By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Commercial solar is the most challenging segment of the solar industry in which to find low-cost financing. Open Energy, a commercial financing provider, is trying to fix that problem by creating the first lending exchange for commercial scale solar developers and installers. Called The Open Energy Finance Exchange, it allows more than 60 lenders to compete to fund a project, driving down costs and improving terms for project developers. The exchange reportedly will provide access to $5 billion in capital. The key to the exchange is the loan quote tool, which helps project developers get financing estimates, which provides them a better idea of how much money might be available to them with a PPA-based project or a direct-owned system and can plan accordingly. The quote is the first step for developers to access the Open Energy Finance Exchange and applies to power purchase agreement-based and direct owned projects from 50 kW to 50 MW. According to the company, there are already more than $75 million worth of deals active on the exchange, with $35 million already matched successfully. By the end of the year, Open Energy targets $250 million of solar financing matched between lenders and developers. Open Energy CEO Graham Smith said:

We want to take the search for finance off the developer’s plate and bring the market to them. The commercial solar market continues to have an immense potential but numerous obstacles, such as the time taken to source financing and a lack of financing choices, has hindered its growth. Over the last few years, we have worked hard to expand commercial solar financing and now we are taking the next step in growing the market with the Finance Exchange. With direct access to significantly more financing, we believe we can help the market truly take off.

Thanks to more difficult risk profiles and market fragmentation, the commercial market is still struggling to find its financing footing. The innovation of the Open Energy Finance Exchange is a welcome addition to the segment.

Palmetto State Showdown. I’m starting to realize that the legislature in SC may be playing dirty with the solar industry. For the second time, last second rules have stopped the net metering cap from being increase and the cap is rapidly approaching. This is going to cause the halt of the market and potential loss of jobs for South Carolinians. Hopefully this can be turned around next year in earnest.
Electrify Everything Says SMUD. The Sacramento utility is looking ahead for homes in their service area and realizes that a fully electric home may be the best way forward. The rebates, up to $13k on existing homes, serve to ready homes for a future without more gas infrastructure. This is the first of this concept that have typically pushed for water heaters, stoves etc to go gas and reduce electricity usage. The skeptic may look at this and see a utility that wants to have more customer base but it doesn’t appear to be true in this case.
LG Comes To Alabama. Another 500MW assembly plant has been announced, this time by LG. The plant is an add on to the existing campus LG has in the State of Alabama. Now, I have nothing against Alabama but why not North Carolina? We know it all centers around the cost of labor but for once it would be great if the manufacturer thought about the market dynamics a bit. Tease the State with the plant in return for a market perhaps? Now that we are well passed the 2GW of exclusion for cell imports, how will the US assemblers deal with this?
Remember SB 100. I covered the 100% RPS in California last year when it looked like it could pass the California legislature. This year that looks like an even better possibility. So remember the bill, SB 100, because I’m starting to increase my confidence that this could become reality. Over the past year, legislators have had the chance to see costs plummet on solar and storage and the pushback on the ability to do this is basically gone. Let’s put California, one of the largest economies in the world, on track to 100% by passing SB 100.
Presented by Sunrun. Sunrun is the largest residential solar, storage and energy services company in the United States with a mission to create a planet run by the sun. Since establishing the solar as a service model in 2007, Sunrun continues to lead the industry in providing clean energy to homeowners with little to no upfront cost and at savings to traditional electricity. Sunrun is excited to expand its solar offerings to Illinois residents.

Have a great day!

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Have a great day!
Yann

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

The utilities showed their muscle again in South Carolina, "persuading" legislators to remove two pro-solar provisions from the state's budget bill and scuttling the chances of fomenting solar growth during this legislative session. Removing the state'st net metering caps and encouraging more purchases of solar electricity from independent power producers (IPPs) had been in the bill until the last moment, when they were removed because they allegedly didn't meet the standards for being part of the budget process. The move was reminiscent of a similar maneuver earlier this year when the net-metering provision was taken out of another bill after intense utility lobbying turned some typically pro-solar legislators against it. Once gain, the South Carolina legislature has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory when it comes to creating sane solar policy in the Palmetto State. Predictably, the national solar industry reacted angrily to the news. “Today, lawmakers caved to utility interests instead of looking out for all South Carolina solar workers, households, and businesses," said Tyson Grinstead, Southeast director of public policy for residential installer Sunrun. "When Duke reaches its limit on solar energy over the next few weeks hundreds of industry workers will be forced to leave the upstate. "Households will no longer have the freedom to choose solar energy as an alternative to paying the highest energy bills in the country," Grinstead continued. "This recent primary election proved that opposing energy choices such as solar is politically toxic. We look forward to working with the lawmakers who are searching for a permanent solution that encourages more homegrown energy choices, jobs, and economic prosperity for the state.” Thad Culley, regional director for Vote Solar, was no less upset but did single out the bipartisan group of legislators who led the fight to eliminate the net metering cap for praise. “It is deeply disappointing that clean energy progress in South Carolina will be delayed another year, putting at risk 3,000 local jobs in the state’s once-thriving solar industry and limiting South Carolinians only true alternatives to monopoly utilities," Culley said. "We thank Representatives Nathan Ballentine, Peter McCoy and James Smith for their strong bipartisan leadership and for championing the energy freedom, lower utility bills, and solar workforce that solar brings to South Carolina. "We look forward to removing arbitrary limits on solar’s potential in next year’s session and reminding all lawmakers that this is an issue that has overwhelming support from voters across the political spectrum,” Culley said. For Culley's dream to be realized, however, the power of the utilities (if you'll pardon the pun) will have to be curbed within the statehouse because even when victories have been secured, the lobbyists are able to get to members of the legislature to undo them, sometimes as soon as the next day. For South Carolina's solar policy to have any chance of changing for the better, that's the monopoly that will have to be broken. “The Legislature missed an opportunity to help consumers save money, generate more low-cost renewable energy, and give the economy more solar jobs," said Sean Gallagher, vice president of state affairs for the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). "This is a deeply disappointing outcome for the people of South Carolina, who now will be paying unnecessarily high electric bills to the monopoly utilities. Without a permanent solution that enables solar businesses to compete and provides fair rates for consumers, the state will have a hard time growing solar and maintaining the thousands of solar jobs that came with the passage of 2014’s Act 236.” And so the battle for hearts and minds in South Carolina will have to continue for another year - and in the meantime, jobs will be lost.

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Energy storage is the next front in the solar revolution, and states across the country are starting to grapple with how to incorporate it into the future of their electricity-generation plans. California, Arizona and New Mexico have already mandated that their utilities incorporate storage into their long-term planning. And now New York has announced its plans to incorporate 1,500 MW of energy storage into it electricity generation by 2025. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the aggressive plans last week, touting that it would create $2 billion in consumer benefits and 30,000 jobs. He also directed the NY Green Bank to commit $200 million to fund energy storage plans. It's a tight turnaround that he's asking for - six years isn't much time at all - but Cuomo is convinced his state can do it. He said:

Clean energy is the future of our planet, and New York will continue to lead the nation in this technology to fight climate change and conserve resources for generations to come. This Roadmap is the next step to not only grow our clean energy economy and create jobs, but to improve the resiliency of the grid to keep our power running in the face of extreme weather and other emergency situations.

New York State currently has approximately 60-megawatts of advanced energy storage capacity deployed with another 500-megawatts in the pipeline, in addition to 1,400-megawatts of traditional pumped hydro storage. In order to advance energy storage development in ways that are viable, replicable, and scalable, the Roadmap recommends:

Providing $350 million in statewide market acceleration incentives to fast-track the adoption of advanced storage systems to be located at customer sites or on the distribution or bulk electric systems;

Adding incentives for energy storage to NYSERDA's successful NY-Sun initiative to accelerate the development of solar plus storage projects and allow those projects to access federal tax credits before they expire;

Regulatory changes to utility rates, utility solicitations and carbon values to reflect the system benefits and values of storage projects;

Continuing to address project permitting and siting challenges and reduce system indirect expenses and soft costs; and,

Recommending modifications to wholesale market rules to better enable storage participation, including allowing storage to meet both electric distribution system and wholesale system needs to provide greater value for ratepayers.

If you want to see what the future of energy storage is going to look like, watch those five states. Their plans will define how energy storage spreads across the rest of the country.