This is your SolarWakeup for March 26th, 2020

Building Departments. Over 60% of this week’s survey respondents say that building departments are either closed or delaying inspections. There are also talks about departments not taking new applications because they aren’t taking hard copies. Just as there is a time to start selling remotely this is also the time to do digital permitting. Instant permits will allow solar to recover from this standstill while also give building departments the process to overcome the current situation. SolarAPP was already in the works in an orderly fashion, I hope that the process and pilot cities is drastically sped up and expanded in light of the current times.

$2.2 Trillion Dollars Unlevered. Honestly, I don’t want to talk about it. In the biggest economic stimulus and bailout by a factor of many, solar didn’t get what it tried to squeeze in. The political gamesmanship was interesting between Schumer and McConnell. Schumer’s leverage was the money needed for the strategic petroleum reserve purchase and pushed for the tax credit extension but it was McConnell’s elevation of the solar ITC that got even solar professionals to think industry went too far at the wrong time. The bailout left the ITC, 1603, storage, safe harbor out with the hopes getting pushed to the next bill, stimulus package #4. This time it wasn’t enough, hard to believe with the trillion dollar price tag.

But Wait. Couple of things to watch, there’s some talk that treasury could be asked to reinstate the 1603 program without new legislation, lawyers were quick to through cold water on that idea however. Late yesterday, Trump signaled that he would find the money for the oil purchase for the SPR by reassigning funds from the Department of Energy. This removes the biggest leverage point in stimulus #4 if Trump is successful. 

Opinion

Best, Yann