The Role of the Illinois Solar Energy Association in Growing the State's Clean Energy Industry with Lisa Albrecht | EP185

You cannot underestimate the importance of your voice particularly in the political field, you know, getting to know your local legislators, getting to know your local mayor, you are older person and explaining what it is that your business is doing, how you're improving the community, not just from, you know, selling solar, employing people in the industry reducing effects of climate change. You know, there's so many great reasons and people want to hear from us. And I see as a great avenue to get that education, get those introductions and really strengthen those relationships.

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Today on the Clean Power Hour, everything you should know about ISEA and why you should consider joining ISEA or your state organization if you're not in or working in Illinois. I'm Tim Montague. Welcome to the Clean Power Hour. Today on the Clean Power Hour. My guest is Lisa Albrecht. She is the owner of Albright solar and a long standing board member of ISEA. Welcome to the show.

Hi, thanks so much, Tim. It's great to be here.

It's heady days in the solar industry. And Illinois is part of that journey in we are now a top solar state thanks to wonderful legislation known as CEJA, the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act. But we have a lovely organization here in Illinois called ISEA, the Illinois Solar Energy Association, which plays a you know, many roles, largely behind the scenes, you know, you don't get these these massive pieces of legislation without many stakeholders, doing lots of work and lobbying, et cetera. So tell us a little bit about your journey, though. Lisa, how did you get into solar? You've been in the industry for many years, for many years? And how did you get involved with ISEA? Yeah,

I joke that my entrance into solar was in the third grade science fair. Or sorry, seventh grade science fair. I had three years of science fair projects, and actually went to college thinking I was going to be a ceramic engineer, because I wanted to make solar panels. And then it was very clear, I definitely found my tribe when I walked over to the marketing building. And people talked and acted and spoke like me, I was not the stereotypical engineer, I was way too chatty. And then I ended up forgetting my way with solar and was working in advertising. And then 2006, I realized I needed to come home. And so I got some training and joined the industry in 2007. And it's been a journey since then.

And so you've seen Illinois go from literally our first RPS, I think, which was was in oh seven or oh eight. And which led to have a fair amount of wind. Initially, I thought I'd work in the wind industry, because you saw these huge tranches of wind farms coming in, especially here in central Illinois. I moved from Chicago to Central Illinois in oh eight in the fall of oh eight, but had visited some wind farms, I think as early as oh seven. Anyway, solar is in my blood as well. I was doing solar thermal in my backyard in Albuquerque, New Mexico in this in the 70s. And here we are, PV is the energy of the day, and it is the most economical form of energy bar none. Yeah, completely. And so that's it's just a question of how fast we can install it. Right? If the grid is gonna get cleaned, it's just a matter of how fast Yeah,

and it's remarkable where Illinois has come. I mean, when I first started in Oh, seven PB was $15 a watt. almost the only solar that was happening was solar hot water. The company I worked for at the time solar service was started in 1977. And we really started seeing PV come into play around 2010. You know, the state had incentives. They didn't have incentives. It was it's really been quite a roller coaster, solar coaster, as we like to call it. But passage of FEJA was a game changer. And then following right behind that passing CEJA was equally pretty. A major catapult to bring Illinois into the market. I think at one point we were already second in the country. And now we're up there with the big guys

that were top 10 Solar Estate. I'm glad you mentioned solar service, I have a soft spot in my heart for Brandon Levitt, the founder of solar service. I visited his office, I think in 2005 for an IC o meeting, and so he was very involved with ISEA. And and then he saw the transition from solar thermal to solar PV and he rode that wave for a while. But, so tell us about your ISEA adventures? How did you get involved? And why have you stayed involved all these years? Yeah, so

I think I had been in the industry for one month when somebody asked if I would be willing to manage the solar tour. And I thought, What a great way to get to know who are the players and who's been installing and really get hands on experience. So I did the solar tour in 2007. And worked with the likes of Mark Berger and Carol Gulia send a lot of Ted low a lot of pioneers at the time, and became my think I was in the industry for two months, and I became Secretary of Illinois Solar Energy Association, then I was the policy chair. And I've had a few different hats along the way, just kind of filling gaps wherever we figure out, you know, we are blazing a trail, and you don't know what is in your way until you need to chop it down. So that's been really probably that my my primary role that I see is trying to figure out what obstacles we have and teaming up with others to try to break down those barriers to let the market grow.

Yeah, I love it that you have that reference of$15 a watt.

That's just crazy. I, you know, before the pandemic, we were below three, and now we're, you know, kind of hovering in that three range, and it looks like things are going to start start dropping again. But it's crazy the difference. And and a lot of the panels, we were installing 125 watt panels in the day. And for the same amount of real estate today, we're installing 404 50s, you know, on commercial projects, you know, over 500 watts. So it's really remarkable how much the technology has evolved at while prices have been plummeting.

The technology adoption curve is real.

It's crazy, and exciting, hard to keep up with some days. You think you're a master, and then all of a sudden, boom, something changes, and you need to start learning all over again.

Yeah, yeah, there is constant change, that's for sure. That's the only constant the technology changes, the incentives change, the industry changes. I mean, I hope it doesn't change too much in the next five years. But anyway, I'll ride I'll ride with whatever happens. And it helps me because I work nationally, it was brutal, I have to say, in you know, 2019, when we ran out of racks, and things kind of got put on pause for a couple of years, but we're back. And we have good 1010 year runway, if everything goes well. But what do you say least to prospective members or members who are not so engaged. You know, in a car, we have well over 150 business members in the organization. But there are probably upwards of 500 companies that could be members of ISEA. And that's part of my job now is to recruit new members to the organization. So reach out to me if you're curious about ISEA, I spend 25% of my time talking to and wooing prospective members. But from your perspective, what do you say to members or prospective members?

Yeah, honestly, without being a member of I see, I'm not quite sure how folks keep up. Because there is always so much that's moving and changing. And ISEA does a great job of education. But also, if there's issues that you have, just this week, there was some confusion around some definitions with the city of Chicago, few of us hopped on a call, we addressed it with the city and we made headway within 24 to 48 hours. So you know, when you are those because I think a lot of people just assume that, that the majority of the heavy lifting is happening with the big national players. But really, it's the it's the folks who are on the ground who are sitting at the kitchen table who are in the boardrooms and who are implementing these policies on a day to day basis whose voices we need to hear. You know, if if it wasn't for, you know, installers reaching out and saying, Hey, look what Chicago just changed, we would not have been able to identify that problem until a lot of people felt the pain. So by working together both in ISEA as well as ICI has a new policy committee, it's a great opportunity to not only learn about those policies, but to influence them as well. And we started having a solar Lobby Day I think maybe 2012 2013 I mean, and that was a great opportunity for businesses to go down to Springfield a FEJA in 2016. And were instrumental in those negotiations. And so it's a great opportunity to, you know, sit at the table, learn from the big guys, and also just be heard and influence policy that impacts your day to day activities. So I think it's vital no matter what your size to be part of your trade association, because then not only are you staying current with what's happening, but you're also able to talk to the lobbyists, talk to the lawmakers, talk to the municipalities, and be able to educate, explain and influence.

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Yeah, completely, you know, and, and I think it's you cannot underestimate the importance of your voice, particularly in the political field. You know, getting to know your local law legislators, getting to know your local mayor, your older persons, and explaining what it is that your business is doing, how you're improving the community, not just from, you know, selling solar, employing people in the industry, reducing effects of climate change. You know, there's so many great reasons and people want to hear from us. And I see as a great avenue to get that education, get those introductions and really strengthen those relationships. So that policy does reflect what our industry needs moving forward, because the big the big naysayers, they are speaking to lawmakers, and we need to make sure that our voices are in the room as well. And continuing to education educate the public.

Yeah. And those lobby days are a lot of fun. You get to know the other members. So well, when you spend a day in Springfield with them, you start with the breakfast while there's actually a networking event the evening before, and then you go to a breakfast, and then you break up into small groups, and run around the Capitol talking to legislators and you really get to know the other members and people that you just never would have gotten to know so well, that are just a name on a list before that. So that is a wonderful experience and opportunity. So if you're thinking about membership, if you're working in Illinois, solar, whether you're an Illinois company, a Midwest company or a coastal company, please reach out to me. And I can give you the lowdown on joining ICs. So, Lisa, you've you told me in the pre show that you've been a board member since 2007. The hundreds of hours that you have dedicated to this organization is is truly amazing. And I'm grateful for your service. And I wonder if you would tell us a little more about Albright solar, what is it? What is your niche in the solar industry?

Sure, you know, when the market was changing in 2016, and solar service was you know, the owner Brandon Leavitt was looking at retirement. I looked around at a lot of companies and there were some great players that were coming to the state at the time. But I decided that I wanted to build my own organization within this industry to manage my path forward. I love having one on one relationships with my customers. I didn't want to just be a salesperson. I'd love sales, the sales process, but I wanted a deeper relationship. And so I started my own company I primarily do the design In and price the system. And then I feel I work with folks that I have known in the industry since 2007 2009. People who I have long term standing relationships with and I pick the right installer for the customer, so that I can advocate on their behalf. And then I do a lot of customer service on the back end, I'm constantly looking at my portfolio to see how are we doing compared to forecast on projects that were installed last week, but also projects that were installed five years ago. And so making sure that those systems are continuing to operate, and they don't languish. Once the once the pedal is off the rows, I think people forget to check their monitoring system. So I'm out there looking to make sure that my systems are operational and work with the installation teams tab to get any service calls needed.

And how do you perceive the consumers perceptions of solar now, you know, in the last five years, because obviously solar is now part of the landscape, when you just drive around Illinois, you see community solar farms, or utility solar farms. And now rooftop solar for residential is definitely a thing. It's still a fraction of the homes and buildings that have solar on them. A small fraction, but a growing fraction. So what what is your experience with consumers and business owners?

Yeah, you know, I think I think that as a group, they are more educated, they're aware back in the day, you know, aren't we had architects saying, oh, you can't do you can't do solar in Chicago, you can't do solar in Illinois. You know, we don't have the weather for it. So I think we're finding more and more people are better educated. But also, as more and more people recognize that climate change is in our backyard, they want to have some responsibility towards making changes. So I would say, probably 90% of the time, when someone calls me, it's because they want to make a difference in the climate and reduce their carbon footprint, I would say 100% of the time when they decide to go solar, it's because it makes such good economic sense. And you can make energy on your own roof. For less than the utility charges you today. That's a no brainer. If I can make my you know, if I can make something and it's a it's a job, I don't have to go to, you know, the sun is shining on my roof, I never have to go to that job. And so it's a guaranteed investment. It doesn't have the volatility. And so I find that most consumers are far more educated and highly, highly motivated to move forward. And in purchasing a system.

Well said, consumer could save $1,000 a year on their energy bill by installing solar, it's, you know, that's part of a family vacation, or some other upgrades they could make to their house.

So it's significant to pay somebody why pay the utility when you could put that money in your own pocket?

Is there anything else you would like prospective ISEA members to know about ISEA? Before we go?

Yeah, I would say you know, we, this is a really unique industry, there's certainly a lot of challenges, we joke about calling it the solar coaster. But I think one of the things that I find the most rewarding is that some of my closest friends are also my competition. And so we work together. So I feel like we might be in competition for you know, a project here or there. But having that camaraderie, having an extended network where I can learn where I can say, hey, wait, I just heard this from this municipality, did you have that experience. And so being able to build that network so that I don't have to have all the resources on my team, but I can branch out and learn and, and sometimes just consult one another, when you know, like, you know, Southern Illinois just experienced, their small dG is going to waitlist in the comment territory is about to go on the waitlist now. So we can console with each other, we can work with each other. And it's a great way of, you know, really having a spirited industry where we can all raise all boats together.

Well said, Well, I want to thank Lisa Albrecht with Albright solar for coming on the show today. And please reach out to me on LinkedIn or at CleanPowerhour.com. Check out all of our content at cleanpowerhour.com Give us a rating and a review on Apple or Spotify. And tell a friend about the show. We are growing the solar industry one podcast at a time, and we need more listeners. So please reach out. Thank you so much, Lisa, and let's grow solar and storage. I'm Tim Montague.

Thanks so much, Tim.

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