This is your SolarWakeup for March 17th, 2017
Buy a ticket to Equinox. Vote Solar does great things and you should give them at least $100 per year. In return you get to go to Equinox, a great party, or just buy a ticket to support the group. Most importantly, I am on the host committee which means we compete to see who can drive the most traffic to ticket purchases. My proposal to you again. If you buy a ticket, email me the receipt and you will be recognized. If you buy 10 tickets or donate $1000, you get to write a paragraph in a future edition. If you want to donate more, email me and I’ll figure out a way to get you even more exposure. Ticket link here.
Paid for Regulators. What did you expect? Regulators to…regulate?
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No, No, No. Close your eyes and think of an agency you like that relates to climate change, clean air or solar. Trump’s budget likely cuts the funding for it. Be thankful that the President doesn’t pass the budget, that’s a job for Congress. Good think Congress doesn’t take it very seriously.
More layoffs. Good reporting by PV-Magazine on an unhappy topic. More corporate alignments happening in the solar space.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 16th, 2017
Buy a ticket to Equinox. Vote Solar does great things and you should give them at least $100 per year. In return you get to go to Equinox, a great party, or just buy a ticket to support the group. Most importantly, I am on the host committee which means we compete to see who can drive the most traffic to ticket purchases. My proposal to you again. If you buy a ticket, email me the receipt and you will be recognized. If you buy 10 tickets or donate $1000, you get to write a paragraph in a future edition. If you want to donate more, email me and I’ll figure out a way to get you even more exposure. Ticket link here.
New York’s REV Dream. I haven’t read the REV rules as adopted so let’s crowdsource this. What are you excited about? What do you see as the first segment of the solar market most likely to get developed?
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Carried by California. California is carrying the rest of the Country. The total installed capacity is nearly half of the Country’s total solar. NEM 2.0 is going to create a soft moment as re-education of consumers is taken on. We highlighted the softening numbers months ago, stay calm and solar on.
Irony Alert. Most people in solar were not confident that the ITC would get extended. Only a few were bad market participants and actively campaigned against the ITC. Noone did that more openly than Sunnova so imagine my surprise when I see their tax equity fund being raised. At the very least, Sunnova should say a public thank you to the people that got the ITC extended.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 15th, 2017
Buy a ticket to Equinox. Vote Solar does great things and you should give them at least $100 per year. In return you get to go to Equinox, a great party, or just buy a ticket to support the group. Most importantly, I am on the host committee which means we compete to see who can drive the most traffic to ticket purchases. My proposal to you again. If you buy a ticket, email me the receipt and you will be recognized. If you buy 10 tickets or donate $1000, you get to write a paragraph in a future edition. If you want to donate more, email me and I’ll figure out a way to get you even more exposure. Ticket link here.
The Sungevity demise. 10 years ago, someone showed me this idea of a customer typing their address into a web browser which pulled up their house on a map. Once you did that, a solar consultant would send you a layout and proposal within 24 hours. These were the beginning days of Sungevity, a solar sales platform that over the years did very well but may have gotten caught up in the craziness of owning assets. Without a proper sponsor, Sungevity went for the reverse merger. I was told the merger was in trouble as early as Intersolar North America in July so I am sure the company has been trying to find an alternative suitor throughout the process. As I said last week, I feel bad for the employees that tried to make things work and hope they find other opportunities in the solar industry. Sunrun called itself the largest standalone solar company last week, which may be true for the moment but I don’t expect that to hold true through the rest of the year.
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.
Are you down with IPP? Big news out of Europe with the potential acquisition of Innogy by Engie. Innogy is the decentralized part of the RWE separation and Engie is the rebranded GDF Suez, where GDF stands for Gaz de France. Engie has been making big investments and buying into the new IPP model, including energy storage, solar and energy efficiency. The company also sold power assets in the US to Dynegy totaling almost 10GW which shows more steps to decentralization. Let’s see what’s next for the company.
Scientists can’t stand for it. The head of the EPA’s environmental justice program resigned from the agency. Mustafa Ali wrote a 3 page resignation letter to Scott Pruitt asking to focus on the science, saying “I needed to stand up” in an interview with Think Progress.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 14th, 2017
We’re doing this again? Why is it that anytime someone says “solar gets subsidies” the response is, we don’t need them anymore. Nobody needs subsidies in a market that gives none. This market however plays winners and losers and once you give up depreciation and ITC, are you ready to give up net metering and interconnection rights too? This is all stupid because until everyone else gives up their subsidies, I will keep fighting for solar to keep theirs. You better be sure that I am going to argue for continuation of the ITC just like I did the last time when everyone was telling me, “we don’t need subsidies anymore.”
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A new kind of oil. In 2007, Assistant DOE Secretary, Andy Karsner, talked about the potential for solar in Morocco. Karsner had developed a pipeline of wind projects in Morocco prior to his public service and joked that he was the highest ranking US official of Moroccan descent. I share this ancestry with him so I am excited to see the progress the oil free nation has made with solar.
20MWs everywhere across America? You may be surprised to hear that large IOUs aren’t the only power companies in America. There are hundreds of co-ops across the Country serving small and large communities. There is plenty of solar going into these communities and this will be a market that will continue to grow, so hit the road and knock on some doors in rural America because everyone loves solar.
Compromise in NH. A proposed settlement in NH. Before I opine on this one as I did regarding Arizona, I want to hear your thoughts.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 13th, 2017
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 10th, 2017
Limited commentary this week as I am traveling in Europe.
PURPA is an excuse. Duke is looking to shorten the solar offtake contracts in NC to 5 years. Not because that is better for consumers. Only because they know a 5 year contract won’t get financed therefore stopping solar altogether.
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Pruitt versus Joe Kernen. A non-scientist’s dialogue on carbon emissions between the host of Squawk Box and Pruitt. No, he doesn’t believe CO2 is the primary driver for climate change. Yes, he wants scientists to keep studying it. No, he won’t keep on funding it. No, solar associations said absolutely nothing on the topic. No, I haven’t heard them be critical at all of the new administration.
Painful to see. Sungevity is having issues after the reverse merger collapsed. This is sad to see and continues to show how difficult it is to grow a solar company at scale. Without more markets opening up, this may get worse before it gets better.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 9th, 2017
Limited commentary this week as I am traveling in Europe.
Aquion goes 11. Hardware is hard. Storage owners are wondering what’s next with their batteries.
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Net metering is fair. No surprise here, let’s keep compromising though.
Energy Star. Trump can get rid of Energy Star but it’s too late and too stupid anyways. Manufacturers will keep labeling the efficiency of their products for consumers.
Revenue is strong. But margins suck. That’s why advanced energy has the same revenue as pharmaceuticals but nowhere near the influence.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 8th, 2017
Limited commentary this week as I am traveling in Europe.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 7th, 2017
Limited commentary this week as I am traveling in Europe.
Gutting the EPA. What the Trump administration has proposed as a budget for the EPA is nothing short of terrible. Anyone that can stand by that kind of cut is a special kind of person.
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The Common Ground. I get it, solar and utilities want to get along. Utilities don’t like the bad PR and solar is having a problem affording the policy battles.
Storage in NYC. Let’s fix the solar on rooftops problem in LA first because solar on roofs in Manhattan is probably a bit crazy. On the other hand, storage in the basement of each building would do much good for peak demand cuts and helping when grid needs some demand response.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 6th, 2017
Limited commentary this week as I am traveling in Europe.
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Yann