See You In San Diego. If you find yourself at Intersolar this week, come by the FlexGen booth and say hello.
NEM 3.0 Disaster. The situation in California is dire, layoffs are impacting most businesses and demand is off a possible 40%. Some installers are saying that the cost of the install is more doubling with the addition of storage but without additional revenue streams, the payback is nearly 10 years. In reality, CAISO needs the aggregated demand provided by residential storage to maintain long term stability but the revenue streams are not matching that need. The pleas from the industry don’t appear to have infiltrated Sacramento or the governor’s mansion thus far, which is unfortunate.
ERCOT Challenged. While you’re reading this, ERCOT will likely be at it’s closest demand reserve, far less margin than operators would like to see. The cold snap hitting so much of the Country can isolate the most fragile portions of the grid infrastructure, with a single event possibly starting a chain reaction that leaves many without power.
The Smart Home. CES happened last week and the smart home remained a big portion of the tech event. For me, the smart home seems to have focused itself on what’s available on Amazon and connects with Alexa. I consider myself willing to try new tech but the single platform ecosystem has eluded me thus far, only a few apps have found a niche home in my smart home, centered around lighting.
- New York Times: California Has Dealt a Blow to Renewable Energy, Some Businesses Say
- Star Telegram: ERCOT asks Texans to reduce energy use Tuesday morning until 9 a.m. to avoid emergency
- Solar Builder: Three intriguing home solar + storage announcements at CES 2024
- Utility Dive: Renewables growth puts COP28 goals within reach, but acceleration is needed: IEA
- Bloomberg: The Green Investor Calling Out Biden’s Climate Law for Enriching Bankers and Consultants
- Axios: Scoop – John Kerry to leave Biden administration, help campaign
- Energy Storage News: European Union countries’ clean energy plans ‘fall short when it comes to energy storage’
- Canary Media: Chart – The US grid battery fleet is about to double — again
- PV-Magazine: Solar wafer prices stabilize with potential for future price hike
Opinion
Best, Yann