2023 Solar Energy Innovation Network Symposium, Exploring Visions for Equitable Solar Adoption (Text Version)

This is the text version of the video 2023 Solar Energy Innovation Network (SEIN) Symposium, Exploring Visions for Equitable Solar Adoption.

This video shows participants of the SEIN 2023 Symposium reflecting on their experiences at the symposium.

[Music plays]

>>Alexandra Kramer, National Renewable Energy Laboratory: The Solar Energy Innovation Network Round 3 symposium is an opportunity for communities all over the country to come together to exchange ideas on equitable solar adoption, meet and network with each other, as well as learning about the Round 3 project teams and the work that they've done and hopefully take home actionable items that they can use to implement in their own solar projects back in their communities.

[Images of people talking together.]

>>Dr. Saundra Johnson Austin, Institute for Equitable Development: The biggest takeaway that I received from the symposium these last 3 days was the opportunity to connect with people that I would not normally have access to, and there were some phenomenal projects that were here serving as best practices and role models for us to carry on the work that we plan to do when we head back to our area.

>>Chris Wooley, Mountain Association: Why are we here? And it's because we're trying to serve people. We're trying to impact people that need our help, and we're not here in service of solar. We're here in service of people. We're here to use solar as a tool instead of having solar as a goal.

>>George Gamble, Powerhouse Energy 360: Oh, wow. We really embraced the symposium, and it really aligns to our mission and our strategy to ensure that all communities get access to all these wonderful opportunities as it relates to clean energy solutions.

>>Dr. Velma Deleveaux, Veaux Solutions LLC: I was looking for how to transition technology effectively to underserved communities. I think we got some real best practices on how do you train effectively and how do you really create a workforce.

>>David Carmena, Carmena Enterprises Inc.: We've been trying to crack the "how are we going to fund it" nut and just being able to network with other organizations that have already been there and was able to figure out ways that they can provide funding for their projects.

>>Kaiya Murphy, Partnership for Southern Equity: I gotta shout out my girl Maria because they spoke Spanish, and she had a translator. And I think that that is extremely important. Again, talking about community, it's not just Black people, it's not just white people, and it's not just people who speak English. So that's a whole other population that we got to engage with.

>>Maria Dolores Torres Diaz, Adelante Mujeres: Creo que lo que más me ha impactado es la apertura a comunidades de color e indígenas, como es el caso mío, y el rompimiento de las barreras del igual.

[Subtitle text on screen: I believe that what has impacted me the most is the openness to communities of color and indigenous communities, like mine, and the breaking down of language barriers.]

>>Veronika Nunez, Adelante Mujeres: Also I felt very empowered because I think we were encouraged to share our stories, and I think stories are what connect people. And I think my biggest takeaway is that we need to speak up more so people can listen and other people who are willing to connect and help can reach us and we can reach them as well.

>>Andrew White, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory: This has been really helpful in me understanding and formulating, like, OK, what are the most pressing and urgent questions that communities have, and how can I deploy my skillset, my knowledge, my expertise, to start trying to answer them with meaningful research?

>>Diana McKeown, Great Plains Institute: The most valuable thing that has happened for us is we're all really busy on our team back in Minneapolis, and we don't always get the chance to really connect both enough time to work together and to socialize together and build those relationships and that trust, which makes our team just so much better. So we've been able to do that.

>>Arnaldo Arnal, National Grid: I guess the biggest takeaway is that I need to go and talk to the communities. You've got to get close to them and hear what they really need because as a utility trying to push forward solar programs if you haven't got good input from the local folks out there, it's hard. But, yeah. It's a fun challenge.

>>Dr. Erica L Hollman-Hill, Ayika Solutions Inc.: I didn't even realize coming into this that I started to feel overwhelmed, started to feel defeated, but this symposium recharged me, and it let me know that I'm not the only one willing to work on solutions to get to this end goal of equitable solar adoption.

>>Rev. Jerry Nealy, Black Farmers' Collaborative: They have been very responsive in sharing the information that we can practically use in a major way going forward.

>>Azania Heyward-James, The Cornerstone Collective 2020 and Damê Consultants: I am taking home a collection of new friends and a collection of people I consider family because we're doing this work together.

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