# Solar Energy Industries Association

> The Solar Energy Industries Association is the national trade group for the U.S. solar and storage business. It represents roughly 1,200 member companies, sells memberships and market intelligence, co-owns the RE+ events business, develops ANSI-accredited standards, and advocates before Congress, federal agencies, statehouses, and regulators. Its real product is coordination: turning a fragmented chain of manufacturers, installers, developers, financiers, and service firms into one legible political and commercial constituency.

- **Founded:** 1974
- **Headquarters:** Washington, United States
- **Founders:** Jim Edison (Co-founder), Peter Glazer (Co-founder), James Ince (Co-founder), Yahya Safdari (Co-founder), Sam Taylor (Co-founder), Fred Morse (Co-founder)
- **Products:** Federal and state advocacy, U.S. Solar Market Insight, RE+ Events, SEIA Sphere, ANSI/SEIA standards
- **Notable:** Grew from a six-person founding meeting in 1974 to a national association representing roughly 1,200 companies., Helped make the federal Solar Investment Tax Credit a durable industry policy through multiple extensions, including the long-term clean-energy incentives enacted in 2022., Built U.S. Solar Market Insight into a widely cited quarterly benchmark for deployment, pricing, manufacturing, and forecasts.

## Products & services

- **Federal and state advocacy** — Legislative, regulatory, trade, permitting, tax, interconnection, and market-policy representation for member companies.
- **U.S. Solar Market Insight** — Quarterly deployment, pricing, manufacturing, and forecast research jointly produced with Wood Mackenzie; executive summaries are public and full reports are sold.
- **RE+ Events** — A portfolio of clean-energy conferences and business events jointly owned with the Smart Electric Power Alliance; proceeds support the owners' research, education, advocacy, and advisory work.
- **SEIA Sphere** — A member community for working groups, meetings, documents, discussion, directories, events, and account administration.
- **ANSI/SEIA standards** — Consensus standards covering supply-chain traceability, installation, technician training, consumer protection, decommissioning, recycling, and end-of-life practices.
- **Energy Storage Market Outlook** — Quarterly U.S. storage-market data and forecasts produced with Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
- **SEIA certification** — Professional and operational credentials aligned with SEIA's ANSI-accredited solar and storage standards.

## Achievements

- Grew from a six-person founding meeting in 1974 to a national association representing roughly 1,200 companies.
- Helped make the federal Solar Investment Tax Credit a durable industry policy through multiple extensions, including the long-term clean-energy incentives enacted in 2022.
- Built U.S. Solar Market Insight into a widely cited quarterly benchmark for deployment, pricing, manufacturing, and forecasts.
- Became an ANSI-accredited standards developer in 2023 and published standards for traceability, installation, operations and maintenance training, and consumer protection.
- Co-developed RE+ into a large North American clean-energy trade show and event portfolio with the Smart Electric Power Alliance.
- Marked its 50th anniversary in 2024 while the industry reached a scale its founders could not have measured in 1974.
- Reported 2024 state-policy wins involving community solar, grid modernization, shared solar, and climate legislation in Maryland, Colorado, Virginia, and Massachusetts.
- Expanded its research and advocacy scope to energy storage, launching a dedicated quarterly market outlook with Benchmark Mineral Intelligence in 2026.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — SEIA and the Coalition for Community Solar Access announced plans to combine, consolidating national and community-solar advocacy.
- **2026-09** — SEIA reported that operating U.S. solar capacity could power more than 50 million American homes.
- **2026-09** — SEIA elevated Ben Norris to general counsel and senior vice president of regulatory affairs.
- **2026-06** — SEIA and Benchmark reported a record first quarter for storage, with 9.7 GWh installed and more than 610 GWh forecast through 2030.
- **2026-03** — The 2025 Solar Market Insight year-in-review found 43.2 GWdc installed, down 14% year over year, while solar still supplied 54% of new U.S. generating capacity.
- **2025-12** — Former board chair Darren Van’t Hof became interim president and CEO during a leadership transition.

## Links

- Website: https://seia.org
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/solarindustry/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/SEIA
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@seiaorg
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/solarindustry/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSolarIndustry
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@solarindustry

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Last updated: 2026-09-24