This is your SolarWakeup for January 15th, 2020

Welcome To The Rundown. McKinsey, a consultant to many status quo corporates, is reporting that renewables will be cheaper than fossil fuels by 2030 with green hydrogen as a big game changer for the energy transition. If you’re looking at peak usage, coal has already passed, oil will be max in 2029 and fracked methane in 2037. I’m not underestimating the importance of this report given the source and which board rooms McKinsey is in around the world.

Year Of Clean. EIA says that wind and solar will make up the majority of capacity addition in 2021, gas only participating at 16% of total capacity.

EVs And Regulators. Regulators and politicians are missing a major variable in the future of electricity. Electrification of transportation isn’t going to be limited to new Tesla owners, quite the opposite if you see General Motors putting a plug into their logo. EVs are going to be in every driveway and fleet with a major change in how much, when and where electricity is needed to fuel this sector. I will not be surprised if Governors all of a sudden call for emergency action by grid operators to ensure resilient access to energy because they failed to plan for this actuality.

The Climate Office. Biden is unveiling his climate office, though I am still waiting to see some of the names from solar I was hoping for.

Big Deal? Quietly, Tesla has launched their own inverter. A 3.8kW and 7.6kW string that looks like a miniature power wall. Have you used one?

Have A Great Weekend!

Market Update Continues. Join me and Phil Shen from Roth Capital next week with our usual panel of industry insiders as we talk about the solar market, now #11 in our series. The hourlong conversation and Q&A will dive into the news of right now and we’re never short of opinions or predictions. Register for the online call and I definitely recommend signing up for Phil’s solar newsletter.

Join The Residential Solar Rocketship. Suntuity Solar is one of the fastest growing solar companies in the Country and we’re looking to hire the best to join us. Our executive team is hiring for VP of Operations, HR Director, Director of Talent and more positions at all levels of experience. If you or someone you know is looking to expand their career, send Suntuity an email!

Opinion

Best, Yann