PVSEC 2008

Cleantech & Green Industry Enters Event Run on PR High

The last few weeks may have been the best PR stretch of 2009 for solar, wind and other cleantech and green markets, especially from a finance standpoint.  It should provide a considerable uplift to spirits at AlwaysOn GoingGreen next week as the cleantech venture capital, private equity and investment banking community gathers to discuss industry issues in water, smart grid, energy management, solar, wind, energy storage and renewable fuels. Some of the positive news from the past few weeks:

-Treasury grants started flowing from the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA), promising to fund a new way of renewable energy projects in wind and solar.

-The Department of Energy (DOE) loan program blessed Solyndra with a $500+ million guarantee, promising to create more than 3,000 green collar jobs in the process.

-Vinod Khosla's firm, Khosla Ventures, raised a $1.1 billion round which is expected to help fund dozens, if not scores or start-ups across the sector.

-IBM predicted that a "smart grid of water" business could be worth $20 billion over five years.

-Cleantech patents hit an all time high in Q2, showing that companies and entrepreneurs continue to innovate and that many new Green technologies are likely coming to market in 2010 and beyond.

That last bullet flew under the radar in many circles (a partner in a late stage VC firm I talked to said he had not heard anything about IBM's interest in water) and water as a whole gets less attention than energy on a national level. I am a firm believer that water is the next big sector that will attract massive investment and media attention, as the US comes to better understand that water is a national issue.

Couple all of these developments with Hara and other companies being successful in their fundraising activities, and you have what looks to be a significant financial thaw across various green industries. It could also be with Obama's speech on healthcare reform tonight that some form of bill gets passed and that the Energy & Water bill moves back to the top of the legislative priority list, which could result in the creation of the Green Bank and more funding avenues for cleantech companies.

With GoingGreen, PVSec, Solar Power International, Dow Jones Alternative Energy Innovations Conference, Power-Gen, Clean Tech Futures and a number of other events upcoming, we'll be able to monitor the impact of all of this news on the collective psyche of the cleantech market. It should be a fun final third to 2009.

**Schwartz Plug Alert**

We issued a release today highlighting the growth of our Cleantech & Green PR and Public Affairs Practice during 2009. We've become the Agency of Record for ten great organizations thus far in 2009, thereby doubling our footprint in the market. It's an exciting time to be in PR.

Posted by Jason Morris on September 9, 2009 at 9:54 PM
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Solar Demand Increases Internationally; US Next?

Interesting post today from Camille Ricketts at VentureBeat discussing how solar demand in Europe and Asia is on the rise amid falling prices, whereas the US has yet to heat up. The post tosses out some cost per watt statistics from abroad (which may annoy those that would like to see $/kwh or levelized cost of electricity--LCOE--used as the metric), presenting China as the cost leader.

Like I've been hearing from the Intersolar conferences, Ricketts says that popular opinion has the US catching up during the second half of 2009 once cleantech stimulus funds kick in. Regardless, US companies should expect to hear more solar PR noise from global companies through the end of this year and into 2010.

I'll report back and let you know if the discussion is the same at AlwaysOn GoingGreen, Solar Power International and PVSEC.

Posted by Jason Morris on July 20, 2009 at 11:36 PM
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Running the Solar PR Event Gauntlet

This is an interesting time of year in the solar PR world because while other markets are looking to cool down post Memorial Day in terms of events and major, non-earnings announcements, the solar world is just heating up. From late May through October, we will have five major solar events in the US and Europe, starting with Intersolar 2009 in Munich last week, that will drive a frenzy of company launches, press releases, project announcements and industry dialogue.

Joining Intersolar Europe are the PV America (next week), Intersolar US in July, PVSec in September and finally, Solar Power International in October. So what's a marketer to do? This is actually a good problem to have.

It's often said that an average PR program is great at reach and lowsy at frequency, but it has long been our mantra that a drum beat of success is better than single big bang. It can be tough to convince executives and board members that even if Solar Power International is the biggest event for the company in terms of focus and region, it is a bad idea to use every 2H 09 PR bullet in one conference blast.

Solar marketers and PR teams should leverage the existance of these events to make the case for a steady drum roll of momentum, each tailored to the audience of the different events. If you don't have five announcement-worthy items for these events, then a good way to look at it is to think about the difference between the PR markets culturally.

European PR is a packaged content oriented discipline whereas the US is a very news and expert commentary driven PR market. What I am getting at is that these events need to be treated as a series in the grand solar PR campaign and not as isolated events, and a creative, strategic PR program and team will develop the tools to leverage each event.

Will you be attending Intersolar US, PVSec or Solar Power? If so, drop us a line because we would love to meet you there.

Posted by Jason Morris on June 1, 2009 at 12:44 PM
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Green Venture Capital: Thin Film Gets Thick with Cash

News this morning that thin-film solar has seen one of its players get another nine-figure round of funding. First was news of Nanosolar and ASA Solar, and now Solopower is rumored (Earth2Tech via VentureBeat) to have raised a $200 million round.

So much for the expiring ITCs impacting financial interest in solar technologies. It is amazing how much investment has gone into the market but even more shocking how much of it has gone into pre-production companies.

It will be interesting to see if thin film dominates Solar Power International the way it did PVSEC. Back in March, it seemed as though solar concentrator companies were getting the most attention.

Next week at GoingGreen we'll also see if the thin-film investment topic dominates the solar conversation. In any event, the break in the noise green and cleantech marketers and pr professionals thought they would get from the ITCs potentially expiring is likely gone. As long as there is cash flowing into these companies they will continue to make noise.

Posted by Jason Morris on September 12, 2008 at 11:37 AM
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PVSEC Post Mortem: Solar Investment is Obvious

One of the more notable things we noticed at PVSEC last week is that investment is obviously flowing into solar and is now beyond just funding R&D and manufacturing capacity. Companies are investing a great deal more money in green and cleantech marketing, PR and government relations.

The difference between the booths at this year's show and the booths at Solar Power 2007 are very striking. It used to be that 70-80 percent of the booths looked like this one (no disrespect to the owner as budgetary constraints and stratregic value of an event obviously dictate size and scope):

Today, the silicon valley influence of cash, marketing and PR are obvious, as well as the entrance of some companies that make their name in consumer electronics. The result a much more sophisticated event and booths that rival some of the best at a global technology event. Some of the ones that stood out:

 

It had an interesting closed off area and food bar that made you want to go in. Not closed in terms of "don't cross this line" but in terms of making you want to see what was behind the curtain. Given the only alternative to eating free food and drink at the booths was to wait in long lines for pretty rancid cafe solo and bocadillos, I thought it was pretty smart.

This booth had ample chairs and meeting space, both on the floor and in closed off spaces. You need to spend to get this much room, but given most attendees just want to sit at some point, it is a good way to get an extra 5-10 minutes of a prospect's attention.

A booth that captured attention for its size and prominant display of panels. Nothing explains what you do better than visuals. And finally.....

 

 

This booth was very open and inviting, displaying the company name and logo several times. Nothing is worse than a big booth where you have to search for the company name or that has a clear boundary that screams "pizza counter."

So what does this all mean? Again, it is clear that some solar companies have become very successful either through organic growth, venture capital or thanks to their critical mass in other areas. It means that the marketing landscape is more competitive than ever and that the noise will only increase. If you can't afford the large booth areas, the best way to get attention at cleantech and green events is through free giveaways (including food and drink) or through aggressive PR to get in the show issues of industry trade publications.

I have a feeling Solar Power International in October will reinforce this point.

 

Tags: booth, cleantech pr, green pr, pvsec, renewable pr, solar power, solar pr

Posted by Jason Morris on September 8, 2008 at 6:25 PM
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PVSEC is Hard Core

iHola from Valencia!

One of the things that has struck me the most about the PVSEC conference is where a lot of the exhibiting companies fall in the supply chain. There are a lot of silicon suppliers and robotics/equipment manufacturers. Most of the rest are actual cell and string producers themselves.

Along those lines, the sessions and panels were extremely technical focusing on new developments in cell technology. There was a lot of discussion about a-Si, CIGS and other types of solar technology that promise to reduce cost, improve efficiency and deliver on the promise of building-integrated PV (BIPV). By far, the most common technology on the show floor was thin film solar.

It will be interesting to juxtapose this conference versus Solar Power International (or Solar Power 2008 for those who missed the name change) and see if the focus shifts more toward the integrator/consumer of solar technology. I still think there is room for a show focused strictly on renewables for consumers. Obviously, this was never meant to be that and nor did I expect it coming in.

More later including signs that the solar market is indeed very healthy and maturing (heavy investments in cleantech PR and marketing), as well as some unfortunate name and slogan choices for some of the companies at the event (images will be included).

Posted by Jason Morris on September 4, 2008 at 5:05 AM
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Quick Hits from PVSEC

iHola from Valencia!

A few first impressions of the city and the conference:

-Having never been here I was expecting a dry, hot Mediterranean climate not unlike California. What I learned is that it is much more variable with my first night feeling like Miami in July. It is still an amazing place and the New Englander in me was a bit nostalgic once I felt the humidity.

-This is an amazing place of "old meets new." There are plenty of buildings and landmarks older than the US itself, but also some amazing modern architecture, including the Arts and Sciences buildings across from where I am staying.

-I was a bit concerned because everything that I had heard about Valencia was that it was not a tourist destination and therefore, people were not as friendly to foreigners as other cities and the percentage of English speakers was quite small. That did not bode well for my high school Spanish 101 capabilities.  It has turned out to be the exact opposite. The city is amazingly accomodating to visitors, there are many English-speaking natives and the people are very friendly. Good thing for me because I would be walking the thin line of playing the "Ugly American Flack." Valencia needs better PR as Spain's third-largest city....think of Chicago's international reputation versus NY and LA.

-The PVSEC conference is a melting pot of companies, much more so than a high-tech conference. There are companies from seemingly every country and the cultural differences are somewhat on display in their booths, with different types of designs, marketing slogans and promotional items. Countries I saw represented include the obvious, like the US, Germany, Spain, Japan and China. Also represented were Thailand, Canada, France, Italy, Belgium and Nigeria. That's at least four continents I saw represented without specifically looking for companies from South America and Australia, and I would be shocked if there were not at least one from each. Think a VC would fund my solar start up in Antartica? One word: monopoly.

-I spoke to a lot of people about the solar climate in the US and most are disappointed with the amount of support being given to solar by the federal government. They see no reason why the US should not be leading in renewables. How do you say, "preaching to the choir" in Spanish? They are not confident that making the ITCs retroactive (if not extended) would have much impact. I still think that companies that continue to invest during this bump in the road will come out on the other side much stronger than the competition.

-From a cleantech PR standpoint, it did not seem as though there was a lot of news from the show, nor was there much media walking around the convention hall. A majority of the people manning booths were salespeople and engineers, with a small smattering of marketing people mixed in.

-A quick Google News search confirms my last point. There are only 19 original articles that pop up when you search for "PVSEC" with an increase to 53 when you expand out the full spelling of the conference name. I am not sure if this is because of a lack of announcements or the scant physical media coverage at the event. It may be worth moving the event to another city next year that is closer to the European media centers, especially if travel costs remain high. The good news for the cleantech marketer and PR professional is that it is not nearly as noisy as other events, so there is a fairly decent chance of getting some attention at PVSEC.

-One of the most interesting early conversations I had was with a director of the EPIA. The European Photovoltaic Industry Association is pretty well organized and is very much taking a coopetition approach to the market. They anounced some staggering figures this week that say that solar could employ 10 million people by 2030 and power 4 billion people. That is a lot of green collar jobs.

That's all for now. Off to attend sessions and meet with more folks.

Adios!

Posted by Jason Morris on at 4:09 AM
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