What a week for the solar industry! As we begin the cycle once again in the storage industry, descending to the storage conference, I hope you enjoy your weekend.
Watch The Florida PSC. Starting at 9:15am, the Florida PSC will be hearing the request by Sunrun to have their lease ‘approved’ for use in Florida without being considered a regulated utility. Stay tuned for the result and a refresher on the issue here.
Solar’s Dilemma. I feel that most in solar have a set of values that many struggle with when solar argues against environmentalists on regulations. This is the case in the BLM land siting issue where solar is left with little available space to develop projects in due to environmental concerns. We’re going to need more solar going forward and we have to find where to put it but we want to do so responsibly, hence the dilemma.
The Little Story. This isn’t a big story but it’s the local victory that keeps us going. With the help of DOE SETO, the artist formerly known as SunShot, the municipality was able to move solar forward its own rules to promote solar. SETO is out with another solicitation for $105million.
Interest Rate Pressures. Over the past year interest rates have been creeping up, the 10-year yield is up to 2.91% as of yesterday. That’s over 1% higher than just a few years ago and that kind of debt cost increase hurts solar, where many projects are back levered. The positive side of this is the risk, the spread, has decreased to less than 2% more than the treasury rates. We’re still a long way from mortgage rates however.
SolarWakeup Live! Chicago. The event will occur at the end of June, dates to be announced soon. This will be a day long SolarWakeup Live and continue the SolarWakeup Live tradition of great content that helps drive the market. If you have a good idea for content that you’d like to hear, reach out. We will also have some special sponsorship opportunities if you are interested.
- SolarWakeup: Sunrun Could Start Operating In Florida In Earnest Within A Month
- SolarWakeup: Don’t Let Utility-Scale Solar Be Used As A Fig Leaf
- SolarWakeup: Athens, Ohio, Project Proves Sunshot Works
- Las Vegas Review Journal: MGM Resorts will use solar array to power Las Vegas casinos
- Bloomberg: Banks Are Sweetening Their Terms for Solar as Confidence Rises
- Axios: Reality checking EPA’s climate report
- CNBC: Target leads the way as U.S. corporations look to go big on solar
- Pv-Tech: New Jersey reconfigures solar policy, sets storage target to meet 50% renewables pledge
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann