Truck Chasers and Panel Pushers

Just before attending Solar Power International 2009, I spent three days at the annual conference of cable TV marketing executives, as I have for the past 20 years.  There was a time when the phrase “cable TV marketing” was an oxymoron, a cause for snickers among the “pros” in broadcast television.  But today the cable industry has built some of the leading brands in the world: ESPN, MTV, CNN, HBO, etc.  And cable operator Comcast is taking over NBC, once one of the so-called “Big Three” networks who ruled the airwaves.    

The cable industry had primitive roots.  The early system operators erected antennas on hillsides and ran cables down to nearby homes, charging viewers a small fee to deliver signals from distant stations they could not otherwise watch.   Operators had one big thing going for them – people love TV.  Back in those days, when a cable TV service truck rolled down a street, people often ran after it to sign up for service.  In the trade they were known as “truck chasers.” 

People love solar too.  According to the 2009 SCHOTT Solar Barometer^TM, an annual nationally representative survey conducted by the independent polling firm Kelton Research, 92% of Americans think it’s important for the U.S. to develop and use solar energy.  And 49% are currently pondering solar power options for their homes or businesses.  Now if it were only as simple to “go solar” as it is to sign up for cable, they’d be chasing solar installers’ trucks down the street.

Of course, we know it’s not that easy, because of the upfront cost of a solar system.  The residential PV industry has operated on a model of pushing panels to buyers who have to come up with the financing on their own.  When that money barrier is removed, as it was in cities like Gainesville, FL, Palm Desert, CA and Berkeley, CA which offered financing of PV systems through property tax bills, panels virtually flew onto rooftops.  New York State just adopted legislation authorizing its municipalities to do the same.

But in this time of severe fiscal strains on state and local governments, and with the vast deployment of PV required to make a substantial contribution to the nation’s electricity supply, we can’t rely on government money alone.  Private sector capital, and lots of it, must be brought to the table.  Indeed, President Obama has been exhorting the financial sector to make loans more readily available to homeowners and small businesses.  Certainly the renewable energy industry, with its ability to create the jobs of the future, would be a worthy recipient.  We also need to see the revival of the tax equity market to enable early-stage solar businesses to trade tax benefits, of no value when you’re not turning a profit yet, for operating capital.

Whether it’s tax incentives, municipal financing or private capital, there’s still resistance to support for solar from renewable naysayers.  In his thoughtful RenewableEnergyWorld.com blog of December 9, “Are We Asking the Wrong Questions About Renewable Energy,” Stephen Lacey questioned how we should respond to the skeptics.  His piece provoked a flurry of comments.  I say we tune out the doubters and listen to the market. 

People love solar because it protects them against inevitable utility price hikes, reduces our nation’s dependence on fossil fuels, and helps slow global warming.  Not only that, it’s cool!  Like TV, solar power is a game-changing product that people believe in, want and need.  So in 2010, let’s stay focused on delivering it to them, building brands as powerful as Exxon and Mobil and Shell, and rolling those trucks.