Bill, sorry to hear about that true story, but yes, that's certainly part of my "Solar Noir" realm, albeit, I'm writing fiction based on my industry experience. Hope we'll see more solar stories on the big and little screens for you to enjoy someday. For now, I'm kicking things off with the podcast, but you never know if they'll be adapted one day... Cross your fingers. :)
Original Message:
Sent: 01-09-2024 03:02 AM
From: william fitch
Subject: Read our new issue of Solar Today on the theme "solar marketing and environmental behavior"
Humm, well lets see:
Yes, I would agree that most Hollywood stories are about people first, settings second, at least the good ones. I read you more in depth link you posted. I am really not a Podcast person. They all tend to put me to sleep. I am a visual person so movies, etc., catch my interest. It just is a medium that doesn't work for me as such, entertainment wise.
In your list, Good, Evil, Crime, etc.. I noticed you placed Corruption in there. For me that hits a little bit to close to home, because it is not fiction or fantasy, but something I actually went through for real with my solar business when I was starting it up. My business was founded on being a distributer for Sunflower solar out of China for Solar Thermal Evacuated tube collectors. Things were going great in the starting phase when the Fed Gov. decided to start up the SRCC solar thermal certifications again, accompanied by the 30% tax credit for ENTIRE systems, not just the collector part.
I applied on behalf of the Chinese company for specific models (Stainless frames and double wall construction tubes). Went through the entire random selection process, etc., etc.. To make a very long and painful story short, they stalled me 3 years (Try treading water for 3 years when you are a startup) and lied about my test collector results. They said it failed the pressure test. I to this day have the original test manifold in my possession, and it 100 percent passes pressure testing. I know this because I test all manifolds I receive from the manufacturer to 160 psi so I never send a bad manifold out the door to a customer. Want that peace of mind. When I received the supposedly bad manifold back (For reference SRCC test #00318), I re-tested it to look for the failure point, so I could possibly determine cause to be able to give back that info to the Chinese manufacture for their addressing. Much to my surprise, there was nothing wrong with it. I even pushed the pressure over 200psi just "because". No pressure failure. Imagine my surprise! And there the story begins.
I really do not want to revisit that very painful experience because I, from a business perspective, never recovered from that "hit". SO to full circle back to your "Hollywood" moments, I can FULLY appreciate your "what makes stories, stories". Certification entities that are suppose to WATCH the testing entities to make sure they "play fair", also give them their testing license's which the testing entities pay them allot of money to acquire. I am sure you can see where this is going. The over watch entity is going to cut off the hand of their high paying customers (Hint, not me). I modified the famous Fox watching the Henhouse phrase to "Fox's watching Fox's watching the hen house" to reflect the reality of this situation. The DOE was their Sugar Daddy at the time, giving the SRCC $100 million in funds for this, "Whole thing". The person at the DOE handling this which I had a conference call with was Robert Hassett, Me and Joe Walters FSEC (SRCC test lab, Florida Solar Energy Center) contact, was part of this whole saga. The time frame on this whole debacle is July of 2009.
All emails and calls are documented/recorded regarding this.
Anyway, I ran way to long on this. I need to go take some Ibuprof now.
Best of luck on your Hollywood exposure quest. Hope you luck is better than mine.
Nice hearing from you again, over all.
.....Bill
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william fitch
Owner
www.WeAreSolar.com
Original Message:
Sent: 01-08-2024 10:36 PM
From: Tor Valenza
Subject: Read our new issue of Solar Today on the theme "solar marketing and environmental behavior"
Thanks tagging me, @Kat Friedrich!
Hey, @william fitch, good to be responding to you after so many years. I always appreciated your comments when I was blogging regularly on Renewable Energy World years ago.
Regarding your comment, please do listen to the podcast to see the potential for solar NOT to be boring. Fictional stories are rarely about the technology alone. Stories are about people, first, and how they use and interact with a technology.
With that in mind, please listen to my original podcast teaser to get a better idea of my solar in pop culture goals. Then listen to a few of the stories, and I think you'll see that solar consumers and solar workers can be just as interesting and exciting and as dark) as lawyer stories, doctor stories, and spy stories.
Those doctor, lawyer, cop, and spy stories have always been there. James Bond isn't about gadgets. It's about how James saves the world. He just happens to be using cool cars, weapons, and gadgets. Moreover, Bond stories are about themes, like greed, good vs evil, power, corruption, politics, and fighting terrorism.
Many of my Probably True Solar Stories are about the same themes and flawed/heroic characters, but they're set around the solar industry--and politics.
For some good examples of some "Solar Noir" stories that Hollywood COULD be doing, listen to:
If you listen, I think you'll see that the stories are not about solar tech, but about solar people--flawed, exciting, corrupt, heroic people, just like any genre. I hope they're entertaining for you as a solar pro, but I've also had positive comments from non-solar pros. They not only enjoyed the plots and characters, but they also learned something about the solar industry, the solar workforce, solar policies, the tech, etc.
Of course, solar stories aren't for everyone, just as many people didn't like the Sopranos or MASH or Star Trek, or Game of Thrones.
Thanks for your thoughts,
Best,
Tor
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Tor Valenza
Solar PR and Podcast Story Teller
UnThink Solar/Probably True Solar Stories
Original Message:
Sent: 01-08-2024 08:24 PM
From: Kat Friedrich
Subject: Read our new issue of Solar Today on the theme "solar marketing and environmental behavior"
That's an interesting perspective, @william fitch. @Tor Valenza, would you like to reply?
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Kat Friedrich
Editor in Chief
American Solar Energy Society
Monona WI
Original Message:
Sent: 01-02-2024 02:22 PM
From: william fitch
Subject: Read our new issue of Solar Today on the theme "solar marketing and environmental behavior"
I scanned through the one, "why is solar missing from film and tv", or some title like that. I think he missed an obvious reason. Solar is static and basically boring. Its like trying to write an exciting scene about beach umbrellas or pool side sun chairs. Wind turbines get way more attention in media because they are MOVING. At least you can see something going on. A thermal or PV array just sits there in the sun. There is no noise (Despite FUD claims), no chems, no radiation, no nothing. Just clean elect production along with shade. Trackers do yield some movement, some of the time, and look best if done in time lapse.
All RE suffers the basic reality that it gives nothing that wasn't already there. Always has been that way. The only place where that is not true is in poor countries where no elect at all has been present. In that case it gets "GOD" status.
I mean when mono channel sound was replaced with stereo, it could be promoted as, "Now you can hear sounds coming from one side or the other, like a car is moving across you visual field, or a plane going by". It offered something that was not there before. RE has never been able (Too date) to offer that experience, that of something new. It is just a replacement for something that is there anyway. Backup power when the grid is down now can offer a new experience. Your lights stay on when others are dark. But, even that has gas or propane gens yielding the same effect.
SO I guess asking RE to be "Hollywood worthy" is a bit like asking a fence post to be $exy.
Not really a fair expectation.
And please, do not post any pictures of dressed up fence posts, if they are out there....
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william fitch
Owner
www.WeAreSolar.com
Original Message:
Sent: 01-02-2024 11:45 AM
From: Kat Friedrich
Subject: Read our new issue of Solar Today on the theme "solar marketing and environmental behavior"
Our latest issue of Solar Today focuses on a topic that is sometimes overlooked: the role of marketing and social science in the energy transition. It is now available for members through our online portal.
Here is a preview of the table of contents:
Why Should Solar Professionals Care About Marketing?
Kat Friedrich, editor in chief of Solar Today at ASES
Amping up Solar Adoption: Insights into Human Behavior
Roslynn McCann, sustainable communities professor in environment and society at Utah State University
Public Relations Guide to Newsworthiness
Melissa Baldwin, senior vice president of Tigercomm
Closing the Communications Gap in Renewable Energy Adoption
Matt Calderone, senior vice president at LaunchSquad, and Amanda Molaro, director at LaunchSquad
Why Is Solar Missing in Film and TV Today?
Tor "Solar Fred" Valenza, host and writer of the "Probably True Solar Stories" podcast and ASES member
AI in Solar Marketing: A Balance Between Tech and Touch
Abby Yolda, director of solar and digital marketing strategy at Energy Circle LLC
Refugees Adapt to Fuel Scarcity: So Can the World
Sara Rosen, program and operations manager at Solar Cookers International, which is an ASES member
Who Pays for and Who Benefits from a Massive Expansion of Solar Power?
Felix Mormann, professor of law and engineering at Texas A&M University
Why You Should Care About Energy Efficiency - Even After Going Solar
Dara Bortman, secretary of the ASES Board of Directors
The Solar Supply Chain Challenges Renewable Energy Goals
Jessica Driscoll, growth strategy director at Bureau Veritas North America
Sharing Solar Savings as a Community Basic Income: The Solar Commons
Kathryn Milun, founder and director of the Solar Commons Project and member of ASES
Empowering the Grid: Innovations for Sustainable Energy Integration
Remi Akinwonmi, graduate student in mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, student member of ASES, and curator of the Solar@Work newsletter
United States Solar Data Tables
Julia McVeigh, data analyst and technical divisions intern at ASES
Celebrating Our History and Our Heroes: The Annual ASES Awards
Jill Cliburn, president of Cliburn and Associates, LLC, chair of the ASES Awards Committee for 2023 and 2024, and fellow and member of ASES
SOLAR 2023 Technical Program Focuses on the Energy Transformation
Dave Renné, former president of the International Solar Energy Society and life member of ASES
Member Spotlight
Felix Najite Okene, project quality control engineer at KELM Engineering and technical divisions volunteer at ASES
If you are interested in pitching an op-ed explainer for a future issue, please send me two paragraphs about the story along with a one-paragraph bio showing each author's relevant professional experience. We are currently seeking pitches on the U.S. Department of Energy Earthshot programs. We are also seeking articles for homeowners and stories for our "Policy Watch" and "Student Perspective" columns.
You are also welcome to support Solar Today's thought-provoking coverage by visiting the ASES website's donation page.
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Kat Friedrich
Editor in Chief
American Solar Energy Society
Monona WI
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