Sunday, February 27, 2011

Solar as disruptive technology in the energy business

It has been a long time since I last blogged; time to get back again! My professional focus has changed completely about a year ago. After organising the first e-reading event in the Netherlands I started to work for Solland Solar, a leading PV (photovoltaic) company in the Netherlands.

Although 2 completely different markets and industries some parallels can be identified:
- relatively young and fast growing markets
- driven by technological advances
- disruptive in nature.

The last point has already become very clear for e-reading. There will not be many CEO's of newspaper/book publishers or bookstore chains without worries about their companies' future.

For solar energy the disruptive potential is not so obvious yet but the threat is there for the large utility companies. Only partially because solar energy is an alternative to fossil energy sources like coal and oil. But more so because it can generate electricity close to where it is needed, in many cases on the consumer's rooftop and because the consumer is in control of this source of energy. And that is a major threat for energy companies that are used to build large power plants and be in control of energy generation and supply.

That's it for tonight. This week I will be at the Ecobuild exhibition in London, presenting Solland's unique solar technology and new module Sunweb at the presentation theater. See you there?