Carbon Free Markets. SEIA backs calls to add carbon pricing to the NY wholesale power market. Would like to see a model that shows what that means for solar.
The Corona Impact. I need your input. Tell me how coronavirus supply chain is affecting you, are you being told of delays in supply? Are you stocking modules or inverters?
Payback, Monument Style. Next time a democrat is in the White House, I expect political payback to come in the form of solar farming the biggest lake in a Senator’s State.
MLPE Domination. Clear to me that two things are happening in distributed solar. Bankability matters and investors care about more than the module. Solaredge and Enphase are in a horse race but also have created a duopoly.
Annual Letters. More solar companies should write an annual letter with real thoughts, market opinions and predictions.
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Yann
Big Rooftop In Northeast. Big numbers for rooftop solar in the northeast per the EIA. These are policy driven initiatives and we need to do more of it across the Country. Residential solar is doing well but needs uniform permitting that is instant to come to life while commercial solar needs fundamental changes to the market and policy drivers.
Blame The Policy. Much to your surprise, the number of coal jobs in America is much smaller than you would expect. According to the bureau of labor statistics, coal jobs are now under 53,000 nationally. When someone tells me that solar can’t make up the coal jobs, I argue that the legislators in coal states are to blame. Not only are they trying to save the market, they are also trying to stop solar. Solar jobs won’t grow if politicians don’t want to let the market work.
Easier Acquisitions. Solar installers now get to go to a single loan source for roofing and solar (and probably storage). Not only is Sunnova doing this interesting work, they are also one of the only loan providers that do thorough vetting for all parts of the install by including racking in their approved vendor list. Congrats to their team for innovating and putting their logo up on their building in downtown Houston.
20 To Go. That’s how many coal plants are left in the West. Don’t blink, you will miss their closure.
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More Tomorrow. Trade show time means less time to write. Send me your news stories
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Virginia Is For (Solar) Lovers. Advocates have been pushing solar policy and negotiating tactically in Virginia for years. Their patience, steadfastness and political shifts at the capital is making Virginia a market to watch. We’ve seen major corporate purchases for big tech and university systems which made we think of a market that hasn’t taken off yet. Why can’t corporate purchasing and DG come together? The C&I warehouses seem like a great place to produce energy for off site users.
December Numbers. Look at those German solar installation numbers. Especially the 195MW installed under 750kW on rooftops across the Country.
Dynamite CapDyn. I’ve known the team at Capital Dynamics for a few years and their ability to execute and transact continues to impress. Far from their usual acquisition methodology, Capital Dynamics signed a 100MW PPA in Indiana.
A Bridge Too Far. Natural gas is often referred to as the bridge fuel and plenty of generating capacity is betting shareholder dollars on that fact. Much of the gas is so useless, especially on the oil fields that it simply gets burnt, aka flared. I guess that in some way that’s as wasteful as the daily solar spill that hits the earth without a solar panel in the way (but much dirtier).
Public PG&E? California’s Senator Wiener, a bold leader that isn’t afraid to tackle the toughest topics and has been a big solar leader, is calling for PG&E to be taken over by the State. He wants the management to be employed by the State with the 24,000 workers to be hired by the company in a way that doesn’t affect their compensation and pension. The labor component has been one of the trickier pieces of the State’s thoughts on this topic, rightfully so.
Presented By EcoFasten. EcoFasten, a solar mounting hardware company and part of Esdec U.S., is making its rail-based, click-in-place ClickFit Rooftop Solar System available to all installers in the United States. “Time is money in solar installation. That’s why we’re extremely excited to bring the fastest-installing solar racking system to the U.S. solar market.” For more information visit EcoFasten.com/clickfit
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