Utilities coming after solar is bad enough, but sometimes we try to go at each other like in this recent trade case. What is really interesting about Solarworld, the main (only?) plaintiff in the case is that while it has a US manufacturing plant and is (was?) a German company, it recently did a debt to equity swap. A major participant in the deal that took a chunk of the bondholders debt out was Qatar Solar Tech. How much? I don’t know but I am guessing Solarworld is much more of a Qatar company than an American one, ponder that over the weekend.

News

• Forbes: Utilities And Greenies Try To Cool Off Grid Disputes
• CleanTechnica: Civil War At Duke Energy?
• VentureBeat: Meet Vivint, the latest company stripped from Google’s results
• GTM: First Solar’s Quiet Reveal of Its TetraSun High-Efficiency Silicon
• USA Today: States in the middle as utilities, solar advocates clash
• Forbes: Solar Investing Grows Up
• CleanTechnica: Northeast Utilities (NU) Opposes Solar To Protect Profits

Opinions

• Tor Valenza: How Zombies Can Teach Us to Guerrilla Market Solar
• Ahmad Chatila: SolarWorld trade victory would devastate US industry

Have a great day!

Yann

Duke Energy goes for the throat by trying to kill net metering but then a coal ash spill got in the way. Now it appears that an RFP for 300MW of solar has made it to the street which is good for solar, but is this for real? I guess the bidder interest will be significant but will it be at the cost of the DG solar market in NC?

News

• CleanTechnica: Duke Energy Issues RFP For 300 MW Of New Solar
• PV-Tech: SolarWorld lifts lid on rescue plan
• GTM: Will Loans for Rooftop Solar Overtake Third-Party Ownership?
• Solar Industry: Democratization Of Solar Power Refutes Net Metering Critics
• RE World: SunEdison Launches Yieldco Leverage Solar Asset Values
• TheStreet: Solar Shines but Fund Managers Cold-Shoulder Energy
• HuffPost: U.S. Challenges India’s Solar Industry, Again
• Forbes: Will The Solar Market Outlook Turn Rosier For 2014?

Opinions

• Slate: The World’s Dumbest Trade War

Have a great day!

Yann

The yieldco is here, SUNE (Sunedison) has issued its yieldco and caused a nice solar bump in the stock markets. From the cleantech crash (falsely declared by 60 minutes) to this, we have seen many great news for solar. Much of it focused around financing, it seems the innovation and growth is centered around this part of the market.

News

• PV-Tech: SunEdison to initiate first ‘yieldco’ PV project investment vehicle
• Energy Collective: Is the Solar Industry Shifting from Big Solar to Rooftops?
• RE World: Can We Reach 100 Percent Renewable Energy?
• CleanTechnica: The #1 Solar Utility Is In…Iowa?
• Grist: U.S. tries to have it both ways with solar trade policy
• AZ Central: SRP customers install more solar
• SC State: Solar power boosters keep ‘pressure’ on lawmakers

Opinions

• Business Insider: CA’s Record-Breaking New Solar Plant Is Already Irrelevant
• Robert Wilson: Do Renewables Lower Energy Consumption?

Have a great day!

Yann

Pondering the trade case, I wonder who could possibly win. Who is the winner if the Commission rules for more duties and tariffs? In my opinion, it needlessly drives up the cost of solar for millions of energy consumers and hurts thousands of solar workers. It almost seems like an ideal playbook for utilities to push this but this is a sabotage from inside the solar industry, with a theory that may make more sense than at first look. More soon.

News

• Bloomberg: Shaw Joins KKR Buying Cleaner Energy
• RE World: US-Taiwan Solar Trade Dispute Forges On
• Reuters: China calls for fair handling of escalating solar dispute with U.S.
• Triple Pundit: Cost of Solar Power Still Falling, Falling, Falling
• Solar Industry: Trina Solar Takes Majority Stake In PV Cell Manufacturer
• Solar Novus: Implementing a Solar PPA: What works, what doesn’t
• ARS Technica: Is it time to move away from silicon-based solar?

Opinions

• Breaking Energy: Are Subsidies the Answer to Energy Sector Tax Reform?
• Solarworld: Time to stop US firms competing with Chinese government

Have a great day!

Yann