This is your SolarWakeup for July 24th, 2017

Energy Trade Action Coalition. As I was flying home on Friday, I saw a tweet from The Hill announcing a new coalition to fight against the solar tariffs. In reading the article, I was surprised that the quote didn’t come from SEIA or SEPA, but instead of the Heritage Foundation. One main aspect of the tariff petition that has scared me is that it creates a vehicle for Kochs et al to push solar backwards. Before Friday I would have assumed that Heritage would fall into that category regardless of the protectionism argument. Now things are a bit different, this could evolve into a globalism versus protectionism versus renewables argument.

Battery Chemistry. Whether we are talking about solar or battery technologies, the lab often times trails the market. We’ve spoken about this when Bill Gates talks about solving energy through R&D, I caution the reader to think about the underwriter and independent engineer. You can have great technology delivering better outcomes, but without capital backing the project you have nothing.

Solar in the Energy Portfolio. We are going to get to a spot in energy development where all fuel sources cost the same (for arguments sake). Why is it that solar plus storage is assumed to win above all other available sources? It isn’t because fuels have to be transported, stored and burned. It really comes to the flexibility in scale and profile that solar brings to the market. On the roof, on a parking lot, on a landfill; solar wins.

Opinion

Have a great day!

Yann