Exciting! Overwhelming! Exhausting! Inspiring! These are just a few of the words conference-goers used to describe Solar Power International 2009. So, what was it like for the Boots team to attend the biggest Solar Power Show ever held in North America?

First, we were all but pinned in our booth by the crush of people who wanted to learn more about our Boot Camps. Representatives from solar companies, both big and small, made it a point to seek out our booth from among over 900 others! Many of our Alumni dropped by to say hello, too. Some were attending as contractors running their new solar businesses, others were proudly wearing the shirts of solar companies where they'd found employment. We were especially proud of our Alumni whose companies had grown so fast that they had their own booths at the show!

Second, when we did get out of our booth - it's clear that the solar industry is continuing to grow despite the downturn in the larger economy. There were more new companies than we could count, or even visit! We'll be writing about some of our favorite discoveries in upcoming newsletters, but the big picture was this:

Residential solar is growing, Commercial solar is growing even faster, and we are seeing lots of new equipment for Megawatt scale power stations. It's not all about Photovoltaics either. We meet many new manufacturers for Solar Thermal and Wind Power as well and were reminded at every turn that solar is a big business, with global giants line GE, Mitsubishi and Hyundai attending. All of your favorite leading solar companies were there too, with big flashy booths, and crowds pressing in to see them.

If you've been waiting until the solar industry "gets big" before you get in, then your wait is over. Solar Energy is BIG business right now. 2010 is going to be a great year for bringing clean energy to world. Would you like to help