When A Market Is A Market. IHS reports that 2021 is going to be a record year with 181GW of solar installed across the world, growing 27% over last year. This is a good thing for the planet and creates a reality that we can’t question where this is going. Our baseline no longer includes a possible fossil first energy market. Driven by cost, demand and policy, the energy transition has entered the full court press which means that any grid planning and market design has to re-evaluate the what the generation portfolio looks like going forward. There is still untapped value in how generation is used, designed or valued by those making those investments but I would bet my career that every energy market is making changes in real time to adjust to the new reality.
What’s In A Name. The car of the people is becoming the car of energy units. Let’s see if the leaked VW press release is real or not…
Not Green Or Alternative. In the upcoming months you’ll see the world of political PR twist roads and bridges into the green new deal, renaming the infrastructure bill as the green stimulus. The counter has to be by the people and for the people and you can have an impact on this. Start building a relationship with your local TV and newspapers to show the jobs that you created in post covid months. Focus on great stories where an employee was trained by you and created a new opportunity for them. There is no need for hyperbole, I know that you have great stories and great team members that are excited to be working in solar having come from a different industry. This can’t just be led by DC groups or large corporations, you need to be changing the hearts and minds of people watching your local news. Just search for your local tv ‘news desk’ and you’ll find a form or phone number.
Free Series for Solar EPCs. I’ve teamed up with EagleView to host their Solar Business PowerSeries. Each month, we’re talking with experts on topics like LEAN and TQM, streamlining the solar permit process, deploying technology in solar, and more. This month, I’m talking with Jake Wachman from SunPower Corporation about how his company uses technology and automation to drive growth. If you’re a small- or mid-sized EPC who’s looking to improve your operations in 2021, sign up to join us live on April 8th. Registered users also gain access to the first two episodes on-demand.
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Yann
Almost Infrastructure Week. On the Sunday shows, the White House revealed that the $3trillion infrastructure bill will separate actual infrastructure from social infrastructure. This means that the more popular roads, bridges, and energy-related topics will likely be packaged in hopes to get bipartisan support. From a behind-the-scenes standpoint, you can feel Manchin’s fingerprints on the split possibly with support for a reconciliation vote in the later package. Much is being made of the 10-year extension for the ITC, possibly back to 30%, the inclusion of stand-alone storage, and a shorter-term direct pay.
The Amazon Of Solar. With Sunpower’s CEO, Tom Werner, retiring after some 18 years at the helm of the company, the board brings in a new face to solar. Peter Faricy is viewed as a direct-to-consumer pro, sits on the board of Blue Apron, and spent over 12 years at Amazon, from 06 to 2018. Sunpower has spent quite a bit of money trying to reach homeowners and get them to view the company as a brand without much success, relying on their dealer network to do the more grassroots approach. With the company pivot in full swing, I’d expect the company to give that another shot. Here’s the interesting thing about the CEO hire, it doesn’t matter that there is no solar experience, the hire shows a pivot to mainstream consumer marketing instead. So I ask you this, is solar mainstream enough that it’s become a marketing-first industry?
Renewables Means Profits. Public companies are leaning in and sometimes relying on renewables to create shareholder value. Look at the tailwinds in the industry, from the first two paragraphs, as well as the ability to start creating a 10-year company plan due to regulatory certainty that the ITC extension will provide. It will show the maturity of an industry that things in real-world time horizons instead of peaks and valleys that we’ve become used to. It also means that the multiples that public companies like Enphase, Array Technologies, Shoals, Solaredge and Generac have are justified given the long-term growth ahead for the markets; in all segments and markets around renewables and grid resilience.
A Global Climate Summit. Biden and Xi are publicly thinking about having a climate summit. Alignment on this issue to sort through the other diplomatic rifts would be good for our industry.
Free Series for Solar EPCs. I’ve teamed up with EagleView to host their Solar Business PowerSeries. Each month, we’re talking with experts on topics like LEAN and TQM, streamlining the solar permit process, deploying technology in solar, and more. This month, I’m talking with Jake Wachman from SunPower Corporation about how his company uses technology and automation to drive growth. If you’re a small- or mid-sized EPC who’s looking to improve your operations in 2021, sign up to join us live on April 8th. Registered users also gain access to the first two episodes on-demand.
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Yann
Have A Great Weekend. We have a SolarWakeup entry in the March Madness bracket that has reached the top 1000 of all ESPN brackets, reveal yourself!
Financing The Plus+. Solar + Storage PPAs continue to gain momentum among commercial energy consumers. My C&I solar friends at Sustainable Capital Finance (SCF) have a great solution for schools, municipalities, non-profits, and commercial & industrial projects. SCF will be hosting a webinar on March 31st, covering industry trends, SCF's new storage pricing & transaction features, as well as challenges and solutions when executing Solar + Storage PPAs. You can sign up here or contact the SCF team at info@scf.com for more information.
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Yann
Build Back Better. Biden’s White House is working the PR on the build back better infrastructure bill. It’s going to have a rather large price tag but in reality, it’s like any project at home. You can either pay for the ongoing maintenance or you’re going to get a lump sum surprise when it breaks. The good thing is that investing in infrastructure, it enables new and more efficient commerce to occur. Build millions of EV stations? Get a whole new auto economy that’s cleaner and more fun to drive. Build new transmission lines? Achieve 100% clean energy in the next 15 years and save the planet. See what I mean? It’s not a cost when the dynamic cost analysis says it is a GDP driver.
Texas Recap. One thing you will learn about energy storage is that the battery is not even half the battle. It’s an entire electrical integration exercise and how you intend to use or trade the asset has to be factored into the design. More importantly, how is the battery controlled after it’s commissioned so that you don’t void the warranties and actually generate electricity requires a complex overlap of hardware controls and robust software that has to be approved by the ISO and compliant with national regulatory requirements. We’ll dig into that more in the future and even host a series of calls to pass along that education. We’ll probably kick it off with a ‘does storage work for me and my project?’ tutorial and how to answer that.
Granholm Speaks. Secretary Granholm is hosting a special online meeting on how DOE’s solar investments will help achieve decarbonization goals. You can register for that here.
Financing The Plus+. Solar + Storage PPAs continue to gain momentum among commercial energy consumers. My C&I solar friends at Sustainable Capital Finance (SCF) have a great solution for schools, municipalities, non-profits, and commercial & industrial projects. SCF will be hosting a webinar on March 31st, covering industry trends, SCF's new storage pricing & transaction features, as well as challenges and solutions when executing Solar + Storage PPAs. You can sign up here or contact the SCF team at info@scf.com for more information.
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Yann