Two VOS Studies Vary Widely: Can You Spot The Major Difference?

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened:Utility Dive has an excellent piece describing the 88% difference in two VOS studies, one in Montana and one in Maryland. The Maryland VOS study, prepared by the state’s Public Service Commission, values solar highly. The Montana VOS study, prepared by the state’s largest utility, values solar less highly. Can anyone spot the difference? While the Utility Dive analysis goes far deeper into the specifics, it’s no surprise that these reports turned out the way they did. SolarWakeup’s View:  Let’s get this out of the way first: Go read the Utility Dive explanation of … Read More →

Zombie Lie Moves Into The Tennessee Valley, Results In Unnecessary Fee

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened:The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), in an action that seems antithetical to its entire mission, imposed a grid-access fee on its customers, aimed specifically at solar users because of the zombie lie of the cost-shift. For a utility whose whole existence is owed to the idea that poor, rural people deserve low-cost electricity, the TVA’s grid-access fee seems to be the height of hypocrisy. The TVA servers around 9 million people across seven states. SolarWakeup’s View:  This flippin’ zombie lie is back again, this week popping its head up from the depths of hell … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for May 11th, 2018

The payoff. Nathan Arbitman of DSM Advanced Solar was the winner of the SolarWakeup Bracket Challenge for March Madness. Read his post about the work he is doing in today’s top story. Have a great weekend!
The PV Innovation Race is On. Like many of you, I’ve committed my career to the cleantech industry because of the moral imperative to accelerate the clean energy revolution, as well as the unprecedented wealth creation opportunity this transformation brings. And I’m always asking myself, how we can make this transition happen even faster? I joined DSM Advanced Solar, a leading PV technology provider, to create build provocative and powerful partnerships that accelerate value creation in the PV market. DSM is working with partners of all shapes and sizes to drive science-based innovation— how might we work together to accelerate your company’s growth?
Political Chaos Leads To Success. In a different world, Nevada never guts the solar market. There isn’t a deep fight, with lawsuits, that completely annihilates the solar industry. Instead, a settlement is reached that leads to slowdown but things stay in place. Which scenario would have a better solar market today? That’s my question for Connecticut today. How hard are you willing to fight? Politics is a full contact sport, don’t be a spectator.
New Pod. Don’t forget you can get Barry Cinnamon’s podcast, The Energy Show, right here on SolarWakeup.
Need To Explain? Two value of solar reports. Two States. Two Results. Do I really need to tell you why that happens? #utilities

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Have a great day!
Yann

Can the Battery Storage Industry Avoid The Same Mistakes As The Solar Industry?

Battery storage is roughly where the solar industry was in the early 2000s. It’s a tiny market now but it is exploding and the technology is evolving rapidly. There is money saving potential for customers but there are risks for incumbent energy providers who are pushing back. The standards are changing like quicksand and investor funds are pouring in to take advantage of this inevitable market. The rapid “hockey stick” growth that we are seeing in the energy storage industry is likely to be even more accelerated than the growth of the solar industry. [wds id=”3″] All the pieces are … Read More →

Nevada Solar Soars After Legislators Got It Right (After The PUC Got It So Wrong)

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened:A recent Vote Solar note on Nevada revealed that the industry has come roaring back after legislative fixes in 2017 cleaned up the mess that lawmakers and the Public Utilities Commission created in 2016. Most specifically, Assembly Bill (AB) 405 went into law and caused applications for NV Energy’s SolarGenerations program to spike 11-fold in just one year. The bill also provided the right atmosphere to encourage solar installers to hire more workers, including one company that increased its workforce 300%. SolarWakeup’s View:  Well, better late than never, right? After the Nevada Public Utilities … Read More →

The PV Innovation Race is On

By Nathan Arbitman, Contributor Like many of you, I’ve committed my career to the cleantech industry because of the moral imperative to accelerate the clean energy revolution, as well as the unprecedented wealth creation opportunity this transformation brings. And I’m always asking myself, how we can make this transition happen even faster? Last December, my business, DSM Advanced Solar, announced the outcome of the latest SunRISE TechBridge Challenge, in which we partnered with a leading cleantech accelerator (Greentown Labs) and PV science institute (Fraunhofer CSE), to find and accelerate cutting-edge solar startups. [wds id=”3″] Through this program, DSM has invested … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for May 10th, 2018

First The Good News. In what could be the biggest solar news in a long time, California is going to require the 65,000 new homes per year in the State to include solar. This could mean between 200MW to 400MW of additional capacity per year of distributed generation that will save consumers money and lower the infrastructure investments that utilities have to do. There is a debate on the cost of the mandate, but as California becomes the 5th largest economy in the world you have to believe that they are doing something correctly.
Talking Heads In Solar. Hats off to Kelly Knutchen from California Solar & Storage Association for joining the 2 on 1 panel on CNBC. The moderator and think tank speaker were big on the mandate talking point. The think tanker clearly threw Kelly for a loop by asking how a homeowner is going to pay for solar upfront if they take a 30 year loan. huh? Watch the 4 minute interview and watch Kelly do a great job representing solar. This is part of the problem in the universe, CNBC still views solar as a subsidized energy source and never mentioned subsidies when covering oil, gas, or utilities.
Losing a NEM Battle. I am not used to writing about NEM battles we, as an industry lose. We lost, temporarily, in Nevada and settled in Arizona. Things in South Carolina looked bad, then good, then bad, now better. In most cases, we had a republican Governor pushing against our industry. I never expected Connecticut to be truly in play but when it comes down to it, solar is a political bargaining chip that Governors will use if they need to and you saw it in play here. After some late night chaos, because solar pros know how to play politics, the State House voted to gut net metering in CT. The question now is what political prize the legislators have to play and what message the Governor gets tainted with when he pitches his environmental bill. This also reminds us all that utilities will sponsor legislators of every size, shape and color to protect their ridiculous monopoly schemes.
Solar Knows No Parties. I don’t know if I buy into this but one study says solar is installed by republicans 5 times more often than democrats. What do you think? Frank’s coverage below.
Resi Solar. Are you a successful residential installer? Is your business growing? I am building out a small group of residential installers to help me keep a pulse on the market and identify the things that matter to you. Of course you will be recognized on the platform and we can enjoy getting to know each other. Let me know if you are interested in this informal advisory council.

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Have a great day!
Yann

Republicans v. Democrats: Who’s Installing More Solar?

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened:A recent study by an outfit called Priceonomics reports that Republicans in California have installed more solar than Democrats. While the study found that Republicans in the state have installed solar at a 5 to 1 ratio may surprise some, the study itself has some methodological flaws that make it impossible to generalize its findings beyond California. It also has a couple of “Well, duh” conclusions, too. SolarWakeup’s View:  When you’re deciding what conclusions you can draw from any given set of data, one of the first questions you should ask yourself is: “Is … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for May 9th, 2018

SEIA’S CT Thoughts. "While we are in favor of legislation that genuinely advances solar energy, we have concerns about this bill. We support stronger renewable portfolio standards, yet it is not clear to what extent the bill would open significant large-scale or community solar markets. And importantly, any approach that doesn't also protect customer choice and provide for reasonable compensation for the value of customer-generated electricity is not acceptable.” - SEIA Press Release

I Called This. When Tom Werner wants to retire, I’m ready to step in. SunPower is leaving utility scale and focusing on distributed generation. It’s been clear to me and I believe this to be the correct move for SunPower given the market share and value proposition that the company has through its dealer network. Also with Tom Starrs leaving the SEPA board to focus on his SEIA position, this aligns the values with corporate goals. I wonder if my next strategic assumption becomes true as well.

Ratebased Utility Solar. Tampa Electric customers are seeing an increase to their bills because of a solar farm. This is part of the rate base due to the utility investing its shareholder capital for the project, a 600MW plant. Think of the developers that would come in and bid this deal, imagine TECO signing up 10, 60MW, projects. If the company signed a PPA, it wouldn’t require rate base and therefore likely not increase the bills to consumers. But then TECO shareholders wouldn’t get double digit returns either.

There’s A Better Way. I spoke with the CEO of Connexus Energy last week, he describes the better way of adding value to consumers. Maybe we need to change all IOUs to member owned cooperatives.

Everyone Wants EVs. AAA says that 1 in 5 Americans is looking to buy an EV as their next car. Tesla shorts will begin shaking in their space boots once again.

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Have a great day!
Yann

@DrVox On Climate Policy: “Go As Hard And Fast As Possible, Forever And Ever. Amen.”

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: I’ll tell you all what: David Roberts, aka Dr. Vox, knows how to capture your attention. Last I saw him, he was claiming battery storage had a “dirty secret,” about which we, well…you might say we disagreed. But he’s back, and this time I agree with him. The key takeaway: “So the only rule of climate policy that really matters is: go as hard and fast as possible, forever and ever. Amen.” (As a retired Catholic, I couldn’t resist adjusting the punctuation a bit.) In today’s piece, Dr. Vox discusses how humanity can … Read More →