This is your SolarWakeup for April 18th, 2017

Getting off the sideline. When I spoke with Tony Clifford I asked him why he thought Standard Solar was able to get acquired in a sea of available targets. He thought that being an active policy participant was a big part of it in addition to having happy customers. It can’t be understated that when a company has a senior executive spending a lot of time on policy work, they are making a time and financial investment on something intangible that also helps your competition. If you open a market, new companies come in and are able to take advantage. I hope that other companies look at Standard Solar and take a turn away from being quiet on policy to get vocal about taking positions. You have to listen to the podcast to see what else we discussed!
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Solar has work to do. I read the interview in the Atlantic and felt the usual tensing up while I read silly stuff. GE ‘used’ to be in solar. The US only makes 3% of the world’s solar panels. Oil companies have long left solar. On and on and on. Maybe our industry needs to do more public relations work and speak to Americans and reporters. Maybe we need a full time communications person that speaks to editorial boards in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and kitchen tables across America to explain the solar industry. We have work to do. Don’t read the article with opposition to the messenger, he has faults, instead read the content with a renewed energy to evangelize.
Make sure you listen to the latest episodes of EnergyWakeup. I speak with Tony Clifford about being acquired by Gaz Metro and his work at SEIA. Google is now at 100% renewables, how do they do it and what is next? Sam Arons talks to SolarWakeup.
Scary stuff for IOUs. First it was the IPPs losing robust merchant markets. Now large corporations are taking the IOUs to task. Interestingly this isn’t about cost of energy, the longstanding focus has been on cost and reliability. Now the Fortune 100 are saying, we want more renewables and we want it faster. Whether it was Google pushing Duke in NC, Vegas casinos leaving NV Energy or Microsoft bypassing PSE; corporate America wants renewable energy for their operations. Next step they want it everywhere they use energy and soon they will want renewables to match their energy loads at all times. Hold on to your horses.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for April 17th, 2017

The point of policy. I spoke with Tony Clifford from Standard Solar. His company was one of the few that has been successfully sold to an international energy company. I was curious about Tony’s work at SEIA and MDVSEIA both of which he has been very active in. In an environment where the Energy department is going anti-renewables in their reports, according to a new memo from Secretary Perry, SEIA is on the defensive, as Tony put it. We also talk about the partnership with SEPA and how revenues from SPI are split. But you have to listen to the podcast to see what Tony had to say.
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.
Leaving Paris? Next week we may find out who is holding on to influence in the White House. Scott Pruitt told Fox News that the US should leave the Paris agreement. Global politics may come into play as well given that China may have some problem with us leaving after being reluctantly pushed into it by the Obama administration. Interesting times in politics when you want Exxon to use its political influence to help push for policy.
Make sure you listen to the latest episodes of EnergyWakeup. I speak with Tony Clifford about being acquired by Gaz Metro and his work at SEIA. Google is now at 100% renewables, how do they do it and what is next? Sam Arons talks to SolarWakeup.
What’s the deal with NYT? We have to do a better job explaining solar to mainstream America. We have over 200million supporters in the US and over 75% approval from either party. NY Times writes an editorial which leads with a broad negative recap of solar investing. If you read the entire article, it probably was meant for solar stocks, which have not done well as a whole. On the other hand, hundreds of billions have been deployed in project capital returning well above market returns to those investors. We, you and I, need to figure out how we can leverage the mass support we have. Being pro-solar should be more politically and editorially advantageous than being pro-fossil fuel.

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Yann

Tony Clifford from Standard Solar: Being acquired by Gaz Metro and working on SEIA

Tony Clifford has been with Standard Solar for over a decade, spending much of his time as the CEO until stepping aside late in 2016. This wasn’t his first time in solar, having worked for Solarex and BP Solar in the Carter/Reagan years. What are the parallels between the Carter/Reagan transition to those between Obama/Trump when it comes to solar? Standard Solar was recently acquired by Gaz Metro, a diversified energy company based in Montreal, which also owns Green Mountain Power. Tony and I discuss how the process played out and how Standard Solar was able to stand out amongst the many solar companies that went to market last year. Our discussion also goes into Tony’s work in policy. Since stepping down as CEO, he has been devoting much of his time on policy and business development. As an longtime elected member of the SEIA board, Tony was part of the search committee for the CEO job at SEIA that went to Abby Hopper. The next steps for Standard Solar look bright. With access to capital, including tax equity, Standard will be looking to acquire development projects throughout the Country. 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! [soundcloud id='317771965' height='false']

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.
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 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