Barriers to Commercialization symposium [RE-wrenches]

Sun Dec 3 12:26:56 EST 2000

Allan,

I'm cross-posting this reply to the Marketing List also, as it really 
impacts that discussion.

I pretty much strongly agree with Holt. Solar lacks "pizzazz". I've had 
people tell me that they can't buy solar, because the neighbors and friends 
would think they were crazy. The SUV in the driveway however is not a 
symbol of craziness according to our standard cultural precepts.

Which brings me to the major soapbox I stand on. And that's the way we 
value energy, versus the way we value the vast majority of other items in 
our world. Many, many purchase and action decisions made daily are based 
upon so many judgements beyond dollars / payback / initital cost. These 
range from the mundane (what bag of potato chips to buy, should we go out 
to diner or eat at home tonight) to the mid-term (should I get a CD player 
in my fancy new car) to the long term (what style and size house do I want, 
and where will it be located).

Revewing these decisions, cost is only one factor, and very often, 
particularly for the more well-off, not an  overriding factor.

Our company spends A LOT of our time working on cutural change. I believe 
it is the single largest barrier. Not to say there are not barriers. 
Cheaper PV's and BOS parts could do away with the price barrier. Removal of 
the oil and energy subsidies could make the paying field level from the 
other side. But both of these do not change the outlook of people to energy 
supply and use. And in the long term (and the long term is getting shorter) 
we need to have a different outlook, because renewables CANNOT replicate 
our current society. So one way or another, we need to have a cultural 
change.

Sad to say, this is what marketing is all about. When I decided to get into 
RE, I decided I would market (as funds allow, a big problem) in a way very 
similar to the way other products are marketed. Glitz, not substance. Don't 
get me wrong, our systems are strongly designed and well implemented. We 
just don't spend our advertizing time dealing with that. We spend it 
talking about the intrinsic value of renewable power as compared to brown 
power. (I try not push the batery backups.) In other words, "our power is 
better / sexier / safer / cleaner / whiter / greener / whatever than 
theirs."

If there was one thing I could change, or ask the taking heads to change, 
it's the valuation of energy in the US. I would ask them to change it from 
"the only item to value enery on is its cost" to "cost is but one factor to 
value in selecting your personal / corporate energy source. Long-term 
stability in both price and delivery, by-products of generation, supporting 
the local economy, and diversification must be (at least) equally 
considered in your energy purchase decisions." This is what we have been 
doing. Many folks we talk to after seminars and at other marketing events 
have never had this thought presented to them before. Simply starting the 
thought process is incredibly valuable.

Of course, I would preface this remark by saying that we do not even need 
to talk about the technical side, because there are no uncharted technical 
difficulties in implementing solar power.

Given all the things that the talking heads cannot change, this is one area 
where they could have some (small, am I being idealistic?) effect.

Good luck. Tell us how it goes.

Jeff

Jeffery D. Wolfe, P.E.
Global Resource Options, LLP
A Woman-Owned Vermont Limited Liability Partnership
4 Kibling Hill Road
P.O. Box 51
Strafford, VT 05072
802/765-4632
802/765-9983 (Fax)
global at sover.net
www.globalresourceoptions.com

----------
From: 	allan[SMTP:allan at positivenergy.com]
Reply To: 	RE-wrenches at topica.com
Sent: 	Friday, December 01, 2000 9:55 PM
To: 	New wrenches posting
Subject: 	Barriers to Commercialization symposium [RE-wrenches]

<<File: ATT00000.htm>>
Wrenches,
    A few weeks ago I found out that New Mexico is putting on a fancy 
two-day symposium called the "New Mexico Alternative Energy Symposium".  It 
is sponsored by our major private utility, EPRI, DOE, NREL, and other big 
corporate and governmental players.  The web site for this symposium is at 
http://www.sandia.gov/Renewable_Energy/PNM/pnmdex.htm
    I called up the organizer and ranted to him about this whole thing 
excluding the private sector (the wrenches) and being more corporate and 
governmental types talking at each other and then going back home after 
another expense-paid ineffectual conference.
    What happened is that they turned my rant into a meeting at my shop 
because they wanted more private sector participation, and then put me on 
two panels.  The first is "Barriers to Alternative Energy Use", and the 
other, on the second day, is "Options for Commercializing and Increasing 
Alternative Energy Use in New Mexico".  I have ten minutes allotted to 
speak each time.
    I'm not particularly convinced that there's serious consequence to this 
conference.  I'm neither convinced that what I will say will change 
anyone's perspective.  But I'm not afraid to speak out for us wrenches 
about what are the real barriers to more acceptance of what we are trying 
to accomplish.
    So I'm asking for your help and input.  What are the institutional, 
governmental, political, pro-big oil, social, or whatever-you-see barriers 
that you see to more general acceptance of renewables?  Are they 
overly-restrictive net-metering connection standards?  Hidden subsidies to 
conventional fuels? Lack of tax credits for the consumer?  How about a 
Fannie Mae-level secondary mortgage market that won't purchase mortgage 
paper without utility power, because they believe that they couldn't unload 
an off-grid property if the owner defaults?  How about a real estate 
industry that calls anything with south glass a "passive solar home" and 
tells upscale sellers with solar thermal systems to remove them in order to 
make their properties "more marketable" (as I heard last week from a man 
who was told just that)?  What institutional barriers directly affect us as 
wrenches, who deal primarily with the public, rather than government 
agencies?
    I'd like to have two or three strong points, no more, that speak from 
our perspective.  Please check out the conference web site to catch its 
flavor; the conference is next week, and I'd like to speak for as many of 
us as I can, in hard-hitting terms.
    Thank you for any help.
Allan at Positive Energy

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To unsubscribe send a message to: 
 RE-wrenches-unsubscribe at topica.com

To check out the other RE-Wrench participants:
 www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/index.html

Hosted by Home Power magazine: 
 www.homepower.com

For info contact list moderator by email:
 michael.welch at homepower.com

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