Solar Power International 2009 Finishing Strong

In Anaheim this week, the country’s largest business-to-business solar conference has kept more than 25,000 attendees busy with more than 900 exhibitors. One can feel a little lost trying to navigate among the different sections: solar panel and inverter manufacturers, state solar associations, solar training groups, and of course solar installers fill up nearly 204,000 square feet of exhibit hall.

SPI 2009 is about double the size of last year’s conference–in 2008, that was quite hard to picture, large and vibrant as the conference was. But a doubling of the size has diminished rather than exacerbated the mayhem of a show this large: it’s well structured, and attendees seem to be easily navigating the myriad channels of workshops, sessions, and exhibitors.

And of course it hasn’t all been work, work, work. With strong sponsorship from Sharp Solar, LDK Solar, the Department of Energy’s EERE, Southern California Edison, and others, SPI09 was able to throw a bash for attendees at nearby Disneyland (in Adventure Land, in fact), and after hours and private receptions have kept the networking going far past the official 6pm end of each day’s show. Last night, doors stayed open for the public until 8:30 as well, drawing in the solar curious as well as many local solar professionals.

Presented by SEPA and SEIA annually since 2004, Solar Power International has grown at a rate of about 40 percent per year. Next year’s event will be held in Los Angeles. SPI09 has been a roaring success, capturing the optimistic and market-savvy mood 0f the solar industry right now. We look forward to seeing what another year of development and growth will mean to the industry.