I’m a reader.  I love sitting down with a great book or an in-depth report full of charts and graphs and really digging in.  SEIA and GTM Research just released their Solar Market Insight Report with staggering figures about solar installations in the U.S. in 2012. If you, like me, love to learn about the global growth of renewable energy, you should get your hands on that report. The full report is 94 pages. 

Then again, if you, like me, are working right now, do you have time to kick up your feet and read a 94-page report? While I really wish I did, the fact is that in the fast-paced output-driven environment that most of us work in, we often don’t have time to sit and read.  And that’s why sometimes you can really pack a whole lot of learning into a short period by going to a conference.

During the months of February and March I attended three conferences (PV America, Solar Power-Gen, and the Iceland Geothermal Conference) and I have to say that my understanding of the hot topics and obstacles facing the solar and geothermal industries at this point is at an all-time high. You just can’t beat hands-on learning.  And in this day and age when the time we have for work is so compressed, traveling might just be the only time we get to clear our heads and get to the bottom of the issues.

That’s why, if you have some expertise in one area of renewable energy, you should definitely submit an abstract to be considered as a speaker at Renewable Energy World North America, set to take place November 12-14 in Orlando. There is no other venue where power users, power generators and power sellers can find out about all of the renewable energy technologies in one place. The show takes place alongside Power-Gen International, the largest show for the traditional power generating industry in the world.  Last year, we had more than 22,000 attendees from almost 100 countries.

We are taking abstracts now but only for one more week (we just extended the deadline) so don’t hesitate.  As a speaker, not only do you get to share your expertise about renewable energy, but you also get free access to the show floor, networking events, lunches, technical tours and the ability to attend conference session across all four co-located shows: Renewable Energy World, Power-Gen, Nuclear Power International, and our Financial Forum. 

This is it, though, once we close the abstract submission deadline, it’s tricky to get into the show.  Please submit your ideas today.  We’re seeking experts who want to present research or reports on hydropower, ocean energy, tidal power, geothermal power, biomass, biofuels, waste heat, solar and wind power and other related technologies such as energy storage, the smart grid and utility integration of renewables.  We’re also interested in panel discussions surrounding any of those topics – if you would like to get together a group of experts who can talk on a certain topic, we’re all ears.

I hope you’ll consider submitting an abstract because the more industry experts we can bring together, the more we all learn. 

— Jenn Runyon

P.S. If you really love conference planning and are interested in volutneering to help shape conference content into sessions, please let me know.  I have about five opennings left on my Renewable Energy World Conference Program Committee.  You might have just the expertise we need.