Welcome to the second Friday of this week. See you next week in San Francisco, you can find me near the Quick Mount lounge or hit reply to this to say hello. Have a great weekend!
Scott Pruitt Becomes A Lobbyist. In between looking for chicken startups and buying used mattresses with his interns credit cards, Scott Pruitt did a really bad job protecting the environment. I said it in the past but his irrational behaviour put his regulatory policies on the front page of the news constantly. Can you name Obama’s EPA administrators? George W. Bush’s? Now we move to Scott Pruitt’s replacement, Andrew Wheeler, who knows the EPA well. He started his career there and learned how to apply the right pressure when he became a coal lobbyist. I expect Wheeler to be more manicured as administrator but just as bad at protecting the environment. Stay tuned because with FERC Commissioner Powelson resigning, a coal bailout could be coming soon.
Everyone Still Loves Solar. Another poll that takes solar to both sides of the aisle. In this case, a poll asked supporters of the NRA and Greenpeace how they feel about solar and businesses that use more solar energy. 75% of the respondents said that businesses that go solar should be rewarded.
That’s A Big Solar Rooftop. I’m not big on project announcements but a 40MW project that is built for self-consumption seems like a big deal. There’s a GM plant in Spain that has something around 13MW but this is more than three times that. Will be interesting to see if other large manufacturers will be doing the same since everyone wants them to according to the above poll.
Correcting Yesterday’s Note. Yesterday I made note that DeLeon wasn’t moving forward to the general election in November since he lost to Feinstein in the primary. While he was beaten in the primary by 1.5million votes, California has a top two process that results in DeLeon making it to the general in November. Apologies on the error.

Have a great day!

News

 

Have a great day!
Yann

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

There's always a creative tension about covering the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a solar reporter. On the one hand, they don't have anything directly to do with energy policy, so some solar reporters feel it's not worth covering. On the other hand, as a solar reporter, it's impossible to completely separate the environment and the Solar Revolution, since one of solar's biggest selling points is that it helps reduce greenhouse gases and thereby helps the environment. Therefore, policy set by the EPA can have an indirect effect on the solar industry whether it wants it to or not. But sometimes there's a news story so big you have to cover it no matter what, and such is this afternoon's news that the scandal-plagued EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has resigned one step ahead of the law. And his replacement at the agency, on at least an interim basis, is former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler. This, as you might imagine, is not good news. As the Department of Energy hatches plans to bailout failing coal and nuclear plants, it's not out of the realm of possibility to see Wheeler finish the job Pruitt so clearly had started. Both men savor the idea of eviscerating any environmental protection regulations currently in place, and Wheeler may have an added incentive - in the form of his former coal colleagues calling him on the phone - to finish slashing regulations on coal mines faster than ever before. Here's where things get particularly ugly for the solar industry: Though Wheeler is only the interim EPA chief, he can hold the post for up to seven months under the Vacancies Reform Act because his appointment to the agency has already been confirmed by the Senate. And 210 days is plenty of time for Wheeler to work in concert with Secretary of Energy to finish the coal/nuclear bailout plan and give coal its time in the ... sun ... again. Oy vey. https://youtu.be/_Ise8Mvzub4

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

It's our distinct pleasure to announce that the National Rifle Association (NRA) and Greenpeace have come to a historic agreement. And that historic agreement is this: Solar. Rocks. According to a new survey by Swytch, a blockchain platform that tracks, verifies and rewards those reducing the global carbon footprint, 75% of both NRA and Greenpeace members believe businesses that switch to clean energy should be rewarded - and NRA members are more than twice as likely to own solar electrical systems than the general public. Those are the headlines from the new survey, but they are not the only evidence that solar and clean energy support crosses party and regional lines. There's this significant finding, too:

The survey also found that an overwhelming majority (92%) of Americans believe that renewable energy is either very important or somewhat important to the world’s future and more than 81% of respondents believe that solar power is the most important.

It's the second part of that finding that should hearten solar advocates from coast to coast. It's long been considered a settled fact that at least 90% of American support solar, but as far as SolarWakeup can remember, this is the first survey to show Americans have a marked preference for solar over other clean energy solutions. The survey solidifies the idea that the Solar Revolution is here to stay, something that could be proven only anecdotally through stories of the industry's spread to non-traditional solar states. The survey also had two more interesting findings about the motivation behind decisions to go solar and what might encourage more people to do so:

• Roughly 48% of respondents stated their primary motivation for switching to clean energy would be to save money and more than 37% would switch to reduce their environmental impact.
• Almost 92% of respondents would be more willing to install solar if they had a battery to store the extra energy produced and 88% would be more willing if they could sell the extra energy produced

Those last two findings are important. It shows solar advocates that the way to potential users' hearts is through their wallets, and it shows that net metering and battery storage are critical to the spread of the Solar Revolution.

The Energy Show: By Barry Cinnamon

The Energy Show: By Barry Cinnamon

What are the best solar panels? That’s a question we are asked all the time. When customers look for the “best” solar panels they consider efficiency, reliability, quality and cost. Cost and efficiency are closely related – all solar panels generate the same amount of electricity (kwh) on a per watt basis. Your appliances can’t tell the difference if they get their electrons from super-efficient panels made in the USA, or the cheapest panels made somewhere in Asia. Nevertheless, there are clear cut differences among solar panels when it comes to aesthetics (all black panels look better), ease of installation (which effectively reduces costs) and cost per watt pricing (especially in light of the tariffs on solar cells and panels). There are also more subjective distinctions such as brand name and perceived reliability. Generally these subjective measures are not based on comparison data or independent laboratory testing, so be wary of manufacturer’s claims. So which panels are best? Please Listen Up to this week’s Energy Show for our advice for selecting solar panels for your roof. Click on the link below.