Author Archives: Solar wakeup

This is your SolarWakeup for April 29th, 2022

Be In The Know. Two companies are innovating more than anyone else in residential solar and they’re both very good friends of SolarWakeup. CommonBond and OpenSolar have been building quietly and fiercely, with an eye to make things easier, faster and cheaper for installers. Now they have partnered to bring you even more integrated value in the fastest platform of services. If you’re installing residential solar, you owe it to yourself to check out their integration here

Getting To 2022 COD. Join the Sustainable Capital Finance (SCF) team on May 4th, 10am PST, as they share solutions to industry wide challenges causing project delays. The goal for attending developers and Epcs is to undertake strategies enabling project reach energization in 2022. This free webinar is recommended for solar installers, developers and originators involved or interested in financing C&I, nonprofit & governmental solar as well as electric vehicle charging solutions. To register, simply click here.

Opinion

Best, Yann

 

This is your SolarWakeup for April 28th, 2022

Coal’s New Opportunity. Half a decade ago there was a decision by policy makers to lift the oil export embargo in the US. That shift in energy law would open the ability for a long term extension of clean energy tax credits but it didn’t come without an ideological fight within the environmental movement. Does it make sense to create bigger solar markets by expanding the opportunity for oil? While that question was fruitless because the embargo was going to be lifted regardless, the path opened up for the ITC extension. Today, there is a different issue, particularly for Europe but it bodes important for the key Senate vote sitting in West Virginia. Was gas the wrong bridge fuel for Europe and should the clean energy market put coal in its tent? Hear me out. Why wouldn’t there be some sort of policy that gives coal what they want, regardless of what they want, so that Europe feels diplomatic security in return for a certainty that clean energy wins the long run? Coal is basically impossible to finance, which gives its longevity the exact timeframe that policymakers want and in this case the vote that we need in the Senate. The world needs a standalone tax credit for storage, for our resilience and for our market to pave the way for the world to show that storage is centrally important and capable to have that responsibility. Solar, wind, hydrogen and others need tax credits to spur investments totaling trillions, so let’s do what has to be done to get going.

Getting To 2022 COD. Join the Sustainable Capital Finance (SCF) team on May 4th, 10am PST, as they share solutions to industry wide challenges causing project delays. The goal for attending developers and Epcs is to undertake strategies enabling project reach energization in 2022. This free webinar is recommended for solar installers, developers and originators involved or interested in financing C&I, nonprofit & governmental solar as well as electric vehicle charging solutions. To register, simply click here.

Opinion

Best, Yann

 

This is your SolarWakeup for April 27th, 2022

Europe’s Energy Transition Fast Tracked. With an ongoing war in the Ukraine and now Russia using their gas supply as an economic weapon against Poland and Bulgaria, it is clear that the European economies must diversify and create domestic energy control for their nations. Nothing can happen quickly but the capital is available from the infrastructure investors to get the build out to occur as long as the development processes can occur quickly and the revenue streams exist. While only Poland and Bulgaria were named by Russia yesterday, who is next is clearly on the minds of every nation currently relying on Russia’s supply.

Getting To 2022 COD. Join the Sustainable Capital Finance (SCF) team on May 4th, 10am PST, as they share solutions to industry wide challenges causing project delays. The goal for attending developers and Epcs is to undertake strategies enabling project reach energization in 2022. This free webinar is recommended for solar installers, developers and originators involved or interested in financing C&I, nonprofit & governmental solar as well as electric vehicle charging solutions. To register, simply click here.

Opinion

Best, Yann

 

This is your SolarWakeup for April 26th, 2022

Some Thoughts On Tariffs. One of the saddest parts of the decade of useless solar tariffs, besides increasing the cost of solar to consumers, is the impact it had and continues to have on domestic silicon production. Billions of new factories were coming online when the first duties were retaliated against with silicon tariffs that crushed the domestic market. On the other hand, the vilification of Suniva and Auxin provides the easy antagonist which is with almost 100% certainty, but pure speculation, not the right party to blame. These tariff cases are both complicated and expensive and neither of those firms have the upside to take on that expense on their own. At the end of the day, there are very few winners in this fight, financially, politically or ideologically.

Getting To 2022 COD. Join the Sustainable Capital Finance (SCF) team on May 4th, 10am PST, as they share solutions to industry wide challenges causing project delays. The goal for attending developers and Epcs is to undertake strategies enabling project reach energization in 2022. This free webinar is recommended for solar installers, developers and originators involved or interested in financing C&I, nonprofit & governmental solar as well as electric vehicle charging solutions. To register, simply click here.

Opinion

Best, Yann