This year, Intersolar North America decided to spice up their conference in San Diego this year by adding a little friendly competition. They created the first-ever Solar Games to showcase the talents of different Solar Companies, and Las Vegas’s own Sol-up won the First-Place Prize!
The Intersolar North America conference hosts exhibitors such as solar panel installers and manufacturers, allowing companies to showcase the newest solar services and technologies.
The Solar Games
The Solar Games pitted solar installation companies against one another to see who could install a solar-plus-storage system with these three criteria in mind:
- Quality
- Safety
- Speed
The teams were judged on a 100-point scale by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP), ReVision Energy, the Institute of Building Technology and Safety (IBTS) and Solar Energy International (SEI) who all assisted in not only deciding the equipment and type of system to be used but the judging criteria as well.
All participants in the Solar Games received the following:
- A free training course from Solar Energy International
- Prizes from Jinko Solar
- Safety Gear
- Intersolar 2021 conference passes
But only one team could win the first-place prize of $5000! The judge for the competition was Rudy Saporite of the Institute of Building Technology and Safety, and the emcee for the event was Solar Energy International’s, Roger Williams.
The Solar Games consisted of three rounds where the teams were to install grid-tied and off-grid residential solar and storage systems.
Round 1
The bleachers were full; everyone was watching. Who will win and go on to the next round? Will it be Sullivan Solar Power or Sol-up USA? The teams were given 90 minutes to install a 3.5kW grid-tied solar-plus-storage system with Jinko Solar Panels and a Tesla Powerwall battery.
And the winner of Round 1? Sullivan Solar Power with 70 points, guaranteeing them a position in the final round. Sol-Up installed the rack unevenly, earning them a low score of only 50 points.
Round 2
Sol-Up went up against SunKey Energy for Round 2. They had to install a 3.5kW grid-tied system, again. As Sol-up had just installed the same system earlier that day, they had the advantage. It was an exciting round to be sure, SunKey Energy was right on their tail and, in the end, scored 87 points, but Sol-up USA won the round, barely, with 89 points! They knocked SunKey Energy out of the running for first prize. On to the final round…
The Final Round
The following day was the Championship Round. Sol-Up was squaring off with their rival, Sullivan Solar Power, from the day before. Round 3 was a bit different. This time the teams still had 90 minutes to complete the installation of a 3.5 kW solar plus storage, however, this time they had to install MidNite Solar charge controllers and a battery from Rolls Battery Engineering
The Sol-Up team brought their best game, they hustled it and finished the entire installation in under 75 minutes! This remarkable show of speed and ability earned them an extra 10 points! Sullivan Solar Power barely made it! They finished just before the bell rang.
Not only did both teams install the system almost exactly the same, but they also made the same mistake connecting the battery, and they even received the same score, 89 points! But, Sol-Up’s 10 bonus points raised their score to 99 points.
And the Solar Games Champions are…
Although they had a rough start, Sol-Up took home the $5000 cash prize for a smooth ending to a fantastic competition and received the high honor of being champions of the first-ever Intersolar Solar Games. Congratulations, Sol-Up!
The equipment used during the competition was all donated to Twende Solar. A non-profit organization, Twende Solar, provides renewable energy systems to communities all over the world. And the icing on the cake? They will install the equipment used in the competition on a children’s home in Peru.
Solar Panel Champions!
To see such exciting games and be a witness to next year’s first-place champions, attend the Intersolar Solar Games at next year’s conference in Long Beach, California, from January 12-14. In the meantime, if you want champions to install your solar panels, call Sol-Up right here in Las Vegas and let us install your solar panel system!
