Innovative entrepreneurs in downstream photovoltaics

Getting solar power on residential rooftops is as much a financial and cultural issue as it is a technical issue.

The March 10 session of the Silicon Valley Photovoltaic Society brings together three of the more interesting and innovative start-ups active in the "downstream" part of the solar value chain. We'll hear from three companies who are tackling different pieces of the puzzle on how we get solar on people's roofs with less labor, less time and less up-front cost.

Cliff Staton of Renewable Funding looks at new ways of financing solar:

Renewable Funding, whose President Cisco DeVries innovated the nation’s first PACE program for the City of Berkeley, California, provides turnkey PACE administration and financing services to more than 200 governmental jurisdictions in five states.  PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) is a powerful new financing model rapidly spreading to local governments across the country.  By providing municipal bond funding directly to property owners, PACE removes the upfront cost barrier that has prevented most residential and commercial property owners from installing solar systems and making energy and water efficiency improvements.

Gary Kremen of Clean Power Finance explores ways of streamlining the life of the solar installer.

Mark Goldman of Armageddon Energy will discuss his firm's innovative solar panel that creates the potential for easier installation and DIY solar:

Armageddon Energy is a Silicon Valley startup that has designed an attractive, affordable, easy to install solar energy system. Our product, the SolarClover, features lightweight, high-efficiency hexagonal solar panels and a triangular rack that assembles in minutes. It is designed to be installed by contractors and home service professionals using the tools and training they already posses and, with a basic system size of 1 kW AC (one-fourth the size of the average system in the U.S. today), is targeted at reducing peak demand for electricity and increasing grid stability.