Last month, I reached out to the SolarWakeup family and asked for some projects to put tax equity into and you delivered. We were able to connect over 10MW of projects into money. That being said we have about 3MW of capacity left for projects that COD in 2017. Enjoy your weekend, right after you send me some deals.
Let’s Itemize The Bullshit About 201 Petition. Because PV-Magazine is a journalistic organization, they gave the platform to the CEO of SolarWorld Americas (which is for sale) to counter a previous article from Tony Clifford about how bad the 201 petition is for America. In this article, Mr. Stein starts out with nuance and thoughts that find themselves in a distorted version of reality. In other words, time to call out some #Fake201TalkingPoints.
First we have to start with the fact that SolarWorld/Suniva and other ‘domestic’ module companies have already hindered solar growth by having duties and tariffs put on Chinese modules. Now the companies that failed to innovate like all of us had to, are asking the government to help them by screwing everyone else.
“From 2012 to 2016, nearly 30 U.S. manufacturers were forced to shut their doors, casting off hundreds of line workers.”How many new manufacturing/widget/BOS companies were created in that same time? How many manufacturing jobs were created? How many solar jobs across the entire spectrum were added?
“While China and other nations are building up their technological production toward energy independence, the United States is on the brink of losing its own industry.” We have to get real about what SolarWorld is saying in my opinion. If solar panels aren’t made in the US then there is no solar industry at all. I have about 270,000 reasons why that is a selfish and absurd statement to make. Look at the solar industry in my hometown of Miami for example, which has grown very well. Where are those projects being developed? Many of the jobs in Miami are for development in Central and South America. The US is the global leader on developing, financing, managing and manufacturing balance of systems. The argument SolarWorld is making is akin to saying that iPhones create no value for America because they are designed in California but made in China.
You’ll have to read the article to violently shake your head in disgust, disappointment and anger much like I did. The petitioners cling to the wonderland where higher solar prices save their companies and grow the US solar sector. While reality will be that neither of those things will happen and that is what the ITC should be focused on. Higher priced modules in the US will not save Suniva and SolarWorld in my opinion meaning that any remedies will serve only the benefit of people that wish the solar industry to go away.
We can grow jobs in the US, manufacturing and across the value chain, while competing in a low margin industry without wishing harm on our competitors. Because look around your office this morning and find how many colleagues you have today that were your competitor yesterday. We are linked in so many ways, but at the end of the day we are an industry that gets stronger through our amazing American workforce coming together.
Yann
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Yann
The Market Has Spoken. Xcel Energy is closing coal and going solar. This is quite the week for power plants as the market continues to make its voice heard.
Ratebase I can Get Behind. Investing into infrastructure for the purpose of more renewables is the right investment that shows the utility is looking forward.
What Does Resiliency Mean To You? Let’s get your best ideas out there.
Yann
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Yann
Look Into The Windshield. In my conversation with Amory Lovins I asked him what would be different if he were to write the DOE Grid Study. His answer was much like solar is to coal. He would look forward into the windshield instead of the rearview mirror. Taking advantage of distributed, diverse and cheaper energy he would want the grid to leverage 21stCentury technology. He also fills me in on what Thomas Edison’s idea was that was overruled in 1892.
Solar Marketing Goes Hiking. This video is a bit old but I saw it for the first time during a baseball game. Coors Light has solar on a brewery, which isn’t a new or unique concept. Budweiser has some Solyndra on their Newark location. But this is the first time that I have seen a major corporate tout a solar project in a standalone sustainability commercial. Like corporations, I wouldn’t be surprised to see politicians using solar votes as a swing issue.
Duke Goes For Double Play. I almost skipped over this headline because I thought we sufficiently covered Duke’s nuclear power cancellation already. Then I realized that Duke was cancelling a Florida plant in Levy County while announcing some solar and energy storage at the same time. The numbers seem off, $6billion for 700MW of solar, 50MW of storage and 500 EV chargers so there must be something else included.
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Grid Study Review With Amory Lovins. There was one voice I wanted to talk to about the DOE Grid Study after it was released and that was Founder of Rocky Mountain Institute, Amory Lovins. He has been calling the future on the grid for many years and he drops some major knowledge and some wonkiness on this episode of the podcast. Not only do we discuss the grid study and its editorial bias but also get into macro grid trends that are important to your business. Listen to this now, subscribe and review it on iTunes.
Looking Forward At SPI. I have been hard at work on my next project. As many of my previous endeavors, SolarWakeup included, I am pulled towards difficult things. While still solar related, it will drive some nuance and try to fix some very big but important things. I look forward to telling you more about this soon and at SPI. I will be at the show and speaking on Monday at 11am about how to communicate solar in current times. Joined by some great solar people, our panel will be a can’t miss so I hope to see you there.
SolarWakeup Live! This is happening and I have locked in the first two cities and hope to announce the dates soon. If you want to get involved, there will be some ability to do so. Please email me to find out more. Stay Tuned!
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Yann