The Midwest may not be the center of the solar universe, but the enthusiasm and energy shown by attendees at the Solar Power PV Conference and Expo in Chicago made it clear that the future looks bright. Since this was a new event in an underserved area, the numbers weren’t on par with the likes of national shows like Intersolar or Solar Power International, but the smaller scale allowed for more direct networking and quality interactions. We had many great conversations at the Inovateus booth and with other exhibitors in the compact expo hall and well-attended conference sessions.
Since the opening of the expo fell on November 9, the day after a very historic Election Day, there were plenty of discussions about politics and solar’s future under a Trump presidency. The overriding sentiment was one of optimism, albeit more cautious than exuberant.
Those people from bigger companies or who were solar veterans took the election results in stride and pointed to strong solar fundamentals such as job creation, ever-improving economics, overwhelming public support of solar, and examples of strong state and local policies. One of those favorable solar policies is the Chicago Solar Express program, which has streamlined the permitting process for PV projects of 13.44 KW or less to one day and has also greatly simplified the process for larger projects.
Inovateus’ own TJ Kanczuzewski and several other notables participated in a roundtable discussion on opportunities and lessons learned for companies looking to grow their solar businesses in the Midwest. One of TJ’s co-panelists, solar veteran Lisa Albrecht of Chicago-based installer Solar Service Inc., was upbeat. She pointed out that the industry has weathered many storms and will be fine as long as solar folks get out there and promote, attend and educate at townhalls and local council meetings, explain how solar works and its value proposition in clear terms, and just be nice to people and stay away from the hard sell.
As most of my job focuses on the supply business within Inovateus, I had many conversations at our booth with residential and light commercial installers from Illinois and adjacent states. Most of them were looking for a Midwest-based supplier/distributor who could offer them not only good pricing but quick shipment turnaround of panels, inverters, and balance of system products to their warehouses and jobsites.
The most popular attraction at our booth was the mockup of the ballasted flat rooftop racking system from our sister company, Kanzo. Installers and integrators were intrigued by the system’s ease and speed of installation, light weight, and durable polymer construction. When I told folks that we have demonstrated that 60 KW of panels can be installed in three hours using the Kanzo system, that definitely got their attention.
We also held a raffle to give away one of our branded Inovateus Solar backpacks at the show. We’d like to congratulate the winner, Cesar Romo, project manager of Continental Energy Solutions, and wish him many happy rechargings.
We’re looking forward to next year’s show and to continued solar industry growth in the Midwest and throughout the U.S.
By Jordan Covely, fulfillment manager, Inovateus Solar
