When you work in an industry you love, there are moments where the culmination of months of hard work comes full circle, moments that make all those long days, extra hours in the office, and many miles on the road worthwhile. Sometimes you get lucky when two of those moments overlap on the same day. Somehow, on November 9, the Inovateus team had three corresponding events all wrapped into one great day.
The day started on the Michigan State University campus in East Lansing. John Gulanick, our road warrior construction manager who covers more than 50,000 miles per year traveling to sites that Inovateus is managing, flipped the switch on the solar carports for Lot 89, the first—and largest—of the five solar carports that will occupy parking lots around the MSU campus. When completed, the systems will cover up to 18% of the university’s energy needs, saving the university nearly $10 million in electricity costs over the next 25 years, and comprise the Western Hemisphere’s largest solar carport installation.
The day of days continued, when the Inovateus team met with Abigail Ross Hopper, president/CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), and gave her a tour of the MSU carports.
SEIA advocates and lobbies on behalf of the entire solar industry for pro-solar policies, and conducts valuable research and provides market data, project information, and relevant news to its members. The association engages policymakers on dozens of new pieces of legislation introduced around the U.S. at the federal and state level that stand to directly affect our customers. For example, SEIA is leading the fight against the Section 201 trade case, which could impose tariffs on imported modules, potentially crippling the U.S. solar industry. SEIA has more than 1000 member companies (including Inovateus), and its staff constantly traverses the country to tirelessly promote solar on all fronts.
We capped off our amazing day at the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council’s 5th Annual Michigan Energy Innovators Gala, which took place at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing. This event provided “the opportunity for Michigan’s advanced energy industry to recognize those businesses, policymakers, and others who are doing the most to build the industry in Michigan.” The council, which is also known by its acronym MiEIBC, is a nonprofit that represents the voices of the state’s alternative energy industry.
Dressed to the nines, the Inovateus team caught up with many of our colleagues from other companies and environmental organizations before taking our seats at the Inovateus-sponsored table. Although we didn’t take home first place in the “Business of the Year” award category, the evening provided a great finale to an eventful day.
Abby of SEIA even gave Inovateus a shout-out during her keynote speech, mentioning her tour of the solar carports earlier in the day. She pointed out to the audience that if solar could work in not-so-sunny East Lansing, there was no reason that Americans all over the country could not embrace the power of the sun and the benefits of solar power.
Despite arriving back home in South Bend after midnight, I did not feel the least bit exhausted. Instead, I was inspired by the events of the day, and re-energized in my commitment to help build a brilliant tomorrow.
By Tim Powers, research and policy associate, Inovateus Solar
