Solar will disrupt the energy space

Cleantech visionaries and solar industry leaders launch SolarFUTURE.today, a first-ever worldwide solar awareness campaign

Las Vegas, October 28th, 2014 - On October 22nd, cleantech visionaries gathered together with solar industry leaders from multiple nations and unanimously agreed to support the first-ever global awareness campaign for solar. This meeting was hosted by SOLARUNITED, Global Solar Business & Technology Association and SolarPV.TV and featured honorary visionary guests Tony Seba and Chip Comins.


A day earlier, the SolarFUTURE.today campaign was officially launched at a panel discussion with solar gurus and thought leaders at the Solar Power International trade show in Las Vegas. This panel was moderated by Solar Pioneer and SunEdison Founder Jigar Shah.

SolarFUTURE.today will feature the production of a documentary film and the creation of a foundation supporting young solar talents. The goal of the campaign is not only to provide hope and a vision, but also to accelerate the growth of solar as a mainstream energy source.

"Solar is on the cusp of disrupting the world's largest industry," says Tony Seba, Stanford lecturer, Silicon Valley entrepreneur and author of Solar Trillions and Clean Disruption, which made it to number 3 on Amazon's best seller list of oil and energy eBooks. "Solar capacity has been growing more than 40% per year for decades while improving unit costs by hundreds or even thousands of times relative to conventional energy. At this rate solar will be the world's main energy source before 2030."

At the meeting, Tony Seba provided definitive evidence showing how solar will permanently disrupt the energy industry within the next 15 years. As explained in detail in Clean Disruption, solar, together with electric vehicles, autonomous cars and enabling technologies will disrupt and sweep away the energy and transportation industries as we know them, by virtue of superior and exponentially improving , new product architectures and innovative business models.

By 2020 on-site solar generation will not only be cheaper than utility prices (grid parity) in most of the world's energy markets; solar will be cheaper than the cost of transmission. This means that centralized generation of energy will not be able to compete with distributed solar no matter what their generation costs are. The data pointing to the disruption of energy are overwhelming.

SolarFUTURE.today's four initiatives

The SolarFUTURE.today campaign includes four main initiatives. The first, a Worldwide Visionaries Discussion, will be based on a global roadshow including face-to-face interviews and panel discussions. These will compare concepts from technology visionaries, business and policy experts and solar gurus, to foster a dynamic global
discussion.

Simultaneously a Worldwide Awareness Campaign will be launched to not only disseminate information but also
gather ideas and popularize the campaign through an ever-evolving interactive web portal and social media
campaign. This will also include a partnership with universities for our Young Solar Awards competition.

The third component of the campaign will be the production of first-of-its-kind groundbreaking feature
documentary, promoting solar as a practical energy solution and covering the development of solar technology, its current state, its history and our shared vision for the future.

"The world is overdue for an eye-opening documentary about solar," says SolarPV.TV Global Media Director
Dmytro Bershadskyy. "This will be a dream come true for all of us in solar industry." "We will not only include solar and technology visionaries, but also celebrities who already support solar. This
will help ensure that the message is delivered to widest audience possible."

Finally, the SolarFUTURE.today Foundation will be set up to continue this collaborative effort.

"This is not for profit effort, the extra proceeds from our fundraising will be put in a foundation supporting young solar talents," says SolarPV.TV VP of International Relations Alecja Vandenabeele. "This is not a one-time campaign, and we want to have a lasting impact."

The campaign has already received support across solar and cleantech communities across the globe

"This is the right moment to build this campaign," says SOLARUNITED Executive Director Bryan Ekus, "We are on the cusp of a radical transformation in the way that we produce, store, manage and use energy and I believe SolarFUTURE.today can provide much-needed hard facts and insights about of the unfolding solar reality to investors, business managers and entrepreneurs who may not yet realize the massive opportunities solar will provide."

"The American Renewable Energy Institute is delighted to partner with the SolarFUTURE.today campaign and we are looking forward to featuring solar energy at the 12th Annual AREDAY Summit August 9 -13, 2015 in Aspen, CO. Past speakers and presenters have included: President Jimmy Carter, Ted Turner, Tom Steyer, James Cameron and many other notable global leaders in renewable energy and clean technology," adds Chip Comins, Chairman and CEO of the American Renewable Energy Institute.

"Since the moment I decided to join renewable energies, back in 2001, first with BP Solar, later as VP of Trina Solar and currently for almost five years as CSO in JinkoSolar, it was clear to me that I wanted to contribute to this energy revolution we are together implementing for the improvement of our society and our planet," says Arturo Herrero, Chief Strategy Officer & Head of Emerging Markets at JinkoSolar. .

"As one of the leaders in photovoltaics and the most competitive company, at JinkoSolar we see this initiative of SolarFUTURE.today, led by SolarPV.TV, as the right and effective platform to speed this revolution. We look forward to joining efforts with associations, governments, influential executives and, even movie stars, to actively promote and spread the benefits of solar energy."

"Since the founding of Shoals we have strived to advance the PV industry through technical innovation and outreach programs." says Shoals Founder and CEO Dean Solon. "SolarFUTURE.today is an excellent
opportunity to both tell our story and expand the collective understanding of exactly how solar energy can change our world."

"It is so great that there is this kind of global initiative, which will help to promote businesses across the Chinese industry and beyond," adds Ms. Mi Yue, Executive VP of Shanghai New Energy Industry Association.

SolarFUTURE.today open to worldwide collaboration

"We invite media, organizations and individuals to support this campaign and now we will be inviting solar personalities from around the globe to join the Solar Advocates group, as well as inviting other technology visionaries who support our concept," says SolarPV.TV VP of North America Adisa Ziric.

"We are looking also for as wide as possible partnerships with everyone who shares our dream as our campaign is about cooperation across society, to gather everyone who believes that the solar future started today."

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