This is your SolarWakeup for April 14th, 2017

Strike Three in Juno Beach. I know it’s hard for many of you to say anything because Juno Beach is on your target customer list but NextEra is having a really bad year. First strike came when CEO, Jim Robo, wanted to buy HECO which was turned down by regulators and pushed back against by local. Two came when NextEra through its regulated utility, FPL, pushed an anti-solar amendment with millions of dollars. They went as far as using firefighters to lie about the amendment without their knowledge causing the ad to be pulled. Strike three comes yesterday when Texas regulators voted to reject the purchase of Oncor by NextEra. It seems to me that NextEra is suffering from an irreparable lack of trust with regulators. Management has shown that it is willing to do just about anything to get quarterly numbers to match. I’m surprised that shareholders haven’t asked why the continued failures are happening, after all Jim Robo is known for his lack of patience for failures.
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Get the PURPA out of here. Once there was a CEO at Duke, he loved coal and ratebase so much that when he retired he wanted to go back to his youth and become a solar entrepreneur. Now he sits on the board of SEPA. The culture at Duke has not changed at all, in many ways still living up to the normal way of doing business. Earlier this year, after extended pushback on solar applications for qualifying facilities, Duke made the case that solar contracts under PURPA should be much shorter, rendering them unfinanceable. Now, for the good of the consumer, Duke wants to spend $13billion, with a b, on new infrastructure. How about letting consumers put solar on their roofs and businesses; investors fund solar farms and generating revenues for North Carolina’s land owners? That way the infrastructure gets paid by the market or doesn’t need to get built at all.
Make sure you listen to the latest episodes of EnergyWakeup. Google is now at 100% renewables, how do they do it and what is next? Sam Arons talks to SolarWakeup. We also speak with OSEIA Director about Oregon’s solarmarket.
The EPA. Don’t take your eyes off of this. The EPA is being absolutely gutted. Touting jobs from a coal mine, Scott Pruitt is ignoring the solar jobs to move forward the rules that help coal companies. There is much more here that is very disheartening and not what Trump voters wanted.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for April 13th, 2017

Lightning Round Thursday!
Saving Coal. The coal trade organization is running PR and wishing itself a new coal plant. Good luck with that.
Help support SolarWakeup. If you are looking for investors or buyers of your projects, hit reply to this email and let us help you. Our expansive network is always looking to partner with you and helps us pay the bills to keep the newsletter free to you, as it has been for the past 4 years.
Get the $F out of here. Elon went all Silicon Valley on some investors. If you don’t like Tesla the way it is, go buy Ford.
Make sure you listen to the latest episodes of EnergyWakeup. Google is now at 100% renewables, how do they do it and what is next? Sam Arons talks to SolarWakeup. We also speak with OSEIA Director about Oregon’s solarmarket.
More power. The resi solar + storage market. Will it be the negotiating tool that solar uses to help with NEM battles?

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for April 12th, 2017

What the PREPA. It could have been. It should have been. That’s what I think about the solar market in Puerto Rico. Plenty of C&I roof space and a willingness from the community to transition to clean solar energy. The utility, PREPA, was also a willing participant and started writing contracts for PPAs years ago. The problem came with the financial downturn of Puerto Rico itself. PREPA became an offtaker that could not be financed making most contracts stay on the sidelines, stranded and never built. In many ways, PREPA is like HECO on almost all comparisons except financial. Maybe it’s time for PREPA to go private.
Help support SolarWakeup. If you are looking for investors or buyers of your projects, hit reply to this email and let us help you. Our expansive network is always looking to partner with you and helps us pay the bills to keep the newsletter free to you, as it has been for the past 4 years.
A Colorado Settlement. I can’t say that I have been following the process in Colorado that closely. A State once at the top of the national leaderboard has been quiet for a few years. Not on the corporate standpoint as several big name firms have made its home in Colorado. The market has been soft for years as new companies try to get into community solar and muni deals. Let’s see if the happy middle solution creates new opportunities for the market going forward. We will try and get COSEIA’s Executive Director on the podcast to find out.
Make sure you listen to the latest episodes of EnergyWakeup. Google is now at 100% renewables, how do they do it and what is next? Sam Arons talks to SolarWakeup. We also speak with OSEIA Director about Oregon’s solarmarket.
Please hold my solar energy. I’ve been a skeptic on this platform about storage in the past. I’ve been reading a lot of data in recent months and I think we are getting close to gametime. Storage is getting close to offering a value proposition to customers across rate schedules in various States. Moreover, I think the State level initiatives aren’t going to have to be so costly to make it work. I’m curious to hear what you think and where the market will be.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for April 11th, 2017

Federal influences. I am happy to see the Federal NAACP publish this report on energy access and increased clean energy. All too often we have seen utilities coopt well meaning local chapters in ways covered a few months ago by major publications. Solar jobs are local jobs. These are jobs that cannot be moved to other areas and that extends beyond the jobs available to installers. Policy wonks pushing regulations at local city halls and State Capitols are likely to be local. Lawyers that understand the State laws are hard to find at a national level. NAACP understands that clean energy, in a distributed market, is good for the local workforce and local small business owners.
Help support SolarWakeup. If you are looking for investors or buyers of your projects, hit reply to this email and let us help you. Our expansive network is always looking to partner with you and helps us pay the bills to keep the newsletter free to you, as it has been for the past 4 years.
Find your dream (solar) job. Solar Foundation continues the important work of identifying the many jobs in solar and now has created a platform to connect employers with job seekers. Recruiting is one of the most important aspects in solar company management. Our work can be quite complicated so having access to more talent is always helpful. We even have some of the best recruiters working in our cleantech segment and I hope that this tool is helpful to them. Check it out at solartrainingusa.org
Make sure you listen to the latest episodes of EnergyWakeup. Google is now at 100% renewables, how do they do it and what is next? Sam Arons talks to SolarWakeup. We also speak with OSEIA Director about Oregon’s solarmarket.
The branding halo. The first version of Tesla’s solar tile is out and it looks like a version of everything that already exists on the market. A skirted standard racking system was released to the media with Panasonic branding. The reach that a Tesla press release has still amazes me today, and that comes after years of seeing it in effect. Tesla has become the most valuable car company in the Country and I don’t think Musk is anywhere near finished. But let’s slow our horses when covering the news.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for April 10th, 2017

More Solar Clickbait. For some reason, newspapers forget that the solar industry is a business. The solar market has a global impact and global supply chain. Silicon from the US that goes to China, cells and materials that come from Georgia that go to Asia for assembly, etc. Sometimes those businesses have to adapt to market conditions and jobs are realigned, which is always unfortunate. When Sungevity files for Bankruptcy, small family owned solar installers get more market share. When China drops the cost of solar modules, more lawyers, accountants, developers are hired in the US. More importantly it means cheaper energy for consumers and more clean energy for the environment. New York Times got this headline wrong, I’ll stay subscribed though.
Help support SolarWakeup. If you are looking for investors or buyers of your projects, hit reply to this email and let us help you. Our expansive network is always looking to partner with you and helps us pay the bills to keep the newsletter free to you, as it has been for the past 4 years.
Community Solar. Okay, community solar is going to be a thing. I still worry about the solar credits being under the control of regulators, and we have seen what regulators can do to change the rules of the game. That being said, we now have a community solar trade association and big companies like NRG going big with it. Maryland has spent the better part of two years working on their rules and now comes the execution. A municipal utility in Florida has signed a PPA and is selling the energy to its customers if they want to opt-in. Lots of new business segments to round this market out, would be nice to see larger pools though so we can avoid a boom-bust.
Make sure you listen to the latest episodes of EnergyWakeup. Google is now at 100% renewables, how do they do it and what is next? Sam Arons talks to SolarWakeup. We also speak with OSEIA Director about Oregon’s solarmarket.
Signals create liquidity. It’s no secret that California has a lot of solar. There are efforts to connect the CAISO with the Western States. All of this is important because the solar industry wants to move to a more flexible model, away from 20 and 25 year contracts. In order to achieve that, we need to connect our grids together in pricing and send clear pricing signals to solar and storage operators. Let traders place value of the potential value of capacity and available solar energy so that sponsors can generate revenues as if it was a coal plant.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for April 7th, 2017

The forgotten GW. As I spoke to software vendors and service providers at the asset management show last week, I kept trying to figure out where all of the GW were. At most, vendors had a portfolio of 15GW or so depending on how it was counted. With global capacity well above this, I kept asking the same thing, where are the remaining GW as they have to be managed somehow. The answer is that utilities, which own a large amount of the global GW, are doing almost everything in house. From writing their own software to hiring their own field technicians, few utilities are outsourcing the asset management or O&M functions.
Help support SolarWakeup. If you are looking for investors or buyers of your projects, hit reply to this email and let us help you. Our expansive network is always looking to partner with you and helps us pay the bills to keep the newsletter free to you, as it has been for the past 4 years.
Metaphor of the week. The coal mine museum goes solar. Makes sense, that’s the future for coal miners across the Country. Elon Musk should have donated it to them and now IREC should offer free training at the museum, located at a technical college in Kentucky.
Make sure you listen to the latest episodes of EnergyWakeup. Google is now at 100% renewables, how do they do it and what is next? Sam Arons talks to SolarWakeup. We also speak with OSEIA Director about Oregon’s solarmarket.
The budget to nowhere. Congress doesn’t like the cuts to the EERE division of the DOE. Some solar people sat down with the Secretary of Oops Energy, Rich Perry. First public comments was all political fodder but I want to know how the meeting really went.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for April 6th, 2017

Today’s opening paragraphs are courtesy of Vinyasun and Generate Capital. Two companies that took me up on my offer and donated $1,000 to Vote Solar for Equinox. Vote Solar is doing important work that keeps many of us employed. Imagine a solar industry without the regulatory and legislative rules that exist today. Lucky for us, this isn’t the case. Also thanks to Kristin Ashwood and Blair Kendall for sending their donations!
Florida Solar Wakeup – Our largest utility is self-promoting 2GW of rate-payer funded, self-build, “universal-solar” power plants without a transparent bidding process. They are so big league they convinced the FLPSC to let them run a half-baked voluntary green pricing program, funded by ratepayer donations, while in parallel running a $20+ million-dollar opposition campaign against its own customer. The result, the sleeping giant is awake. In August, 73% -- over 1.9 million votes were cast to remove tax barriers to commercial solar and that have prevented affordable solar leases to the state's aging and middle-income population. What you might not know is that constitutional amendment was placed on the ballot through the legislature, passed unanimously with bi-partisan support. PACE is now available to 40% of Floridians, zip codes where a large amount of this country’s wealth is concentrated and contains a population greater than that of Massachusetts. Right now, our republican legislature is in the process of doing the will of the voter, implementing language to remove taxes from solar leases and commercial ownership. The Solar Foundation reported that solar jobs in Florida grew by 31% in 2016. Make no mistake - Florida is open for business whether the utilities like it or not.
Justin Hoysradt is the Chief Executive and Dir. of Public Policy for Vinyasun. A primarily residential, rooftop solar installer, strategically driving scale to make Florida’s once impenetrable grid more modern, distributed, and flexible. This paragraph was brought to you through a contribution to Vote Solar, the grassroots, non-profit, organization that has significantly helped drive the policy change that you have been waiting for in Florida. Donate to Vote Solar today.
Help support SolarWakeup. If you are looking for investors or buyers of your projects, hit reply to this email and let us help you. Our expansive network is always looking to partner with you and helps us pay the bills to keep the newsletter free to you, as it has been for the past 4 years.
From Generate Capital. Generate Capital has announced a new facility to finance more than $250 million in energy storage and solar-plus-storage projects. As the largest private financier of behind-the-meter energy storage projects in North America, Generate Capital will initially focus on the upcoming SGIP rebate program in California with this innovative new facility. The groundbreaking program provides standard customer contracts for behind-the-meter storage and solar-plus-storage projects, offering project developers access to permanent, flexible capital in a burgeoning market. For more information about the facility or the SGIP program, contact Generate Capital at storage@generatecapital.com.
Make sure you listen to the latest episodes of EnergyWakeup. Google is now at 100% renewables, how do they do it and what is next? Sam Arons talks to SolarWakeup. We also speak with OSEIA Director about Oregon’s solar market.
First Solar Raising Money. Brookfield gets into the yieldco game and First Solar wants out. It is raising money to keep a decent cash position while replacing its manufacturing capacity and it also realizes that owning assets long term isn’t what the company is setup for.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for April 5th, 2017

The State Tour. This week’s EnergyWakeup. I’ve always been intrigued about the State chapters of SEIA. They are political animals that sometimes have a hard time to get going but when they do and the cylinders are firing, watch out. It seems to me that Oregon is in that position right now. Budgets have been drastically increased, fundraising is going well and a new executive director has been hired. Now add a well thought out Oregon Solar Plan and 115MW of new solar development coming to the State. Our conversation is wide ranging including the intricacies of how OSEIA works with SEIA. Plus an awesome new intro song!
Help support SolarWakeup. If you are looking for investors or buyers of your projects, hit reply to this email and let us help you. Our expansive network is always looking to partner with you and helps us pay the bills to keep the newsletter free to you, as it has been for the past 4 years.
Winning over land owners. A Texas Tech Professor was on the Pod Save America podcast and she said something really interesting about her conversations with Texas land owners. Oil has been driving big revenues for them but it’s messy and intrusive to the property. Wind farms on the other hand are now bringing in $60million in revenues to land owners. Texas is on the edge of being a solar juggernaut and revenues will be interesting to watch.
Make sure you listen to the latest episodes of EnergyWakeup. Google is now at 100% renewables, how do they do it and what is next? Sam Arons talks to SolarWakeup. We also speak with OSEIA Director about Oregon’s solar market.
Going 100%. The content at Vox is quite good of late. David Roberts tackles the idea of going 100% renewables and if it can work. We work in this sector but what do the RPS’s really mean for our business, this is a great place to start.

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Yann

Jeff Bissonnette, Executive Director of Oregon SEIA on 10% solar, 115MW awarded and National SEIA

In this episode of EnergyWakeup, we speak to the executive director of Oregon’s Solar Energy Industries Association (OSEIA), Jeff Bissonnette. Jeff has been working for OSEIA for over a year and comes to the association with almost two decades worth of energy policy experience. OSEIA has dramatically increased its budget and operation to bring Oregon back to the top of the solar leaderboard. Oregon used to have a business tax credit that led companies like Nike and Prologis to go solar almost ten years ago. Today the group is fighting for the residential tax credit crucial to the sector and … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for April 4th, 2017

Don’t tell me, show me. This goes hand in hand with the saying, in god we trust, everyone else bring data. In this case, we can use pictures to change hearts and possibly minds. There are some amazingly frightening time lapse documentaries on glaciers and their retreat. Of course these are the effects from human cause but they are also the cause of the weather effects we are seeing in whacky weather. Visual debate is very effective, that’s why I tend to like every picture of solar I see on facebook or linkedin. You hear non-solar people say it all of the time after they fly into a major hub, “why aren’t all of those roofs full of solar?”
Help support SolarWakeup. If you are looking for investors or buyers of your projects, hit reply to this email and let us help you. Our expansive network is always looking to partner with you and helps us pay the bills to keep the newsletter free to you, as it has been for the past 4 years.
Realism in being contrarian? Many comments in the aftermath of the Trump victory have stated that renewables cannot be stopped at this point. Much of that is true and at the same time it’s the therapy we need to justify believing our own kool aid. I’m sure it’s a little bit of everything, meaning that a weak EPA and DOE with regard to renewables and the apathy by the White House is not helpful for the growth of our sector. At the same time, coal is still not going to make a comeback. Natural gas pricing will continue to be low because there is a lot of it and any upward pressure on pricing due to a desire to have drinkable ground water isn’t going to happen. Therefore, I agree with the overview, it’s not bad but it definitely isn’t good.
Make sure you listen to the latest episode of EnergyWakeup. Google is now at 100% renewables, how do they do it and what is next? Sam Arons talks to SolarWakeup.
Another Nuke Deal? We discussed the potential for another deal around nuclear plants early this year after New York and Illinois both went this way. It looks like Connecticut may be pursuing a bill of their own. CT only has one nuke, owned by Dominion Power. The deregulated market has so much more potential for more solar, the existing solar market was well crafted but capped early. The bailout is done by doubling the RPS, funny right, since nuclear power is labeled as a renewable. Any solar folks working this bill?

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Yann