The winter solar power conference held in Boston each February showcased a broad range of vendors ready to support solar power deployment, with contractors, engineering firms and finance and insurance providers taking a much larger presence on the show floor.
If you’re not in the solar industry, you might wonder why there’s an industry conference in New England in the middle of winter. Even if you are, you might be surprised to learn that four of the top eight states in the U.S. for solar electricity generation are in New England. Massachusetts ranks third, with solar providing just over 25% of the state’s electricity over the past 12 months, while Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island take spots six through eight, according to PV Intel data.
Suddenly, the timing makes a lot more sense.
Last year’s RE+ Northeast moved into the cavernous Convention Center, having outgrown the nearby hotel ballrooms. Along with the larger venue came a shift in the composition of the exhibitors. In previous years, a greater percentage of global and national hardware manufacturers dominated the show floor. This year, the balance seemed to tilt toward local service providers, with a noticeable increase in local installation companies.
Two such engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms present were Norwich Technologies and ACE Solar. ACE Solar, which has offices from Maine to Maryland, was represented by Marc Greenfield. The company has constructed over 500 MW of solar across rooftops, carports, landfills, and trackers, as well as nearly 100 MWh of battery storage.
Kevin Davis, vice president of sales, presented the broad range of services available under the Norwich Technologies umbrella. These include commercial and utility-scale solar development through Breakaway Technologies, construction services via Norwich Solar, operations and maintenance under RunTime Solar, and electric vehicle charging installation through Norwich EV.
One notable showcase wasn’t actually on the floor at RE+ Northeast but instead at a nearby office where Luminous demonstrated its third-generation Lumi 3 solar panel installation robot. The new unit boasts enough battery capacity to install modules throughout an entire workday while maintaining the same robotic arm design as previous versions.
Energy Toolbase, known for its financial modeling software, showcased its energy storage control systems that have emerged since their acquisition by Pason Power. The company’s design platform has long supported 15-minute interval data modeling to help developers manage demand charges. More recently, its battery modeling tools have been integrated with specific battery systems available for purchase via Energy Toolbase, allowing demand charge management through an advanced control system (below).
With growing concerns over hail damage at solar farms, specialized project insurance has become an important topic. James A Mason, a risk advisor at Acrisure, noted that traffic to his booth was high, with many developers, EPCs, and project owners actively seeking guidance on risk-mitigation strategies. Mason emphasized that to obtain an accurate insurance quote, developers should provide a high-quality single-line drawing and preferably a PE-stamped site plan. With this information, insurers can generate a regionally tailored price per kW dc, typically within a week.
Meanwhile, pv magazine USA spent time with an EPC team discussing the third-party inspection process for installing a Solar Mount LLC carport system in Massachusetts. With the manufacturer’s engineers based in Michigan, navigating remote inspections remains a key logistical challenge.
Also present on the show floor were hardware distribution companies such as Rexel, represented by Adam Gent. Gent, who supports Rexel’s energy storage division, aligns closely with solar development, leveraging his extensive experience in the sector.
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