This is your SolarWakeup for October 22nd 2025
End Of An Era. You have probably already seen the news that SEIA CEO, Abby Hopper, will be stepping down at the end of January. I may have been the very first interview that her team put her on 9 years ago, and it wasn’t because I was going to be the easy, pleasant conversation. But that’s who Abby has been over her tenure, having the conversations with a membership and industry that has lots of competing ideas. SEIA is too much this or that and too vocal and too weak, not to mention growing the membership and market as a partner to many of us. She convinced me that I should join the board and help from the inside which I did a few years ago and it’s been a pleasure to do. SEIA will continue to thrive, the staff is strong and oriented on the mission to keep solar as the most cost effective, rapidly deployable energy source. But, we will miss Abby and her leadership.
News
1 E&E News:
The solar industry’s top advocate stepping down
2 Energy Storage News:
Global energy storage deployments on track for record year in 2025, BNEF says
3 Reuters:
US grid investors focus on demand hotspots in planning shift
4 Bloomberg:
GE Vernova Agrees to Pay $5.3 Billion for 50% Prolec Stake
5 Axios:
Exclusive - Bill Gates vets launch group aiming to boost cleantech policy
6 Canary Media:
California has a new law to prevent big grid battery fires
7 PV-Tech:
Section 232 polysilicon tariffs could be clarified by ‘end of the month’
8 Utility Dive:
DOE cancels $700 million in battery and manufacturing project grants
Opinions:
9 PV-Magazine:
Batteries boost as Brookfield seals $20 billion energy transition warchest
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 17th 2025
Opinion
News
1 New York Times:
Subsidizing Fossil Fuels, but Not Clean Energy
2 Axios:
Amazon provides vision of its new nuclear site
3 Reuters:
US clean power reversal comes with a hefty emissions price tag
4 Bloomberg:
Silicon Valley Bets on Solar Startup as US Sector Shrinks
5 PV-Tech:
US utility PV up 56% in 2024, accounting for 54% of all new capacity – LNBL
6 Solar Power World:
Alliant Energy adds 100-MW BESS next to 200-MW Wisconsin solar project
7 Energy Storage News:
Chile to reach 2050 energy storage target within next two years, says energy minister
8 Canary Media:
Trump admin approves $1.6B in financing for AEP transmission project
9 PV-Magazine:
Cadmium telluride vs. crystalline silicon in agrivoltaics
Opinions:
10 Utility Dive:
PJM customers will benefit from cooperation, not conflict, within the electric industry
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 15th 2025
Nuclear Curiosity. I’m legitimately curious about SMRs (small modular nuclear reactors), not from a technical feasibility, cost or timing but something a bit more solar and storage related. The development process. Thinking through the questions a zoning board or County commission would have about an SMR being installed. How would they answer and fill out the forms? What about the training of the fire department? End of life cleanup? Fuel storage? Assessment for property taxes? That’s just what comes to the top of my mind and I can’t figure out how this is going to work but I’m sure there are some answers, which I would love to hear from you about.
News
1 Axios:
Energy chief Wright to outline fusion road map
2 BLoomberg:
JPMorgan Says US Risks Missing Energy Goals Without Wind, Solar
3 Energy Storage News:
PJM area faces urgent energy storage need, US Energy Storage Coalition reports
4 New York Times:
Renewable Energy Is Booming Despite Trump’s Efforts to Slow It
5 Solar Builder:
Details on Colorado’s push for dispatchable distributed energy
6 PV-Tech:
India adds 4.9GW residential rooftop solar in H1
7 Solar Power World:
Wärtsilä launches GEMS Pulse predictive analytics for BESS projects
8 Utility Dive:
Interior denies canceling largest solar project in U.S. after axing review
9 PV-Magazine:
China imposes new export controls on lithium ion battery technology
Opinions:
10 Canary Media:
Can farmland thrive with solar? This Virginia nonprofit is finding out.
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 14th 2025
Opinion
News
1 New York Times:
Coal Miners With Black Lung Say They Are ‘Cast Aside to Die’ Under Trump
2 Bloomberg:
Battery Maker Fluence Sees US Accounting for Half of 2026 Demand
3 Politico:
Bessent says US in talks with China to prevent new trade war
4 Toledo Blade:
Employee dies at Perrysburg-area First Solar facility,company says
5 Reuters:
EDP to accelerate solar, battery projects in Australia after government awards
6 PV-Tech:
Solar power’s ‘meteoric’ rise, growth of distributed solar and battery co-location among key DNV energy trends
7 Solar Power World:
If community solar programs are successful, why not try community storage?
8 Energy Storage News:
UK BESS asset management has moved to ‘disciplined, systems-level approach’
9 PV-Magazine:
Court orders FEMA to consider distributed solar and storage for Puerto Rico hurricane recovery
Opinions:
10 Canary Media:
How Trump gutted the team meant to build America’s energy future
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 13th 2025
Opinion
News
1 Bloomberg:
China’s New Weapon in US Trade Talks
2 New York Times:
China’s High Ambitions for Clean Energy
3 Axios:
Holtec abandons plans for private New Mexico nuclear waste site
4 Reuters:
'Every electron counts'
5 PV-Tech:
European solar module market reaches supply and price ‘equilibrium’
6 Energy Storage News:
Texas utility signs 200MWh BESS offtake agreement with Jupiter Power to combat ERCOT duck curve
7 Canary Media:
Base Power hauls in $1B for mass deployment of huge home batteries
8 PV-Magazine:
Trump administration cancels largest solar project in United States
Opinions:
9 Utility Dive:
Why data center operators should pay for residential electrification upgrades
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 10th 2025
Opinion
News
1 Politico:
'The boys are fighting'
2 Utility Dive:
Grid planners and experts on why markets keep choosing renewables
3 Bloomberg:
Generate Capital Cuts Staff Amid Downturn in Climate Finance
4 New York Times:
22% Jump in Electricity Rates Dominates New Jersey Governor’s Race
5 Axios:
How states' EV tax policies stack up after U.S. credits end
6 Reuters:
US market not worth the risk, says one of India's biggest solar companies
7 PV-Tech:
Pause on ‘billions of dollars’ of retroactive US solar duties granted pending appeal
8 Energy Storage News:
Greenflash Infrastructure secures financing for Texas’s largest standalone BESS
9 Canary Media:
Base Power hauls in $1B for mass deployment of huge home batteries
Opinions:
10 PV-Magazine:
Why Big Tech could outpace utilities in deploying multi-day storage
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 8th 2025
Quick Rundown. Solar is cheaper than anything else when it comes to energy and even with storage, making it dispatch able that remains true, say it everywhere you can.
News
1 Politico:
The government’s own data rebuts Trump’s claims about wind and solar prices
2 Reuters:
Solar groups sue Trump administration over cancellation of $7 bln in grants
3 New York Times:
Early Signs of a ‘Turning Point’ as Renewables Edge Out Coal
4 Bloomberg:
Trump Administration Eyes $12 Billion in New Energy Project Cuts
5 Axios:
Trump announces U.S. stake in Trilogy Metals, Alaska mining road permits
6 PV-Tech:
OpenSolar raises US$13.1 million to advance AI platform
7 Energy Storage news:
Italy’s ‘exceptionally competitive’ first MACSE energy storage auction concludes, procuring 10GWh
8 Canary Media:
New England’s final coal plant shuts down years ahead of schedule
9 PV-Magazine:
Operational issues hit returns in one in five battery storage projects, report finds
Opinions:
10 Utility Dive:
‘Not a good sign’
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 6th 2025
Economic Reality. Energy and power makes up nearly 6% of the entire economy as a percentage of the total GDP, which doesn’t seem like a lot (though it’s nearly $2trillion dollars) but here’s the kicker. Energy is the first 6% of the economy, meaning the other 94% of the economy wouldn’t happen without it. Electricity alone was half a trillion and that will grow given the incredible growth in power hunger by digital players. That’s what we fight for every day, and while producing the most valuable of all GDP dollars, churning the economic engine ourselves, at factories, at job sites, law offices, development teams and bankers. From DC to the Central Valley farms and Midwest lands, solar is growing its importance and mark on the economy.
News
1 Bloomberg:
Why America Needs to Restore Its ‘Essential Economy’ and Embrace AI
2 Axios:
Data center developer's IPO shows more confidence in power and AI
3 Utility Dive:
Newsom vetoes bill to codify load flexibility in California grid planning
4 Reuters:
India may cancel at least 3–4 GW of solar tenders rushed to beat import rules, source says
5 PV-Tech:
Perovskite-based PV technologies could dominate within a decade, says Qcells CTO
6 Canary Media:
Trump admin targets blue-state grants meant to ease US electricity woes
7 PV-Magazine:
Arkansas to build 600 MW solar project for Google’s $4B data center
Opinions:
8 Electrek:
Tesla revives its solar business by bringing back solar leasing
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 3rd 2025
Big News For MEI. Congrats to my friends from Madison on another expansion of their platform. One of my favorite news stories is to see many of you executing on your business plans in very big ways. After nearly 20 years in solar, it’s the bridges that have been built that make this industry sustainable.
News
1 PV-Magazine:
Madison Energy Infrastructure acquires NextEra Energy’s distributed generation business
2 Axios:
BlackRock may buy utility AES for $38 billion
3 Utility Dive:
Data centers ‘primary reason’ for high PJM capacity prices
4 PV-Tech:
EU to lose 5% of solar workforce in 2025 as ‘job-intensive’ residential market contracts
5 Solar Power World:
DOE yanks funding from over 200 energy projects
6 Energy Storage News:
SPP utility to invest over US$600 million in 1.9GWh BESS projects to address ‘significant capacity deficit’
7 Canary Media:
Pennsylvania’s solar ambitions face high federal and state hurdles
Opinions:
8 New York Times:
A Generational Shift in American Energy
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 1st 2025
Opinion
News
1 Axios:
Trump's coal plan mixes new market and old hurdles
2 New York Times:
Trump's coal plan mixes new market and old hurdles
3 Reuters:
Schwarzenegger at Vatican in mission to 'terminate' fossil fuels
5 Financial Times:
Solar shines in the rush for power in Africa’s largest petrostate
6 PV-Tech:
Waaree dismisses US tariff evasion allegations, ‘actively working’ with CBP
7 Solar Power World:
Spruce Power lays off 40 people, closes Colorado office
8 Canary Media:
Carrier wants to pair batteries with air conditioners to help the grid
9 PV-Magazine:
Voltage Energy releases two wiring solutions for solar projects
Opinions:
10 Politico:
Energy Dept. adds ‘climate change’ and ‘emissions’ to banned words list
Have a great day!
Yann
