This year’s Solar Power International (SPI) conference, which is a part of ‘Smart Energy Week’, was held in picturesque Salt Lake City, Utah. Easily the most important week for the North American solar energy industry, this year’s event was bigger and better than ever before.
Here is a quick recap of the event, as well as a sneak peek into the new machine learning software that Solar-Estimate.org previewed at SPI.
Spanning 515,000 square feet, the Salt Lake City Convention Center showcased a staggering 713 exhibitors at SPI 2019. From solar installation tools to energy management software, it was a solar energy extravaganza.
Here are some of the top trends that emerged during this year’s Smart Energy Week.
The energy storage market in America has seen an exponential rise in the past few years. While the utility storage market has been growing by an impressive 11.3% year after year, it was the residential energy storage division that skyrocketed to a 500% growth in the year 2018. So, it was no surprise that batteries were everywhere at SPI 2019.
Here are a few battery solutions that stood out:
What is the one thing you expect to see at a Solar Power International event? Well, solar panels! And solar panels we did see — lots of them. With all the big solar brands showcasing their shiny new PV modules (and some prototype modules added to the mix), it was an exciting display of what the solar industry has in store.
Here are the solar panels that got us most excited at SPI:
SolarReviews founder Andrew Sendy demonstrating the machine learning solar panel layout tool.
The SolarReviews/Solar-Estimate.org team at SPI 2019 showcased a brand new solar design tool for residential solar customers. The tool uses machine learning in order to:
Designing solar systems for homes has traditionally been a very labor-intensive process for a number of reasons. Each home has a unique roof, a different electricity usage pattern, a specific climate and varying local policies and rebates. The new machine learning tool will make this process both easy and accessible to residential customers.
The tool is due to launch on the SolarReviews.com and Solar-Estimate.org websites in November 2019.
If you are someone looking to install solar panels, you can get live quotes from the best solar installers in your area in real-time simply by using our calculator. We will also be sure to let you know when our machine learning tool goes live.
While there were hundreds of smart, new products and events at the exhibition, here are a few that caught our attention.
Amongst the clammer of the exhibition, this white shiny robot quietly went about doing its thing - cleaning solar panels. Gliding over the panels and turning perfectly as it approached the edges, it resembled the Roomba (but - of solar panels).
The Radiant solar panel cleaning robot quietly working on a solar panel at SPI 2019. Image source: PV-magazine-usa.com
The most innovative design is often the simplest - and the way in which the Brooklyn Solar Canopy’s simple booth design caught everyone's attention is a testament to that statement. The shiny black Tesla Model S parked underneath made it that much more eye-catching.
SPI recognized the design by giving the New York City-based company the ‘Booth Design Winner’ award.
The Brooklyn solar canopy booth at SPI 2019, the recipient of the ‘Booth Design Winner’ award. Image source: brooklynsolarcanopy.com
The solar industry in America is all about making advancements in renewable technology. It's about helping the world fight climate change, it's about making clean energy accessible to everyone in the country - and it is also about playing table tennis.
Terra Smart’s booth had three tennis tables buzzing with players of all skill levels. Needless to say, daily tournaments were held and champions were born.
Table tennis tournament at SPI 2019 in full swing.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have an awards ceremony that recognizes the year's achievements in the clean technology industry?
The Cleanie Awards, an annual awards ceremony held during Smart Energy Week, do just that.
Some stand-out winners this year included:
The awards add real value by recognizing some of the best work being done in the industry. The full list of honorees can be found here.
The winners of The Cleanie Awards 2019. Image source: The Cleanie Awards Twitter
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Aditya is a best-selling author, journalist, and scriptwriter. He also has several years of customer service experience in the energy sector. He is an ardent believer in the transformative power of solar energy and loves digging for new solar stories and trends. He is convinced that harnessing solar energy will soon be the norm around the world.