Early Innovators

Renewable energy is new stuff. Its cutting edge, and its the way of the future. Which means its not going to appeal to everyone all at once. We were talking tonight about Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point. Gladwell explains the Diffusion Model--". . . a detailed, academic way of looking at how a contagious idea or product or innovation moves through a population" - key individuals include innovators (a very small percentage), early adopters (maybe 1%-5%), early majority (the next 30%), late majority, and laggards.

What we're seeing in the Long Island solar industry is the early innovators and early adopters getting excited about the reality of solar. But, what's happening in some small towns, is that within a community the early adopters are talking to the early majority, who are getting in on the action too. That's where the magic happens.

I like seeing people who never would have wanted to get involved in something green or risky, hearing from their friends about their meter spinning backwards, and becoming dead-set on making their home solar powered. We need to create communities of innovators who can make solar energy the thing that everyone has.