The Joint Forces for Solar PV Briefing and Networking Forum USA took place, for the first time, in Long Beach, CA, on February 14th, 2012. Both the event and the initiative received strong support from the audience and a lively debate about installer issues arose during the panel discussion.

On February 14th 2012, about 100 participants visited the networking event, the 5th PV Briefing and Networking Forum USA, in Long Beach, CA. Developments in the Californian and US PV market were discussed at the Forum. After some comprehensive presentations about the Californian solar market and the strategic planning involved, audience members actively participated in the panel discussion which looked at optimizing the supplier-installer relationship. In particular, questions from and concerning local installation companies arose and were discussed together with the panelists consisting of an interesting mix of installers, associations and industries. Participants were, Nick Chase, Q.Cells, Thomas Koerner, Astronergy, Patrick Redgate, CALSEIA and Ben Lochtenberg, XERO Solar.

Lively discussion about cost reductions and awareness about solar energy
The panel discussion was characterized by a lively exchange of ideas between the audience and panelists. One question that raised the interest of installers looked at the possibility of reaching declining system prices in the residential segment by increasing efficiency and thus installing fewer modules. Panelists said that it is difficult to significantly increase efficiency. The highest potential was seen in the thin film segment, a segment more focused on large scale systems. In the field of crystalline technologies, panelists saw the highest potential of about 10% for cost reductions in declining silicon prices.

Panelists and audience members agreed that consumer awareness of solar energy must be increased in the future. Potential measures to reach this target were seen in bringing the topic of solar energy to educational institutions such as universities or schools and talking about the advantages of solar. Besides this, increasing attention can be achieved of course by lowering system costs to become more attractive to residential customers. Up to now, people are sophisticated when it comes to buying a car but are not when it comes to PV. That must change, and will change when costs go down. Another channel was seen in the direct access to and dialogue between manufacturers and end customers. In the end, audience, panelists and organizers were very pleased with the lively discussion and are looking forward to an exchange of ideas at the next Joint Forces for Solar events.

The next Joint Forces for Solar event will be held on March 20th, 2012 in San José, CA.