I’ll Take Instant Permits for $1. Imagine a solar market where you can install solar like it was an air conditioner. Sell it, install it and then pull the permit. It puts some pressure on you to do it right but it solves so many more of the solar market’s inefficiencies. This idea, not without prior attempts, is being spearheaded by Andrew Birch and many others and I sat down with Andrew in this episode of SolarWakeup Live! podcast. We talk about why, why now and what’s next. If there is a conversation you want to be listening to, this is one of them.
A Meeting To Make It Happen. The starting point on the execution towards instant permits is a two day summit which happened last week. Day 1 hosted at Sunrun and day 2 hosted at Mosaic in the Bay Area. Co-chairing with Andrew Birch are Lynn Jurich and Billy Parish. Facilitated by the Rocky Mountain Institute and with involvement of SEIA and The Solar Foundation this makes it a venture to be looked after. More details about the meeting in the podcast and how you can get involved.
Where Do We Go From Here. This is just the start! After the meeting comes a decision of how to proceed, how to raise money and where to get the early victories. SunShot invested in this idea through Broward County, a venture that appears to have failed as the program was passed to the Florida Solar Energy Center and the website is dead. Unfortunate but hopefully recoverable by the trade groups and private sector. The residential advisory council from SolarWakeup will be involved and advising the course of this endeavor to make sure that small solar installers have a seat at the table because without the small installers this will not go as well as it can.
Laudato Si Se Puede. The Pope is doing the work that few can assemble. Bringing oil and gas to the table and asking them to understand the needs of the planet as part of their business. The Pope and I believe in some different things but on this issue, we are in sync.
Chicago! One last panel to put speakers on, the one that has billions at stake so I’ll let you give me some ideas. Development of large scale solar in Illinois is already in the works and I want to hear from those working on it. If you know of anyone that would make a great panel discussion at SolarWakeup Live! Chicago.www.solarwakeuplive.com
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By Yann Brandt, Managing Editor This may be the most important topic to be organized in solar since the start of net metering. The permitting process in the US adds almost $1/watt to the cost of the installations and increases the cancellation rate for customers looking to go solar. In this episode of SolarWakeup Live! I speak with Andrew Birch who was a co-founder of Sungevity. Andrew tackles this issue by spearheading a two-day meeting which happened last week along with his co-chairs Billy Parish of Mosaic and Lynn Jurich of Sunrun. SEIA and The Solar Foundation will be intimately involved in the process. The idea is to get solar to be a retroactive permit, registered with the AHJ after having been installed. Sell on one day and install the next. If you agree that this ultimate goal is ideal for your business, listen to this conversation and get involved. More:
By Yann Brandt, Managing Editor This may be the most important topic to be organized in solar since the start of net metering. The permitting process in the US adds almost $1/watt to the cost of the installations and increases the cancellation rate for customers looking to go solar. In this episode of SolarWakeup Live! I speak with Andrew Birch who was a co-founder of Sungevity. Andrew tackles this issue by spearheading a two-day meeting which happened last week along with his co-chairs Billy Parish of Mosaic and Lynn Jurich of Sunrun. SEIA and The Solar Foundation will be intimately involved in the process. The idea is to get solar to be a retroactive permit, registered with the AHJ after having been installed. Sell on one day and install the next. If you agree that this ultimate goal is ideal for your business, listen to this conversation and get involved. More:
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
OhmHome, a website devoted to educating consumers about the Solar Revolution and other energy issues, has decided it wants to one-up Google's Project Sunroof with its new solar mapping service called NextDoor Solar. In addition to showing consumers what other homes in the neighborhood have solar, it will also tell them which companies have done the installations - a feature OhmHome says is important because of its long-term financial implications. In its release, the company cites NREL research that shows local installers can offer consumers 10% more savings than large national companies. It also cites Yale research that purchasing solar is contagious, meaning the more people in a neighborhood purchase solar, the more likely it is that others will also purchase solar. As a result, OhmHome believes its mapping program can provide the final nudge for a lot of potential solar owners currently sitting on the fence. "The problem for consumers is that it's often hard to research local companies and know anything about their quality," Ohmhome said in a release. "We want to make doing that research easier." The website based its product launch on its database of more than 500,000 residential solar projects in the United States. According to the annual Gallup Environment poll findings, 73% of Americans want the United States to wean itself of traditional fossil fuels and pour more research into alternative energy sources like solar and wind. And more than 50% prefer to protect the environment over more fossil fuel exploration. .By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
Mirroring the efforts in the House, two Western-state Senators have introduced a federal bill to repeal the 30% solar tariffs President Donald J. Trump imposed on imported solar modules in January. Earlier this year, solar tariffs repeal became a federal issue when five members of the House of Representatives introduced similar legislation. U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.) have introduced the Protecting American Solar Jobs Act, which would accomplish the same goals as the House solar tariffs repeal bill, meaning it would not only eliminate the tariffs immediately but would refund money already spent on the tariffs to the companies affected. “President Trump’s decision to impose a new import tax on solar energy equipment harms hundreds of locally-owned companies, jeopardizes tens of thousands of workers and stifles billions of dollars in investment in communities and manufacturing in New Mexico and across the country,” said Senator Heinrich in a press release announcing the bill's introduction. “We need to look at the bigger picture of the American solar industry and its role as a major employer of American workers. The bipartisan Protecting American Solar Jobs Act would reverse the harmful tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration and put American workers first.” Heller also weighed in, saying:Nevada continues to be a national leader in solar innovation. In fact, solar energy powers countless homes, businesses, and even resorts and casinos across our state,” said Senator Heller. “Our bipartisan bill protects Nevadans’ jobs in this important sector by reversing the 30 percent tax on solar panels, a tariff that threatens jobs and has the potential to harm our economy. I thank Senator Heinrich for his leadership on this issue, and I look forward to working with him to pass our proposal into law so that Nevada can continue to build on its renewable energy progress.Whether either bill has a chance to pass out of committee is an open question, but the fact that such bills have been introduced do show the increasing awareness of solar's importance to the country and its economy. In particular, Heller's support may show that Nevada politicians finally understand how important solar is to the state's economic future after several years of stumbling around after an inexplicable decision to end net metering prematurely - a decision that has since been rectified. Read the full bill here: [pdf-embedder url="http://www.solarwakeup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Heinrich-Heller-Tariff-Bill.pdf" title="Heinrich-Heller Tariff Bill"] More: Bipartisan Tariff Repeal Bill Introduced In Congress – Any Chance It Passes?