Page 148 - ISES SWC50

7.13 SWC50 Supporter: Solar Energy Industries Association

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) is the national trade association for the U.S. solar industry,
leading the transformation to a clean energy economy and creating the framework for solar to achieve 20%
of U.S. electricity generation by 2030. SEIA works with its 1,000 member companies and other strategic
partners to fight for policies that create jobs in every community and shape fair market rules that promote
competition and the growth of reliable, low-cost solar power.

In 1974, a group of five industry members met in the noisy basement of the Washington Hilton to discuss the
possibility of establishing an association for the solar industry. They agreed to create “a broad-based trade
association supporting prompt, orderly, widespread and open growth of solar energy resources now.” This
was the beginning of SEIA’s four decades of solar energy advocacy.

SEIA faced a host of formidable challenges early on, chief among them, building a profitable solar energy
industry. Sheldon Butt, SEIA’s first president, was famously quoted as saying “shouldn’t we have an industry
before we can have an industry association?” But SEIA had emerged just as the effects of the first oil embargo
were becoming painfully clear. SEIA would play a central role in integrating solar energy into the energy
saving policies of the Carter Administration.
In the 1980s the solar industry faced one of its biggest challenges when President Reagan signed a tax
bill that severely cut federal research funding and residential tax credits. Despite the political climate, SEIA,
through its strength in numbers, was able to promote ongoing research and development funding, which kept
solar energy a priority for the Department of Energy.

SEIA has grown tremendously from its early days. By the 1990s, SEIA had built the association to encompass
150 national members. In 2006, SEIA and its members successfully advocated for the establishment (and
subsequent extensions) of the solar Investment Tax Credit, a critical federal policy that has spurred billions
in economic investment nationwide. As the solar industry’s growth has skyrocketed and prices continue to
fall, SEIA has been advocating at the federal and state level for policies that continue this story of American
innovation.
Today, SEIA represents nearly 1,000 companies from across the solar supply-chain, from all technology and
market segments. Installers, project developers, manufacturers, contractors, financiers, law firms, and non-
profits have all seen the value of joining SEIA and participating in the collective growth of solar energy in the
U.S. Through the work of SEIA and its members, the solar industry has become one of the fastest growing
industries in America.

SEIA, along with its members and allies across the energy system, have set an ambitious goal for solar to
reach 20% of all U.S. electricity generation by 2030. To meet this target, SEIA is working collaboratively
across technologies and industries to build a comprehensive clean energy economy. The COVID-19 crisis has
heightened the need for long-term thinking on workforce development, infrastructure, resilience, equity and
economic recovery. We can address all of these needs by investing in a clean, affordable electricity system,
and one that puts diversity, equity, inclusion and justice at the forefront.

SEIA looks forward to working with anyone who shares our vision for job creation, equity, climate action, and
a strong clean energy economy.

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