This is your SolarWakeup for May 3rd, 2018

NEM Under Attack In CT. Over the next few days, CT solar advocates will have to fight for the future of solar in Connecticut. This is your reminder that democrats can be just as influenced by utilities as republican legislators. Regulated power companies will control as many State Capitals as they can, which is also a stark reminder to SEIA that bringing utilities onto the membership rolls at SEIA is a very bad idea. The idea in CT is to replace NEM with something more like a feed in tariff. All production would flow to the grid and be repurchased by the solar owner. This is a terrible idea, not needed and just an attempt to reduce the value of solar. Step up and beat this thing back solar!

Forget 2017, What’s Coming Up. As I was manning the microphone in Minneapolis talking about growth in the midwest around community solar, some of you were in San Diego talking about growth in solar. Next time, just come with me to Minnesota and you would have seen it first hand. As expected, community solar is a large growth space in our industry and many states are looking at launching new programs around this. I also expect residential to make big strides, if the NEM fights go in the right direction, due to the homeowner’s continued desires to have solar and more states are making the economics look good.

The Money Play In Politics. The headline is more fun than the story. Solar companies give money to republicans and democrats. If you heard what Mulvaney said last week, money in politics means access to the legislators. If you are looking for administrative help to site a project, move an approval along, etc, then you are sometimes better served to make a few campaign donations. Republicans are also in charge of the House and Senate which means that’s a part of the donating strategy. This is a bit of a to do about nothing.

Dominion Is Losing Its Focus. The Virginia utility, which is interested in buying the troubled South Carolina utility, is out with his power plan going forward. And instead of a ton of solar and storage, it continues the trend of monopolies looking for giant rate base that requires ratepayers to hedge fuel costs for the utility. Will Vote Solar and others fight these projects when they’re requested?

Mercedes Stays Mobile. Mercedes, which I spoke to in an episode of SolarWakeup Live! a few months ago, is leaving home energy storage. The idea was to create a channel for batteries after they are used in the cars. The price declines and technological differences mean that batteries will simply be made for both segments.

SEIA DG Vice Chairs. In the effort of full information. Good solar folks Ed Merrick and Deep Patel are also candidates for the position. All the best to everyone that steps up and helps lead our industry.

News

Have a great day!
Yann

Well-Funded Republicans Get Solar’s Hard-Earned Cash

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: So Reuters reported this morning that solar companies are setting large piles of cash on fire in their parking lots…oh, I’m sorry, I misspoke. They’re actually funding Republicans. Wait, maybe I was right in the first place. OK, I’m not a political naif. I know you have to give money to both sides to get things done, especially when the party that doesn’t support you is in power. But seriously, solar industry? How many times do you have to get sand kicked in your face before you realize that being nice to the … Read More →

How To Screw Up Solar With One Horrid Bill (Connecticut Edition)

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: The swath of destruction the Connecticut legislature is about to cut through the solar industry with their latest bill to replace net metering is breathtaking and stupefying to behold. The absurdity of the legislation is so mindblowing I’m going to have to take more than one piece to do it justice, but it includes the illusory cost-shift, a buy-all, sell-all scheme, an arbitrary commercial solar cap….oh, yeah. This legislation is a beaut. The worst part of it is, the legislative session ends next Wednesday, so there’s little time to scuttle this monstrosity (fire … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for May 2nd, 2018

Conference Keynote From Rhone Resch. Yesterday, in his first keynote appearance since leaving SEIA, Rhone gave the keynote interview at the Midwest Solar Expo. It was largely tame and focused on his current work to find disruptive technologies in the disruptive solar market, but here are some highlights. Rhone mentions that more trade uncertainty could be on the way including the tariffs on  $100billion worth of Chinese imports. He says “solar is getting its butt kicked in DC” and shouldn’t have been “playing defense” while a major tax reform and spending bill were passed, both presenting opportunities for solar to gain. When it comes to the 201 trade case result, he cautions a need to temper the enthusiasm for the 30% result. “This wasn’t a victory”.

More Solar For Florida. You heard it here first. Sources close to Sunnova are telling SolarWakeup that they will be entering the Florida market. This comes behind the positive statement from the PSC for Sunrun on the fixed price lease. While the PSC statement is specific to Sunrun, I don’t expect others to follow suit and request PSC to bless theirs as well. Here is our coverage.

Spruce Exits Loan Business. Yesterday, a well written commentary on Linkedin explained that Spruce had exited the loan business. It mentioned several reasons for the exit which may leave Spruce as a company largely holding a software as its biggest asset. Word has it that an email went out to staff and a few minutes later the portal was shut down to the partners. The finance business can be as tough as the other segments and this shows the results of harsh competition.

Solar Gains More Roots In Minnesota. A 42MW portfolio of solar assets is being marketed to the residential consumers in Minnesota. Resi off takers offer the combination of highest credit values and the benefit of a FICO score. The reason this is news is most have not focused on residential because of the issues related with having this many customers and the cost to acquire them. I expect more retail energy companies to be in this space, surprised we haven’t seen this already.

News

Have a great day!
Yann

Sources Say Sunnova Is Heading To Lucrative Florida Market

This is your SolarWakeup for Tuesday May1st, 2018

Greetings from Minneapolis, where I am for the Midwest Solar Expo for the next few days.
Biggest Risk (Value) In Rooftop Solar. I started my solar career from roofing so I may be biased but based on conversations I’ve had with installers, there is nothing worse for the customer and the contractor than a roof leak. That’s why the growing contractors are more likely to use higher quality components and sell on those strengths. Now you have a report that shows that selling quality means more sales. Put yourself in the clients shoes, what matters more than a leaking roof? That’s gotta get fixed before anything else, including solar production. How do you differentiate yourself from the competition when it comes to quality? I want to hear from you.
SEIA DG Votes. If you are a member of SEIA, voting is open for the DG committee. My friend, Costa Nicolaou, is running for Vice Chair and I’d highly recommend him for the role. When it comes to quality (see above), Costa is a solar leader on the issue and worthy of your vote.
Low Income IREC Report. Who doesn’t love a good IREC report? This goes in line with the latest topic about the scale of the low income solar market. Especially when combined with community solar, the certainty of solar costs is very attractive to people on fixed or low incomes.
Climate Change Outlook. This is really bleak and disturbing but it’s up to our generation to do something about this. Quite frankly what that means is our generation needs to take control of the political and regulatory system. I’m sorry but it’s time for the boomers to give up the gavel because we’re running out of time to do the right thing.
Illinois Is Coming Up. SolarWakeup Live! is coming to Chicago to talk about Illinois solar market developments at the end of June. We will be announcing the date by next week so you can plan your travel. Get your sponsorship budgets ready because this is a market entry event you will not want to miss.

News

Have a great day!
Yann

The Energy Show: Gigawatt Scale Solar Installations

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We often talk about smaller solar power systems on homes or commercial buildings. On this week’s Energy Show we are discussing gigawatt scale solar installations. The logic is simple: solar panels are getting cheaper and installation costs are declining. At the same time, utility electric prices keep increasing. When prices go up and costs go down profits can skyrocket – so it’s no surprise that there is a big market for large-scale solar installations. When I started doing PV installations in 2001 the biggest projects were about 5 MW. Now there are several 500 MW installations proceeding in the U.S., … Read More →

Nice Headline, Doctor – But That Doesn’t Make It True

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened:Ah, ya gotta love drive-by hit pieces led by tricky, click-bait headlines, don’t you (you don’t, and you SHOULDN’T)? Vox ran an article (which you no doubt saw, given how many of you clicked on it) that implied somehow battery storage was bad for the electrical grid, headlined “Batteries have a dirty secret.” Then, in the subhead, David Roberts, aka “Dr. Vox,” asserts that the actual deployment of batteries increases carbon emissions. OMG, if true, right? Well, as you probably have already guessed, that’s not what the story says at all. Quelle surprise. SolarWakeup’s … Read More →

Turns Out, Silvio Marcacci May Be On To Something (About 320 GW Of Untapped Solar Potential)

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened:The Interstate Renewable Energy Council has released a report outlining two potential paths to enable greater solar access for renters and multifamily residents, and low-to-moderate income communities. The report, titled Expanding Solar Access: Pathways for Multifamily Housing, suggests shared solar, whether on-site or off-site, is the key. Following on last week’s Forbes magazine article by Silvio Marcacci arguing that there could be 320 GW of untapped solar potential in just these types of applications, the report seems timely. SolarWakeup’s View:  Last week, I gave major props to solar support Silvio Marcacci’s article in Forbes … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for April 30th, 2018

Jumping on a flight to Minneapolis for Midwest Solar Expo. I’ll be interviewing the CEO of a co-op, hope you can join me.

An Opportunity Missed In Michigan. Michigan PSC voted to allow the DTE natural gas plant to proceed, maintaining the status quo. Imaging the opposite decision had been made and the new energy economy would have started to sprout in Michigan. I’m proud of the work that was done by solar advocates to make this an issue, I hope this happens on every sitting plan going forward.

Yes, So What. All new supply chains have their issues and the energy storage industry isn’t much different. All hardware is going to have an inherent carbon cost and one using mined materials is even worse. But to assume that there is a price too high for the value that batteries will provide to the energy space isn’t in play for me right now. Storage will do amazing things especially as we drive the price down.

Definitely Watch This. A couple of time-lapse images of ultra large solar farms in China. Worth a watch.

Can We Discuss ITC Yet? The ITC step downs are on the horizon, already being modeled in solar development and affecting solar plus storage installs. All at the same time where oil and gas will continue to benefit from exploration credits and more importantly the active tax credit rules whereas solar has to play with passive liabilities only. Solar should drop down the tax credit when, and only when, all other energy sources lose their credit as well.

Minnesota. Tomorrow I moderate a discussion with solar leaders about the impact that the 201 and steel tariffs have had on the solar industry. What do you want to hear during this discussion?

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Have a great day!
Yann