Happy Weekend. Let me give an end of the week shoutout to the parents and teachers in the SolarWakeup family. Virtual learning has turned me into tech support and hall monitor while the snack pantry has no way of supporting a ten year old sitting through a 7 hour zoom call. Have a great weekend and for those that celebrate, Happy Rosh Hashanah!
Delays Not Reductions. This is the part that everyone is getting wrong about their analysis of the solar market as it pertains to Covid. Forecasters are tracking the end of the funnel, not the entire ecosystem. Two things happened during Covid that you won’t find in lower install volume. New sales never stopped and in many cases didn’t slow down but picked up steam. More people were home learning about solar and signing contracts. This caused the installers to grow their biggest backlogs they’ve ever had since installations had slowed down. That is why every month since June, installers, lenders and suppliers have had their best months ever, every single month.
Newsom Has The Opportunity. Newsom always says the right things when it comes to climate change and typically when he talks about solar as well. Here are several things that are in his court right now that cost nothing, help provide solutions for climate change, resiliency and the energy crisis and positive economic growth. First, Newsom can call for a statewide adoption of instant permitting for residential solar by implementing the SolarAPP. Second, he can show leadership by calling on the CPUC and SMUD to strengthen net metering, not try to destroy the policy. Third, direct the CPUC to return local resource adequacy purchasing back to the local utilities and CCAs. Fourth, work with the CPUC, CAISO and market participants to create a more granular and accessible demand response market; not just during energy crisis but at all times which will create a vibrant and resilient microgrid market. Lastly, stand with CALSSA on the Capitol steps and call on all Californians to support the 1 million solar batteries initiative. Call us, we’re available!
FERC Wants DERs. There is a realization happening in the market that distributed resources are a valuable asset to grid resiliency. The South Carolina settlement is wrapped in value placed on the assets. Yesterday, FERC passed order 2222 which tells power market operators to create rules that allow distributed resources to participate in the market. We’ll bring you more detail on this in the coming weeks.
Catch Me. If you didn’t get the chance, I was a guest on the Solar Spotlight podcast.
A New Mark. The SolarWakeup Buyer’s Group now has members doing over 200MW in aggregate. This means more vendors wanting to do more with those members and that means savings for you. If you’re curious, check out the price discovery page.
- Utility Dive: Solar market limits pandemic’s ill effects, but states with strict restrictions see big installation drop
- Axios: Gov. Jay Inslee urges voters to put climate change at forefront in November
- Los Angeles Times: Boiling Point: Gavin Newsom just promised ‘giant leaps forward’ on climate. Will he follow through?
- Greentech Media: ‘Game-Changer’ FERC Order Opens Up Wholesale Grid Markets to Distributed Energy Resources
- Solar Industry: Policy Tweaks Will Prompt Boost in New Jersey Solar Development
- PV-Tech: Hawaiian Electric backs new solar-storage projects to ‘significantly advance’ energy transformation
- Vox: Want to fight climate change effectively? Here’s where to donate your money.
- Rocky Mountain Institute: Climate Intelligence Is Business Intelligence
Opinion
Best, Yann