This is your SolarWakeup for January 20th, 2020

A New Day. In 5 hours, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be sworn in as President and Vice President. With the Georgia Secretary of State certifying the election yesterday, Warnock and Ossoff will also be sworn in today. While DC looks and feels different today, not just because of the pandemic and threat of insurrection but also because it’s getting back to a normal DC. A normal DC isn’t normal by any stretch of the imagination but it’s normal in the way that deals are made and bills are passed with everyone getting something. I’ve often said that the founders admired the mediocrity of the center where no-one gets everything and everyone gets something. Celebrate today and tomorrow get back to work because politics isn’t a spectator sport.

Have A Ball. Tonight you can join me and Billie Eilish at the Clean Energy for Biden Inauguration Ball. Tickets are available until 2pm Eastern. You can learn more and buy tickets here.

#Ride4Solar. No better way to start today than taking a ride for solar with your friends on the Peloton. Join us at 8am on the live ride with Cody Rigsby and invite your friends to join us. West coasters can join the ride later in the day, the highest output riders get to write a paragraph on SolarWakeup one day.

Shoals Road Show. On New Year’s Eve, Shoals filed for their IPO and now is managing their roadshow getting investors excited for the upcoming transparency and liquidity in the market. If at the end of the month their IPO goes well, and I expect that it will to the tune of a potential market cap over $1b, there is going to be a run on the markets including by those that are not ready for it.

Who’s Next? Most executives haven’t looked into it and realized that Shoals is only $150million in revenue with market margins. In many ways this is a trade that comps with Array Technologies as well as Enphase and Solaredge which will drive Shoals stock price higher. There are other solar companies in this range of revenue and margin and they are going to ask themselves how they can exit. First, you need to talk to the right people. Second, Shoals as well as Array before it, brought in a majority investor in Oaktree which gave the company years of professionalism and decades of relationships on wall street. There is no fast and easy path to what they’re doing but it can be done. Happy to chat with you if this is talking to you. Lastly and most importantly, I would be shocked if activist investors don’t get louder and more aggressive with Flex in the effort to spin out Nextracker. This is the most withheld value in solar public companies today.

The Rivian Raise. I don’t see Rivian as a Tesla competitor, in many ways it’s a sibling that also started a venture to compete with the status quo that is simply moving too slow. The Rivian SUV and pickup are great looking vehicles that will start shipping later this year. With another $2.6billion on the balance sheet, it looks like a good year for them as well.

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 OperationsHR DirectorDirector 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