Hot spots (pun intended) for solar development head up our solar stories today.  U.S. solar footprint news highlights solar progressive states now experiencing battles to curtail solar development. Yesterday we saw headlines pointing to contention in Arizona, today its North Carolina. Out of Florida headlines call attention to the sunshine state’s solar potential and the roadblocks being thrown in the way of massive deployment there.  On the technology side, Google is lighting a fire under the inverter market with a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) to collapse the size of a solar inverter.  $1 million is the contest prize with the juicier win being a potential alignment with Google’s “Bottom up Grid” project and/or an investment by the internet giant who is carving out a huge piece of the clean energy industry pie.  With the recent acquisition of Solectria Renewables by Japanese machinery maker, Yaskawa Electric Corp., Google’s race for innovation puts even more pressure on an already hotly contested inverter market. 

–Glenna Wiseman in for Yann Brandt

News

• Greentech Media: Google’s $1M Challenge: A Laptop-Sized Solar Inverter
• Florida Today: Power providers ask Florida regulators to scale back energy-efficiency deals
• CleanTechnica: Another Indian State Joins Solar Power Race With 1,000 MW PV Project
• PV Tech: Warning of ‘dangerous’ public backlash against solar in Japan

Opinion

• CleanTechnica:  Are Utilities About To Kill Solar Energy’s Future In North Carolina?
• Greentech Media: Beyond the Rooftop: Commercial Net Metering in California
• Renewable Energy World: Solar Energy ‘Lighting Up’ Professional Sports
• RunonSun: Teaching the Duck to Fly
• Chaolysti: A New Threat Looms Against Distributed Rooftop Solar

Education

• SolarNovus: Energy Storage Market Rises to $50 Billion
• WLRN: Why Doesn’t The Sunshine State Use More Solar Energy?

Have a great day!

Get the feeling we are “running just as fast as we can, holding onto one another’s hands?”  Adrenaline junkies need look no farther than a participatory role in the solar industry for a speed based rush. Agility, quick response time and synchronized team work are necessary arrows in the modern solar company’s quiver, no matter what role the firm plays in the supply chain or calls home on the planet.   Evidence of a swiftly changing landscape include today’s look at 2Q 2014 funding, PV supplier manufacturing and the playing field of microgrids and utilities. Need more evidence?  Check out Jennifer Runyon’s piece on energy storage.  Heady stuff in our fast paced solar race. While Tommy James & The Shondells captured sentiments in 1967 relevant to the solar revolution today, we are certainly not alone anymore.

–Glenna Wiseman in for Yann Brandt

News

• PV Solar Reports: More Manufacturing Comes to Michigan: Suniva Opening New PV Solar Module Facility
• Greentech Media: Here’s What Utilities Really Think About Microgrids
• Motley Fool: Downstream Solar Companies, Funds Drive Strong Solar Investment
• Huffington Post:  ‘Pay-as-you-go’ solar financing hits new milestone
• The Eco Report: Solar may be leading the US in terms of installations YTD
• Solar Industry Mag: Study Says Rapid Solar Power Growth Fueling Demand For Copper

Opinions

• Renewable Energy World: Crying Fowl or Crying Wolf? Open Season on the Utility’s Solar Duck Chart
• T.U.S.K. Meet Doug Little New TV Spot; Arizona Effort

Education

• Renewable Energy World: Keeping Up with Energy Storage
• GTM Research:  Two Charts That Illustrate the Sophistication of Today’s PV Suppliers

Have a great day!

Breaking News: Announces new solar manufacturing plant in Michigan

Suniva has announced a new 200MW module assembly plant in Saginaw Township, Michigan. SolarWakeup spoke to Matt Card, Suniva VP of Global Sales & Marketing, about the announcement this morning.

“Suniva is adding 200MW of module manufacturing capacity in Michigan in addition to the 175MW of cell capacity already in place in Georgia,” said Matt Card. “Michigan offers great logistical capabilities for bulk shipping, like modules, in order to reach customers.”

The announcement makes sense with Michigan’s long term goals to be a solar manufacturing leader and creating a cluster in the area. The manufacturing capability will also allow Suniva to create more US made solar modules for the growing marketplace. Suniva manufactures high efficiency cells and modules already, continues to expand its capacity to serve the solar market.

See more on the Suniva manufacturing announcement that follows the SolarCity/Silevo manufacturing announcement a few weeks ago. Expect that Suniva will be up and running in the near future on this plant however.

Money and more of it continues to pour into the solar market. While this is not a headline in and of itself it is interesting to note the changing landscape of solar funding. For example, GTM Research in its update on residential solar financing includes a Property Accessed Clean Energy (PACE) firm for the first time in my recollection (feel free to let me know otherwise). Nicole Litvak includes Renewable Funding, Cisco DeVries’ firm who pioneered PACE and recently plunged back into the residential sector. Renewable is now chasing Renovate America’s HERO program in the resi space. HERO who has brazenly pioneered hundreds of millions of dollars in residential energy option upgrades despite Fed level chagrin is notably missing in the GTM taxonomy. (Note: they just raised another $50M in equity funding). Take note of another nod to potentially more of this to come, the inclusion of deregulated energy marketers, Viridian (SolarCity) and Choose Energy (OneRoof Energy) on the GTM report. These models bundle solar in an “energy choice” consumer discussion which one could see as giving it a strong context. In the case of the Viridian/SolarCity deal the leverage is a personal connection via direct sales. Makes one wonder who will Ambit Energy partner with on the solar side? A takeaway and job security for solar sales reps: With all the technology in the world we still buy from people we like and trust.

–Glenna Wiseman in for Yann Brandt

News

• EcoWatch: Renewables Account For More Than Half of 2014′s New U.S. Energy Capacity
• Iowa Telegraph Herald: Ruling paves way for solar energy growth
• PV Solar Report: Renovate America Brings in Another $50 Million for HERO Financing
• Greentech Media: Solexel, Thin Silicon Solar Startup, Lands $31M More in VC Funding
• Bloomberg: Ascent Solar to Raise $32 Million in Sale of Convertible Notes
• Hydrogen Fuel News: European Investment Bank issues loan to ambitious solar power project in Israel

Opinions

• Renewable Energy World: Who Pays for Countervailing Tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels?
• Greentech Media:  The Solar Industry’s Tax Credit Conundrum

Education

• GTM Research: Who Finances Residential Solar in 2014?
• Alt Energy Stocks: Fifteen Clean Energy Yield Cos: Company Structure

Have a great day!

The yin and yang of solar related messages in our highlighted headlines is intriguing and points to the industry’s growing clout. “We couldn’t figure out why not to do it.” “It’s a no brainer.” Consumer voices heard in mainstream media are mirrored by financial recommendations for buying into the solar sector. Swinging to a perceived dark side of the solar value proposition is angst about glare from California’s Ivanpah installation causing problems with area flights and leasing contracts stymieing home sales. We as an industry are not on the sidelines of energy generation any longer. We are in the proverbial “ring.” As Ucilia Wang reports in Forbes, it’s a bullish outlook for the U.S. solar market. With the limelight of becoming a major player, we also shoulder the insults and incoming tomatoes. Let’s make sauce.

–Glenna Wiseman in for Yann Brandt

News

• Sentinel & Enterprise News: More and more basking in benefits of solar
• Brietbart: Report: Glare from Solar Power Plant Endangering Flights over California
• NPR: Leased Solar Panels Can Cast A Shadow Over A Home’s Value

Opinions

• Motley Fool: Apple Supply Cuts Are Killing GT Advanced, but Solar Potential Makes It a Long-Term Buy
• Forbes: Why Now Is A Good Time To Invest In Solar Manufacturing and Marketing In The U.S. 

Education

• Renewable Energy World: The Quick Guide To A Green Stock Portfolio
• SolarNovus: Building-Integrated PV Markets to Top $6 Billion in 2017
• Solar Power World: White Paper: Foundation Selection For Ground Mounted PV Solar Systems
• WBIR Tennessee: Free exhibit teaches about solar energy

Have a great day!