This is your SolarWakeup for June 30th, 2017
Have a great weekend. I will be on vacation over the next few weeks but the daily newsletter will continue to come in. Expect a reduction in daily thoughts however. If you have an interesting recap of the day, feel free to send it along and it may make the headline.
Solar In Texas In Jeopardy. It’s a shame that the ultimate free market State in the US could be undone by protectionism. For years, legislators on the right have said, solar must compete on its own based on price and not subsidies. Now that it competes in a deregulated energy market, Trump could swoop in and cause a reversal of fortunes, artificially inflating the cost of solar. Texans should be up in arms and sitting in Cruz and Cornyn’s offices, fighting against a protectionist agenda.
Getting Storage To Work For You. One of the common questions on the energy storage road show was the usefulness of the ITC for storage on existing solar plants. An interesting overview from legal experts on how adding storage after a solar asset is in place can still qualify. The key is that the energy that goes into the battery comes from the solar plant. This is a technical and software issue that is best solved by connecting the battery on the DC side. I’d like ot hear your thoughts on this.
Here Comes The Scale. 10 more gigafactories! That’s a whole new level of scale that will drive the price down in a big way.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 29th, 2017
The 201 Petition Is The Fatal Flaw. Not only was the 201 petition a bad idea it was apparently written poorly. When GTM spoke with trade lawyers, the minimum price wasn’t clearly $0.78/watt but perhaps $1.18/watt instead. Suniva didn’t like that approach and instead of admitting that either scenario hurts Americans, they called GTM bad journalists. I think that Suniva is just bad at business and think that they should withdraw their petition.
What Cities Should Do. Many mayors are leading the fight against climate change. Instead of policies, speeches or rhetoric, mayors can do a very specific thing. Most of them have a franchise agreement with a utility, a monopoly in many instances. Take that agreement and rip it up and go to the negotiating table. You control the customers for the utility and you can make sure that renewable energy is going into your neighborhood. If you don’t like what they are doing then join a coop or municipal power association.
The Blame Game. If you need a good source of info to counter your friends on facebook about how solar isn’t hurting the grid, take a look at this article. This report has been hyped up in my opinion but I do find it interesting that all of a sudden federal government needs to tell states what to do. Hypocrisy in action.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 28th, 2017
Going Back In Time. This is Energy Week at the White House and Rick Perry has apparently already forgotten how the Texas energy market works. Perry wants to make nuclear cool again and export oil, gas and coal. Keep in mind that a lot of that is already happening with gas export terminals being built and the oil embargo being lifted as part of the solar ITC extension deal. The irony in the comments is that it only appeals to a few donors. Most Americans don’t think that a grid of oil, gas and coal are better than a grid of solar, wind and hydro. Meanwhile, Obama had actual nuclear scientists (good ones too) running the Energy Department.
Paging Kansas SEIA Chapter. Call your office, your State is looking to hurt solar policies.
What’s Going on in NC. Quite frankly, this bill is going to be a typical conglomeration of mediocrity that gets everything twisted in confusion. I’ve never been a fan of these massive omnibus bills that bounce around from one side to the other and don’t actually aim to fix a problem.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 27th, 2017
A special welcome to the many campus sustainability professionals that do the important work of bringing more clean energy to universities across the Country. I hope you enjoy the newsletter!
I Dreamed A Dream. David Crane comes out with a 10-step plan on how to change the world with a single mission. Decarbonize the Global 100 corporations. I’m in on this plan!
Listen to EnergyWakeup. My favorite podcast to date, I interview Bernadette del Chiaro, the ED of CalSEIA. You can listen to it here, now.
A Scare What If. What if Trump were to approve a $0.78/watt minimum price for modules, what would happen to the solar market? The answer is that it doesn’t look good, reducing the size from 70something GW to 30something. This isn’t an exact science but the loser would be anyone that wants to save money on energy costs. We all lose.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 26th, 2017
I am in Sacramento for the PAC-12 Sustainability Conference. At 11:45 this morning, Bill Walton and I will be speaking about the role of solar on college campuses. What would you want to hear as a college leader about the solar industry?
CalSEIA Leading State Advocacy. It is no secret that CalSEIA is the leading State chapter to advocate for the solar industry. In the latest episode of EnergyWakeup, I speak with Bernadette del Chiaro, the executive director at CalSEIA. She understands how Sacramento works and alongside strong members, the group drives California to continued leadership. Part of her success is that legislators know that CalSEIA represents the solar industry and the industry backs CalSEIA. That is not a given and is oftentimes trickier than you would imagine. SEIA also has a presence in California with multiple staffers, most of the time the groups agree on policy but sometimes they don’t. Many times the groups do not coordinate closely and lobby separately. It eludes me why that would be the case. California is so far ahead, why would SEIA spend any money in the State when it could be spending it in a State with no local presence. What if, hypothetically, SEIA supported States that have budgets over some amount with capital as opposed to redundant resources? Do we need State chapters and SEIA intervening on the same docket? Make sure to listen to this episode, lots of great stuff in there including the most pressing legislative priority for CalSEIA this session.
Must Be Nice. I would be surprised if 10 years from now, electric monopolies weren’t on the way out. If Texas and Connecticut can agree on the deregulation of electric markets, there must be something to the idea. The notion of fuel in power supply introduces a volatility in the equation and it is not fair to consumers to be the only backstop to this financial risk.
Solar Isn’t a Partisan Issue. Clean Air, Clean Water and Clean Energy. Those are issues that Americans agree on. Cheaper Energy? We definitely agree on that. Taking the issue of renewable energy to partisan fights is a bad idea politically and consultants should start reframing the conversation to focus on competition, cost and consumer choice. Sprinkle a bit of resource conservation and property rights on top and you have yourself a libertarian/green party overlap.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 23rd, 2017
IPPs Making Changes. The head of Engie has been shifting the business in a whole new direction, selling power assets and making acquisitions including solar and energy storage. There is a long term vision of where the grid is going, away from fuel based assets that have too many inputs in volatile markets. Look for IPPs to diverge into the two directions of asset based and flexibility focused.
John Oliver’s Coal Rant. I missed it earlier this week but John Oliver did a great job explaining what happened to jobs in the coal mining community. For those of us in the solar space it seems obvious but for most Americans the premise of regulations killing coal makes sense. Oliver speaks to a certain audience so I am surprised that he is being sued for little reason because the lawsuit makes more of a story than the original segment.
The Solar Wall. This is really dumb and needs to stop being covered.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 22nd, 2017
Come see me in Sacramento next Monday at 11:30am at the PAC-12 Sustainability Conference. Bill Walton and I will preach the solar gospel, hopefully driving campuses and students to be leaders and consumers of solar energy.
The Businesses Lead the Way. I’ve always said that our most important and most unserved advocate is the customer. When was the last time that you spoke to a customer for 2 or more years ago? Activate them to help push a policy or sell them some upgrade? We have to think outside the box on this because we have over a million customers nationally, that is a powerful target audience to help us all, including to refer more business to our industry.
Oak Tree Is Making Moves. I don’t know if Oak Tree is really into wire harnesses or the investment partner was hoping to wear cargo shorts more often. The key question for this deal is obvious, what was Dean wearing in the investment meeting??? Congrats to the whole Shoals team!
Turn the LePage. Maine needs to keep working on its policy. Every State matters and every year matters but as State fights go, sessions start and end but the education on solar policy never stops.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 21st, 2017
Long day in California which ended in Sacramento for a day of meetings surrounding the AEE conference.
PAC-12 Sustainability. Come see me on Monday the 26th in Sacramento at the PAC-12 Sustainability Conference. I’ll be talking with Bill Walton about the important work students and universities play in our markets. I hope to see you there.
Solar Foundation Solstice. This Thursday, anyone in the DC area should be at the Solar Foundation Summer Solstice event. Now, more than ever, we need to support the important work that the Solar Foundation does for our industry. Get your tickets here!
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 20th, 2017
Great first day in the Bay Area to talk about how the solar industry is entering and integrating energy storage. What is your top issue when studying storage for your solar project?
Solar Wins In Africa. Just a few years ago there was a conversation about the need to energize Africa using central power and transmission. The data now shows that solar is doing the job needed to electrify many areas without the need for costly transmission. Add hybrid power systems in microgrids to high power demand areas and you can create an entirely distributed grid.
100% Renewables? Can we get to a grid with 100% renewables by the middle of the century? In my mind, it is absolutely feasible if we have the right price signals.
Are Corporates Getting Smarter? From a development standpoint, corporates and other C&I customers have so many tools at their disposal to control their energy costs. Islanded and behind the meter microgrids can be built to their needs with the power inputs that the client wants. With steep declines in energy storage costs and new technologies, distributed power will not only be distributed but also potentially a microgrid that is smarter than we have been accustomed to.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 19th, 2017
I am on the way to San Francisco as I spend the last week of the Energy Storage Road Show in the Bay Area with a quick stop in Sacramento on Wednesday.
Sandoval Goes Back To Politics. The legislature in Nevada crafted really forward thinking policy for its constituents this year. The Governor was quiet throughout the process and after signing the net metering bill on Thursday, vetoed 2 bills related to solar on Friday. The first would have created a community solar market in Nevada which would have brought solar to renters and homeowners with bad roofs for solar. He also stopped the bill that would have increased the RPS to 40%. Much of this was in response to opposition by ‘the boulevard’ and his continued hope to move to Washington. A missed opportunity in my opinion for the Governor to play politics by supporting solar.
Faces To Political Issues. Mainstream news outlets are doing a good job to see who is affected by the changing economy. This isn’t a good/bad economy problem, but a old/new job opportunity issue. As part of this, I would like to hear from you about interesting career paths on your teams. There is a political connotation to this and I want to show that people from all sorts of backgrounds found work in solar. Did they come from oil or coal? Laid off from another trade contractor? Anything interesting and appeals to mainstream America, please send me an email.
Florida Hates Taxes. We don’t have an income tax and now commercial solar will get a large property tax reduction thanks to the leadership of Senator Jeff Brandes and Vote Solar. Vote Solar’s team pushed for this years back and stuck through the process by getting a legislative push to bring it to the voters. Well done by all.
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Yann