More than 700
people came to Portland, Maine in June to consider ways to build the market for solar
energy into the next millenium.
The technical conference featured
hundreds of solar experts from business, government, and the nonprofit world. Ross
Gelbspan, formerly a reporter and editor at The Philadelphia Bulletin, The Washington Post
and The Boston Globe, spoke on "Energy, Environment and the Global Climate".
Andrew Vesey, a partner with Ernst and Young, LLP and founding Chairman of the Utility
PhotoVoltaic Group, addressed participants during the event's plenary session along with
the Honorable Dan Reicher, US Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Renewables.
SOLAR 99 featured a Solar Products
Exhibition and Trade Show with more than 40 exhibitors from as far away as China. The
United States Department of Energy was an exhibitor, as were four state agencies, numerous
businesses and nonprofit organizations.
The conference was presented by the
American Solar Energy Society, the American Institute of Architects - Committee on the
Environment, and the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association. Sponsors included Northeast
Utilities, New England Electric System, the Massachusetts Division of Energy Resources and
ASE Americas, Burt's Bees, Maine Turnpike Authority, Maine Department of Economic and
Community Development, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Maine Department of
Transportation, and the South Mountain Company.
Other participating organizations were
the City of Portland, Greater Portland Council of Governments, Interstate Renewable Energy
Council, Maine Audubon, Maine Businesses for Social Responsibility and the Society of
Building Science Educators. |
At SOLAR 2000 information was provided on
how you can enjoy the environmental, economic, and social benefits of clean energy in your
home and community. Representatives from companies, organizations, and communities around
the U.S. gathered to share their experiences using and advocating for renewable energy
technologies.
In the opening plenary, Solar Powers Life
- Share the Energy, Mathis Wackernagel, Rose McKinney-James, and Donald Aitken addressed
the audience. To commemorate Earth Day, the American Institute of Architects Committee on
the Environment selected 10 examples of sustainably designed architecture completed over
the previous year. There were also numerous sessions on BIPV technologies.
Held at the Monona Terrace Convention
Center, in Madison, Wisconsin, from June 16-21, 2000, SOLAR 2000 showcased renewable
energy technologies that are moving into the mainstream. There are many successes to
celebrate. As we enter the third millenium, wind and solar photovoltaics are the world's
fastest-growing energy sources, expanding at average annual rates of 22 percent and 16
percent, respectively, from 1990 to 1998. Cost-effective solar thermal
technologies-exemplified by the unglazed transpired solar collector and reliable,
affordable solar water heating systems-are also becoming established in the marketplace.
The conference was presented by the
American Solar Energy Society, American Institute of Architects Committee on the
Environment, American Society of Mechanical Engineers Solar Energy Division, Interstate
Renewable Energy Council and was hosted by the Midwest Renewable Energy Association. It
was co-sponsored by the United States Department of Energy, the Energy Center of
Wisconsin, Wisconsin Energy Bureau, Duke Solar, Madison Gas & Electric, Pacific
Gas & Electric, and Home Power Magazine. |