Over the course of the year, the Inovateus team traverses the country to attend some of the biggest solar shows. Luckily, one of those events recently took place in our backyard, as the Windy City hosted a major regional solar trade show of its own— Solar Power International (SPI) Midwest 2017. The location should come as no surprise, considering the growth that solar has seen in the Midwest over the past half-decade. Our company was well represented, with 10 Inovateus team members joining the hundreds of other solar professionals at SPI Midwest, which took place at the Sheraton Grand hotel in downtown Chicago. Here are some key takeaways from the event.
Storage is Now, and the Future
One of the most interesting conference events my colleagues and I attended was Capitalizing on the Solar + Storage Revolution, a panel which included several representatives from utilities as well as Adam Gerza of Energy Toolbase, an energy modeling solutions company. Gerza’s firm offers software proposal tools for installers that help customers understand the precise time-frame for installation and energy cost savings that they can expect from the solar arrays designed for them. He spoke at length about how the tool will complement the evolving grid, which over the coming decades will see an exponential rise in distributed generation.
Despite storage’s somewhat-expensive price tag, “there’s actually a pretty big subset of people who still want to do (storage) anyway,” he said. “So that’s happening, and frankly we need these from a creative use standpoint, because purely from an ROI (return on investment) perspective, (storage) doesn’t make sense just yet.”
[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” video_preview_image=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ layout=”1_3″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding=”” dimension_margin=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”no”][fusion_imageframe image_id=”19452″ style_type=”none” stylecolor=”” hover_type=”none” bordersize=”” bordercolor=”” borderradius=”” align=”none” lightbox=”yes” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” alt=”2017 SPI Midwest | Chicago” link=”” linktarget=”_self” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]https://inovateus.comtestwp/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/SPIMidwest-DSC09371-1200×675.jpg[/fusion_imageframe][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ layout=”1_3″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding=”” dimension_margin=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”no”][fusion_imageframe image_id=”19457″ style_type=”none” stylecolor=”” hover_type=”none” bordersize=”” bordercolor=”” borderradius=”” align=”none” lightbox=”yes” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” alt=”From left to right: Mike Pound, Nathan Vogel & Harley Haney” link=”” linktarget=”_self” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]https://inovateus.comtestwp/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/SPIMidwest-DSC09364-1200×675.jpg[/fusion_imageframe][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ layout=”1_3″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding=”” dimension_margin=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”no”][fusion_imageframe image_id=”19458″ style_type=”none” stylecolor=”” hover_type=”none” bordersize=”” bordercolor=”” borderradius=”” align=”none” lightbox=”yes” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” alt=”From left to right: TJ Kanczuzewski, Austin Fry, Jonathan Zebell, Kannan Kalimuthu, NCR IT Director” link=”” linktarget=”_self” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]https://inovateus.comtestwp/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/SPIMidwest-DSC09375-1200×675.jpg[/fusion_imageframe][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” video_preview_image=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding=”” dimension_margin=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”no”][fusion_text]As the price of solar continues to drop and battery technology evolves and improves, utilities, corporations and private citizens will adopt energy storage to beat peak demand prices, increase efficiency and add resiliency, according to the panelists.
“On the battery side, you’re going to see a cost decline that looks a lot like solar, and that’s going to benefit customers as we figure out how to deploy solar and storage,” noted Spencer Hanes, Duke Energy Renewables’ managing director of business development for energy storage. “In 2012, storage was selling for $800/KWh. At the end of 2016, it was down to $281/KWh (in certain use cases). We can expect an annual 9% decline through 2022.”
For someone like me who works in policy, Hanes really hit home when he mentioned policy as one of the largest barriers to storage taking off. Put simply, elected state and federal officials do not yet understand the value, stability and benefits that storage can offer. To be fair, the idea of large-scale storage on the grid is new, but there is a steep learning curve that public officials must climb—and we in the renewables, EV and related sectors must help them climb—before they grasp what storage has to offer.
Midwest is Breeding Ground for Corporate Solar
Inovateus’ own TJ Kanczuzewski participated on a panel titled “Meeting Corporate Demand for Solar Energy in the Midwest.” Demonstrating the shift in corporate attitudes toward solar in recent years, TJ’s panel cohorts, including Jon Peeples of U.S. Bank and Rob Threlkeld of General Motors, discussed the steps that their companies have taken to join the renewable energy revolution. Peeples explained that U.S. Bank has been funding solar projects since 2009, while Threlkeld noted that GM has committed, along with 40% of the other Fortune 500 companies, to transition to 100% renewable energy. TJ added that Inovateus’ experience with the corporate world has been excellent.
While big tech firms like Apple are buying many megawatts of solar annually, more traditional big-box retailers such as Target, Walmart, Costco, Ikea and Walgreens also show up on the list of U.S. companies with large amounts of solar installed. Target added 70 MW in 2016 for a total of 147 MW, enough to power a small city. Walmart has stayed in stride with 145 MW of solar installations to date, which are spread across 364 different locations, according to the panelists.
SPI Midwest 2017 was a great success. The Inovateus supply team worked our booth and made dozens of new installer and component supplier contacts. Meanwhile, our sales and research group met with financial loan providers, old industry friends, and industry trade groups to catch up on the latest market trends and policy developments around the Midwest. Overall, it was a solid show, and we look forward to an even bigger and better event in 2018.
By Tim Powers, research and policy associate, Inovateus Solar
