In case it wasn’t yet obvious to you, solar is complicated. It requires an endless flow of capital, whether directly from end customers that invest for themselves or loans and leases. Now that the industry is driving the scale up, new capital is interested which is obvious by the number of public solar companies. Being public is complicated because you have to create quarterly results which does not go hand in hand with a 20+ year asset class. MIT, which has a history of loving fossil and nuclear, is taking some joy of the recent drop in solar stock prices and calling it a bubble. I have a question for MIT, Bank of America stock is down 30%+ in the past 6 months, is the banking sector bubble bursting too?
Opinion
News
1 MIT:
Suddenly, the Solar Boom Is Starting to Look like a Bubble
2 The Hill:
Sanders calls out Warren Buffett over solar energy
3 Vox:
Flattening the "duck curve" to get more renewable energy on the grid
4 PV-Magazine:
Judge limits asset transfers by SunEdison, TerraForm Power
5 Greentech Media:
Nevada Regulators Approve New Rate Hike Timeline For Rooftop Solar Customers
6 Solar Industry:
Maine Solar Supporters Call On Legislators To Preserve Net Metering
7 Motley Fool:
5 Facts You Didn't Know About Solar Energy
8 Mankato Free Press:
Sunburst - The solar boom has hit south-central Minnesota
Opinions:
9 Renew Economy:
Energy industry needs to focus on consumers, it may need them
Have a great day!
Yann
These are the top 10 most read solar articles by your peers this week!
News
1 Rolling Stone:
The Koch Brothers' Dirty War on Solar Power
2 New York Times:
SolarCity and Other Rooftop Providers Face a Cloudier Future
3 Boston Globe:
Major solar incentive runs out in Mass., surprising many
4 Concord Monitor:
The truth about net metering
5 Vice:
MIT Tool Gives the Cost of Installing Solar Panels on Any Roof in Your City
6 Greentech Media:
PG&E Launches Community Solar Program Enabling Customers to Go 100% Renewable
7 Forbes:
China Scores Big Win In Solar Trade Battle As REC Silicon Shutters US Polysilicon Production
8 Renew Economy:
Why solar power is taking over the world
9 Ralston Live:
Jon talks with Bryan Miller about solar energy in Nevada
10 CNN:
Nevada's perplexing war on solar
The Top 10 is ranked by the number of SolarWakeup.com readers that clicked on the news article during the previous week. It is the poll of the most relevant solar news of the week as judged by your colleagues and competitors.
Have a great day!
Yann
A long form piece by Rolling Stone about solar energy. More importantly about the forces that we, as an industry, are up against. We can label it as utilities, Koch Brothers, etc but on a deeper level, we are the change that the 20th century monopolies fight to keep away. Capitalism embraces but at the same time rejects disruption but the market will ultimately prevail no matter where regulators or politicians get their money from, things work out. That being said, the time it takes to create change can be slowed so we have to remain active participants in the process with time, people and money.
Opinion
News
1 Rolling Stone:
The Koch Brothers' Dirty War on Solar Power
2 Las Vegas Sun:
Clinton - Don’t penalize solar customers by changing rules
3 Sacramento Bee:
California’s push for clean energy is paying off
4 Bloomberg:
KKR Puts $500 Million Into Expanding Spanish Solar Acquisition
5 Solar Foundation:
Solar Jobs Census 2015
6 Utility Dive:
Florida critics say utility-backed amendment curbs solar choice
7 EDF:
Good Policy Gone Bad - How Nevada Killed Jobs and Clean Energy Competition
8 Greentech Media:
The Middle East Solar Market Is Set for a Big 2016, But Experts Worry About Risks
Opinions:
9 Huffington Post:
We Went Solar, and So Should You -- Because It's Free
Have a great day!
Yann
Solar is clearly a project business that is not ideally suited for quarterly results, especially in the infancy of a company. We are still too young of an industry to have sufficient free cash flow from projects to pay for the platform to get new projects. That is where REITs sit today, with billions of assets yielding cash flow to fund day to day operations. Also, solar projects shift timeframes and it often makes sense to push projects out in order to get better scale in the future to lower the cost of installation. Wall Street still looks at solar as a trade instead of a long term asset based investment, but that will change soon.
News
1 New York Times:
Rooftop Solar Providers Face a Cloudier Future
2 Los Angeles Times:
California solar industry job growth reaches record levels
3 Huffington Post:
Utilities, Solar Energy and the Fight for Your Roof
4 Las Vegas Review Journal:
Tesla asks new rooftop-solar rates be reconsidered
5 Greentech Media:
SolarCity Installed 870MW of Solar in 2015, But Lowers Q1 2016 Guidance
6 Greenbiz:
How much does energy storage really cost?
7 Renewable Energy World:
Renewable Energy Finance Outlook 2016 - The Year of the Green Dollar
8 PV-Magazine:
Australia sails past 5 GW of PV
Opinions:
9 Utility Dive:
Ex-regulator - NextEra's energy vision for Hawaii isn't good enough
Have a great day!
Yann
