This is your SolarWakeup for October 9th, 2018
Stopping Coal Is Not Enough. The NY Times is out with an op-ed to call for the end of coal in response to the IPCC climate change report. The truth is that the policies that are needed to make an impact on our climate future are much more than shutting off coal though that is a nice start. Policies, enacted by legislators, need to be bolder and far reaching. They need to be long term and they need to be bipartisan. I may be an ideologue here but I think we are close to that point where the politics should shift. First, renewables are incredibly popular and undecideds care that you are pro-solar. Second, hedge fund managers are warning about climate change. Third, there are billions to be made by billionaires in clean energy.
Go Blue! It is a little known fact that more than 10 years ago, Michigan was well on its way to being a solar manufacturing hub. Governor Granholm was known to talk solar on an ongoing basis before it was popular. Over the past year, Michigan and its utilities have been on a path to stop the cheapest solar energy from getting to market. But after a change of heart which started with the settlement with the Tom Steyer led coalition, the regulators are starting to drive towards the PURPA restart. With details still in short supply, there is work to do but another example of how the policy teams move the market forward.
An Easy Ask. In case you needed more reasons from me on why you should come to the Vote Solar event next week in DC, Frank is here to remind you of the likely ways that Vote Solar is helping you make more money. The solar coaster would be a lot more turbulent if Vote Solar wasn’t as good as it was. So while my ask is for you to help the group with $100, imagine the following scenario. Imagine a solar market where Vote Solar gets a check for $100 million dollars from a donor. Imagine if the solar advocacy groups had unlimited budgets to educate and organize to move solar policies forward. So instead of asking you for $100million, please consider coming to and donating $100 to Vote Solar.
NJ Community Solar. Simplifying the market for community solar is a good way to make solar more accessible within the PJM market which should have made it possible long ago. This is why I am excited to have the NJ BPU President sit with me at SolarWakeup Live! Jersey City to talk about the future of the solar market in New Jersey. I want to also thank the sponsors of the event for making it possible. Please consider visiting the sites of Aten Solar, Pfister Energy and PV Pros by clicking on the logos below.
Opportunity Missed. I am reminded of the mistake that we made during the Obama years with regard to TVA. The board of the TVA should have been stacked with folks supportive of solar policies. It would have been an example of how to lead a 21st century utility and how consumers can get cheaper electricity made from the resources they believe in.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 8th, 2018
NJ BPU President. The NJ BPU President, Joe Fiordaliso, is joining me at SolarWakeup Live! Jersey City on November 6th. He was appointed by Governor Murphy to the position earlier this year. President Fiordaliso has been on the BPU board since 2005. For more information and registration to the event go to solarwakeuplive.com, tickets are nearing capacity.
Keeping Climate Change Contained. The IPCC is out with a report that should be taken seriously by everyone, and not just those in our industry. In order to keep the world at or below 1.5 degrees we need systemic change in our energy system which means we need wholesale change in our political system. This can be done if we have the will to have it be done.
More Community Solar. Washington State is out with their first community solar rules and while not the home run market regulations you would want, it definitely sets the base for the market to start. I am a fan of community solar though I always thought that regional markets with clearing prices would be the method to this segment instead of a regulatory body. That being said, this may be the way to get it done in a way that consumers understand and trust.
First Hand Notes. The clean energy retail company was founded when the CEO, Tom Matzzie, tried to put solar on his house and found it to be difficult. I recall putting solar on my home in 2011 and thought it was really hard as well. I know that things have gotten better but going through the consumer’s side of the deal gives us some perspective. This note about signing up for community solar highlights important lessons that can be improved on.
Wires R Us. Here’s a question for you, how long until today’s utilities are mostly wire companies and is this a future that is important to the solar market?
Solar Sentiment Survey. Don’t forget to have your voice included in the Q3 SolarWakeup Sentiment Survey. This takes less than 60 seconds and is anonymous. The results will be released at SolarWakeup Live! Jersey City.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 5th, 2018
Feel Good Story From Illinois. A legislator helps pass legislation that makes solar in Illinois take off, creating thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in economic development. Then he leads by example and puts solar on his home, with particularly good taste in mounting technology. Many thanks for the political leadership and leading by example for the neighbors.
SunPower Takes Top Spot. Now that the acquisition is complete with SolarWorldUSA, it seems like the SolarWorld brand in the US will be eliminated by year’s end. SunPower will undoubtedly look to increase market share in residential solar while also having volume in the module manufacturing to keep the costs competitive. I look forward to seeing the next steps
Terminal Value Zero. At least one asset owner has decided that arguing the terminal value is annoying enough that giving away the energy is a better use.
Q3 Sentiment Survey. Take the survey to help us get a pulse of the current mood in solar. This will take you less than 60 seconds to answer the survey
Sponsor SolarWakeup Live! Besides reading and passing this newsletter along, the best way to support the platform is to sponsor an event. In return you get amazing visibility to the email list and the live audience. Plus you ensure the continued operation of this platform. Check out solarwakeuplive.com on how you can get involved, no better market dollars to be spent in the industry these days.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 4th, 2018
Much Awaited Community Solar Rules. Few people cover community solar better than ILSR’s John Farrell and with the new rules from New Jersey being proposed, he gives you the breakdown of the good and the needs improvement. Community solar in New Jersey could be one of the most desired market changes in the past few years, there is no doubt that developers and customer signup teams will be flocking to this market. This will be a central conversation topic at SolarWakeup Live! Jersey City, get your ticket at solarwakeuplive.com so we can all talk about the community solar market together.
Governors Matter To Solar. Virginia is planning a bold solar future with 5GW of wind and solar. This is the plan proposed by Ralph Northam, the Governor. Much like many net metering, RPS and other solar friendly policies across the Country, it takes a leader in the Governor’s mansion to make it happen. Without that it becomes much harder to get things done. Elections matter and advocacy is a lot simpler if there are willing participants on both sides. We still need to show up and make our point but without a veto threat, solar can be a big winner.
Are You Feeling Good? Time to check in on the industry sentiment with SolarWakeup’s Q3 sentiment index. While 2018 has been a crazy solar coaster ride, it seems like more of a market than ever and I want to see what you think. The results of the report will be shared first at SolarWakeup Live! Jersey City on November 6th. Take the survey today!
Inverters Must Adapt. Most of the inverter companies plan to transition their manufacturing capacity out of China given the latest tariffs by the Trump administration. This may cause a bit of a product supply constraint when the changeover happens and the price is very likely to increase to the installers across the market. Just another example of costs going into the solar market that could be avoided.
The Hill Piece. is total crap. Starting out the conversation about net metering by saying that no-one argues that there is a cost shift on solar value to non solar customers means that the author assumes that solar customers are providing uncompensated value to the other customers but of course we know that’s not the case.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 3rd, 2018
SunPower Closes On SolarWorld. Count me in as pleasantly surprised that the acquisition has closed. Nonetheless SunPower is already in process of putting new equipment into the Hillsboro manufacturing plant in Oregon. The plant will be producing P-Series cells and modules to be able to sell American assembled panels. The interesting side stories are now the relationship between Senator Wyden and SunPower, who were on opposite sides of the 201 arguments and how SunPower proceeds with the first two phases of the AD/CVD charges against solar imports. More to come I guess.
Another Day, Another Trade Group. During SPI there was a launch of the Solar Rights Alliance which is targeting the solar consumers to engage them for the policy battles across the Country. In many ways this is the actual implementation of the Solar Pledge which this platform launched to extend the ITC. The power of the crowd is real and SRA will likely be seen and heard from more going forward. Vote Solar is also activating the solar consumer with one of the best supporter lists in the industry. Lastly, you have a new group that aligns solar and wind industries at the trade group level. The Wind Solar Alliance will put the renewable energy giants in bigger rooms by merging the voice on some issues, I’d expect PURPA and FERC issues to be front and center for the group.
Industrials Unite In Storage. ConEdison and Johnson Controls are getting involved in energy storage together. Great headline but I am missing the key differentiator here. JCI is competent with energy savings contracts and ConEdison has tax equity/asset ownership capabilities plus a viable trading capacity. However, absent an acquisition for a real differentiator and pipeline, this may not be as groundbreaking as it is made out to be. Maybe an acquisition is in the works?
NAFTA -> USMCA = Where’s Climate? The headline says it all. Will see how Congress feels about USMCA.
Developing New Jersey. New Jersey is a State with both rural and urban centers and farm lands where the land is both sacred and valuable. Developing solar in New Jersey has a level of complexity unmatched across the Country. This is why we invited Jim Spano from Spano Partners to join me on stage at SolarWakeup Live! Jersey City. Jim has been as successful as anyone in New Jersey and has his finger on the political pulse. Join us on November 6th and register at www.solarwakeuplive.com
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 2nd, 2018
Let’s Talk Illinois Policy. I’ve been saving the interviews from Chicago so that the live audience could get the heads up and it’s been a busy summer! After the much listened to interview with Jon Carson, here is the second interview with the director of the Illinois Power Agency, Anthony Star. Mr. Star is responsible for putting the wheels in motion and implementing the rules for the solar market that allow the market to flourish. If you are interested in working in Illinois this is an interview you will not want to miss. As always you can subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platforms and if you enjoy it, leave a review on iTunes. It’s always great to hear from you.
Second Chance In Power. In many ways the growth of the solar industry was missed by the incumbent and displaced market participants. You could also say that the early false starts caused many to take a step back too far. GE is a great example, they tried their hand in solar. With modules, with new technology investments, inverters and also financially with GE Current and GE Energy Financial Services offering tax equity. The financial divisions have done well but the technology has largely failed. That seems symbolic of the larger GE Power unit, where the division president was largely expected to be the next CEO instead the division didn’t elevate the CEO and it’s taking down the short lived tenure of the current CEO. Now the clean energy market is at a crossroads with solar and wind being the cheapest cost while EVs and storage are getting into the mainstream. GE, other industrials and oil majors need to get into the game and take another chance in power. My hope is that if they do, they don’t silo technology and financial services. Use the amazing access to low cost capital to drive the price of money down on technology deployment instead of thinking of both as different.
Come On Kansas. Demand charges are unfair to solar customers anywhere, but they are especially ill conceived when solar hasn’t had the chance to take off yet. You would think that a free market oriented market would think less of the monopoly than the consumer choice, energy saving solar installer but I guess that’s too ideological of me.
SPI Thoughts On Utilities In Solar. I always enjoy to hear what people are thinking about specific questions, I may even replicate this format. Here are 9 solar and storage pros commenting about the market and how utilities could improve. I’ll save you the number 1 improvement, work faster!
SEIA’s Thoughts On New Jersey. You’ll have to join me as I interview Abby Hopper on November 6th. Abby has been out in the open a lot more in her second year, making the rounds and working with the industry to get everyone into the advocacy game. We don’t agree on everything but that’s what makes this conversation fun and useful for the industry. Only the best interviews make it to the orange chair, this one is it.solarwakeuplive.com
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 1st, 2018
SB700 Becomes Law. This bill passed with the hard work of solar pros and solar supporters means cheaper energy storage in your future. Regardless of whether you work in California or not, take note of where storage makes sense and at what price point it breaks through.
Vote Solar Equinox DC. Would you be so kind to join me and some of the best solar advocates in America in DC on October 18th? Equinox DC is an event to celebrate the solar industry and raise money for a great cause. You can get super cheap tickets here and if you buy a lot of them you get to put a paragraph on SolarWakeup by sending me the receipt
Thoughts About Elon. This isn’t a statement about what Elon did when he wrote about ‘funding secured’ but my thoughts on why a settlement was required at all. Over the weekend, Musk had to settle with the SEC for the statement and process surrounding the go private actions. The SEC came after him quickly and sought to oust him as Tesla’s CEO. This is absurd in my opinion. Ford, GM and the other OEMs have had scandals that literally kill people (remember airbags and ignition switches?) which resulted in no action by the SEC. I personally had a Ford that put exhaust fumes into the car which made my kids sick and Ford nor the NTSB gave a damn about it. The SEC action is much like utilities coming after solar, changing an incumbent market with monopolies gets all sorts of pushback and the regulatory environment is embedded with those that are loyal to the system.
News About New Stuff. A good breakdown of the new stuff at SPI by the GTM team. Some are new and some are improvements to technology we already had in the market.
Gates and Bezos Tech. The Venture fund which pools some of the biggest names is focused on technology that can change the world. I support the initiative to find better technology but without a fund working in parallel to develop and fund projects, it will be hard to scale this initiative. The risk tolerant money needs to be available to make investments into projects where the technology risk falls on the project owner and not the offtaker.
Wholesale Storage Deals. One of the biggest questions I have for one of the speakers at SolarWakeup Live! Jersey City is how and when wholesale solar and storage can make sense in the markets. There are cost considerations and regulatory oversight to consider but I don’t think we are far from that reality in PJM markets. To hear the conversation live with Gabe Phillips from GP Renewables, register at solarwakeuplive.com.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 28th, 2018
SGIP Extended, SB700 Signed. You did it! You made the calls, you visited, and donated your time and money so that the industry led by CALSSA and so many other organizations were able to convince the legislators and the Governor to invest nearly $1billion to move energy storage farther into the future. This wasn’t easy, there were postponements, lost speeches and lastly the outcome we all wanted. You may not be in the California market but do not forget that the volume that will drive the innovation and cost decreases here will come into all other markets. SB700 is a bill for all of us and I couldn’t be happier for everyone. This is an example of the grassroots
Get More Solar Jobs. SEIA released a new membership level system with a lower barrier of entry to the trade organization. I think this is a good step forward in the path to be a bit more democratic. Keep in mind that this does not replace the work done by other entities so don’t think you can be one and done but all the work is important. On another note, it appears that SEIA members largely outnumbered others at the SPI registration desk.
Consumer Choice. A poll that comes back at 88% means everyone in my opinion. The poll in this case says that voters don’t want their access to solar reduced by their utilities. Any action, like changing net metering, increasing fees or placing other barriers on consumer choice should be viewed by politicians and regulators as a bad idea for the market as well as politically.
Earn Your Ratebase. Oklahoma is going to a performance based review system for the rate base but until the fuel costs are guaranteed by the shareholders, we have not accomplished the real goal.
Give Me A Nuclear Break. Vogtle nuclear power plant is going to continue on after a multiple day negotiation but I am fairly certain that it will never be completed. That being said, the future of energy isn’t going to be saved by modular nuclear reactors either.
Weekend Updates. solarwakeuplive.com for your registration to join us on November 6th in Jersey City. We have a great day and happy hour lined up and will be excited to talk about the great New Jersey solar market. I hope you all enjoyed SPI this year and made it back home in one piece.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 27th, 2018
SPI Day 2. Tomorrow I will be walking the floor after a busy week of meetings. The message thus far is that the event is busy and well attended. Glad to see the positive vibes moving throughout the solar industry. It may be quite a change from this busy Anaheim event to Salt Lake City next year.
AZ SEIA Backs RPS. Frank has the story on AZSEIA getting involved. More importantly this ballot initiative will be a great indicator of where Americans are on the RPS question.
SMART Coming up. About time and great news for the MA solar community. Let’s get some solar done!
More Infra Money. One investor looking for 2GW of solar. The interesting notion here is that infra funds are hiring bankers to do solar development and while I like many bankers, buying solar project is a bit different. That being said, I’m a fan of what the Statkraft message sends to the industry.
Join Us In Jersey City. Great agenda with knowledgeable speakers and wonderful sponsors. Not too late to join the team and get your name in the SolarWakeup. solarwakeuplive.com is the place for all the info.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 26th, 2018
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Yann