By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
North Carolina has rapidly shot up the list of top solar states in the United States in the past several years as measured by the amount of solar capacity installed. And that's a huge accomplishment for a state that 10 years ago wasn't on anyone's radar as having a significant solar market. Most of that growth, however, has been through utility-scale solar until recently, when changes in state laws have now encouraged the development of residential and commercial solar. As those markets expand, at least one advocacy group is trying to deal ahead of time with some of the issues other states have had in those solar segments.Between the organic growth in the business and the pop provided earlier this year by Duke Energy Corp.’s rebates for such solar projects, the association and its members wanted to establish baseline professional codes for the industry, says Mike Davis. “A code of professional conduct is a good thing for any industry,” says Davis, director of membership for the Raleigh-based association. “But we have seen an influx of new players in the market (after Duke offered the rebates) and that gave us a sense of urgency.”The goal of the standards is to head off any scandals involving unethical business behavior that includes "high-pressure sales, over-promising on rebates and incentives, overselling potential savings and, in some cases, doing shoddy workmanship," the Journal reports. While NCSEA has no enforcement mechanism or authority, it is requiring all its current members to sign the pledge and won't take any new members who refuse to do so. More: Why this group wants NC solar installers on board with new conduct standards
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
The Solar Foundation has received a $2 million grant from the Department of Energy's Solar Energy Technologies Office to expand its solar jobs training efforts, focusing particularly on veterans. This new program will include an effort to support solar industry apprenticeships for hundreds of transitioning military veterans, preparing them for leadership roles in a rapidly growing industry. The program will also provide expert assistance to help the solar industry leverage workforce development resources and hire more workers from underserved communities.I am in Minneapolis to participate in the Connexus Energy ribbon cutting for their solar plus storage farm. As a co-op, Connexus is looking to lower the cost of energy for consumers as CEO, Greg Ridderbusch, told me in May. Co-ops are there to help consumers get more solar in every way possible, that’s why I am here even though my day job is in residential solar. Congrats to Connexus and their partners Engie and NextEra on the project.
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Storage Company For Sale. The energy storage integrator that is providing the 42MWh project to Vistra Energy in Texas is up for sale. We got a view at the prospectus that the investment bankers are shopping and it shows a robust pipeline which isn’t surprising given the rise in interest in energy storage. FlexGen has been aggressive in solar given their knowledge with both AC and DC coupled systems. With energy storage increasing across the Country it is good to see the consolidation happening sooner which will likely increase the bankability of the providers in the market. If pipeline is as valuable in storage as it is in solar and the knowledge barrier in storage is greater, I don’t expect the line of bidders to be short in FlexGen.
Checking In On SolarCity. Solar in Tesla may not be as dead as folks make it out to be. Tesla announced 93MW in the 3rd quarter which is only a few megawatts less than what Sunrun guided towards in the quarter. This means that some of the strategy of selling through the stores is working and the Model 3 ramp up may be helping. I don’t have the detail of whether the 93MW is all residential but I assume that is a decent guess.
Solar In Arizona. A deep dive into solar in the New Yorker is not common and reading the first 1000 words made me think that it’s a good thing and it may still be. Some of the talking points come straight from the RPS opposition including things like solar only shines at some times and it is a cost increase to consumers. With solar plus storage already at sub natural gas prices in Arizona, the data in the talking points are misleading. The positive takeaway is that readers of the New Yorker are different than the readers of SolarWakeup and the broader audience is thinking about solar, I wish that it was broader than three interviewers though.
Is Capital The Need? An interesting question, does the industry need more capital in order to meet climate goals. Couple of thoughts. The question is the wrong premise, it should ask: More Capital Needs To Be Deployed To Meet Goals. There is a limitless amount of capital interested in projects that meet sustainability goals. Additionally, the commentary could increase the scope of the capital. If capital is available for projects and the pipeline of projects is limiting the progress, then we need capital that is willing to take different risks besides fixed contract off taker agreements at return hurdles that are in line with the pipeline. Lastly, more capital needs to be willing to take bigger bets on technology risks. This last point is in line with what I’ve written about the Bill Gates concept of solving climate change with breakthrough technologies.
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By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
FlexGen, the energy storage developer/integrator backed by GE and Caterpillar, is for sale. The company, whose sale is being handled by Cascadia Capital, currently sports a $400 million pipeline of solar + storage and thermal generation + storage projects across North America. FlexGen was a first-mover in DC-coupled solar + storage technology and, as we have reported, is currently delivering the largest storage project in ERCOT for Vistra Energy. T The prospectus suggests they are casting a wide net in search of a buyer, including utilities, infrastructure funds, oil and gas majors and renewable players. FlexGen's announcement continues what appears to be an ongoing trend of leading storage platforms being acquired by larger entities. For example, SolarEdge just bought Kokam, and earlier this year Engie followed up its 2016 acquisition of Green Charge by buying EPS. In 2017, Greensmith, Younicos, and Demand Energy, all sold to strategic buyers, and in 2016, Saft and 1Energy were sold as well.