201 Recap. Last week we learned about the 201 tariffs from Trump and SolarWakeup quickly held a conference call for our readers. That call is now available online for you to review. This week, I head to New York for our third SolarWakeup Live. We will hear about community solar, blockchain, energy storage, REV and investments in New York. I also have an unannounced guest that was inside the room during 201 tariff discussions fighting for the solar industry every step of the way. If you are in the area, don’t miss the event the solar industry is calling the most important gathering in America.
Congrats. Oliver Crane has made it to Antigua. Catch the livestream on the ‘Atlantic Campaigns’ facebook page. It was pretty cool so it gets the double mention. A big thanks from all of you that donated and shared his donation page.
SunPower Hits Back. The stop and go portion of the 201 tariff has already caused job losses in solar, we’ve been saying that since the start. Since the announcement of the tariff, it has been more of the same with the press release, proclamation and annexes all coming separately. Then we waited for the exemption process and hinting at a path to global settlements. SunPower was adamant about their differentiation during the USITC hearings and filings. Their position was that the IBC technology is just as different as First Solar’s CdTe solution which was exempted. SunPower is now stopping a $20million investment and hiring plan until they find out if their exemption request comes out. The interesting subplot is that if Suniva had been run properly from the start, taking on SunPower’s dealer network would have worked. Instead they were greedy and focused on the SolarCity/Sunruns of the market and promptly screwed up customer service when they changed their supply chain software solution. I hope for the sake of SunPower, their employees and dealers that they get the exemption.
South Korea Files With WTO. This is unlikely to be the first WTO filing by a country affected by the tariff. The political ramifications elude me unless the politics are better at putting issues into silos than I thought. It may also provide an inside look on if the tariffs hold up at the WTO.
Red State Pushback. Tom Matzzie highlights the interesting ‘policy by press release’ result of the 201 tariffs. The jobs that will be lost, in large part, come in the form of lost jobs in the future; i.e. growth of market that will not occur. Many of those projects are in the Trump States that wanted better paying blue collar jobs. The political challenge now is to use this issue as a way to show the tangible economic opportunity presented by solar and win an election fighting for solar to grow. The 201 tariff is both anti-growth and wage suppressing while costing taxpayers half a billion dollars.
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19 Year Old. World Record. Clean Oceans. For the past month and a half, a 19 year old has been ROWING a boat that has capsized numerous time ACROSS the Atlantic. He is doing it all for charity and this weekend he will have made it across the Atlantic and be the youngest to ever accomplish this row solo. This has been an amazing story that I’ve had the privilege to read about in a play by play from Oliver’s father, David Crane. Oliver is doing this for an amazing charity to help clean the oceans. Clean oceans means a clean future for all of us. Please spare a few dollars and if you can’t spare a few dollars, share this on your social media. Imagine being completely alone, on a 22 foot kayak, auto-rudder broken, steering yourself to Antigua. Give for clean oceans here.
201 Tariff Conference Call. If you missed the conference call on Wednesday you can now hear it on the EnergyWakeup podcast. Make sure to subscribe and give us a review to get the word out about this. All of our great content from the live events and now conference calls are on the podcast stream. Here is the link for the conference call.
Real Numbers From GE. A division of GE had sales of $10.4 billion in 2017 and it is none other than the renewable energy group at GE. While it comes from the wind turbine business, it creates a shift in dynamic within the industrial giant. 10 billion is the eleven figure club that makes business unit heads a little bit more powerful. Mark this down as a moment in the energy transition that mattered.
Silicon Battles. Does China need the US solar market to be bigger by allowing cheaper solar modules to thrive in the market enough to let US silicon compete in their supply chain? That’s the question now as we try to kick off the settlement discussions.
Praise And Debate. Yesterday Gore gave a pass to Trump for the tariffs. Headlines overshadowed Gore’s intention of blaming the petitioners. The GOP isn’t happy about the tariffs, as stalwart defenders of the free trade market, this goes counter to their platform. However, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who may have more solar in his district than other member of the House, praised Trump for the tariffs yesterday. The praise was wrapped in irony because they were made while standing in Davos for the World Economic Forum. Where’s my invitation by the way?
COSEIA Call For Nominations. Help Honor Solar Projects: Do you know of a wonderful solar or energy storage project that deserves recognition? If so, the new COSEIA awards program is designed to provide kudos to these projects. Nomination form here. I will be interviewing a special guest on March 15th at the COSEIA Conference.
Presented By FlexGen. FlexGen has been providing energy storage solutions for military and microgrid applications for nearly a decade and installed the largest DC-coupled solar plus storage project in the world. Their integrated solution is ideal for your dc-coupled storage project for projects over 250kW.
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What: On January 24th, SolarWakeup held a conference call to discuss the 201 Tariffs and their market impacts
Summary: Joined by solar experts, Colin Rusch of Oppenheimer and MJ Shiao of GTM Research, SolarWakeup held a conference call to discuss the impacts and next steps from the President’s solar tariffs. Research from Oppenheimer suggests price increases echoed by GTM Research and MJ Shiao discussed GTM Research’s data about the decline in market size.
What: On January 24th, SolarWakeup held a conference call to discuss the 201 Tariffs and their market impacts
Summary: Joined by solar experts, Colin Rusch of Oppenheimer and MJ Shiao of GTM Research, SolarWakeup held a conference call to discuss the impacts and next steps from the President’s solar tariffs. Research from Oppenheimer suggests price increases echoed by GTM Research and MJ Shiao discussed GTM Research’s data about the decline in market size.
Related: SolarWakeup View: Trump Announces Section 201 Determinations for Cells and Modules
SolarWakeup Conference Call. I want to thank Colin Rusch from Oppenheimer and MJ Shiao from GTM Research for joining me on the SolarWakeup conference call to review Trump’s 201 actions, impact on price and what the market looks like under these new rules. If you enjoyed the conference call and would like to see SolarWakeup do more of them, I’d love to hear from you.
Making A Settlement. This is the next step that many are foreshadowing. It was listed in the proclamation and mentioned in the President’s comments. Now Hemlock is leveraging the tariff to push the parties to finally get behind the settlement. I don’t know why the settlement didn’t happen before and I can’t understand why it wouldn’t happen here. None of the petitioners win with this tariff and it doesn’t actually help create more module manufacturing here. The question is how does the settlement happen now, who gets into the room and when can it happen?
Who Gets Exempt. The annex to the tariff proclamation is out and there isn’t much in there that we didn’t expect. Mexico and Canada remain on the included list and there is no exemption for 72 cell or high efficiency premium modules which were asked for during the process. Consumer solar products are exempt so you can continue to buy solar powered backpacks and driveway lights. We do expect to see additional information about the cell import quota and companies filing for individual exemptions soon.
Calling The End To Gas. Danny Kennedy of CalCEF is out with a thorough view of the natural gas marketplace and the current pain it is in. As we look at the future of energy storage pricing, the process for replacing gas will happen fast. The paradigm shift will occur when markets move from minute pricing to second pricing.
SolarWakeup Live. New York will be the largest SolarWakeup Live! to date. The speakers are geared to give you great insight and information about where to focus. This event and future ones will now be more than just great content but also a great place to meet solar professionals. There are still just a few seats left if you would like to register. After SolarWakeup Live! there will also be a happy hour that we are co-hosting with EnergeiaWorks. Register here
Presented By Panasonic. When you install Panasonic HIT® high-efficiency solar panels, you’ll provide homeowners with what we believe are the most efficient solar modules available today. Let’s take your business to profitable new levels together.
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