Presented by Aten Solar. Your single source in adding value to your supply chain and procurement. Aten Solar is your go-to source for the best closeout pricing on new and surplus modules for your project needs.
The Wins. Solar was on the ballot in a couple of ways on Tuesday so I wanted to give you my initial thoughts. On the plus side, clean energy executive was a career that was embraced. Several candidates ran on their clean energy experience and a few won which means that there will be members of Congress that understand our work and provide some insight to our trade groups. The biggest win may have been the ballot question in Nevada which was a direct question of more solar for corporations. The voters supported the motion and will have to do so once more at a future election. Another notable plus is the number of Governors that won while supporting a 100% clean energy future, the list includes CO, OR, MI, WI, CA, IL, and ME.
The Losses. First, you have to note that the RPS in Arizona was overwhelmingly defeated and the eulogy on carbon tax may have been written in Washington State. Notable is the $23million spent by NextGen to push for the RPS in Arizona and I can only imagine the policy that could have enabled the market if solar advocates were given $23million into their advocacy platforms. I’ve said it before, solar advocates are some of the most effective advocates in the process and are largely hampered from being able to fight more fights by financial resources. The candidate for NC-9, Dan McCready, was as solar as a candidate that was running across the Country and he almost won his race, losing by less than 2,000 votes.
The Trends. Solar as a political issue continues to be non-existent, these political times mean that secondary issues get little focus. However, with the solar favorability index, it is important to let all legislators know the political reality of supporting or opposing the issues important to us. More trend discovery by GreenBiz in the rundown.
GE Sells Current. GE has sold their esco/lighting/sometimes solar business to an investment firm. The notable solar transaction was for Home Depot. Best of luck to the team.
Have a great day!
News
Opinions:
Have a great day!
Yann
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
In the hoopla surrounding Tesla Home Energy and Sunrun as they battle it out for the top spot in the residential solar installation business, it's easy to forget about who is in second place - and who is installing solar at an ever-increasing pace as its steady growth continues to show. Vivint Solar announced it has installed 1 gigawatt (GW) of solar energy systems since its launch. The company installed 1 GW in just seven years, making it one of the fastest residential solar providers to reach this significant milestone. Vivint Solar first announced the achievement yesterday when it reported third quarter 2018 financial results. Founded in 2011, Vivint Solar has become a national leader in residential solar, helping more than 146,000 customers in 22 states enjoy the benefits of affordable, renewable energy.The Energy Show: By Barry Cinnamon
The Energy Show: By Barry Cinnamon
We take it for granted that you can install solar on your home or business anytime, just as you can make any other energy saving improvement. Unfortunately, the reality is there are a host of restrictions on solar and battery storage. Many of these restrictions are due to arbitrary regulations (solar panels cannot be visible from the street), as well as rules promulgated by utilities to maximize their profits. Riddle me this, Solarman: why does your local utility encourage you to install an 8 kw EV charger, but makes it extremely complicated (sometimes impossible) to install a 2 kw rooftop solar system? Incumbent industries have economic power behind them. Utilities spend hundreds of millions of dollars to suppress competition from rooftop solar, compared to the million or so dollars spent by most state solar industries. But polls show that 95% of the population favors solar. Although the solar industry is at a financial disadvantage, there are tens of millions of people in the U.S. that benefit – either directly or indirectly – from the solar industry. The challenge is organizing this grass roots army to advocate for cleaner and and more affordable energy sources. The Solar Rights Alliance was founded to empower these millions of solar citizens. Its mantra is everyone should have the right to generate his or her own power directly from the sun — and that no monopoly or special interest should try to block or own the sun. Our special guest on this week’s Energy Show is Dave Rosenfeld, Executive Director of the Solar Rights Alliance. He’s spent his career building movements and institutions that expand freedom, liberty and justice including work with the National Public Radio, The Public Interest Research Group, and the Public Interest Network. Grass roots advocacy has been effective in making many big changes in our democracy, and Dave is working hard to deploy this growing army of solar enthusiasts to make solar cost effective and available to everyone.By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
Tom Steyer is waking up this morning to the realization that when you get involved in politics - particularly clean energy politics - sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. In Arizona and Nevada, Steyer had worked tirelessly to support two constitutional amendments, one in each state, that would have cemented the goal of a 50% renewable portfolio standard by 2030 into law. And just like the rest of the country, the results from those initiatives turned out to be a mixed bag. In Nevada, voters decided to pass the amendment with 60% of the vote, paving the way for solar to flourish in the state a mere three years after the Public Utilities Commission tried to destroy the rooftop industry by unceremoniously (and suddenly) eliminating net metering without warning.