RE+ is three weeks away. Who will show up? And why?
Next month, the RE+ solar conference and tradeshow will convene for the 21st year. As in past years, there will be parties to attend, friends to see, and much learning to be shared. But this year, somehow…something feels different.
It’s easy to understand the anxiety.
Perhaps it’s the Six Ways Trump is Screwing Solar, as Rolling Stone put it. Or the near-death spiral of the resi sector, as Ohm Analytics predicts. The chilling effect on domestic manufacturing comes to mind. And then, of course, the multi-billions of dollars in canceled solar and wind projects that could be playing a vital role in responding to the onslaught of AI energy demand — without spiking energy costs across all energy consumers.
But to focus only on the negative would be pointless and unproductive. It would also be unfair to an industry that is relentlessly optimistic. After all, we’ve been fighting to win the hearts and minds of Americans for decades. How can we back down now?
The renewable news has been rough, but there are bright spots.
Admittedly, finding positive headlines in the sea of negative coverage isn’t always easy. But at least there are headlines, read by millions, versus in the early days of solar when the industry would be lucky to get a mention. The “mainstream” media now regularly cover the energy transition, and regular, everyday people are paying attention. So what are these bright spots?
- Residential interest in solar is booming: Energy Sage reports that solar leads are at an all-time high, with leads more than doubling in the month of July.
- Energy storage is going to soar. Already 2024 was looking like a record year for BESS. But with the OBBB retaining the ITC and PTC for energy storage through 2032, battery (and solar + battery backup) projects will continue to thrive — particularly those meeting domestic content and labor standards.
- Solar stocks rallied after the Trump administration released new guidance on eligibility requirements for federal tax credits that were less draconian than the industry had feared.
The question is, how can we work together as an industry, take advantage of the attention amid these challenging times, to create the future we all want and need?
It starts with showing up.
Sure, we can all sit behind our computers, keep the volume down on the news and try to wait out the next three years. Or perhaps, more than any previous time – including the post-Covid years – we should see each other face to face. We should compare notes and observations, share our horror stories, and most importantly, continue to learn from each other. That is how we pick ourselves up, yet again, and fight, side by side, to ensure this industry comes back stronger than ever.
The solar industry has been through ups and downs before, though perhaps never to this degree. New challenges present opportunities for new ideas, different strategies and better solutions to meet the needs of these unprecedented times. And there’s no more powerful way to share these ideas, than first hand, in person.
If you’re attending RE+ and want to get together to whine, I’m not your first call. But if you’re ready to collaborate, share your knowledge, and help everyone win this death match, let’s talk. I’d love to share your strategies in my post-show blog with those who perhaps, because of understandable budget constraints, can’t be there this year.
We’re all fighting the good fight. But let’s remember, we’re in this fight to win. If you’d like to talk about ways we can do it together, shoot me an email at nancy@cleanpowermarketing.com or better yet, contact us to set up a time to talk at the show. Clean Power Marketing will be there in force. We hope to see you there!
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About the Author
Nancy Edwards
Founder/Managing Partner
Nancy Edwards is founder and managing partner of Clean Power Marketing.
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