Pros & Cons of SEIA’s “Solar Stories” Series

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I just recently ran across the “Solar Stories” series from the US Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). I was excited to watch the videos … and then I was a little let down.

The first two I watched — “Why Americans Are Choosing Solar” and “A Solar Slam Dunk” — did put solar in an upbeat, positive light. That’s always good, and that’s basically the bulk of marketing. However, very little information was provided, and I think that’s really where they missed the boat. The videos needed to include some key headline numbers on the money saved and the money that will be saved. Those figures should be blasted on the screen in large text. Don’t just have people vaguely and sort of blandly talking about the benefits of solar — show some key, eye-popping stats that will genuinely pique people’s interest and get them clicking to learn more.

Also, I do love that they featured a former NBA player, and he seems like an awesome guy, but maybe he could get one of his more famous friends and former teammates to be in a video? Maybe Vince Carter, Jamal Crawford, Penny Hardaway, or Scottie Pippen? Anyway, much love to Jerome Williams and thanks for doing this.

After discovering these two videos, I looked further and found two more — “Starting Solar Careers with Apprenticeships” and “Solar Strengthens American Farms.” I actually love these, even if there’s still room for improvement. The first one provides a nice, inspiring opening for people to pursue a career in the solar industry. It highlights how easily you can fit the education and training into even a busy life. It makes the opportunity look exciting, accessible, and an intelligent thing to pursue.

The second one highlights the wonderful combination of farms and solar power, “agrivoltaics” as it’s widely called. This is just an idyllic combination, which is why it’s becoming so popular, but you still need some positive marketing to bring more people into the fold (pun intended). This video hits that nail on the head. That said, I still would have liked to see some eye-popping numbers highlighted on how it helped a farm or two financially, and perhaps also how it helped them with their crop growth in a case where that was demonstrated.

What do you think of these videos and what would you like to see in the future?

By the way, do note that these videos are from 2024. SEIA has made more recent videos of a different sort that I will discuss in future articles, and I do think some of them are very well planned and executed.