Solar Power International draws biggest crowd

Solar Power International (SPI), North America’s biggest solar energy exposition and conference, drew over 24,000 solar industry professionals from around 99 countries, breaking last year’s 17,500 attendance record. The event’s Public Night, open for free to the general public, attracted an extra 2,700 people from southern California.

The exhibition area in Anaheim, California, with floor size doubled from the previous year, featured approximately 929 companies from every sector of the energy industry, including solar, construction, electric and investment banking. Policymakers, dignitaries and celebrities gathered at the conference to discuss solar energy’s potential in creating new and clean energy-based economy.

SPI was recently named by Trade Show Week as one of the 50 fastest growing conferences in the world. Julia Hamm, Executive Director of Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA), informed that this year’s event was the most diverse, with 27 per cent of the attendees coming from outside the US.

Rhone Resch, CEO and President of Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), said that SPI’s size and scope reflects solar energy’s importance to economic growth. He urged conference attendees to demand for policies that will create further jobs and opportunities for electricity consumers to go for solar.

During the event, attendees had also pressed exposition co-presenters, SEIA and SEPA, to form the new entity Solar Energy Trade Show, organizer of next year’s exposition events SPI and PV America. Industry leaders have likewise foreseen next year’s growing demand for solar energy due to the rising need of emerging economies, falling price of solar electric generators and growing involvement of electric firms.