RenewableEnergyWorld asked solar executives and our social media community to lend their voices and define what three strategies they think will lead to a thriving solar industry. Answers were varied, and many valid opinions were brought to light.

Dan Adler, President – CalCEF

Continue to develop policy strategies to address the multiple, differentiated niche markets that solar PV can attack. Over the past decade, PV applications have proliferated dramatically, and the best policy strategies have embraced that diversity. Examples of state-level policy such as the California Solar Initiative and the state’s new reverse-auction FIT demonstrate that targeted strategies can help solar grow in the multiple markets opening up to it, including the range of rooftop, ground mounted and building integrated applications.

Create pricing, contracting and deployment standards to cover the full range of these diverse deployment opportunities. At the same time that we address the diverse market opportunities for solar, we should think strategically about how to standardize as much of its development and deployment processes as possible. Currently, a disproportionate amount of  money and effort spent on solar development goes to bureaucratic engagements that are inefficiently designed. Streamlined contracting and clear pricing are often the principal drivers of massive solar deployment in other national markets. There’s no reason, even in our 50-state laboratory, why we can’t copy that success.

Utilize that process standardization to employ securitization in financial markets. A strategy that embraces market diversity while pursuing consistent development standards can unleash one of the most powerful forces in the history of finance — securitization. This process creates ownership shares in, conceptually, tangible and useful things. And in concept it can distribute economic benefits widely, by creating shares that small investors can afford. Mortgage-backed malfeasance proves the need to closely regulate these instruments, but there is no denying the role of securitization in building a vast portion of our industrial economy.  These same tools can be repurposed to green that economy, creating broad ownership opportunities in the process.

Dan Adler is president of CalCEF, an independent nonprofit corporation working to advance clean energy using tools from finance, public policy and technological innovation. Mr. Adler is an ACORE director and advises the State of California and City of San Francisco on clean energy.