This is your SolarWakeup for June 16th 2025

Here’s Johnny. Come lately that is. I’ve spent the weekend tempering my annoyance about something that happens all the time, especially in politics. As many of you know, I’ve largely been on the outside when it comes to policy movements in States and Federal affairs but have worked VERY closely with those that are in the weeds to help with messaging and activation when more people are needed. See, in politics, like in business, relationships matter and how you ask to get what you want depends on where you were when you didn’t need anything but the other side may have. So when, over the past few weeks, lone saviors come into DC to make demands on behalf of the solar industry, I get upset because they have the ability to make us all look bad. I won’t call them out, they are reading this and they know who they are, but if you weren’t going to fundraisers and meeting with staff a year ago, didn’t contribute to trade groups with your time AND MONEY, didn’t have dedicated federal affairs staff and lobbyists prior to this showdown, then stay away and let the professionals do their jobs, please. This is particularly the case if you are a large corporation that has profited handsomely over the past decade and absent on all investments to strengthen the solar industry. 

Big Florida Win. Thanks to some friends and logical reasoning, I’m a big fan of automated permitting for residential solar, especially with strong standards on waterproofing, flashings and racking. Florida passed a regulation cutting law that the Governor signed that allows for SolarAPP+ to be used statewide, which is a huge win for an industry that needs it. Read about it in Wakeup friend, Justin Hoysradt’s LinkedIn post.

Opinion

Best, Yann