SPI Moved its October Trade Show from Las Vegas to the Virtual World.

Following the surge in Covid-19 cases in the United States, SPI moved its October trade show from Las Vegas to the virtual world.

Solar Energy International (SPI), one of the largest clean energy industry exhibitions in the United States, has cancelled its on-site exhibition held in Las Vegas from October 21 to 22. The event will be completely virtual. According to the announcement from the organizer of the Solar Energy Trade Show (SETS), the restarted expo will include a free virtual trade show where attendees can book meeting appointments and “stand chat” with company representatives. A series of “micro-conferences” (weekly online panel discussions and seminars) originally scheduled to create momentum for live broadcasting will start as planned on September 14. “Although we regret that we will not be able to host this industry face to face this year, our first priority is always the health and safety of exhibitors, participants, employees, partners and stakeholders,” President Stephen​​ Miner said with the CEO of SETS.

SPI is co-sponsored by the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) and the Smart Power Alliance (SEPA), while SPI has traditionally been the main hub for US solar companies in networks, business meetings and transactions. Two non-profit organizations established SETS in 2009 to manage the exhibition, and their proceeds have provided substantial funding for both SEIA and SEPA. The outdoor activities in Las Vegas are itself a Covid-driven restart event, which was originally planned for the North American Smart Energy Week in Anaheim, California in September. Even if other industry conferences are cancelled, postponed or launched, SETS still hopes to maintain a reduced-scale trade show as a face-to-face event by expanding security measures. However, the recent surge in Covid-19 cases across the country has prompted many states to postpone reopening plans for businesses and large-scale events. In Nevada, indoor or outdoor public gatherings are currently limited to 50 people, so SPI decided that full virtualization is inevitable. Nevertheless, with the emergence of increasingly complex virtual meeting platforms, the industry seems to be rapidly adjusting to online meetings and business networking. Some incidents even found that registration increased. SETS currently has more than 200 exhibitors registered for the virtual trade show, and Miner is positive. He said: “This year’s full virtualization opens the door for interaction and collaboration with industry representatives who may not have been able to attend our events in the past.”