FERC Commissioners Tell Senate: Coal, Nuke Bailout Unnecessary
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Yesterday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) commissioners appeared before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and told the Senators what the rest of the world already knows: Water is wet. The Pope is still Catholic. And the nuclear and coal plant bailout Trump demanded is entirely unnecessary. While the solar industry has been saying this since Trump first floated this Bob Murray special two years ago, Energy Law 360 reports that when asked if the bailout of failing nuclear and coal plants was important to national security, the crickets could be heard … Read More
This is your SolarWakeup for June 13th, 2018
AC Modules Take Two. Enphase is buying the Sunpower micro inverter business, some of which tracks back to the Austin based inverter company, Solarbridge Technologies. A cash and stock deal also gives Enphase a path into Sunpower’s AC modules which caused the stock to jump up. Sunpower already has the market share in resi with its strong dealer network, which now translates to more market share for Enphase. Great deal for both sides in my opinion, well done.
A Tough Day At Tesla. Elon went to Twitter to publish his company wide email yesterday announcing a 9% cut to the workforce at Tesla plus the end of the retail relationship with Home Depot. I don’t have the details on the 9% that are going to lose their jobs but I have to think that solar will not be unaffected and I always hate to hear that. This will lead to a stronger Tesla and that is something I support. If any solar folks from Tesla are looking for the next big gig, let me know and I’ll do what I can to support your search.
An Idea For Elliot. Elliot which is behind the sale of NRG renewables unit is also involved in the Sempra divestment of its solar assets. I think Elliot should consider doing the same in the IOU business units, many of which have surpassed the monopoly revenue streams. I’m not going to call out particular names but some could double their market cap if they were split and I’m not a financial guru like the analysts are Elliot. Let’s see where they go next.
Big Money For Resi Solar. Vivint tapped the capital markets to lower its cost of debt funding for its projects. This is not only to lower the costs but also to refinance some of the likely shorter term capital for the projects that were placed into service. In any scenario $811million in capital is a big deal and it’s good to see the interest to get involved in this.
Growing US Solar. The quarter’s solar market insight is out and 2018 is on track to be on par with 2017, which is unfortunate because it could have been so much better. On the bright side, we have new great markets in Illinois which we will discuss next Thursday in Chicago, a few tickets remain at solarwakeuplive.com
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Yann
Enphase To Purchase SunPower Microinverter Business
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent After the stock market closed, Enphase Energy – the once-struggling microinverter company that is seeing a resurgence under CEO Badri Kothandaraman, announced it was buying SunPower’s microinverter business for $25 million and 7.5 million shares of common stock. Enphase stock rose 16% after the announcement. The transaction means Enphase will now supply the microinverter technology for SunPower’s AC modules instead of SunPower producing the microinverters on their own. Tom Werner, SunPower CEO, tipped his hand about why the transaction took place in the release. He said the transaction will allow SunPower to “continue containing costs, … Read More
Could Perovskites Be Right Around the Corner? Solar-Tectic Earns Patents For Thin-Film Perovskite Technology
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Perovskites have been the hot solar technology for several years now without, frankly, a lot to show for it. But one company – Solar-Tectic – has reached the patent stage for its thin-film perovskite technology. Could perovskite modules be close behind? The answer is a definite maybe. According to the company’s release, the breakthrough is the width of the bottom layer in the tandem cell. The release says: Wafer sized bottom poly- and monocrystalline silicon layers in PERC, PERL, HIT, HJ, or perovskite/silicon tandem cells are typically 200-280 microns thick, whereas ST’s thin-film crystalline inorganic … Read More
Solar FlexRack Completes Shipments to 71 MW Solar Project in North Carolina
Solar FlexRack™, a division of Northern States Metals and an innovative leader in photovoltaic mounting and solar tracker solutions, has completed shipments of its G3-X fixed tilt racking system to Brantley solar farm, a large-scale solar project in North Carolina. The 71 MWdc project, which is about 30 miles east of Raleigh, was developed and is currently being built by Cypress Creek Renewables, a leading national solar developer, builder and operator. Brantley Solar Project in North Carolina is being installed with high-quality Solar FlexRack G3-X racking. The solar plant will generate enough electricity to power over 8,000 homes. Steve Daniel, Executive Vice President of Solar FlexRack said, "We are extremely pleased to have been selected to supply this project. Cypress Creek Renewables has been instrumental in supporting the growth of the solar industry in North Carolina, generating jobs for communities, and providing passive income opportunities for landowners. As long-term solar project owners and operators, they care about the quality of the systems they install which resonates with our values as a quality-driven organization." Solar FlexRack's solar tracking and racking facilities located in Youngstown, Ohio employ hundreds of people. More than 5,200 tons of North American sourced steel went into the racking technology manufactured for Cypress Creek's Brantley solar farm. "The Solar FlexRack team brings a deep level of solar expertise, ensuring projects are constructed without issues," said Matthew McGovern, CEO of Cypress Creek Renewables. "We are pleased to be working with Solar FlexRack to supply our Brantley project with American-made components widely recognized across the industry for their quality."Solar FlexRack™, a division of Northern States Metals and an innovative leader in photovoltaic mounting and solar tracker solutions, has completed shipments of its G3-X fixed tilt racking system to Brantley solar farm, a large-scale solar project in North Carolina. The 71 MWdc project, which is about 30 miles east of Raleigh, was developed and is currently being built by Cypress Creek Renewables, a leading national solar developer, builder and operator. Brantley Solar Project in North Carolina is being installed with high-quality Solar FlexRack G3-X racking. The solar plant will generate enough electricity to power over 8,000 homes. Steve Daniel, … Read More
Soltec Supplies Trackers to the Largest PV Power Plant in Colombia PPA for 100 MW of Solar
Soltec, a leading manufacturer and supplier of single-axis solar trackers and related services in large ground-mount PV projects, is supplying 2,776 units of its SF7 tracker equipment at an 86.2 MW PV power plant in northern Colombia’s Cesar department. The SF7 trackers will mount around 250,000 solar modules to follow the sun and optimize their yield performance. The plant will generate an average of 176 GWh of clean energy per year, becoming the largest solar power plant in Colombia. The PV plant is currently under construction and will be operational by the end of 2018. “Currently, Colombia's energy generation depends enormously on hydroelectric power plants, which in drought season can be a real problem. This can be easily solved by complementing with solar energy that will also contribute to reducing electricity price,” says Raúl Morales, CEO of Soltec. With this project, Soltec continues strengthening its position in the Latin American tracker market, summing to more than 2 GW of solar trackers supplied in the region. “Soltec is on-track with global and regional expansion plans, and our results in Latin America are especially gratifying,” adds Morales. The Cesar PV power plant will count on wireless communications and a patented self-powering tracker solution. “This self-powering solution enables complete tracker module-fill and supplies the lowest cost operational power available onsite and independently at each tracker,” informs Soltec’s R&D Manager José Alfonso Teruel.Soltec, a leading manufacturer and supplier of single-axis solar trackers and related services in large ground-mount PV projects, is supplying 2,776 units of its SF7 tracker equipment at an 86.2 MW PV power plant in northern Colombia’s Cesar department. The SF7 trackers will mount around 250,000 solar modules to follow the sun and optimize their yield performance. The plant will generate an average of 176 GWh of clean energy per year, becoming the largest solar power plant in Colombia. The PV plant is currently under construction and will be operational by the end of 2018. “Currently, Colombia’s energy generation depends … Read More
U.S. Solar Continues To Grow Despite Significant Headwinds
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent First the good news: The overall U.S. solar industry grew year over year by 13%, adding 2.5 GW-DC in the first quarter of 2018. Now the bad news: That’s a 37% quarter-over-quarter decrease. So the latest quarterly U.S. Solar Market Insights Report, put out by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and GTM Research, is a bit of a mixed bag. But the fact that the U.S. solar market has shown any growth at all, in light of heavy tariffs on module imports, flat residential growth and a significant decrease in “non-residential” installations, is a … Read More
This is your SolarWakeup for June 12th, 2018
10 Days Out, Chicago! Next Thursday, join your solar colleagues in Chicago for a full day event hosted by yours truly. We’ll be going over all segments of the solar market in Illinois under the Future Energy Jobs Act and putting the industry in a room to get matched up for dealmaking. Join me and register at solarwakeuplive.com
Incremental Cost Of Solar. The words, we can add solar at no incremental cost, are dying and will be replaced with, we can add solar at a savings of. Don’t take it from me, listen to Vote Solar’s Adam Browning in this epic tweet thread, which outlines the recent pricing for solar plus storage across the Country. Add this to the value generated by distributed generation and the future is sunny!
Get Involved, Get Efficient. Many of you listened to my interview with Andrew Birch about the solar permitting initiative that the solar industry is rallying around. The objective, in short, is to have solar installed instantly after a customer signs on to the project. The key result is gaining initial municipalities to opt in to accomplish this and take over the Country from there. Are you close to a mayor that wants more solar? Send me a note and let’s get this going. High quality solar installed quickly!
Innovate, Locally. Puerto Rico went through a horrible year rebuilding after Hurricane Maria. After every major power group talked a big game on changing the energy economy it seems that the local solar/storage sectors are taking on the future locally. I guess that makes sense because if you ask EEI to come up with a future vision for Puerto Rico it looks much like the 20th century grid. Self generation isn’t just for power, its for policies as well. Check out the SESA-PR group.
Changing Economies. When I was looking at solar markets across the world it always dawned on me that solar was creating new economies in those Countries. Now that solar is creating incremental savings (see above), it’s great to think about the double bottom line that our industry creates. Plus the environmental benefits to boot!
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Yann
What The Heck Is It With This Obsession On Solar Roads?
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent If you’ve followed my writings over time, you know how I feel about solar roads. I find them to be one of the greatest boondoggles of all time, a brilliant grift that does nothing to advance the future of solar power but does get a lot of publicity for the people building it. The last time I visited the solar roads issue in 2017, the combiner box on the “test road” – more like a patch that a sidwalk, really – had caught on fire in Standpoint, Idaho, where this “demonstration” road has been in … Read More
Puerto Rico Advocates Form Solar + Storage Trade Group For Island
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent A group of solar + storage advocates has formed a new trade organization to fight for solar + storage solutions in Puerto Rico. The Solar and Energy Storage Association of Puerto Rico (SESA-PR) will promote the use of solar and energy storage to restore electricity to the entire island, something with which the U.S. protectorate has struggled since Hurricane Maria devastated the area last September. “At this crucial moment for Puerto Rico, we are calling on the people to join this effort that aims to guide and educate around the use of solar energy to … Read More