Q&A With Bernadette DelChiaro: California Lobby Day – What It Is And Why You Should Care

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent In a previous life, writer Frank Andorka spent his Februarys at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington D.C. attending the Legislative Day for the pest management industry. He’s always been surprised there isn’t such a national conference/day for the solar industry, but he did discover that the California Solar + Storage Association holds its own version in Sacramento on Wednesday. He asked Bernadette DelChiaro, the group’s executive director, about why she thinks “Lobby Day” is important. Here are her answers. Frank Andorka (FA): What is Lobby Day? Bernadette DelChiaro (BDC): Our annual Solar & Storage Worker … Read More →

Solar, Wind Capacity Reaches 1 TW – Are We Only Five Years Away From The NEXT TW?

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent It took forty years for clean energy – solar and wind specifically – installations to reach 1 TW of installed capacity. BNEF says we’re only five years away from reaching the next TW. Talk about an accelerated adoption speed. [wds id=”3″] BNEF says the global solar and wind industries reached 1 TW of installed capacity sometime in the middle of the year, which if it all was in the United States could power the entire U.S. electric fleet. Albert Cheung, BloombergNEF’s head of analysis in London, offered this exciting insight: Hitting one terrawatt is a … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for August 13th, 2018

Oklahoma Is Prime For Free Markets. The news out of Oklahoma is that the AG (not Scott Pruitt anymore) says that providers of third party solar contracts are not to be classified as utilities. The reality is that it’s Oklahoma and that the AG opinion may change as required by the politics. But, there is little that I want to see more than the State of Pruitt and Inhofe to have to wrestle with cheap solar and wind especially cheap solar and wind with cheap batteries.
A Step Backward. The politics of fossil fuels is really the politics of the incumbent markets. When we electrified the nation the deal was that monopolies were carved out and private capital was guaranteed a profit. The incumbency is the struggle here, not just the fuel source. The DNC wrestled with the wrong problem, which was not enough money, instead of wrestling with the issue of taking that money from the fossil companies solar subsidiaries. How great would it be to have a $10million donation from an oil company coming from solar company X?
SB100 And CA Lobby Day. California needs to show the nation and the world that the future is 100% renewable energy. Amongst other things, the California solar industry is coming to Sacramento this Wednesday to lobby for the local industry with CALSSA. If you are in solar it means you are likely doing business in California. Couple ways that you can help. First, come to Sacramento this Wednesday. If you’re not local and can’t make it then take the $1k that it would have cost you in time and travel and send a check. I’ll take that from you and deliver it to the CALSSA PAC that helps advance our market here. We talk about how we cannot compete on money but I’m not asking you for $10k, just $1k that you spend every time you travel for a meeting. Hit reply and I’ll give you the details. Let’s get at least $12k together today as a SolarWakeup team.
A Better Way To Splice. We all use rail to mount our modules but while most rail is created equal, there is a way to use rail to save money on labor. With the Quick Mount PV QRail you get an internal splice that requires not hardware that needs to be screwed in and the clamps won’t fall out when placed in the channel. Check out this quick video to see the difference!

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Have a great day!
Yann

Could Oklahoma Be A Solar Boom State? New AG Opinion Says Maybe

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Baby steps. That’s what you could call the Oklahoma Attorney General’s recent opinion that says third-party solar contracts – PPAs, leases and loans – would not result in solar installers or consumers being considered utilities. This is a debate that has swept the country, and most recently occurred in Florida, where a decision similar to the Oklahoma one has led to a flood of residential solar companies into the state, including some of the nation’s largest solar companies with names you know like Sunrun and Vivint. Could Oklahoma be next? [wds id=”3″] Probably not, according … Read More →

California Assembly Considers SB 100, Should Pass It Posthaste

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent California’s Assembly has a huge opportunity before it right now, and they should seize it posthaste. Before them is a bill to move the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) to 100% by 2045. It would match the most aggressive RPS in the nation (Hawaii) and put the world’s fifth (or sixth, depending on who you believe) largest economy on a path to 100% renewable energy. And it would be a huge step forward for the United States because, as everyone knows, solar and renewable energy trends start in California and then make their way to … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for August 10th, 2018

Nevada’s Story Of Solar Revival. This was the most contentious national solar fight a few years ago, documentaries featured the famous fight between solar and the Nevada PUC. Fast forward a few years and the market is thriving with the first NEM cap being hit at 80MW. Jobs are being created and supplies are flowing, helping the supply chain economy thrive as well. Nevada has become the market to point to and one that could be mirrored in South Carolina and other States that attempt to keep residential solar choice away from consumers.
Sunrun’s Steady Rise. Sunrun wasn’t always the flashiest residential home solar provider but they’ve reached the top now. Part of what makes the company unique is that it has stuck with the long path of policy centric market development, it’s rare to be at a legislative event or industry conference that a Sunrunner is not at. The financial presentation continues to tell Wall Street a narrative on how solar and public company accounting can coexist, while still be complicated for many. The company announced 91MW of solar deployed, 12,000 customers and an increase of $27million in cash over the last quarter. Congrats to the team.
Juicy PPA In Hawaii. Couple of highlights that I’d like to point out about the solar plus storage project in Hawaii. The project is 5MW of solar with 3MW / 15MWh of storage. The PPA is for $0.17/kWh over 22 years. At the core, this is a great project for the investor and likely for the consumer as well. At 5 hours of storage, the batteries have the ability to shift the entire day’s production even at the peak of summer (or very close to all of the production). This plant is the solar version of baseload to the extent that such a feature is needed on the grid. Dispatchable solar such as this is the future and creates tremendous opportunities for power players across the grid.
New FERC Commissioner. Damn the free market! That’s my paraphrase of the nominee’s comments at a July hearing when asked about market distortions being considered by the administration to bailout coal and nuclear plants. Commissioner Powelson voted against the FERC bailout for coal but McNamee seems a lot more willing to do the bidding required. Stay tuned.
Have You Seen The Rafter? In today’s edition of solar wall of shame, please see the following work of art. This is a direct deck attached flashing mounted on top of the shingle roof. Add some caulking and this installer is happy with the result. Make sure to send your shameful solar pictures alongside your beautiful images to be featured.

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Have a great day!
Yann

A Confederacy Of Dunces: America First Energy Conference Insist On Anti-American Energy Policy

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Sometimes, the dumb is so breathtaking it’s hard to put into words. Such was the America First Energy Conference, which Reuters reporter Collin Eaton dutifully reported on this week from New Orleans. If Reuters doesn’t provide him some hazardous duty pay for locking himself in a room with these people for a day, then there is something seriously wrong with the system. I’ll let Eaton’s lede stand on its own because, whoa boy, it sorta sums it all up: Pumping carbon dioxide into the air makes the planet greener; the United Nations puts out fake … Read More →

Nevada Comes All The Way Back, Bumps Into Net Metering Caps For First Tier

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What’s happening in Nevada right now is frankly amazing. If you had told most observers that Nevada would ever hit net metering caps after its Public Utilities Commission ended the program without warning at the end of 2015, they would have told you that you were crazy. And yet, three years (and a lot of mea culpas later), here we are, with the state’s installed and applied-for solar capacity hitting the cap for what’s allowed by law at full retail net metering rates. [wds id=”3″] What that means is that any rooftop solar installation will … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for August 9th, 2018

The Other Factors. It’s not all tariffs and duties when it comes to markets. CFIUS and other regulatory approvals can shape markets as well. This isn’t just a China topic, this is all foreign investment in renewables that could be impacted if CFIUS review takes too long. I don’t expect this to become n too big of a topic but keep your eyes on similar things that happen to your business and supply chain.
Tesla’s New Investor. Lost in the ‘funding secured’ tweet was the other story of Tesla’s day. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund has taken a significant position in Tesla, somewhere north of $2billion. Considering that the money was made on selling oil, you have to acknowledge the success that Tesla has had to show the world that electric cars have a future and oil exporters need to create a hedge by taking a stake in the market segment that will disrupt oil.
Making Local Decisions Count. When I asked Jon Carson how his solar development business was similar to the days when he activated local voters for Obama, he told a riveting story. In a classic way, he tells the story of the local ironworker sitting in an open house held regarding the solar farm. The solar project is the political candidate and getting local support means telling a local story. Thank you, everyone, for the feedback on this podcast, I am glad you enjoyed it thus far.
Opposition To Municipal Solar. This has probably happening in the past but it’s the first time I see it in writing. A utility lobbied a municipal government not to sign a solar contract that would save money. It’s the inside baseball that shows how local incumbent markets will get.
Bad Solar Exhibit A. Keep them coming! I got some great submissions yesterday on bad solar, have you seen bad installs and want to share? Send them my way and send a caption for this solar sail!

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Have a great day!
Yann

You Know Who’s Still Betting Heavily On Solar? Corporations, That’s Who!

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Corporate renewable energy procurement has hit a new record high in 2018, according to the Business Renewables Center, an arm of the Rocky Mountain Institute. Procurement levels reached 3.57 GW, beating the previous record of 3.12 GW in 2015 and increasing nearly three quarters of a gigawatt ahead of last year’s number of 2.87 GW. [wds id=”3″] Jon Creyts, managing director at Rocky Mountain Institute, said: The Business Renewables Center applauds the acceleration of corporate renewable energy procurement and the dedication these companies are showing to turn commitment into action. We are bearing witness to … Read More →