Over the last few weeks, a lot of attention in the solar world has been on CASM (aka the Coalition of American Solar Manufacturers). This group, led by SolarWorld and six other anonymous companies, is employing a dangerous strategy by using a lawsuit to slow down the amount solar being imported from China. We at Southern Energy Management do not support this action. In fact, SEM has joined a growing list of more than 100 industry leaders as part of the newly-formed Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy (CASE), whose sole purpose is (more…)
Author Archive
PV Protectionism: CASM’s Dangerous Strategy
Tuesday, November 29th, 2011Solar Costs vs. Long Term Value
Thursday, April 7th, 2011I was fortunate to be able to make a business trip to California recently, where we met with leading manufacturers of equipment, solar financiers and national solar installers. I left with new perspectives on both opportunities and challenges our growing industry is facing. A common obstacle is better defining what we as an industry are selling in relation to upfront solar costs vs. long term energy production.
Simply put, many purchasing decisions are being made on (more…)
Buy American…Who Cares? I Do.
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011I read an interesting blog post recently, talking about how “Buy American” clauses for the US military are more talk than action; the title even said “Who Cares?” While I agree that it certainly isn’t the biggest driver for more home-grown production, I strongly believe that steps like this are important.
First of all, the post dismisses the impact of (more…)
Closing The Gap
Wednesday, January 19th, 2011The future of energy has never been more exciting and uncertain. Traditionally, there’s been a divide between American consumers who want to see clean energy sources - like solar and wind – and the existing energy providers who have business models that work well by selling fossil fuels. That divide, however, is moving more toward solutions that include clean energy choices. It may not always seem to be closing as fast as we’d like — but there is movement!
On a recent trip to Mississippi, I had the pleasure to talk with Governor Haley Barbour and his wife, Marsha, about the changes on the horizon. (more…)
Insights from Solar Power International: Incremental and Independent
Thursday, October 21st, 2010A handful of SEM team members spent part of last week in California at Solar Power International 2010, the largest solar industry tradeshow in the U.S. We’ve been going to this show for years, but things were quite different this time around: we were also joined by a record-breaking crowd of 30,000 people as we roamed the expo floor. It’s amazing to see how much more attention this entire industry is getting.
Lots of talk at SPI centered around green jobs and America’s role in the evolving world renewable energy market. When I look at America and our policies I believe (more…)
Laser Focus on Education Needed
Tuesday, September 28th, 2010
As I learned about the NC Building Code Council vote last week not to increase ANY energy efficiency codes in North Carolina for years to come, at first I felt dismayed and defeated. I now feel like we have failed to educate.
The argument against code changes is fairly simple — but flawed. (more…)
The Falling Price of Solar PV Panels
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010The price of solar panels is slowly coming down, and we hear a lot of people say they’re in “wait and see” mode, wondering just how much the financials are going to change for the average solar photovoltaic system in the coming months and years.
But if people want to take the PV plunge, frankly they don’t gain much by waiting. (more…)
