida and the Caribbean. As of December, three months after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, half of all Puerto Ricans were still in the dark. The incredible damage to the nation's electric infrastructure - even on the mainland - resulting from these hurricanes serves as a wakeup call to the resilience of the grid. With the possibilities for rapid, modular deployment at rapidly decreasing costs, can clean distributed technologies like solar and energy storage provide relief and even long-term sustained power during future disasters? Learn from panelists that are actively working on relief efforts in Puerto Rico and helping keep communities energized.

The primary drivers of US utility PV are shifting. Solar is decreasingly driven by policy drivers like renewable portfolio standards and PURPA and instead is predominantly driven by the economic completeness of utility PV. Join our discussion of how different market drivers will shift over time and where how this change will create development opportunity across the U.S.

Community solar had its biggest year in 2017. Growth has taken place predominantly in state markets with policy mandates for community solar. But what’s community solar’s future beyond those booming state markets? How are companies thinking about growth strategies?

“Fast is fine, but accuracy is final” Wyatt Earp, the famous gunfighter, is believed to have said. Like the era of Earp’s heyday, the modern solar-plus-storage market is moving quickly but is filled with uncertainty. This session will dive deep into the solar-plus-storage market of today, looking at The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: its successes, struggles, and failures. The discussion will also center on the future of the solar-plus-storage market, exploring how market players will succeed with innovation and True Grit, as well as what opportunities will emerge thanks to policy and business models.