This is your SolarWakeup for July 22nd, 2016
Bill Gates is at it again. I love that he talks about energy but for some reason he is equating module technology innovation with the business model and cost innovation that our sector provides. Solar is not always the silver bullet but it often is the gateway to the tool that drives immense change. Gates spoke about energy in Africa recently and while praising ‘micro-solar’ he did not seem to find solar to be the solution to power the continent. To ask Africa to wait for some technology breakthrough is wrong in my opinion, the solutions based on todays technology can go a long way. Just take a look at Facebook’s solar airplane, designed to stay in the air for 3 months and provide internet to disconnected areas. Solar is providing the power that allows that connection to work.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 21st, 2016
Late last week, I received an email from SEIA asking what my message was for the group as they begin their search for the new President. I have heard from so many of you on your thoughts and I want to hear more. You can respond to this email or send an anonymous note on the website. Tell me what SEIA should be doing going forward. Be specific and pragmatic. SEIA has annual revenues of about $10million with a diverse membership base. Most of the board is through members that pay about $125,000 to be on the board with a few voted directors. This means that the quantity of members may not have the same impact as the financial size of the members that get on the board. With that in mind, what issue should SEIA advocate for? Is it a national only organization or does it get involved in States? How would SEIA and the new President decide where it stands on the issues? Can a consensus be built between the membership and how would that be done best?
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 20th, 2016
More solar for more people. That’s the mission that President Obama is continuing in a way that not many in the solar industry could have expected 7 years ago when he took office. This time it is a wonky policy change that required the DOE, OMB and HUD to work together. While property taxes have been used for centuries to pay for things like fire fees; solar installations that used PACE did so under some grey clouds. Regardless some of the best in the sector deployed hundreds of millions of dollars and securitized them in the private market. Today, the President announced with his team that PACE will be treated like any other property tax. No acceleration and no pre-payment when the property is sold. The President said PACE, a huge boon for homeowners across America. Check out the video
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 19th, 2016
After three hours of watching the GOP convention, I had to think about what my vision is for America. (After dozing off a few times) I don’t have to imagine it, I can look at the data from CalISO that shows a peak of 8GW of solar last week, up 2GW from last year. The best part about that is that net metered projects are not calculated in that data. Thousands of homes and business take advantage of the free energy source right above us. Why other States fight this energy source which exemplifies conservatism and conservation is politically astounding to me. Let’s strive for more…
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 18th, 2016
I have a problem with the vocal doubters in solar. Those that doubted that the ITC could get passed. The ones that are always fast to say net metering is going away. The ones that sit and complain every time that there is a microphone in front of them. If you aren’t helping promote solar policy, do us all a favor and quit talking. On Friday, a mission as unlikely as any other once again showed that solar policy groups can get it done. NextEra, owners of Florida Power & Light, went to Hawaii in on a private jet field trip and came back empty handed. (Except for a $95million IOU to HECO) You may not like the methods and you may not like to give your money to help your sector but solar knows how to win.
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Yann
These are the top 10 most read solar articles by your peers this week!
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The Top 10 is ranked by the number of SolarWakeup.com readers that clicked on the news article during the previous week. It is the poll of the most relevant solar news of the week as judged by your colleagues and competitors.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 15th, 2016
Over the past month, there have been three major trade shows. In Shanghai, Munich and San Francisco the solar module manufacturers tried to find the bid in the market. The market is having a soft moment and the bid is hit or miss. That being said, our US market is still suffering from a 10-15 cent per watt penalty because of a useless punitive tariff. With Hemlock winning a round in US Courts, the hope is that the negotiations to settle heat up. The negotiations should include the removals of the tariffs in both the US and China on modules and silicon. I am hoping that clearer heads prevail going forward.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 14th, 2016
I am not sure that I agree with Tom Kimbis of SEIA about the association's top priority. The association should at its core focus on protecting and then expanding the market. Especially solar, which is under continuous attack by utilities and the allies, needs to have an association that stands firm on its advocacy. In other words, be unapologetically pro-solar. Let’s see where SEIA goes from here as it searches for its meaning and a new leader. In other news, catch the great podcasts in the Intersolar SolarWakeup Live coverage
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 13th, 2016
First full day of Intersolar here in San Francisco. A decent crowd, bigger than I thought would show so great job to the hosts. I have not had the chance to walk the floor yet so wait one more day to get my take on that. The mood is optimistic and upbeat about our sector even with some of the market headwinds we have been discussing. A surprise for you, SolarWakeup special correspondent and media consultant, Frank Andorka interviewed a few folks on the floor. Listen to the Podcasts here and here. They are quick and have a nice perspective.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 12th, 2016
Money flows in and money wants out. There is an interesting aspect of our business when people are trying to figure out the value of the money that went into the company that they invested in. There are some apparent ripples in our sector that could be but hopefully are not canaries in the coal mine. If you are a hedge fund or private equity firm, how are you looking at the value of the investment you made? At Intersolar this week, there will be many announcement about the investments that they were able to draw into their company, solar and storage alike.
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Yann