Don’t tell me, show me. This goes hand in hand with the saying, in god we trust, everyone else bring data. In this case, we can use pictures to change hearts and possibly minds. There are some amazingly frightening time lapse documentaries on glaciers and their retreat. Of course these are the effects from human cause but they are also the cause of the weather effects we are seeing in whacky weather. Visual debate is very effective, that’s why I tend to like every picture of solar I see on facebook or linkedin. You hear non-solar people say it all of the time after they fly into a major hub, “why aren’t all of those roofs full of solar?”
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Realism in being contrarian? Many comments in the aftermath of the Trump victory have stated that renewables cannot be stopped at this point. Much of that is true and at the same time it’s the therapy we need to justify believing our own kool aid. I’m sure it’s a little bit of everything, meaning that a weak EPA and DOE with regard to renewables and the apathy by the White House is not helpful for the growth of our sector. At the same time, coal is still not going to make a comeback. Natural gas pricing will continue to be low because there is a lot of it and any upward pressure on pricing due to a desire to have drinkable ground water isn’t going to happen. Therefore, I agree with the overview, it’s not bad but it definitely isn’t good.
Make sure you listen to the latest episode of EnergyWakeup. Google is now at 100% renewables, how do they do it and what is next? Sam Arons talks to SolarWakeup.
Another Nuke Deal? We discussed the potential for another deal around nuclear plants early this year after New York and Illinois both went this way. It looks like Connecticut may be pursuing a bill of their own. CT only has one nuke, owned by Dominion Power. The deregulated market has so much more potential for more solar, the existing solar market was well crafted but capped early. The bailout is done by doubling the RPS, funny right, since nuclear power is labeled as a renewable. Any solar folks working this bill?
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Flat Earth Society. In this political environment, we take normal events that shouldn’t be news to be breaking news. Take Chris Wallace from Fox News as an example of just that. In an interview with Scott Pruitt, who does the bidding for polluting oil and gas companies, Wallace pushed back on Pruitt’s false comments on effects of humans on climate change. This comes in the wake of the disastrous cuts to the EPA and DOE programs that keep our water and air supply clean. If you look at pollution in some cities, drinking water in places like Flint and eroding beaches in South Florida, you would see that more work is needed. Keep up the good work Chris Wallace, maybe we should start a club for anchors that still think the earth is flat and convince them that science is real.
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Legislative Agendas Across America. One week during legislative gives anti solar efforts in Indiana, Ohio and Missouri. Of course there are more attacks under way and efforts to enhance solar in some States. The problem is these policies are being argued in places where solar is yet to go mainstream. Local installers are there already but few on the national level are paying attention because it doesn’t drive their bottom line. I don’t know what the solution is, we used to have TASC and SolarCity with big budgets. We have to figure out a way that the bi-partisan support for solar is translated to local legislative fights. Legislators at the State level want to go to Congress and we should, as an industry make it clear to them that if they want to go to Congress, being anti-solar is going to make you lose your election.
Make sure you listen to the latest episode of EnergyWakeup. Google is now at 100% renewables, how do they do it and what is next? Sam Arons talks to SolarWakeup.
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Back in the home office after a week in San Francisco. I went to cover the asset management event because I was curious to see how the 40GW of US projects are being managed. Still a very immature market but its filled with software platforms doing asset management, performance analytics and O&M ticketing. There are also established/larger companies like Mercatus getting into the space. Mercatus announced the expansion of its software adding an asset management to its project platform. That being said, a vast majority of the projects are still being managed in excel files which most vendors called their biggest competitor. Look for more content about this sector, I am officially intrigued.
Consumer Protection. This is the next big thing and it’s not just from the people going after solar. There are definitely forces being pushed and funded by utilities to protect the consumers but the solar industry is abuzz about this as well. SEIA came out this week with a consumer education system and legislation in State’s like Florida is looking to add protection. I don’t have a problem with the concept but let’s not overreact and overextend. Ask your clients to give you good ratings on platforms like BBB or Google. Earn their trust and don’t let fast talking, fly by night sales people speak for the solar industry. This isn’t a solar problem, this is a problem caused by a few bad actors passing through our industry. Don’t you think there are bad mortgage brokers, roofers, plumbers, etc running around? Nobody in their industry is overreacting.
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Raising money, the old fashioned way. First Solar has the biggest war chest in the solar industry with about $2billion worth of capital. Much of that is now going into rebuilding its manufacturing capacity for the Series 6 module. Making money through project development has been the leading way for the company to do as well as it has, riding the PPA contracts through product cost decreases. This time it’s another 250MW solar farm in Nevada.
Make sure you listen to the latest episode of EnergyWakeup. Google is now at 100% renewables, how do they do it and what is next? Sam Arons talks to SolarWakeup.
Squeeze the lemon. Creating finality for SunEdison isn’t going to come without some more fighting. The unsecured creditors have filed objections with the bankruptcy court regarding Brookfield’s acquisition of the TERP and GLBL shares. I’m sure things will still end up the same way but this is part of the process regardless.
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We talk to Google about solar. Yesterday we spoke with Sam Arons from Google about the tech giants achievement to go 100% renewable energy. In this episode of EnergyWakeup, we go deep into how this works and how Google participates in the wholesale markets. In some markets, like North Carolina, Google has had to push utilities that own those markets into new ways for Google to get access to renewable energy. We talk about corporate PPAs and how solar gets a bigger piece of that market going forward. Don’t miss this episode and pass it on to your friends.
Help support SolarWakeup. If you are looking for investors or buyers of your projects, hit reply to this email and let us help you. Our expansive network is always looking to partner with you and helps us pay the bills to keep the newsletter free to you, as it has been for the past 4 years.
Solyndra times 20. Westinghouse, the nuclear power plant contractor, filed for bankruptcy yesterday. Huge news on its own but there is an interesting part of this. The cost overruns of the Southern Company/Oglethorpe Vogtle Nuclear Plant in Georgia had a lot to do with it. The Vogtle Nuke also received an $8.3 billion loan guarantee from the same program that Solyndra got money from. There is a nuance, Southern Company has apparently guaranteed the loan so even if the project fails, Southern will likely pay their portion. Nevertheless, a huge blow to the nuclear industry that is now lacking capable contractors to build plants. If you don’t like the Solyndra comparison, check out this side by side from the Nuclear Energy Institute justifying the loan.
Make sure you listen to the latest episode of EnergyWakeup. Google is now at 100% renewables, how do they do it and what is next? Sam Arons talks to SolarWakeup.
Tariffs don’t work. Exhibit 542 on why protectionism doesn’t work. SolarWorld loses money again and doesn’t see profitability until 2019. How do protectionist policies work for you now?
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