Why CA Is 50% Of Solar Market. Good policy doesn’t happen by accident, it comes from effective policy representation. Tomorrow the solar industry is heading to Sacramento to push for the next year of policy including SB 100, the 100% RPS for California. I know your time and money is valuable but CALSSA has a PAC to help drive money into the political process. Please consider making a contribution.
Learning Lessons. Without knowing the details, you would expect NV Energy to stay as far away from the distributed solar policy as possible. After what happened a few years ago, it appears that NV Energy will continue to think in very short time spans about only itself. That’s why the headline about Sierra Club and NRDC joining NV Energy against energy choice seemed so wrong on the face of it.
Another Trillion To Go. Solar and wind have reached 1 terawatt in cumulative capacity which means that more than a trillion dollars have been invested. For most of those projects that means an interconnection, land rights and off-taker agreement are making that capital some of the most secure investment portfolios in the world. Let’s do it again, this time in less than a decade!
Have a great day!
News
1 SolarWakeup:
Q&A With Bernadette DelChiaro - California Lobby Day – What It Is And Why You Should Care
2 Utility Dive:
Nevada pushes distributed resource planning regulations ahead of a ballot initiative
3 SolarWakeup:
Solar, Wind Capacity Reaches 1 TW – Are We Only Five Years Away From The NEXT TW?
6 Virginian Pilot:
Solar Industry and Illinois Farm Bureau Collaborate to Guarantee Tax Revenue for Rural Communities and Protect Farmland
8 Think Progress:
Ryan Zinke insists California wildfires have nothing to do with climate change. Experts disagree.
Opinions:
Have a great day!
Yann
The Energy Show: By Barry Cinnamon
The Energy Show: By Barry Cinnamon
Over a million buildings in the U.S. have rooftop solar. These systems are extremely reliable: solar panels are guaranteed for 25 years, and inverters are guaranteed for 10-25 years. Our experience as a contractor since 2001 bears out the terrific reliability record of rooftop solar. Nevertheless, when inverters are past their expected lifetime we upgrade them to new models. Often we are able to replace two smaller inverters with one more efficient large inverter. When rooftop systems get very dirty (generally in areas without regular rainfall) we provide cleaning services. And not surprising to anyone who has ever tried to troubleshoot a home networking system, our most common customer service issue is with internet-based monitoring. To that point, current cellular-based monitoring systems have been 99.9% reliable (the only problems we have ever had have been with very weak mountain-top cell service). Like a 15 year old car that still runs, sometimes it makes good economic sense upgrading your solar system to the latest model. The same logic applies when considering an upgrade to a new solar system. Old panels were 14% efficient, and old inverters were 93-95% efficient. New panels have 20%+ efficiencies, and new inverters are up to 99% efficient. Moreover, because of our unreliable electric grid and transition to Time of Use electric rates, many customers are interested in upgrading to a battery storage system. For more about upgrading your solar system for your business or home – including applicability of the 30% tax credit on new equipment – Listen up to this week’s Energy Show.By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
In a previous life, writer Frank Andorka spent his Februarys at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington D.C. attending the Legislative Day for the pest management industry. He's always been surprised there isn't such a national conference/day for the solar industry, but he did discover that the California Solar + Storage Association holds its own version in Sacramento on Wednesday. He asked Bernadette DelChiaro, the group's executive director, about why she thinks "Lobby Day" is important. Here are her answers. Frank Andorka (FA): What is Lobby Day? Bernadette DelChiaro (BDC): Our annual Solar & Storage Worker Lobby Day is a chance for workers from across the state to educate lawmakers about the jobs our industry supports, and the value of those jobs to people and families. It also gives us a chance to push for our top legislative priorities, such as passing SB 700. FA: Why is it important? BDC: The state legislature sets the pace for the continued growth of solar and storage in California. Despite the state’s commitment to clean energy, powerful opponents to solar spend millions of dollars on insider lobbyists and make large contributions to political campaigns. The best way to cut through all this is for the men and women who make up our 86,000 work force to speak face-to-face with the decision makers, telling personal stories that will leave a lasting impression.[wds id="3"]
FA: Why should people attend?
BDC: Before the end of August, California legislators will take several major votes that will drastically shape the solar & storage market. Anyone who works in solar or storage in California will be directly impacted by the decisions made by these lawmakers. Solar & Storage Worker Day is a great opportunity for average, everyday solar and storage workers to directly share their story, make a positive impression and win over votes.
FA: What is the most useful thing solar installers can do on Lobby Day (if they attend)?
BDC: Tell a story about themselves. Why did they choose a career in solar and storage? How long have they been doing this work? Why is their job worth protecting?
FA: How important is it for solar and storage professionals to get involved in the political process?
BDC: Utilities and fossil fuel companies are heavily involved in the political process, and they spend millions of dollars lobbying elected officials and influencing public policy. It's critical for solar and storage professionals to get involved in the political process to counteract that messaging and let [legislators] know how things really are.
FA: What is the biggest issue facing California in the solar + storage industry?
BDC: In the near term, the looming expiration of the storage rebate program coupled with changing utility rates that make solar harder to pencil out. SB 700 would extend those rebates out five years [and dedicate] another $700 million to the Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP).
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
It took forty years for clean energy - solar and wind specifically - installations to reach 1 TW of installed capacity. BNEF says we're only five years away from reaching the next TW. Talk about an accelerated adoption speed.[wds id="3"]
BNEF says the global solar and wind industries reached 1 TW of installed capacity sometime in the middle of the year, which if it all was in the United States could power the entire U.S. electric fleet.
Albert Cheung, BloombergNEF’s head of analysis in London, offered this exciting insight:
Hitting one terrawatt is a tremendous achievement for the wind and solar industries, but as far as we’re concerned, it’s just the start. Wind and solar are winning the battle for cost-supremacy, so this milestone will be just the first of many.According to Cheung and the rest of the BNEF team:
The findings illustrate the scale of the green energy boom, which has drawn $2.3 trillion of investment to deploy wind and solar farms at the scale operating today.BloombergNEF estimates that the falling costs of those technologies mean the next terrawatt of capacity will cost about half as much – $1.23 trillion – and arrive sometime in 2023.The majority of the new capacity has been in Asia, with 44% of new wind and 58% of solar being built there. One-third of those installations are in China. Which is somewhat depressing, frankly, given how much capacity could be added to the U.S. grid. 54% of the first terrawatt was wind, but by 2020, solar is expected to catch wind, BNEF reports. But here's one of the most interesting tidbits from the article:
More than 90 percent of all that capacity was installed in the past 10 years, reflecting incentives that Germany pioneered in the early 2000s that made payouts for green power transparent for investors and bankers alike.Here's to an industry that is on the rise, and I can't wait to see what the next five years brings. More: Green Energy Producers Just Installed Their First Trillion Watts