Sass Peress Blog: June 2005 Archives

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June 30, 2005

Solutions vs Opportunities

OK, so everyone's starting to get on this "offer them solutions, not products" bandwagon. We see it everywhere we go now in the marketing of services and products.

When we hear the term, it implies that we are addressing problems rather than opportunities, doesn't it? I mean, if I was to tell you that you could now solarize your gate opener and no longer need to run a wire, it would work even in a power outage and you would save the cost of electricity...is that an opportunity to do things better or is it a solution to a problem?

The term solution implies something negative, whereas opportunities has a more positive connotation. If indeed solar is going to bring you an opportunity to improve your life, then should we not also market that way?

Fact is that solar either is like vitamins for your battery, or completely replaces other power sources like generators for your RV or cottage or boat. In either case, we should focus on how it improves your life, rather than solutions to problems.

Frankly, I'm on the fence of this paradigm change but I could use some input...comments welcome!

Tata for now,
Sass

Posted by sass at 04:40 PM | Comments (2)

June 29, 2005

Solar Birthday

Turning 45 years of age today, I woke up to Sunshine (that's the name of our golden retriever). Its also describes how my wife and kids made me feel. I have come to realize that the really important things are usually within inches of us either in body or spirit. Today, they are today my greatest source of "energy".

Walked into the plant around 930AM and was greeted by "Happy Birthday" by our lamination crew. Had not sat at my desk when already 3 messages appeared in my inbox. What I have done to deserve such caring I have no idea, but you can bet I'll do more of it.

So taking a solar holiday from corporate blogging...well just for a day!

Tata,
Sass

Posted by sass at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)

June 26, 2005

Solar Slate Stud

Which solar charging roof system interests you...the one that looks like a real roof...or the ugly blue one?

Sorry if my language seems skewed (force of habit that I may or may not lose) yet its a real question in many areas of the world. In Germany, there are communities now outlawing the placement of the blue panels on rooftops purely for esthetic reasons! So how is the solar world going to react? Hopefully by remembering that customers are people that demand far more than function.

Picture this...you see an ad for a solar system...you get all enthused because the government is going to help subsidize your drive to save electric bills and do something good for the environment (usually in that order). You gather all the information to present to your life partner...and then he/she looks at you and says "but is there a different color?". To date, most of the solar industry answers a big, blue NO!

At ICP we have developed a solar roof tile that looks like....a solar roof tile! It replaces the roof slate tiles used in Europe and more expensive homes in North America rather than be placed over it. At a solar show here in Freiburg, Germany (that's where I am right now) people were lining up to get information. They just couldn't believe that half of the tiles on our mocked-up roof were generating electricity. Stand ten feet away, and you could not tell which was solar and which was not.

Which brings me to the issue of how is the solar industry remembering that consumers have both "needs" and "wants". We "need" it to work...but we "want" it to look good! Few have captured this theme. 99% of makers or distributors put out functional product without considering the esthetics or "subjective" determinants of a consumer's reason-for-buying. This is the symptom of an industry which is currently sold out of capacity because "need"-based growth has outpaced supply. Why change if we don't have to?

My suspicion is that as capacity catches up to demand, the industry will be in for some wake-up calls. Everyone is running down the same path, building the same type of factory to make the same type of solar panels. That's the oil industry model..make it cheaper than anyone else and make a lot of it. I think that will be just fine...until someone offers consumers something they really want!

BIPV stands for "building-integrated-photovoltaics"..a fancy term which means that the building is equipped with materials that create its own power. Its an industry that is over twenty years old and is just now beginning to truly appeal to architects in their own language..form and appearance. ICP's solar tile is the first tile that can't be differentiated from an actual tile. We have not even received the necessary building permits yet and we have people lining up to try it offering their own homes as testing grounds. And they even want to pay for these tests just to be able to be the first ones on the block to ask their neighbors to "find the solar tile" (just like the game "find waldo" you used to play with your kids!).

If looks could kill...this solar tile stud has reminded me never to underestimate the power of "wow". Is there a lesson for the solar industry..perhaps listen to the customer. Your loyalty to a brand depends on far more than dealing with an educated salesforce. You may be somewhat satisfied today with delivery of your "needs", but that will only last as long as nobody comes up with a solution which gives you "wants". The minute you are offered what you really want in a solar solution, now that's when we will have listened to our customer!

Auf Wiedersehen für jetzt ("Tata for now"),
Sass

Posted by sass at 03:31 AM | Comments (3)

June 23, 2005

Watt is a Watt?

P=V*A. Most of us learned this formula early on in our educational cycle. Watts equals Volts times Amps.

In the solar industry, watts are used to measure output under standard test conditions (lab utopic conditions for a crystalline solar cell or module). My earlier blog entries address the issues of relevance of the testing protocol, so for this time, I want to ask you if you know what a watt is, what does it do for you, and if any other question is really important for you to determine your own needs? I'm a person who has been in the solar industry for 17 years running and I still can't see its importance for off-grid applications.

ICP has twice changed the paradigms of the industry and we're about to do the same. I won't be so naive as to post our strategy for 2006 because I know that our competition, which often mimics ICP, are avid readers of this blog and our websites. What I will write is that a huge shift is about to occur in the off-grid industry and we're going to lead the way.

I can already sense that retailers, who have become aware of the legal challenges of certain "characters" in our industry that are selling fake-rated panels, are going to move up the quality ladder in terms of offering products that are fairly rated if only because they care about their reputations. West Marine, the world's largest marine accessory retailer, dumped a certain vendor recently because of their totally faked ratings. When WM discovered the "watt fraud", they turned to ICP for legitimate solutions and are now enjoying tremendous uptake in customer satisfaction and sales rates.

The next step will be for retailers to govern themselves according to an agreed industry standard beyond simply the wattage rating. Costco, to their credit, agreed to testing panels BEFORE putting them on their shelves to verify conformity with ALL legal requirements. As a result, ICP was selected as vendor on this basis. The vendor they had originally chosen refused to even submit samples for testing...what does that tell you about their confidence in their product?

In Canada, Canadian Tire launched a new range of solar panels and I'm hoping that their Eliminator brand products will now meet their rated claims and that they will also advise consumers of the true final power output after degradation in the sun (sadly they are made by the vendor who was "outed" in Kenya). This is something we've been pressing them to do for over a year. In the USA, its my hope that Northern Tools, Brunton, Sportsman's Guide, Harbor Freight and others are all watching these moves and decide to join the trend towards equity in ratings, even if all they finally report are the true initial "watts" of their products. That would be a nice change towards truth in advertising. Despite the fact that it may mean significant changes to their current range of products, I do believe their growth in the industry will be enhanced by such moves to quality solutions.

Another paradigm shift is in the explanation of "total system cost". When you rate the cost of a solution, we will soon help you understand the "total" cost of the system which includes everything from parts to labor to warranty. There are hidden costs in using panels that degrade over time, labor to install and mountings that no solar vendor today tells you about. What you want to know is..how much is my total cost, how long will it last and what is it really going to do for me? So we'll even tell you savings compared to traditional energy sources!

And the last thing we'll do is to get rid of "watts" as a measure of anything to compare with. The speed of charging your battery for your particular application and how quickly your electronics or appliances discharge them, is what you really care about.

After all, Watt is a question, not an answer. You want answers. We'll provide them.

Tata for today,
Sass

Posted by sass at 09:43 AM | Comments (1)

June 22, 2005

Givers Get

This week I was honored with a "Promie" Award for Technology Young Entrepreneur of the Year for 2005. Its an award named after Howard Stotland, a very well recognized success story in the Montreal high-tech scene. The fact that they chose me as winner had more to do with how my team makes me look, than me. Howard introduced me with a pre-amble talking about the importance of the team and how giving back to the community was a primordial sign of leadership.

So how does my team rank in the area of "giving"? Well, ICP will officially sponsor a golf tournament later this summer whose proceeds are dedicated to breast cancer, will soon begin a skin cancer fund through every single purchase of our products, has been recognized for an MS Leadership Award and participated in the May 10th "jeans day" for Cancer where everyone comes into the office wearing jeans.

Isabel Dos Santos, my incredible assistant that keeps me out of trouble (as much as she can!), walked all night on June 3rd for a cancer fund-raising event as well.

Additionally, ICP is involved with Montreal schools in robotics (we send engineers to help judge) and directly in solar vehicle sponsorship of major Quebec universities(our sponsored boat won world champion, while the car came in 8th in the last American Solar Challenge). Recently our UK division sponsored schools in Kenya that have no power to light the classrooms. And our European office sent panels to Mali to support townships which have no power to cook food.

So if you guessed the contents of this blog entry, as how much I respect the team that gives so much, you are absolutely correct. For if we forget that even a company is a living organism which operates within an environment in which it should be in harmony, then we have not understood the essence of the "living organization".

As Arie de Geus and Peter M. Senge wrote in their book "The Living Company", the average life span of a Fortune 500 company is less than half a century, yet there also are corporations around the world that have been in business for 200, 500, even 700 years. Arie de Geus, a retired Royal Dutch/Shell Group executive, maintains after studying both extremes that the most enduring treat their companies as "living work communities" rather than pure economic machines. De Geus writes: "Companies die because their managers focus on the economic activity of producing goods and services, and they forget that their organizations' true nature is that of a community of humans." He summarizes the components of the long-lived company as sensitivity to the environment, cohesion and identity, tolerance and decentralization, and conservative financing.

Is he onto something? I think he's absolutely right. In time, the truth gets out. People hear about which companies are great not because they make the most money, but because working there is more than just work. These are companies that focus on the giving, not the getting. Givers get...remember?

So later on this year, when you buy an ICP-made solar product which comes with a "giving" coupon, know that your purchase not only helped us finance continued innovation in solar solutions, but also went to a cause where we help the "sun do good".

May the sun shine on you today,
Sass

Posted by sass at 12:43 AM | Comments (0)

June 19, 2005

Defining Disruptive Solar

Here's the "question du jour"...is a 30% efficient solar cell at $5/watt disruptive or is a 4% efficient solar cell at $1/watt disruptive? Can't decide...maybe you don't have to!

Bottom line is that there can be disruption at both ends. For example, if someone wanted to create "disposable solar", like a solar charger that sold for $9.99 that could be part of a cellphone using futuristic "plastic solar", then the efficiency factor doesn't really have to be enormous.

Or if someone wanted to truly have independantly powered cities using 30% cells, then a higher cost per watt could be absorbed. So we must challenge an industry that has tended to see ALL solar in one manner...measured by "STC (standard test conditions)".

Firstly, the issue of measuring by STC is slowly going out the window as people begin to realize that different solar technologies react better under "real life" than under STC. If you can get 20% more power out of thinfilm technologies in real life than you get from thickfilm silicon ones, then why wouldn't you pay 20% more for thin film? In Germany, farmers are "renting" out their farm roofs to businesspeople who are getting returns from the utility companies for feeding in power into the grid system. These same people are now scrounging for thinfilm solutions because they are more affordable and in the end, give them more return on investment.

Secondly, "horses for courses" approaches are now being embraced as we realize that some technologies that provide less "efficiency" may in fact be better in certain conditions. For example, thin film amorphous cells react better under blue light and in marine conditions, with all that water in the air, more blue light is refracted. Thick film technologies are preferred where unencumbered access to direct strong sunlight for most hours of the year is available and where space is an issue.

Therefore defining "disruptive" may well be in the eye of the definer. For some its low power but low cost. For others, its high power at any cost. For me, its whatever works for the particular customer that is being offered solar technology as a solution.

Posted by sass at 08:08 PM | Comments (0)

June 16, 2005

My Team's Solar Power

Today I attended a "PROFIT100/NEXT100" gathering because ICP was selected as one of the Top 200 growth companies in Canada by PROFIT magazine, given that we've almost quadrupled sales in five years. At that event,a presenter showed the following saying by Lao Tze, an ancient chinese philosopher of Tao:

The best leaders are scarcely known by their subjects;
The next best are loved and praised;
The next are feared;
The next despised:
They have no faith in their people,
And their people become unfaithful to them.

When the best leaders achieve their purpose
Their subjects claim the achievement as their own.

Here I was amongst a collection of some of the best CEO's that had rocketed their companies from nothing to the sun. While our growth was impressive, 312% in 4 years, some achieved thousand percent growth in even less time. They tended to be software or internet related companies.

But one theme that struck me is how many of us faced the same issues in our companies. And it usually boiled down to the only distinction a company really has..its people. So the dilemna that was common was simply how to Get/Keep/Grow a loyal team. How to empower them so that they take the decisions which are facilitated by a CEO's provision of environment, resources and vision. The guy who found hotmail for Microsoft was sitting on my left, a magician not far away teaching us that what we do is similar to magic at the next table, a guy who can't make enough hot tubs to satisfy demand in Europe not far beyond (his companions were surely selected to help sell more tubs!). All of these people had the same challenge and we were there sharing our stories.

As I recalled the stages that ICP has been through, from a cowboy company where almost anything went to get the sale, to its transformation into an ethical, honest and integrity-based culture, I am truly thankful for having such wonderful people come into our company at this crucial stage. I am surrounded by leaders. My job is to make them CEO's of their jobs. I need to listen not talk. The more I listen, the more I can understand their needs. They are smart people. I hired them after all. Its about keeping the spark alive in the toughest of times, some of which we have just lived and gotten through. The more invisible I become, the more they take credit, the better job I will have done.

My job is to show them the sun. Point to the path, not walk it for them. Ask them how we can become our partner's sunshine, and get them the tools they need to succeed. Will I succeed? Time will tell. One thing for sure, I have evolved as a leader and so has ICP. Honesty, integrity, vision. That will be the brand we will build for our customers. That is what we will stand for. We won't accept to be compared to those who cheat, lie and coverup their solar panel ratings in order to dupe an unsuspecting consumer. We will aspire to be the ones that all others compare themselves to. ICP. Integrity. Customer-centric. Performance.

Posted by sass at 09:07 PM | Comments (1)

June 14, 2005

Au Revoir, Amazing Solar Annie

A new beginning for a dear friend and colleague. Annie Tam has worked with me for over 6 years in Hong Kong and recently in Adelaide, Australia. It became clear that it was impossible for her to achieve her usual level of excellence in managing our Asian operations from Adelaide due to the need for proximity to component supply and sub-contractors, and so with my full support and understanding, she's embarking on a new life path. Its sad for ICP, yet I am so happy for her.

Annie leaves with head high knowing she helped ICP make some of the more difficult changes the markets demanded in order to become a leaner, meaner fighting machine. Since change is the only constant (are you tired of seeing me write that yet?) then this move for Annie and ICP are simply a part of the roadmap of our lives which we must embrace.

I've always called Annie my "chinese sister" and she'll always be that to me. A great giver to all that surround her. We all love you Annie and wish you the best that life has to offer in your new opportunities.

Tata for now,
Sass

Posted by sass at 05:21 PM | Comments (0)

Solar Stuffing vs Solar Solutions

As with any industry that is still in its infancy, sometimes we in the solar business tend to push the envelope when it comes to applications for solar power. Note a solar jacket which ICP was first in the world to market and quickly dropped. Why? OK so picture this..its a hot sunny day..you're walking around with your ipod...do you need to spend US$500 on a solar jacket that's going to cook you just so you can recharge your mp3 player?

Let's just say that this was one of our best bloopers in our history. It was a classic example of bleeding rather than leading. We simply were showing off a technology which was in fact getting a lot of attention (the hot models we employed didn't hurt getting the cameramen to come by our trade show booth!). But the challenge is more likely that you're just too smart! That's right folks..we haven't yet figured out a way to sell you stuff you just don't need that well! Or at least some people think so, because they're out there now still trying to flog it.

So what am I getting at? Well, basically that without any discipline, our industry will tend to turn you off rather than turn you on. If we don't provide you with valued solutions, we won't take as much of your money as we'd like to! If "there's a place for everything" is true, then solar has its place and its value. But we can't start to exaggerate it, lest we simply turn you off from using solar completely.

Take those solar garden lights for example. Many of you have bought them only to trash them after a couple of weeks of staring out your window at night hoping that they'll stay on long enough for the neighbours to go asleep and not notice that they don't work all night like they're supposed to. Did anyone think of the shading of trees, bushes, homes, soffits...when they designed these things? Or does each time you see a solar product it remind you of that failed attempt to use solar and turn you off? Now finally there are beginning to be solar lights that actually work well in any daylight condition...and may I say its in part to ICP's new solar cell products made specially for low light situations!

So how do you decide what will work and what won't? Ah, now if there was a simple answer to this question, we'd never make a purchase mistake. All I can say is that the old saying "you get what you pay for" tends to be true...except in solar you still have to watch out for the ripoff artists who lie about what they give you simply because you can't measure it, the well-meaning inventors who give you a "solar charger-in-a-whatever" that's 500times the price of a set of batteries, and the product developers that simply don't understand solar well enough but jump in because they think it will bring their items distinction in the marketplace.

Bottom line is still buyer beware, but even more so...developer know thy technology and thy customer. When developing a true solar solution, test it rigorously and consider how your consumer will use that device in every day life. If all you're selling is novelty, consider that like a honeymoon..it doesn't last forever, and the feeling that your customer will be left with may have lingering effects on an entire industry. The person who bought those cheaper solar lights that are not properly designed is not likely to turn around and spend thousands of dollars on a solar roof!

Does the truth come out in the end? Sure it does but it can be a long road. Paying attention to the delivery of value will make customers come back for more. I know because we've got thousands of logged testimonials from boaters, RVers and others who have used ICP solar panels to maintain batteries or for independant power. And yet still we have over 100 communications per day with our customer service center to help people make the right choices. Black and white. Sun and moon. Nothing in solar is so simple.
Have a sunshine day,
Sass

Posted by sass at 05:54 AM | Comments (0)

June 12, 2005

Silly Silicon Stifles Solar Sales

Take a moment to search for all growth predictions in the solar industry and most point to a figure of US$30billion by 2010. Well, a funny thing happened on the way to growth. A shortage of silicon feedstock occurred in the first half of this year severely stunting availability of everything down the food chain from wafers to modules. So the basic concern becomes: No silicon=no solar cells=no solar modules=no growth!

I recently attended the world's largest solar conference in Barcelona. One of the most interesting trade shows I'd ever been too, simply because most booths were doing "damage control" rather than selling. What can you sell if you don't have any supply of raw materials? And now, as a result of shortages and the rising price of silicon feedstock, prices of solar modules are skyrocketing. As reference visit http://www.solarbuzz.com/moduleprices.htm and you'll see what I mean. Do you know of any other high tech industry in which you pay MORE for the same thing one year later? How funny it would be if Intel announced price increases for the SAME chip?

ICP SOLAR is doing its best to satisfy clients, and thankfully our contracts for silicon-based solar cell supply extend well into 2006. For many of our own products, ICP makes its solar cells in the UK using a thin-film process avoiding the need for silicon feedstock. We're having a run on our capacity as well, yet we are able to protect clients who had given us forecasts for the year. The problem has been in situations where no forecast has been received and in numerous new customers knocking on our door. You cannot have a more painful picture in our business than that of the salesperson refusing new business! The only ones who seem to still have production capacity available to sell are those that are the at the bottom of the food chain, with low quality or broken solar cells that are dispensed as unusable by most of the industry.

And yet an answer may be provided in the several new technologies demonstrated in Barcelona. For the purpose of this article, I will mention one new technology that is sure to "disrupt" the thinking in the solar industry. Konarka Technologies http://www.konarka.com is run by a friend of mine, Howard Berke. This youthful yet experienced entrepreneur has led several technology startups in the New England area. His latest company has developed an "organic" solar cell, samples of which were on display at the Barcelona show after years in the lab. His company is also working on "plastic solar" with developments due out at a later time yet to be announced. None of these solar cells use silicon feedstock. So the path for these technologies, many of which are called "thin film", has no bottleneck of silicon supply. They are also less expensive to make.

In the end therefore, new horses may emerge from this situation simply because of the fear of the industry of having its growth stunted. For ICP's sake, we are already scoping out new technologies to install within our UK plant or elsewhere, as our growth depends on supply just like anyone else's.

The solar industry is being forced to transform by the forces of the market. That is a good thing. We'll surely have more bumps in later 2005 and 2006, but I predict that by end of 2006 the supply issues will become less prevalent due to several new plants coming on-board, with new technologies as well. Stay tuned..its gonna be a wild ride!

Posted by sass at 09:10 AM | Comments (0)

June 10, 2005

My Solar Savant

Mitch Joel is someone who came into my life through an associate several months ago. Mitch is a firebrand marketing guru extraordinaire who understands the needs for marketing companies to create "lovemarks" with their clients, how to create messaging that works and the all important connection between the CEO of a company and its branding initiatives.

His line "givers get" has become a cornerstone of my daily life and I owe much to Mitch, not the least of which the nomination for an eventually achieved Multiple Sclerosis Leadership Award, which is a cause that is dear to me.

If you care to be enriched as I am by Mitch's thoughts, visit his blog at http://www.twistimage.com/blog/

Posted by sass at 09:30 PM | Comments (0)

Truth in the Solar Industry

Truth is harder to come by in the solar industry than you might think, given its collection of tree-huggers, scientists and followers of Zen! Unfortunately, the utopic conditions under which the solar industry rates its products are simply never around here on mother earth. Ratings were designed by scientists to promote their new discovery, rather than thinking of the everyday usage in which customers would need to depend on the ratings given. I'll even admit openly that I was taken by the paradigms of an industry without self-regulation, played by its rules for a while, and won. I have discovered that the path to sustainability and growth in anything we do in life is littered with one common thing no matter what you do..the truth! And that is how I now intend on leading my company's rating protocol for our solar products.

A disturbing current phenomena that must be taken seriously is the one of false power reporting. Today, we can go to major retailers and find panels that output 8Watts under the standard test conditions but are being claimed at 15Watts! Even under those "utopic" conditions, these panels do not meet industry standards. If our industry doesn't self-regulate soon, the courts or governments will. ICP has taken one such competitor to court in the USA for false advertising. I'll keep you informed of the progress of that lawsuit here. This action was taken because there is no regulatory body, so consumers are left to fend for themselves. I'll be damned if we are going to let them get away with fraud! If these guys expect us to lay low and let them scrap the reputation of solar, I've got news for them. Not me. Not happening. Not now. Not ever.

Governments have been quick to regulate "on-grid" panels. In the "off-grid" market, the ultimate regulation is YOU, the customer. I'm talking about applications like RVs, boats, gate openers, fence chargers, fish finders, or camping where you would not be able to measure outputs as easily. I viewed an ad on canadian TV for a solar panel by a large canadian retailer, with the charger draped over a tent, supposedly energizing a powerbox. It would take that solar panel 12 sunny days to fully recharge that battery when its facing the sun with never a cloud in the sky or anyone ever shading it! But you wouldn't know it from the commercial! What if the campers are depending on that solar panel to quickly recharge the battery to give them light or heat food? If there's a "sucker born every minute" there are likely to be tens of thousands of sucker-canadians by the end of this summer! We've invited this retailer to come to the table and try to figure out language that the entire industry would be held to...unfortunately they don't seem interested in such candor..for now.

When someone connects solar panels to their house, the meter is there to tell them what's being generated and thus, what their savings are. But for those other applications I mentioned above, you are entirely trusting the manufacturer and your reseller to be truthful. As you learn to compare what you're offered, I urge you to ask relevant questions about testing reports, degradation over time and performance under "less than ideal" conditions. By probing just a little, you can save a lot of money and potential trouble. Some would say I've just lost some customers for the solar industry. Bah humbug! I'd say the contrary..in the long run our industry survives by delivering value.

The future for solar is quite simple. Tell the truth and we all win. I'm sure we'll get there. Otherwise, we might as well go fishing...with our solar-powered fish finder in tow!

You can view an article on just such topic here,or read a commentary on our posting here

Posted by sass at 03:54 PM | Comments (0)

June 09, 2005

A Solar Power Blogger Deflowered

OK so I admit it..I've never blogged before. But with all I've heard its going to be a lot of fun and education, sharing daily thoughts with a bunch of like-minded, positive people who are interested in how we can use solar energy to better our lives.

However, I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to thank so many people in my life that have brought "sunshine" upon it or who even have helped me grow through adversity. We can learn much from friends and foes alike.

Since I believe that change is the only constant, we must embrace it and remember that a foe today can be a friend tomorrow. It is why in the book "The Art of War" one is encouraged to treat even foes with complete respect. I must admit it has not always been my case, but I am glad to have reached this point in my life where I will leave no stone unturned in attempts to win people over as friends.

So today's first blog entry will be dedicated to thanking those who have been in my life either yesterday or today and through which who I am today, and will become tomorrow, I owe much appreciation.

To my parents who determined that the only way to become a Canadian was to make a Canadian...what else can I say but thank you for giving me life and teaching me so much about it! You gave me a head start that many only dream of.

To my wife who truly helped me become a better man. Anyone surrounded by such love and beauty could not help but be enriched. We've been through so much together yet our life is blessed with four children, a warm and caring home and friends that abound, with much credit to you.

To my younger siblings, I hope that with each passing day we may be greater inspiration to each other than the one before.

To my friends, whom I consider my extended family, you've been there through thick and thin always challenging the very old adage that "blood is thicker than water" and proving it so wrong so often. You've been there for me, my family, and have helped us create a wonderful life each time we spend together.

To my colleagues of past and present, I have been enriched and hopefully so have you. We've created new paradigms, surprised those that spoke of potential demise and proven that our longevity is thanks to our tenacity and dedication to making ICP the best solar company on earth. Some of you have even moved on to compete and that's OK. As long as we all play with respect and fairness, our activities can only serve to enrich the lives of others through the spreading of the "solar gospel".

To our partners worldwide, thank you for helping make ICP a stronger entity, recognized across the globe for excellence in the services and solutions we provide to our customers. We would not be what we are today without you.

So there it is, my first blog entry ever. From here on expect to read daily about my thoughts on life, business and how solar will become the number one power source within a few decades. May the sun be abundant in all our lives. As Winston Churchill once said "A living is made by what you get..a life is made by what you give".