Author Archives: Frank Andorka

Vivint Solar Crosses 1 GW Threshold in Residential Installations

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

In the hoopla surrounding Tesla Home Energy and Sunrun as they battle it out for the top spot in the residential solar installation business, it’s easy to forget about who is in second place – and who is installing solar at an ever-increasing pace as its steady growth continues to show.

Vivint Solar announced it has installed 1 gigawatt (GW) of solar energy systems since its launch. The company installed 1 GW in just seven years, making it one of the fastest residential solar providers to reach this significant milestone. Vivint Solar first announced the achievement yesterday when it reported third quarter 2018 financial results.

Founded in 2011, Vivint Solar has become a national leader in residential solar, helping more than 146,000 customers in 22 states enjoy the benefits of affordable, renewable energy.

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“We’re extremely proud of the entire Vivint Solar team for their contributions to this remarkable achievement,” said Vivint Solar CEO David Bywater. “The impact we have made on the environment and in the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans by enabling them to power their homes with clean energy is immensely rewarding. We are confident that the quality of our installations and incredible customer experience will continue to differentiate us in the residential solar market.”

Deploying 1 GW of solar power underscores Vivint Solar’s success in evolving from offering a single product in a single sales channel to a flexible, customizable home renewable energy platform available to consumers across multiple channels. Under Bywater’s leadership, the company has pursued a sustainable growth strategy and focused on more profitable markets, solidified its capital position and diversified its solar plans to include loans and enhanced lease options, which have become rapidly adopted by customers. Vivint Solar has also strived to lead the industry in workmanship and quality control standards for installations.

“There has never been a more exciting time to be at Vivint Solar. Achieving 1 gigawatt of solar installations further validates our roadmap as we work to innovate and become the most trusted, best-run residential solar company in the world,” said Bywater. “Above all, I am proud to lead a company of over 3,500 outstanding employees who are committed to delivering a best-in-class customer experience and passionate about providing choice and control in energy generation and consumption.”

Just in 2018, Vivint Solar’s financial and strategic achievements include a solar-plus-storage solution with LG Chem batteries, the largest residential solar asset-backed securitization to date and an innovative multi-party forward flow funding arrangement, and three new tax equity funds to expand the runway for future transactions. In addition, the company announced a collaboration for new home construction in California with one of the nation’s largest homebuilders.

The Energy Show: Protecting Your Rights to Go Solar with Dave Rosenfeld

The Energy Show: By Barry Cinnamon

We take it for granted that you can install solar on your home or business anytime, just as you can make any other energy saving improvement. Unfortunately, the reality is there are a host of restrictions on solar and battery storage. Many of these restrictions are due to arbitrary regulations (solar panels cannot be visible from the street), as well as rules promulgated by utilities to maximize their profits. Riddle me this, Solarman: why does your local utility encourage you to install an 8 kw EV charger, but makes it extremely complicated (sometimes impossible) to install a 2 kw rooftop solar system?

Incumbent industries have economic power behind them. Utilities spend hundreds of millions of dollars to suppress competition from rooftop solar, compared to the million or so dollars spent by most state solar industries. But polls show that 95% of the population favors solar. Although the solar industry is at a financial disadvantage, there are tens of millions of people in the U.S. that benefit – either directly or indirectly – from the solar industry. The challenge is organizing this grass roots army to advocate for cleaner and and more affordable energy sources.

The Solar Rights Alliance was founded to empower these millions of solar citizens. Its mantra is everyone should have the right to generate his or her own power directly from the sun — and that no monopoly or special interest should try to block or own the sun.

Our special guest on this week’s Energy Show is Dave Rosenfeld, Executive Director of the Solar Rights Alliance. He’s spent his career building movements and institutions that expand freedom, liberty and justice including work with the National Public Radio, The Public Interest Research Group, and the Public Interest Network. Grass roots advocacy has been effective in making many big changes in our democracy, and Dave is working hard to deploy this growing army of solar enthusiasts to make solar cost effective and available to everyone.

Voters Deliver Split Decision On Parallel RPS Ballot Initiatives

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Tom Steyer is waking up this morning to the realization that when you get involved in politics – particularly clean energy politics – sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.

In Arizona and Nevada, Steyer had worked tirelessly to support two constitutional amendments, one in each state, that would have cemented the goal of a 50% renewable portfolio standard by 2030 into law. And just like the rest of the country, the results from those initiatives turned out to be a mixed bag.

In Nevada, voters decided to pass the amendment with 60% of the vote, paving the way for solar to flourish in the state a mere three years after the Public Utilities Commission tried to destroy the rooftop industry by unceremoniously (and suddenly) eliminating net metering without warning.

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Now the vote in Nevada isn’t final. Voters will have to approve it again in two years for it to take effect. But with 60% of the vote in favor, it appears likely that it will find its way to approval in two years and then into the state’s constitution. The state’s current RPS is 25%, putting it well behind other states with equal insolation rates.

On the other hand, Steyer’s attempts to pass a similar amendment in Arizona went down in flames. The ballot initiative faced heavy opposition from the state’s largest utility, Arizona Public Service, which spent hand over fist to defeat Proposition 127, which would have done for Arizona what Question 6 could do for Nevada.

In a particularly provincial, gloating manner, an spokesman for the issues group funded by APS told Arizona Central that Arizonans wouldn’t have their energy decisions dictated to them by outsiders all the way from … California.

“Arizonans support clean energy, but not costly, politically driven mandates,” said Matthew Benson, chairman of the opposition group funded by APS’ parent company. “Arizonans support solar power and renewable technology, but not at the expense of an affordable, reliable energy supply. Arizonans prefer to choose our own energy future rather than have it dictated to us by out-of-state special interests.”

So while the rest of the country is trying to figure out what effects the midterms will have on national politics, clean energy advocates are looking at the results in Nevada and Arizona and asking themselves the same questions. Only time will tell which of these outcomes dictate a trend (if, in fact, either of them do).

More:

Arizona voters reject clean-energy measure Proposition 127 by large margin

SEIA’s Closing Argument To Nevada: Yes On Question 6

SEIA’s Closing Argument To Nevada: Yes On Question 6

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By the time you read this, polls will have already opened on the East Coast. It’s your opportunity to shape the country in which you live, so get out today and vote like your life depends on it.

In several states – Arizona and Nevada leap immediately to mind – clean energy is on the ballot. In both states, constitutional amendments are on the ballot that would raise the renewable portfolio standards (RPS) to 50% by 2030. Both amendments have been hard fought contests, with progressive billionaire Tom Steyer fighting hard against entrenched utility interests (especially in Arizona) to put the issue before the voters.

And one day before the vote, the Solar Energy Industries Association and Vote Solar (in the personages of Abigail Ross Hopper and Adam Browning) penned an op-ed urging Nevada voters to support Question 6, which is how the amendment appears on the ballot.

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The op-ed starts out with a strong clarion call, appealing to voters on both sides of the aisle:

Nevada families will head to the polls tomorrow and cast their ballots in a host of hotly contested races. But whether you’re a Republican, Democrat or Independent, there are two things all voters agree on: They want clean air and they want prosperity.

Clean air and prosperity. That’s a winning combination of issues. Instead of framing it as strictly a solar issue – on which there is still a divide between those who understand solar and those who have yet to learn about it – SEIA and Vote Solar decided instead to frame the issue as being a pocketbook and overall health issue. And that messaging, I must say, is brilliant.

I’ve been critical in the past of SEIA for what I saw as its difficulty in finding its political voice, particularly at the state level. But the more I see of the new, aggressive tone of the asssociation – and its increased willingness to fight for issues at the state level – the more impressed I’ve become.

More:

Yes on Question 6 Means Less Pollution, More Jobs