Amazing how SPI continues to grow and grow - we mostly did meetings but couple anecdotes from the exhibit hall:

1. Panel manufacturers - how can any of these guys possibly distinguish themselves from the competition on a technical or features basis?  Other than bankability (warranty) and price - there is no discernible difference.  Commodity.

2.  Tracking, concentrating, other than pv technology (for distributed gen) - lots of interesting things, but I am not sold on the long term performance of these systems and maintenance requirements.  Also not “bankable” at this time with any banks or TEI’s I know of - that makes them a non-starter, unfortunately.  This is a prime area for DOE loan guarantees, in my opinion.

3.  Attendance - massive.  So much buzz around solar yet so few people actually making real money in the space.  I suppose it’s a combination of people still feeling that they are early in an industry that will take off and a genuine passion for green/environmental/sustainability.

4.  (related) Public Attendance - on Wednesday night the show was “open to the public” and the lineup to get in was around the block.  Shows either that the “public” has a real hunger for solar or free exhibit hall swag.

5.  Inverters - in a follow on to the Intersolar event in SF, it seems that larger inverter manufacturers are starting to realize that inverter replacement puts a huge crimp in the cash flow of a financed project and are coming up with ideas to essentially include a reserve in their pricing to accommodate future replacement.  Can take the form of an extended warranty or premium pricing that includes service and replacement.