This is your SolarWakeup for August 24th, 2017

Dear Trade Commissioners. Yesterday I mentioned the 27 manufacturing companies that are trying to preserve existing solar manufacturing jobs in the US. Read their entire letter to the trade commission to understand where they are coming from and what they are fighting for. This is an important step for our industry, where competitors get together and fight for the common good.
Why Community Solar Matters. For me, I always saw Colorado as the birthplace for community solar but it seems like conception may have been in CO but the birthplace is in Minnesota. The local market in MN has been working to get a market going for a long time and has really found a win-win for everyone in the way that community solar is structured. Looking at large deposits, minimum number of customers, sufficient value in credits and enough size without making the sites massive. The best policies are those that are copied and the MN community solar policy is good for solar, consumers and even fair to utilities. Disintermediation of site and offtaker solves the greatest issue of all, credit.
Deregulating Monopolies, Customers Like It!  When European governments started opening up choice in retail energy providers, customers started shopping for value and customer service. There is no doubt that energy in the 21^st century has entered an era where the problems that the monopoly was meant to solve no longer exist.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for August 23rd, 2017

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Leading The Manufacturers To Speak Up. During the latest episode of our podcast, the CEO of PanelClaw gave us a forecast that something big would happen this week and yesterday it came. 27 companies with manufacturing jobs wrote an open letter to the trade commission that should reverberate with the commissioners and staff. Don’t miss the podcast,you can listen to it here.
500 minus 37,000 ≠ 114,000. NPR did a great interview and the above mentioned open letter highlights it. Solar is not a binary economy where one parties success is not dependent on another. As an example, if modules go up in price, less projects get done meaning less work for lawyers, appraisers and companies that make widgets. Widgets like adapters, combiner boxes, fuses and racking have less volume when fewer projects are built. When Suniva and SolarWorld want to save their 500 manufacturing jobs, they forget the 37,000 manufacturing jobs that build those widgets and keep the circular ecosystem going in solar. 88,000 jobs are at risk in solar but most importantly the trade commission is being asked to add jobs by killing more jobs and that math just doesn’t add up.
The Path To 100%. A few months ago I spoke with Senator Wiener from California about the plan to increase the RPS to 100%. The 50% by 2030 plan is already ahead of schedule and you could look at market forces making the case for 100% easily achievable. Peaking plants will be replaced by more advanced solar operations, essentially making solar farms 40%-50% capacity factor assets with some dispatching potential. All of this because it lowers the cost of energy for consumers and dramatically lowers the cost volatility.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for August 22nd, 2017

The Big News. SolarWakeup is going on the road with SolarWakeup Live!, a regional in person breakdown of the top news in solar. I’ll be interviewing local leaders, investors and startups about their work in the solar industry. The tour will go around the Country but now is your chance to tell me where I should start. Fill out this survey and make your voice heard.
LADWP Goes Storage. LADWP is fast tracking an energy storage project after an earlier halt to a massive natural gas power plant. Grid level storage is continuing to ramp nicely in California but what most solar pros should be thinking about is adding batteries to their existing solar farms on the DC side of the inverter. Lost energy and management of solar power is best when it is done this way without the massive efficiency losses of AC connected energy storage. For years now, energy storage and solar have been separate markets. Neither needing the other until today. Soon enough, every solar asset will have storage integrated like another inverter but large solar farms will have the ability to replace the peaking plants in operation today that will not be rebuilt at the end of life. More on this to come soon.
Specific Examples, Humanizing Solar Impact. Take your life savings, start a business and create jobs. That’s the story of Las Vegas solar company Louise Helton who made it through the recession that hit Vegas hard only to be struck by utility overreach and regulatory uncertainty. Taking this story public is where solar wins. No amount of lobbying and political donations can compare to the story telling of people’s lives.
The Solar Eclipse Of The Heart. The eclipse was cool but most importantly my job of finding solar articles gets easier. Also, congrats to any editor that was able to write a headline without using the word eclipse as a pun. I did hear that global solar will be eclipsing nuclear going forward.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for August 21st, 2017

New Podcast, Summer Break is Over. The kids go back to school tomorrow including Kate starting kindergarten and my schedule can get back to some routine. As two bankrupt companies that have raised hundreds of millions of dollars try to use an antiquated trade policy to save themselves (hard to see how that would work) while taking so many other companies with them. I spoke with the CEO of PanelClaw, Costa Nicolaou. Costa has run PanelClaw for a decade and has the leading marketshare for the rooftop market. Most importantly, PanelClaw has market share while having to play in a commodity market where premium pricing is hard to get. Costa walks through how he runs the company and what he sees happening going forward. He breaks some news on the podcast about new offerings that will be coming from PanelClaw.Listen Now!
Solar Is For Everyone. I really dislike this type of headline, because it is so obviously false. Maybe a decade ago, solar was reserved for those with extra dollars in their bank accounts. Today, solar financial products span the entire income range. Loans, leases and PACE give homeowners more choice than ever. Community solar and meter aggregation policies provide even more access to low income families and renters through shorter terms. Of course, there is a preferential treatment for people with good credit but that’s a talking point that utilities don’t like because they milk low credit scores for hundreds or thousands in deposits. This regulator should tell us why this op-ed was written.
IPPs Go Merchant And Regulated. A third bidder for Oncor has emerged after the denied acquisition by NextEra. Joining Berkshire and Elliot is Sempra, the well known IPP may be looking to get some regulated holdings into its portfolio. At the same time, Calpine has agreed to a private equity buyout by a group of investors led by Energy Capital Partners.

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Yann

Costa Nicolaou – PanelClaw CEO With A Decade Of Profitable Solar Experience

I interview a great friend, Costa Nicolaou, the CEO of PanelClaw. PanelClaw has the leading market share in the rooftop racking market and has been in business for over a decade. Having raised very little money, PanelClaw shows that success can be achieved if you operate your business efficiently. If you enjoyed this episode as much as I did, make sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform including iTunes, SoundCloud and Stitcher radio. Please subscribe and share with your friends how much EnergyWakeup is helping you!

This is your SolarWakeup for August 18th, 2017

This week has been tough on news. A ton of coverage on the 201 petition hearing and Monday’s solar eclipse. One story line that is prevalent is that the industry is fighting against itself and there is a civil war. This could not be farther from the truth in my opinion. Two companies are supported by a third. All three seem to be in financial trouble and stand alone to say that they need to be saved. Everybody else is on the side of the table saying that the industry is growing, competing and consolidating to the companies that are able to generate a profit or raise money effectively. Solar is coming together in a way that it has rarely done. Let’s change the narrative that solar is fighting because that isn’t the case. Keep your eyes and ears open on the hearings and lobbying that will start soon. We are seeing which companies are looking to compete in solar versus those that are hoping you don’t realize that they don’t care about your success. We need win-win situations to mature as an industry and the 201 is anything but that.
Big News Next Week. I am working on something exciting and hope to share this with you next week. I will need your help to execute and look forward to it.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for August 17th, 2017

The 201 Petition PR Tactic. The hearing at the trade commission had the solar industry outnumbering the bankrupt petitioners by a 10 to 1 ratio. As I read the quote from Suniva, ““We’re not out to kill the industry,” said Matt Card, Suniva’s VP of commercial operations. “We are very open to a solution that works for all parties.” I realized that the company is trying to position itself post 201 petition as a company that can still do business in the market. It’s hard to understand what it is that the petitioners want because they’ve already called for an insanely high minimum price that would cripple our market. If they really mean what they said, then they should propose something else. How about $0.03/watt tariff on foreign modules that is given back as a subsidy to US manufacturing in the form of payroll adjustments? In a 10GW market, that would be a significant amount of money to create local manufacturing jobs.
SolarWorld Goes To Market. As an update to the previous comment about SolarWorld assets being purchased by the CEOs new company, the US entity was not yet purchased and represents the key subsidiary of SolarWorld. The administrator will focus on this now and try to find a buyer for the company. Interesting opportunity for the company to decide how the 201 petition impacts the ability to market the company.
Nevada Netmetering Nightmare. I don’t know if the Nevada regulatory fight will ever end but the market will keep moving in the forward direction including the restructuring of the energy market.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for August 16th, 2017

The 201 Hearing Thus Far, a New Player Chimes In. If you have never heard of Stion, a thin film solar manufacturer, you are not alone. Until yesterday, I had never heard their name but I was curious when I saw that they were testifying in favor of the 201 petition. Stion has raised nearly a quarter billion dollars and seems to have managed to spend it all given that they have fallen short on their property tax payments to property tax collectors. The Mississippi Development Authority has notified and amended the arrangement for the company that originally promised to create 1,000 jobs in MS. See, Stion isn’t against subsidies, they have taken grants including from DOE, they are against other companies receiving economic development. As Stion, Suniva and SolarWorld go through this process to attempt to kill the US solar market, I urge each company to think about their supply partners. Are their values and interests aligned with yours? Would their hopes hurt your bottom line? The market gives you the flexibility to choose what products you buy, choose wisely. I contacted Stion for comment yesterday. After receiving a template quote from Stion, I asked for a specific result that the company would like to see the ITC order. If and when I receive it, I will update you.
Uniting For Common Good. I am proud of what I saw yesterday. The largest crowd in ITC history according to the commission staff. Three overflow rooms at the hearing and positive stories about the jobs and impacts companies are creating in the US. Large and small companies from across America spoke about what the solar industry means to them and how harmful tariffs would hurt the fastest growing energy market with jobs paying well above national averages. We’ve had tariffs in the US for years on foreign modules. Solar manufacturers in the US weren’t alone in struggling with our fast moving market, that is part of growth. SunEdison even went bankrupt regardless of how cheap solar panels were. In our business, if you do not execute flawlessly, you will have troubles running your business. Regardless of the bumps we have faced, companies came to DC, with the help of SEIA, and spoke out. That is a maturing market.
Micro Product Wars. A video in the microinverter/optimizer market has created a bit of an internal fight. In short, Enphase made a video comparison of AC modules being installed versus SolarEdge and SolarEdge didn’t like it. They sued and asked for the video to be barred from marketing and the judge apparently said no. When I lead a PR and marketing team, bad stuff would happen and I felt like sometimes doing nothing was a lot more effective than being defensive or offensive. I wish someone would have said to SolarEdge, “Do you know how difficult it is to get people to watch a video on YouTube? It will never get mass market views.” Because then I would have never seen, cared or commented and you would get the last 60 seconds of your life back.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for August 15th, 2017

Hearing Number 1. Tomorrow you will see the first hearing in the 201 petition process. Complete with public comments and potentially some questions from the ITC commissioners, some parts of the story may become clearer. SEIA has organized hundreds of solar executives and workers to come to the hearing to show what this means to all of us. Times like these show the importance of taking a day to tell your story to politicians and regulators. Another opportunity is in California, organized by CalSEIA, to speak with over 20% of the legislators about solar and storage. I encourage you to invest your time to go to Sacramento, reach out to CalSEIA to do so.
The Eclipse Hype. We’ve seen the unease about solar energy during a solar eclipse in Germany a few years ago. With proper planning, the grid operators were able to handle the few hours without problems. Keep in mind that even though solar will be leaving the grid for a few hours, demand response and peak power pricing will ensure that the grid remains stable and operating.
You’ve Got To Read This. A story about nuclear power plants that have some interesting (plentiful) talking points. Keep in mind that these power plants are being built with ratepayer pre-payment and guaranteed return on the investment. In short, there really is no risk to the shareholder of the public company except if the company fails to execute (without regard to schedule or budget) and regulators revoke the ratebasing of the sunk costs. Legislators are talking about: 1. A production tax credit (don’t ask me for what), 2. Expansion of the loan guarantee program, 3. Inclusion of societal benefits to view benefits of new plants. The irony is thick in this one.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for August 14th, 2017

Coming Up On 5 Years. In about 3 weeks, I will have published this newsletter for 5 years. Starting with an initial list of less than 50, there are now almost 5,000 of you that read the newsletter or website on a daily basis. More importantly I get to have amazing conversations with many of your every day. It has made me a better solar executive and consultant and for that I am thankful. Next week, I will be sending you a survey to learn what more this platform can do for our relationship. What do you think SolarWakeup should do next or what information do you want to see?
Solar Goes Bipartisan. SEIA did good work and got 69 members of Congress to write a letter against the trade case. 16 Senators from both sides of the aisle led by Tillis (R-NC) and Heinrich (D-NM). On the House side, the name that stands out to me is Mark Sanford (R-SC). Sanford is known for his conservative credentials and carries real weight in the GOP on the budget policy front. VP Pence’s Chief of Staff thought Sanford was a strong contender for VP in 2008 when he was Governor of SC. Let’s get some more members to sign on, if you have a relationship, use it now.
SolarWorld In Name Only. CEO, Frank Asbeck, with the help of the Qataris is buying the SolarWorld assets. Unknown from the reporting if that includes the SolarWorld USA entity or just the manufacturing assets that will be put into a new holding company. This makes me wonder what and how this impacts that original tariff money and this new 201 petition. Either way, this makes SolarWorld modules essentially unbankable in my opinion.

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Have a great day!
Yann