I think we need to start pretending that there are two solar industries. One for Elon Musk and one for the rest of us. Of course I am kidding. I say this because most of us are driving each of our companies to focusing on a single segment of the value chain while Musk is seeking to bring Tesla/SolarCity to complete vertical integration. From modules to installation crews but now the inverter as well. In a solar only analysis, this seems strange because why build something that others do a great job of building for us at great prices. Instead, Tesla sees itself has a wireless grid company and the inverter is an important brain center for this. So while Tesla builds a solar inverter, do you think this is the right path?
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Yann
Back in 2006-2008, RPS legislation was going around the Country but for solar they were not enough. The RPS laws often had a push for a solar carve out so that solar could find its piece within the rule. Those standards gave us the NJ and MA markets amongst others. Seems to me that energy storage is going through a similar process. It sounds cliché but storage is 10 years behind solar with a potential growth trigger that relates the two sectors. Like Germany, which doesn’t have net metering, the US attempt to get off net metering and into time of use rate design, the storage sector can ‘trick’ the shift into a box that takes homes off the grid. I’d love to hear from you all about how you are looking at storage and how it intersects your business.
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Yann
In a few weeks it will have been 4 years since I sent the very first SolarWakeup newsletter to about 350 of you, now it’s the widest read daily newsletter in the industry. What has been a volatile policy and innovation environment has given me plenty to talk about each morning. Now that we have over 250 thousand solar professionals, there is more to talk about and more content to bring you. In the next few weeks and months you will see more media from SolarWakeup, in the form of audio and video, starting with the podcast series you can find on the homepage (to the right) with correspondent Frank Andorka. Soon, I will soon start video interviews primarily focused on solar startups and other innovators shaking up our sector. There are many exciting interviews already in the works and I hope you join me in the excitement about this addition to the platform.
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Pending a shareholder vote and approval from regulators, SolarCity will become Tesla Solar, or at least part of Tesla. Solar power has always been part of the complete sustainability picture for Elon Musk and letting the nuances of a solar balance sheet stop that goal wasn’t going to happen. SolarCity also preannounced better than expected install numbers for Q2 and lowered guidance for 2016 to 900-1000MW. While lower than expected, let that settle in for a second. 1GW, of solar, primarily on households is a boatload of solar energy. The Silevo modules are now shown in a picture and expect them to be at 22% or about 350W which should help with MW goals given that Wall Street doesn’t understand efficiencies. The worry for the solar industry continues, Trina is going private and some wondered why Tesla was stepping in for SolarCity. Sunrun CEO, Lynn Jurich, blogged about the great deal Tesla is getting, perhaps in the hopes of getting her own deal for Sunrun?
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Yann