We’re Back! Heading into the Summer finale, SolarWakeup is back to full-time scheduling, which means 3-4 episodes a week to bring you the meaningful news of the day that affects executives in the solar industry. Please share this with your colleagues who may not be staying up to date. I have some exciting updates for you this week on some new launches within the platform. It’s always great to hear from you, if you have news, tips or ideas of interesting things in solar, you can hit reply to these emails and get right into my inbox.
A Podcast with Yours Truly. I joined Scaling Clean to record an episode of their podcast with host Melissa Baldwin. You can find the episode here. Do you have a podcast? Let me know and I can help spread the word.
News
1 Reuters:
BP nears deal to sell solar business to Kuwait-backed group, FT reports
2 Utility Dive:
GE Vernova gas turbine backlog climbs to 116 GW
3 PV-Magazine:
States can pursue 20 strategies to speed low-cost clean energy, says Energy Innovation
4 Axios:
What it's like inside the data centers powering the AI boom
5 Solar Builder:
Canadian investment firm Brookfield agrees to $7B deal for Aypa Power
6 Bloomberg:
China Aims to Boost Renewable Energy Consumption 53% by 2030
7 PV-Tech:
Panamint Capital breaks ground on 1.2GWdc Texas solar project
8 Solar Power World:
SC judge determines solar manufacturing needs ‘heavy industrial’ zoning
9 Energy Storage News:
‘Set it and forget it’
Opinions:
10 Canary Media:
Solar is booming in Indiana. Not everyone is happy about it.
Have a great day!
Yann
Opinion
Best, Yann
News
1 Axios:
Robotaxi infrastructure draws investor rush
2 Utility Dive:
US data center electricity use could more than double by 2030 - report
3 Solar Power World:
SEIA publishes report for increasing solar inverter cybersecurity
4 Energy Storage News:
FEOC compliance for BESS is a decade-long obligation
5 PV-Magazine:
Toyo says products made in Texas facility in 2025 expected be eligible for 45X tax credits
6 Bloomberg:
Germany to Slash Renewable Subsidies As Solar Surge Tests Grids
7 Reuters:
Morocco-Germany $30 billion power cable stalled by governance disagreements, sources say
8 Canary Media:
Balcony solar is sweeping the US, but who’s actually selling it?
9 Wall Street Journal:
Heineken Is Trying a Heat Battery to Generate Steam for Its Brewing
Opinions:
10 New York Times:
Why States Are Making It Harder to Save Money With Solar Panels
Have a great day!
Yann
Opinion
Best, Yann
News
1 Axios:
Pawlenty's theory of the case for solar success
2 Utility Dive:
Renewables remain cheapest lcoe risinglazard
3 Bloomberg:
China to Impose Consumption Tax on Solar and Lithium Batteries
4 Reuters:
Trump cuts to clean energy linked to $83 billion in delayed or canceled projects
5 PV-Tech:
Navigating US solar cell supply
6 Solar Power World:
US will investigate solar cells from Ethiopia for potential tariff circumvention
7 Energy Storage News:
Eos to provide energy storage for US Department of Defense ‘Golden Dome,’ releases preliminary Q2 financials
8 Canary Media:
Google buys power from record-busting solar-battery site in Arkansas
Opinions:
9 PV-Magazine:
Rise in solar module prices comes to a halt
Have a great day!
Yann
The Slaughter Precedent. I made some of my viewpoints known about the impacts of the Slaughter decision a few weeks back but now you have the view of a particular expert, the former FERC chair that also happens to work in the solar industry. Worth a read.
Inverter Supply Chain. What happens if Chinese inverters get banned? What happens to how interconnection pipeline gets reviewed if unbuilt systems are being studied with banned inverters, do they go back into a study? Do you need to supply a new engineering report? What happens if an inverter on a site needs replacement, do you use what you have in inventory or do you need to use new options? Policy wise there is an interesting thing happening. It’s actually good policy in my opinion, but it’s also a lobbied position, likely by a newcomer that’s private equity backed and wants to sell and doesn’t have the ability to supply the gap in the market. The largest non-Chinese supplier doesn’t appear to really be involved in this and the second and third level ramifications haven’t fully been better in my opinion. My biggest concern is what happens if there is a different rule set up by each utility and RTO and even worse would be if some areas issue ‘rip and replace’ requirements, which would completely backlog the supply chain. Lots of thoughts, not a lot of answers at this point but worthy of your consideration.
News
1 Utility Dive:
Former FERC officials concerned about Supreme Court Slaughter decision impacts
2 PV-Tech:
EU’s Chinese inverter ban could affect 14% of future solar demand, Wood Mackenzie says
3 PV-Magazine:
Palmetto launches standalone residential battery subscription plan
4 Bloomberg:
China’s Top Solar Firm Makes Switch From Silver to Copper
5 Axios:
Microsoft's AI boom collides with its climate goals
6 Reuters:
From curiosity to cornerstone - how batteries went mainstream
7 Energy Storage News:
In the age of AI data centres and electrification, the grid is the real bottleneck
8 Canary Media:
Trump’s clean energy attacks are costing the US jobs
Opinions:
9 New York Times:
Energy Abundance Is Here. Can the U.S. Catch Up?
Have a great day!
Yann
