This is your SolarWakeup for August 11th 2025
Sunrun Turns To Run. I think about the last 15 years in solar and the various bends and turns that rest solar has had to make. The headlines this week about Sunrun’s impressive financial maneuvers and their now 70% storage attachment rate makes me wonder how much longer it will be before Sunrun just thinks of itself as a power company. It’s a rhetorical question because I assume the answer is in the past, i.e. they already do.
News
1 Utility Dive:
Sunrun battery attachment rate hits 70%, up 54% from year ago
2 New York Times:
California Supreme Court Requires New Review of Rooftop Solar Policy
3 Rolling Stone:
Six Ways Trump Is Screwing Solar
4 Bloomberg:
Hedge Funds Flip on Green Energy and Start Betting Against Oil
5 Reuters:
US solar capacity slowed but not stopped by Trump policy u-turn
6 PV-Tech:
US market, slow residential demand impact SMA Solar H1 2025 results
7 Energy Storage News:
US ESS cell manufacturing to reach 50GWh by the end of 2026
8 Canary Media:
Chart - Rooftop solar set to struggle under GOP tax credit repeal
Opinions:
9 PV-Magazine:
Siting solar on federal land under NEPA’s double-edged sword
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 7th 2025
Opinion
News
1 E&E News:
Interior’s restrictions have ‘frozen’ Nevada solar projects, Republican governor tells Burgum
2 Utility Dive:
Solar and storage financing is down, but dealmaking is up
3 Bloomberg:
Brazil’s Green Ambitions Collide With Coming Oil Supply Shortage
4 Axios:
Electricity costs rise amid data center boom
5 Reuters:
On farmland and on rooftops, Iraqis turn to solar as power grid falters
6 PV-Tech:
Solar module prices in the US remain stable amid trade uncertainty
7 Energy Storage News:
UK councils approve 5GW/10GWh of BESS in July
8 PV-Magazine:
Minnesota court rules to cut community solar savings
Opinions:
9 Canary Media:
Used EV batteries could upend the race for long-duration storage
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 6th 2025
Opinion
News
1 PV-Magazine:
An ambitious proposal to quickly add 23 GW of renewables in California
2 PV-Tech:
US residential solar to see short-term pain, long-term growth
3 Canary Media:
EPA moves to defang its own regulatory power
4 UTility Dive:
MISO could save $27B in system costs by 2035 with 11 GW of batteries
5 BLoomberg:
Brookfield Buys Stake in Duke Energy’s Florida Utility for $6 Billion
6 Reuters:
US EPA could cancel $7 billion in grants for solar energy, sources say
7 Energy Storage News:
US ESS cell manufacturing to reach 50GWh by the end of 2026
Opinions:
8 Semafor:
Trump’s tax bill has triggered a solar gold rush
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 5th 2025
Opinion
News
1 Reuters:
Republican lawmakers slow Trump Treasury picks over wind, solar credits
2 Bloomberg:
Australia Activates Blackrock’s A$1B Super Battery Which Will Be World’s Most Powerful
3 Axios:
Electricity costs rise amid data center boom
4 The Hill:
Trump eyes additional barriers to solar and wind energy
5 PV-Tech:
Brookfield’s hydrogen projects drive over US$400 million in renewable generation in Q2 2025
6 Energy Storage News:
Georgia Power requests PSC permission to build and own 3GW of new battery storage projects
7 Canary Media:
LA has a plan to stop copper thieves
8 PV-Magazine:
Storage growth spreads as California and Texas lose market share
Opinions:
9 UTility Dive:
Move fast, adapt faster - A distributed generation playbook for turbulent times
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 4th 2025
Tracker Safe Harbor. Yesterday, FTC Solar announced an innovative way to expand the use of single axis trackers for safe harbor purposes. The unique technology architecture that FTC brought to the market last year allows for sites to leave many decisions for later in the development process while procuring tracker components that will be usable regardless of the final site design. The information is outline in FTC’s white paper that you can see here.
News
1 Utility Dive:
AEP expects to add 24 GW of load by 2030, mainly from data centers
2 PV-Tech:
The 2,000V transition - why utility solar is ready for its next leap
3 Axios:
No end in sight for rising energy bills in Pennsylvania
4 Reuters:
Democrats decry extra US scrutiny of solar, wind projects on public lands
5 Solar Builder:
The next phase of Massachusetts’ solar revolution
6 Solar Power World:
After almost a decade, rapid shutdown of solar arrays is still being debated
7 Energy Storage News:
Peak Energy launches first grid-scale sodium-ion BESS in US pilot
8 Canary Media:
EPA moves to defang its own regulatory power
Opinions:
9 PV-Magazine:
Oregon takes aim at utility pushback against independent solar projects
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 1st 2025
Tracker Safe Harbor. Yesterday, FTC Solar announced an innovative way to expand the use of single axis trackers for safe harbor purposes. The unique technology architecture that FTC brought to the market last year allows for sites to leave many decisions for later in the development process while procuring tracker components that will be usable regardless of the final site design. The information is outline in FTC’s white paper that you can see here.
News
1 Yahoo! Finance:
FTC Solar Launches Safe Harbor Strategy Leveraging Module-Agnostic Universal Torque Tubes & Engineering Services Expertise to Enable Tax Credit Certainty
2 Bloomberg:
China Polysilicon Makers Plan $7 Billion Fund to Ease Glut
3 Utility Dive:
CleanCapital acquires 64-project solar portfolio from Greenbacker
4 Solar Power World:
Democratic lawmakers ask government accountability office to review DOE’s actions against solar and wind
5 Axios:
Exclusive - DOE alums look to speed energy, climate tech deployments
6 Reuters:
Global power grid expansion fuels fresh copper demand surge
7 PV-Tech:
Trump’s 25% India tariff will add to US’ solar trade puzzle
8 PV-Magazine:
ComEd flips the switch on Chicagoland rooftop community solar portfolio
9 Energy Storage News:
Apex, esVolta put Texas BESS projects into commercial operation
10 Canary Media:
US aluminum producers need cheap, clean power. That may be tough to get.
Opinions:
11 Mother Jones:
Rooftop Solar Is a Miracle. Why Are We Killing It With Red Tape?
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 30th 2025
Opinion
News
1 Reuters:
India's Waaree Energies says US anti-dumping probe won't derail solar ambitions
2 Utility Dive:
New York launches 1 GW bulk energy storage solicitation using new credit
3 New York Times:
Trump Urges the U.K. to Drill More Oil, Criticizing Its Energy Policy
4 Axios:
EPA seeks to cancel scientific basis for climate regulations
5 PV-Tech:
Shell’s Savion sets up Ares-backed solar project ownership vehicle
6 Solar Power World:
OpenSolar announces software upgrade with AI integration
7 Energy Storage News:
Lithium-ion starting to dominate LDES pipeline
8 Canary Media:
A pioneering ‘second-life’ battery startup begins major Texas expansion
Opinions:
9 PV-Magazine:
New York plots to keep solar on the burner while giving fossil fuels more gas
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 29th 2025
Opinion
News
1 Bloomberg:
Enphase Sees 20% Drop in Home Solar Market on Subsidy Loss
2 Axios:
EU trade deal with Trump seen as helping Europe ditch Russian fuels
3 Reuters:
Portugal to invest $466 million to boost grid management, battery storage after outage
4 PV-Tech:
Zelestra, EDP sign ‘first’ solar-plus-storage PPA in Spain
5 Solar Power World:
Energy storage spared by HR1, but can it thrive alone?
6 Energy Storage News:
‘21GWh of US ESS cell manufacturing capacity cancelled this year’
7 Canary Media:
The country’s biggest energy market struggles to reform amid soaring costs
8 PV-magazine:
States see widespread policy efforts to overcome grid issues
9 CNBC:
Private investors buy into largest-of-its-kind solar deal to electrify Kenya
Opinions:
10 UTility Dive:
Reimagining the grid for the 21st century with virtual power plants
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 28th 2025
Opinion
News
1 UTility Dive:
Electric utilities will invest more than $1.1T by 2030 to meet demand growth
2 Bloomberg:
Germans Are Finally Embracing Air Conditioning, Even Renters
3 Reuters:
Citigroup's head of energy transition decamps for Moelis role, sources say
4 Solar Builder:
Project planning gets a reality check after OBBB
5 PV-Tech:
Nautilus, Greenprint Capital enter US$275 million tax equity deal to build 130MW US community solar
6 Renewable Energy World:
Invenergy says Grain Belt Express will go forward despite DOE decision
7 Energy Storage News:
US imposes 93.5% tariff on Chinese battery anode products, but BESS spared
8 Canary Media:
Energy bill could cost North Carolina billions in lost investments and jobs
9 PV-Magazine:
Design solar for storage now, or retrofit at a premium later
Opinions:
10 Nevada Independent:
For future growth, Nevada needs solar. Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ won’t help.
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 25th 2025
Opinion
News
1 Utility Dive:
US electricity demand to grow 2.5% annually through 2035 - BofA Institute
2 Canary Media:
Powin fueled the US grid storage boom. Then the company crashed.
3 Bloomberg:
Europe’s Solar Power Growth Set to Dip for First Time Since 2016
4 New York Times:
Europe’s Solar Power Growth Set to Dip for First Time Since 2016
5 Reuters:
Boom fades for US clean energy as Trump guts subsidies
6 Solar Builder:
Sunrun and Tesla Electric team up on fixed-rate solar and storage plan for Texas
7 PV-Tech:
Sonnedix secures US$2.35 billion through refinancing deals to fund European growth
8 Solar Power World:
2025 Top Solar Contractors - Inside the List
9 Energy Storage News:
US imposes 93.5% tariff on Chinese battery anode products, but BESS spared
Opinions:
10 PV-Magazine:
Georgia Power agrees to give community solar a path forward
Have a great day!
Yann
