Open Energy Creates Competition With Its Commercial Financing Exchange

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Commercial solar is the most challenging segment of the solar industry in which to find low-cost financing. Open Energy, a commercial financing provider, is trying to fix that problem by creating the first lending exchange for commercial scale solar developers and installers. Called The Open Energy Finance Exchange, it allows more than 60 lenders to compete to fund a project, driving down costs and improving terms for project developers. The exchange reportedly will provide access to $5 billion in capital. [wds id=”3″] The key to the exchange is the loan quote tool, which helps project … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for June 28th, 2018

Palmetto State Showdown. I’m starting to realize that the legislature in SC may be playing dirty with the solar industry. For the second time, last second rules have stopped the net metering cap from being increase and the cap is rapidly approaching. This is going to cause the halt of the market and potential loss of jobs for South Carolinians. Hopefully this can be turned around next year in earnest.
Electrify Everything Says SMUD. The Sacramento utility is looking ahead for homes in their service area and realizes that a fully electric home may be the best way forward. The rebates, up to $13k on existing homes, serve to ready homes for a future without more gas infrastructure. This is the first of this concept that have typically pushed for water heaters, stoves etc to go gas and reduce electricity usage. The skeptic may look at this and see a utility that wants to have more customer base but it doesn’t appear to be true in this case.
LG Comes To Alabama. Another 500MW assembly plant has been announced, this time by LG. The plant is an add on to the existing campus LG has in the State of Alabama. Now, I have nothing against Alabama but why not North Carolina? We know it all centers around the cost of labor but for once it would be great if the manufacturer thought about the market dynamics a bit. Tease the State with the plant in return for a market perhaps? Now that we are well passed the 2GW of exclusion for cell imports, how will the US assemblers deal with this?
Remember SB 100. I covered the 100% RPS in California last year when it looked like it could pass the California legislature. This year that looks like an even better possibility. So remember the bill, SB 100, because I’m starting to increase my confidence that this could become reality. Over the past year, legislators have had the chance to see costs plummet on solar and storage and the pushback on the ability to do this is basically gone. Let’s put California, one of the largest economies in the world, on track to 100% by passing SB 100.
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Yann

South Carolina Derails Its Clean Energy Future With Last Minute Legislative Shenanigans

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent The utilities showed their muscle again in South Carolina, “persuading” legislators to remove two pro-solar provisions from the state’s budget bill and scuttling the chances of fomenting solar growth during this legislative session. Removing the state’st net metering caps and encouraging more purchases of solar electricity from independent power producers (IPPs) had been in the bill until the last moment, when they were removed because they allegedly didn’t meet the standards for being part of the budget process. [wds id=”3″] The move was reminiscent of a similar maneuver earlier this year when the net-metering provision … Read More →

New York Maps Out Energy Storage Future – 1,500 MW By 2025

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Energy storage is the next front in the solar revolution, and states across the country are starting to grapple with how to incorporate it into the future of their electricity-generation plans. California, Arizona and New Mexico have already mandated that their utilities incorporate storage into their long-term planning. And now New York has announced its plans to incorporate 1,500 MW of energy storage into it electricity generation by 2025. [wds id=”3″] Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the aggressive plans last week, touting that it would create $2 billion in consumer benefits and 30,000 jobs. He also … Read More →

While Washington Dithers About Coal Plants, Wyoming Prepares To Move On With Solar

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondentthey The news today about the fight over saving failing coal and nuclear plants is that Energy Secretary Rick Perry won’t take into account the importance of low electricity prices in favor of creating mythical “energy security” based on the outdated concept of baseload power. It’s a frivolous, short-sighted idea, fueled by coal barons and fossil-fuel interests. And yet, in a state as far removed from Washington as one can imagine, officials are preparing to build the state’s largest utility-scale solar plant in a tacit admission that the future of coal is dim. [wds id=”3″] Wyoming … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for June 27th, 2018

More Solar For Low Income Consumers. It is not news to anyone in the solar industry that low income families spend a much larger portion of their income on electricity that their higher earning fellow ratepayers. California recognizes that low solar prices with no fuel volatility should be available to all families. This was also a topic covered in detail at SolarWakeup Live! Chicago last week which has a nice summary in the top post today.
Privatizing Puerto Rico’s PREPA. Last week, the Governor of Puerto Rico signed a bill to partially privatize PREPA and at least one solar developer is concerned about what this means to their offtake agreement. The challenge is that PREPA should roll that contract forward and continue satisfying the agreement. PREPA says that the privatization has to decide the fate of the agreement. More to come about this.
More PACE On C&I Solar. The good folks at CleanFund have outlined their vision for how solar can be installed on more C&I buildings. With the SolarPACE calculator and their partners program, the ability for more people to access capital is becoming reality. If you are coming into town for Intersolar, make sure to say hello and learn about where PACE is today. While it was an exotic capital tool a few years ago, the cost and availability has gone into solar’s favor in a big way.
South Carolina Solar Setback. Yesterday, South Carolina state senate members of the budget conference committee decided that raising the net metering cap through a budget proviso would violate Senate procedural rules and decided to remove the proviso from the budget bill. Vote Solar’s Thad Culley says “It is deeply disappointing that clean energy progress in South Carolina will be delayed another year, putting at risk 3,000 local jobs in the state’s once-thriving solar industry and limiting South Carolinians only true alternatives to monopoly utilities.”
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Yann

CleanFund Partners With SunPower On SolarPACE Commercial Financing Program

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondentthey CleanFund, a national property assessed clean energy (PACE) purveyor, announced they will be partnering with SunPower to extend the reach of its commercial SolarPACE programs. Commercial companies looking to finance solar improvements or other clean energy and energy efficiency upgrades without any upfront costs can now access CleanFund’s tools through SunPower’s network of solar installers. [wds id=”3″] The announcement heralds at least three significant developments within the solar industry: 1) It broadens the reach of commercial PACE programs, an increasingly attractive option for companies that want to add solar to their businesses but balk at … Read More →

California Revises, Extends Low-Income Solar Program

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondentthey When California decided last week to revise and extend its Single-Family Affordable Solar Homes (SASH) program with a 12-year rebate program for disadvantaged citizens who want to take advantage of solar, it marked another step forward in the democratization (small “d”) of electricity generation. It also continued the national trend toward the inclusion of low-income solar in statewide solar legislation, much of which is being modeled on California’s original SASH program. [wds id=”3″] As Elsie Hunger from GRID Alternatives put it: California has been a leader nationally in providing solar access to families in disadvantaged … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for June 26th, 2018

Thank You! ICYMI. I appreciate all the notes about the new day job. In case you missed it yesterday, I am moving to San Francisco and joining Quick Mount PV as President. For more information, see yesterday’s edition of SolarWakeup. Lastly, it would be a bad business of me to avoid offering our support in your residential company’s work. When it comes to quality and superior roof integration, nobody does it better than the team at QMPV. You know where to find me.
An IRS Victory, Well Done. SEIA has been working on this and staff was able to get it done. Much like the 1603 rules, the ITC will have a 5% hurdle in order to give developers additional time to complete a project beyond the deadline. The rule, known as commencing construction, was widely used across the solar market for ’1603’ modules to allow future projects to take advantage of this as well.
Lenders Want Solar Deals. The great team at kWh analytics is sharing some data about lenders interested and active in solar. Catching me off guard was the sheer number, almost 50 banks, that made it into the ‘solar landscape’ which explains the competitive cost of capital that is being found by project owners. One of the topics that we don’t talk much about is the installation methods in the underwriting process. While BNEF has the tier 1 list for modules, who ensures that the right products are being installed to install the systems on the ground or on the roof? The IEs are barely scratching the surface on that and given the 30-year lifespans being modeled, there should be a complete system analysis.
Honey Sweet Solar. I spoke with the CEO of Connexus Energy about this in detail but it is worth discussing again. Vegetation management is a line item for solar asset owners that can be more than a cost burden. Using native pollinators allow the option of adding beehives to your solar farm as the Connexus solar farm did in Minnesota. The honey can be sold to offset some of the vegetation costs and do good for the environment. Look into this concept for your next project, there are already companies targeting the solar market for this.

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Yann

IRS Regifts Utility-Scale Solar Four More Years Of 30% ITC

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondentthey Four more years! Four more years! That’s the mantra some utility-scale solar developers are chanting today after the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) decided to extend the 30% investment tax credit (ITC) through 2023 as long as they have broken ground or spent 5% of the total expected investment in the project by the end of 2019. [wds id=”3″] Bloomberg reports the opinion, issued by the IRS late last week, came as something of a surprise to most utility-scale developers. As the reporters noted: “The news is positive for utility scale solar developers who can now … Read More →