SOLAR TODAY - January/February 2012

perspective

Susan Greene: ASES President

leading the rene Wable energy revolution SOLaR TOday.ORg SOLaR TODA Y®

SOLAR TODAY Turns 25

We celebrate the 25th anniver- sary of SOLAR TODAY at a critical time in the story of the solar industry.

1986, the year the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) conceived of its own magazine, SOLAR TODAY (launched in January 1987), also witnessed the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. An ambitious Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was also born that year.

Solar water heating and concentrating solar power were mature technologies, but photovoltaic (PV) modules were expensive, even exotic. Laboratories were still working hard to bring down the cost of photovoltaic materials and processes just to make the technology cost-competitive for remote locations where it would be prohibitive even to transport diesel fuel.

Jump ahead 25 years. Stefani became Lady Gaga with 10 million Facebook fans, and nuclear power continues to disappoint us. But PV has made enormous strides, achieving grid parity in important markets. The industry has solved all of the important problems of cutting production costs and creating economies of scale throughout the global supply chain. Recent large investments by major corporations underscore their belief that the solar industry can look forward to a promising future.

Take General Electric’s recent announcement of a $300 million thin-film factory in Aurora, Colo. (see Advances, page 10). No company has a longer view of the electricity market than General Electric, which has been building generating plants since 1890, and now claims to have built 25 percent of all the electric generating capacity in the world. The acquisition of PrimeStar, and the creation of this factory at this time, should be interpreted as a final vote that the U.S. corporate economy is now and fully committed to solar power.

Nonetheless, renewable energy and solar manu-
facturing have become targets for political opposi-
tion. This is a challenge we must meet. The political
issue of loan guarantees for start-up companies and
utility-scale solar projects, and the broader issue of
the federal budget, all affect expiration of the Trea-
sury grant program and threaten state renewable
portfolio standard programs. Over the past two
years, these programs have created at
least 50,000 new jobs, as ASES fore-
cast in its series of jobs reports begin-
ning in 2008. Those reports were
relevant then and they’re even more
relevant now.

Editorial Gina R. Johnson: Editor/Associate Publisher editor@solartoday.org Seth Masia: Editor/Associate Publisher smasia@solartoday.org Brooke Simmons: Managing Editor bsimmons@solartoday.org Mike Koshmrl: Associate Editor mkoshmrl@solartoday.org Alexandria Abdallah: Associate Editor aabdallah@solartoday.org Design Allison J. Gray: Art Director Dan Bihn: Photojournalist Contributors Richard Crume, Rona Fried, Chuck Kutscher, Joseph McCabe, Mick Sagrillo, Robert Ukeiley

Jeff lyng is immediate past chair of the american solar energy society board.

Advertising Annette Delagrange: Director of Sales, Colorado and Outside the U.S. adelagrange@solartoday.org P: 630.234.9187 Bonnie D. Hunt: Eastern Sales Manager bhunt@solartoday.org P: 215.750.7692 P: 800.598.7947 F: 215.741.4698 Rob Simonelli: Western Sales Manager rsimonelli@solartoday.org P: 562.431.1630 F: 562.431.1530

Magazine Advisory Council Gabriela Martin, Chair Dan Bihn Dona Mc Clain Richard Crume Paul Notari Frank Kreith Mick Sagrillo Chuck Kutscher Bob Scheulen Joseph McCabe Robert Ukeiley

ASES Operations Carolyn Beach: Customer Service Manager The Fellows Group: Virtual Chief Financial Officer Dona McClain: Program Coordinator Patty Michaels: Accounting Manager Joel Moore: National Solar Conference Assistant ASES National Solar Tour nationalsolartour.org ASES National Solar Conference | WREF 2012 wref2012.org

ASES Board of Directors David Hill, Chair Bill Poulin, Treasurer Jason Keyes, Secretary Jeff Lyng, Immediate Past Chair Toni Bouchard Nathalie Osborn David Comis David Panich Trudy Forsyth Jeff Peterson Allison Gray Tony Silva Chuck Kutscher Phil Smithers

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 © 2012 by the American Solar Energy Society Inc. All rights reserved.