SEIA's Solar Bill of Rights: Put it on your Website and Start the Solar (R)Evolution

Last week I attended Solar Power International 2009 and talked to various solar companies about their marketing efforts. I’ll be sharing what I’ve learned in future posts, but there’s one very important brand awareness tool that every solar company can use for their website, regardless of their position in the solar supply chain.

I’m talking about The Solar Bill of Rights, presented by SEIA’s Rhone Resch on the opening day of SPI.

These 8 fundamental solar truths are far from self evident to most Americans or to Congress and state legislators. Consequently, it’s up to every solar widget company to become the Paul Revere of Solar. At minimum, you can use your personal and company website and social networking tools to spread the word about this important declaration. As a bonus, you'll not only aid in solar public awareness, but also position your brand as a solar leader. Let me explain.

First of all, these 8 Solar Rights are not a frivolous PR stunt by SEIA. The implementation of these concepts is extremely important for the growth of both distributed and utility scale solar.

But here's the problem: Although a recent poll shows that 92% of Americans are in favor of solar, they really have no idea of the challenges of making solar widely available to them. The Solar Bill of Rights does a great job of outlining these challenges. By getting on your website horse and acting as a Paul Solar Revere to both friends and business prospects, you will shout the warning call to those 92% of Americans. Eventually, your personal and company outreach will spread through word of mouth and encourage the media and individuals to pressure legislators into adopting these 8 solar provisions.

As an added bonus, by posting these rights on your website with a separate permanent page, your brand becomes an authority. It shows that your company is not only a solar business, but a leader of the solar “revolution.” You will be respected--and remembered--for your support of solar.

Let’s be clear here, though. The Solar Bill of Rights is first and foremost a vital call to action. In many ways, this allegorical solar revolution is really an evolution from 19th century energy sources to 21st century clean sources. And yet, just as the 18th century British monarchy assumed that it would remain the center of power for their foreseeable future, coal and oil companies are now assuming same of world energy.

We must break that assumption in American minds. Please. Do it now. Use your own personal social media like Facebook to spread the Solar Bill of Rights. The more voices we have, the sooner that the public understands that solar is ready and able to take over a major portion of the energy needs of our sun drenched nation.

P.S. You might want to link to a simple “net metering” definition. I linked the Solar Bill of Rights on my personal Facebook page, and my non-solar pro friends had never heard of net metering. So, I added a link to my own net metering explanation on SolarPowerRocks.com.

Thanks for reading. As, always, Unthink Solar.

Tor Valenza aka “Solar Fred”  advises solar companies on marketing and public relations and is a partner at solar referral service, SolarPowerRocks.com. Follow him on Twitter @SolarFred.