Solar Market Insight 2013 Q3 Comms Plan

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Solar Market Insight 2013 Q3

SEIA Communications/Marketing Plan Summary for PR Committee
*Dates/Numbers are subject to change

The solar industry is experiencing huge growth, leading to a record year-- the best ever-- for solar. Installed solar capacity has now passed 10 GW in the U.S. and is and is on track for nearly 13 GW by the end of the year. This report will highlight trends that have driven this massive growth and will show what to watch for next year.

Key Dates:

Item

Due Date

Email to PR Committee with links, social media assets and embargoed report

Friday, 12/6

Press Release

Tuesday 12/10 @ 10 am

Press Teleconference?

TBD

Web live date

Tuesday, 12/10 @ 10 am

Social Media push

Tuesday 12/10

SMI Conference

Tues. 12/10 - Wed. 12/11

Email outreach to advocates

Wednesday, 12/11

SMI Webinar

Tuesday, 12/17

 

Key Messages (Draft):

  • 2013 will be a record-shattering year for solar
    • Q3 was the biggest quarter ever for residential solar
      • Residential installations are expected to be up more than 50 percent year-over-year,
      • In Q3, the average price of a residential solar system had fallen 10 percent since 2012
      • There are now solar installations on 360,000 U.S. homes
    • Through the first three-quarters of the year, solar has made up nearly 20 percent of all new energy capacity in the U.S.
      • Solar was America’s second-largest source of new energy capacity in Q3.
    • Q3 2013 was the second largest quarter ever for new solar installations in the U.S.
    • The U.S. is expected to install 27 percent more solar in 2013 than last year
      • The U.S. now has over 10.2 GW of cumulative solar electric capacity and is on track for nearly 13 GW by the end of the year.
    • 2013 is expected to be the first year in more than a decade in which the U.S. installs more solar capacity than the world leader, Germany
    • There is now enough solar power in the U.S. to power more than 1.7 million homes
    • 119,000 people work in solar at more than 6,100 businesses across the nation
    • The utility market remains very strong, accounting for more than half of new PV capacity installed in Q3 2013
    • In state markets:
      • Nevada (moving from 17th to 5th in the state rankings), Vermont (21st to 12th) and Delaware (24th to 13th) showed strong improvement
      • California, with 4,167MW of solar power, and Arizona, with 1,420 MW,  remain the top two states for solar capacity and installation

Key Elements of the SMI Q3 Approach:

  • Message development
  • Trends to watch (year end)
  • 10 GW achieved
  • Media outreach
  • Press release
  • Member companies localize the report and drive additional media outreach
  • Webinar, Hangout or Teleconference with Rhone, Shayle, solar CEOs
  • Blogs
  • Encourage company/Allied organizations blog on trends
  • Rhone blog on Huffpost/Renewable Energy World
  • Advocacy/SPAN list
  • Support the National RPS (advocates)
  • Ecard for less engaged folks??
  • Images
  • Infographic
  • Add report charts to website for reporters when embargoed report goes out
  • Cheat Sheet
  • Memes on key states, key messages
  • Social Media
  • Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin posts
  • Outreach to member companies, allies to create social media echo chamber on report launch date
  • Evaluation

 

Sample Tweets

If you’re active on Twitter, here are some sample tweets for you to use (just click to tweet). If you create your own, don’t forget to use the #SMI hashtag.

US installs 930 MW of #solar PV in Q3 2013, up 20% over Q2 2013 and 35% over Q3 2012: http://seia.us/PWzYqB #SMI

Utility #solar installed +50% of all new US PV capacity, while residential posted its best quarter ever in Q3: http://seia.us/PWzYqB #SMI

Avg #solar PV system prices fell 4.2% in Q3 2013 over last quarter, reaching a new low of $3.00/W: http://seia.us/PWzYqB #SMI

SEIA's #SMI Q3 forecasts that the US will install a total of 4.3 GW of new #solar PV in 2013, up 27% over 2012: http://seia.us/PWzYqB

Facebook and Google+

Solar’s Second Biggest Quarter Ever: average PV system prices reach a new low of $3.00/W, utility solar installed over half of all new US PV capacity, and residential posted its best quarter ever in Q3 2013: http://seia.us/PWzYqB

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Solar Market Insight Report Q3 2013: The U.S. solar industry’s second best quarter ever - by SEIA and GTM Research. See more here: http://seia.us/PWzYqB

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