Our Vision

Our goal is to accelerate the deployment of socially-beneficial sustainable technologies, including those of energy, water, and food, by educating industry participants, advocates, and policymakers about their benefits. We achieve our mission by collecting and disseminating reliable data, quantitative analysis, and practical information about these industries.

Today, the Institute strives to be the world’s leading source of publicly available primary data on the photovoltaic (PV) supply chain and end-markets through a series of data collection and dissemination projects and the publication of the industry’s oldest newsletter, PV News. Currently, the Institute remains solely focused on its initiatives in the solar energy industry.

Our History

Founded in 2003 by Travis Bradford, a former private equity and hedge fund executive, the Institute was created to fill a need for reliable data, quantitative analysis and practical information about the renewable energy industry. This lack of information is a limitation to the growth of the field and inhibits economic support for sustainability, and the Institute was created to provide this vital information and thereby accelerate the transition to widespread use of these sustainable technologies. Since its founding, the Institute has focused almost exclusively on pursuing these objectives specifically with respect to solar energy and photovoltaic (PV) electricity.