Fix The Link. Here is the correct link to celebrate solar with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Thursday at 1:30pm. Sorry for the error yesterday.
One Last ITC Push. SEIA is asking you to reach out to your member of Congress. This is the way to do it digitally or you can find your rep by clicking here. We have an opportunity to get an extension but you have to make a call today, not tomorrow or the day after. This is the time..
.
Bloomberg Goes Global. The former mayor of New York City and Johns Hopkins alumni, Michael Bloomberg, is leading an event on climate change at the COP25 proceedings in Madrid before jetting to California to talk about policies he foresees helping the wild fires in the golden state. With additional TV ad buys, Bloomberg now has the most spend in the field of candidates on TV..
.
Blackrock’s Investment Focus. A spokesperson for Blackrock gave an interesting quote on their new fund’s focus with regard to solar. Here’s what they mean when they say that they see opportunities in C&I and storage. As the fund looks to invest $2.5billion dollars, the portfolio managers will want the type of returns they are being told exist in C&I and energy storage (double digits, sometimes). They could invest the full fund quickly in solar farms yielding single digits, but that wouldn’t have the type of juice they are looking for. Quickly, they will find that deploying this scale of capital is going to be a challenge to do in the higher yielding parts of the market.
Opinion
News
Opinions:
Have a great day!
Yann
He’s Back, Come See Arnold Talk Solar. This Thursday the State of California is celebrating one of solar’s biggest accomplishments, 1 million solar roofs. At a public event, former Governor Schwarzenegger will be unveiling the 1 millionth roof alongside CALSSA’s Bernadette Del Chiaro. Solar in California has no political aisles, it benefits all and Governors from both parties have supported our industry. Clovis is in the Central Valley of the State and you’re invited to be there. We want to show Arnold that when he took a bet on solar many years ago, he was right. A few hours of your time is worth it, reporters in solar should be there as well! Here is the RSVP link
The Next Million. What does the next million look like? It will have plenty of power because CALSSA is announcing the next target of 1 million solar batteries. Wild fires, blackouts and rate schedule changes are causing more and more solar installations to get batteries. Nationally, batteries are attaching at a rate of 15-20% with some areas of California going much higher. That means that we are looking to grow the market to 2-4million solar roofs to get to the 1million solar batteries. If you’re doing the math, the goal is to get to over $10billion market potential for you, the installer or hardware provider. That’s a big audacious goal and we want you to help.
Another Banking Data Point. When the European Investment Bank stops lending to a particular lender, it has ripple effects to the private sector. Typically, banks like the EIB do the heavy lifting and take a particular risk and if they are out it means that other banks don’t follow. The focus is to align the strategy with the policy goals of the EU, in this case renewables. Look for capital to dry up for non-renewables relatively quickly.
Tackling Big Pollution. Making metals is energy intensive and contributes somewhere between 6-7% of the global carbon emissions. That is why a Missouri corporate deal for wind energy is an indicator that could have global implications. In Missouri, steel and aluminum producers get subsidized electricity prices which means that the wind deal was not only cleaner but also cheaper than the cheapest market electricity rate before.
Opinion
News
Opinions:
Have a great day!
Yann
A Trade Fight Day. The ITC (trade commission) held their mid-year review for the 201 tariffs to see if they should continue declining or otherwise. Suniva’s Matt Card, apparently still employed by the company, spoke on behalf of the tariffs without giving an update on Suniva’s return to the market. Hanwha Q-Cells also spoke publicly in favor of the 201 tariffs. SEIA, contractors and others spoke in favor of the American solar jobs that are impacted or lost because of the counterproductive tariffs. Meanwhile a court struck down the White House attempt to rescind the bifacial tariff exemption and Bloomberg interviewed Sunpower’s CEO on the topic of tariffs.
BP Gets In Deeper. BP has struck a deal to offer renewable energy from wind and solar farms for Amazon’s data centers in Europe. The deal also announced that BP increased their stake in Lightsource, the developer active in both European and US markets.
Corporate Storage Deal. Not that kind of deal. GM and LG Chem announced a JV to build a $2.3billion battery manufacturing plant in Ohio. In combination with the First Solar Youngstown plant, Ohio may want to revisit their anti-RPS stance given the manufacturing hub they’ve created in the state.
Speaking Of Storage. At GTM’s storage event in Denver, Colorado’s Governor showed up and spoke about his bullish position on energy storage and how it will help get Colorado to 100% renewable energy.
But The Workforce Needs. While we are all bullish on the growth of the market, we need to continue thinking about how we create a bigger labor force for our industry. Now that markets are getting geographically closer to the impacted coal markets, I wonder when installers start hiring labor that is trained in solar installations and travel to solar projects.
1 Million Solar Roofs. Speaking of amazing things, CALSSA will be having a big event next Thursday in Clovis, CA to commemorate 1 million solar roofs, an ambitious goal set during Governor Schwarzenegger’s time in Sacramento. The hallmark legislation sparked an industry that benefits us all and we’d love to have you in Clovis. If you can make it and travel there next Thursday, your support is needed and appreciated. More info to come including big names at the event.
Opinion
News
Opinions:
Have a great day!
Yann
Solar, Activate. Time for solar to get loud once again. We need you to make calls to Congress and ask for the ITC to be extended. Here is the call to action link. Please fill it out and ask your colleagues/employees to do the same. In the wake of the White House attack on each of you, we need to explain that we represent real American jobs.
CALSSA. Today is my first day on the job as a member of the board at CALSSA. As part of your support for what we do, please join as a member and make me look good. Hit reply to this email and ask me to get you in touch with the membership team. You can also do that right here.
Opinion
News
Opinions:
Have a great day!
Yann