silicon

This fall’s Solar Power 2007 Conference in Long Beach, Calif., was a real eye opener.

For one thing, it was the first time I felt underdressed at a solar conference! I’ve been going to solar conferences since the early 1980s, and most were noted for their ragtag conglomeration of mission-passionate solar pioneers with stars in their eyes. At this event — the third largest ever, behind SolFest and the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair — it was all suits. In place of mom-and-pop solar businesses were billion dollar companies like SunPower, QCell, Sharp Solar, Kyocera, Conergy, and SunTech.