Today's date is December 1st 2009.
The year is almost over - there are just a couple of days left...
In order to appreciate the remaining time until the Holidays, KACO will send out a small, daily surprise for everybody on Twitter.
We call it the "KACO Holiday & Advent Calendar 2009". And yes, we think nobody is too old for an Advent calendar - ever.
If you don't know what it is, here's a little insight:
An Advent calendar is a special calendar which is used to count or celebrate the days of Advent in anticipation of Christmas. Today, most Advent calendars are made for children. Many take the form of a larger rectangular card with many "windows", one of which is opened every day during Advent. Each window opens to reveal an image, a poem, a song or a little story - sometimes even a toy or a piece of chocolate.
Follow us on Twitter and watch out for KACO's Advent tweets - they'll be just as good as a fantastic piece of sweet chocolate...
This is the third and last Solar Power International 2009 "after hour" post. Today I'd like to introduce four important solar personalities to you and show an official Renewable Energy World video in which they share a bit of expertise with us.
But let's slow down first...
...we all visit solar exhibitions to see what's new, correct? We go there to discover great innovative products and services by courageous companies who'll push our industry forward - that's what we all want, I guess, right?
At this point I'd like to talk about an innovation that was very present at Solar Power International, but not to find physically at a booth or in a conference. It's not a solar product yet it can help the solar community immensely to share news, thoughts, opinions and to be connected with each other at all times - worldwide.
Well, I think at this point you know exactly what I'm talking about. Yes, it's social media - tweeting and blogging. And yes. It does work. And here's why:
Connect with dedicated industry experts, clients, suppliers, media and just about anybody who shows an interest in solar in an extremely easy way. See it as a 24/7 networking event with people from the entire US (and the rest of the world) that happens on your sofa or in your kitchen if you wish. It is ridiculously convenient and a good tool to create brand awareness and exposure.
Get solar news first and help spreading what you think is important - Please realize: this is your chance to actively endorse what you think is necessary to spur our industry as a whole. You can make change happen, too!
It is cheap if you do it in house. It costs your time, but no sign up or monthly fees are required. Without spending a lot of money you'll be able to reach as many solar folks as you want and get them to talk to you, share their knowledge with you & the other way around. They will visit your website, read your news and so on.
It is very easy to use. Once you've played around with it a bit, you'll see, it's not only a great networking, news and marketing tool - it's actually a lot of fun, too!
As I mentioned earlier, in this post I would like to introduce four gentlemen, who are all solar experts and actively involved in the online community.
Kudos to:
Tor Valenza from solarpowerrocks.com - This website is a mandatory read for everyone in the industry. Period. It makes solar simple and fun while providing excellent and very accurate content. They even manage to explain complex and difficult solar topics in an understandable way. In my opinion this is exactly what our industry needs. Please rock on, solarpowerrocks.com! Tor tweets as @solarfred
Roy Gayhart from WholeSolar - WholeSolar LLC is part of an affiliated group of wholesale distributors and manufacturer's representatives who share a passion for solar energy. Roy is very active online and shares great content on the WholeSolar website and blog. He tweets as @solaroy and @wholesolar
Deep Patel from GoGreenSolar.com - Is the #1 online destination for solar products, wind power and energy efficiency. Their customers have access to products, services and financing to take over control of their energy expenses. Deep tweets as @deeppatel and @gogreensolar Justin Hoysradt from Abundant Energy, Inc. - Abundant Energy has been Florida's leading solar energy company and installer for the last 22 years. They have offered factory direct solar energy systems, such as solar and water heating, solar pool heating and solar PV systems. They maintain those systems through their full warranty and service division. Justin tweets as @jhoysradt and @AbundantEnergy
Video
They all sat together at Solar Power International in Anaheim and discussed social media (Twitter in particular) as a tool in the solar industry. And the great thing is - they share it with everyone in video form. Please enjoy:
Today KACO will introduce some really interesting, important industry people and companies we met in Anaheim.
The first company that is exceptionally noteworthy (and I guess you've probably heard of them already) is called "Boots on the Roof".
We've written a previous post about them, but can't mention them enough. Boots on the Roof is the premier wind and solar training provider in the US, with the mission of training the next wave of renewable energy contractors, engineers, architects, sales professionals and business entrepreneurs. For contractors their solar PV and solar thermal boot camps cover design and installation topics for residential and small commercial solar electric and solar hot water projects. On the image you see Chuck Rames who is the Program Manager, Renewable Energy Division. Learn more at: Boots on the Roof Twitter/bootsontheroof Here is a very cool interview from SPI 2009 with Jamie Ormond from Boots on the Roof: Training From The Grassroots Up - Renewable Energy Video
The next company of interest is AS Solar, Inc..
AS-Solar is an internationally operating distributor and project developer for solar technology. Along with their subsidiaries in Spain, Portugal, Benelux, France, Italy, Romania and Hungary they are present on the most important global markets in the field of PV which gives them an extraordinary expertise when it comes to solar.
Since all good things come in threes, here is the third featured person for this SPI 2009 after hour:
Heather Bias from Las Vegas, Nevada.
Heather is a very active member of the online solar community and her ideas and suggestions are highly appreciated here at KACO. She tweets as the "PVAddict" and is a successful PV installer & PV teacher/educator in the Nevada area. Also, she gave our 100kW central inverter the nickname "Günther" which we think suits the big boy well! Thanks, Heather!
It is very unfortunate that we didn't take a picture at Solar Power. Next time we'll do it eventually! Promised.
Please meet Heather at: Twitter/PVAddict This is it for today's after hour. Thanks for visiting KACO's "Sunny Lounge" again. Stay in touch for the next three featured solar enthusiasts in KACO's third and last "after hour" - remember, all good things come in threes...
There are so many "Solar Power International 2009" stories I'd like to tell you right now, but I'll start with some visual teasers for today. Here are some cool images of exhibitors, visitors, booths, receptions, Disneyland and so on. I figured it'd be nice for the solar enthusiasts who weren't able to attend this year's conference to get a feeling of how Anaheim's convention center looked like during the past week.
I need to say one thing though... This show was humongous compared to previous years. I attended SPI for the first time in 2006 when the convention was held in San Jose, CA - honestly, I don't know the actual numbers, but I had the feeling the size was at least four times as big this year... correct me if I'm wrong, please!
Well, let's start with the first official "KACO - SPI 2009 after hour" - Enjoy and have some fun...
The opening reception on Monday...
KACO's booth #2138... and our 100kW inverter the XP100. The floor.
The official Solar Power International Party was at Disneyland this year! It was so much fun. There was food and drinks for everyone and a lot of the rides were open. On the image below you'll see from the left Frank Phlippen, Svea Jeske (that's me) and Clinton Porter. The last image shows Ralf Schulze and Karsten Mall from KACO & our friends...
I will post more info & pictures shortly. This was the first after hour and you should have a solid overview of the SPI2009-look by now.
I'll introduce some very special friends & some interesting companies in "KACO's after hour 2.0"! Stay tuned, please.
An Advent calendar is a special calendar which is used to count or celebrate the days of Advent in anticipation of Christmas. Today, most Advent calendars are made for children. Many take the form of a larger rectangular card with many "windows", one of which is opened every day during Advent. Each window opens to reveal an image, a poem, a song or a little story - sometimes even a toy or a piece of chocolate.
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