This is your SolarWakeup for July 11th, 2016
I am on the flight to San Francisco for Intersolar North America. If you looked in advance, you will see a lot more storage at the show this year than previously. Storage is kicking off its market this year, lots of capital coming in and partnerships being announced. I can only hope that storage will springboard off the solar market position and not make many of the same mistakes we did. If you are a storage CEO, do you have your financing strategy? Your consumer offering? Are you focused? Let’s see how it is presented and I hope to see many of you there. Make sure to tell your friends and colleagues that they should subscribe as well by forward this email to your entire office.
News
1 Renew Economy:
Energy incumbents fight changes that could accelerate battery storage
2 Bloomberg:
Faster Rooftop Solar Growth to Cut Demand From Biggest U.S. Grid
3 Utility Dive:
MIT study sees a 'window of opportunity,' for storage
4 Renewable Energy World:
Corporations Are the New Drivers for Renewable Energy Growth
5 PV-Tech:
Total extends and reduces credit facility with SunPower
6 Forbes:
First Solar Makes The Right Move By Abandoning Its Bet On Silicon Panels
7 Solar Industry:
Rhode Island Gov. Signs Package Of Renewable Energy Bills
8 CleanTechnica:
Consumer Reports - Now Is Time To Go Solar!
Opinions:
9 GreenBiz:
Argentina’s renewables reboot - The good, the bad and the unknown
Have a great day!
Yann
These are the top 10 most read solar articles by your peers this week!
News
1 Quartz:
The real reason Elon Musk is bringing Tesla and Solar City together
2 Greentech Media:
Dow Chemical Sheds Its Solar Shingle Business
3 Business Insider:
Big solar is leaving rooftop systems in the dust
4 Fortune:
Solar Power Is Finding Its Day in the Sun
5 CNBC:
Tesla's delivery miss is bad news for Elon Musk's solar ambitions
6 Greentech Media:
Senator to Introduce Energy Storage Tax Credit Bill Next Week
7 Bloomberg:
MGM Resorts Beats Toys ‘R’ Us With Biggest Rooftop Solar System
8 Think Progress:
This ‘Other’ Form Of Solar Can Run At Night, And It Just Got A Big Backer
9 Greentech Media:
Sungevity’s Reverse Merger a ‘Great Deal’ Considering Bleak Cash Situation
10 PV-Magazine:
Total corporate funding for solar falls to lowest level in three years
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.
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 8th, 2016
If you don’t follow me on Snapchat, you are missing some great conversations and insight. There is not enough space for us to have a dialogue on here, so make sure you follow here. The corporate funding of solar is down, we knew this was coming and we see it happening. Big solar is shrinking its overhead because platforms don’t have a solid way of funding its business. The issue is that projects cannot get put together if platforms don’t get the funding. How do we solve this? See you all on Monday!
News
1 PV-Magazine:
Mercom - Total corporate funding for solar falls to lowest level in three years
2 CleanTechnica:
Los Angeles Revolutionizing Itself With 100% Renewable Electricity Target
3 Renewable Energy World:
What Is Driving the Middle East Solar Market?
4 PV-Tech:
Overwhelming majority of Nevadans support ballot measure to overturn PUC NEM ruling
5 Greenbiz:
Meet the man ramping up renewables at Salesforce
6 Business Journals:
Large majority of Hawaii solar companies reporting job losses
7 New York Times:
Deutsche Bank Pulls Back from Deals in Coal Mining Sector
8 Washington Post:
Wind and solar energy are booming. Do we still need nuclear power?
Opinions:
9 Think Progress:
This ‘Other’ Form Of Solar Energy Can Run At Night, And It Just Got A Big Backer
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 7th, 2016
Eric Wesoff from GTM has a great piece this morning about the financial position of Sungevity prior to announcing the merger with Easterly. The 8-K and corresponding presentation have a load of information and the article explains it quite well. What it comes down to is the lack of flow from lead to customer to aggregator (finance platform) and finally to long term owner. Each level of solar development is showing to have too much friction and cost for what the deals can be developed for. Add together the drive to increase volume (which costs money) with the lack of liquidity and you end up with asset rich and cash poor balance sheets. Margins exist, much like the solar unicorn. We shall find him together at Intersolar next week!
News
1 Greentech Media:
Sungevity’s Reverse Merger a ‘Great Deal’ Considering Bleak Cash Situation
2 Midwest Energy News:
Utility-backed group divides Illinois solar advocates
3 Rocky Mountain Institute:
Could Net-Zero Energy Schools Improve Children’s Education?
4 PV-Tech:
First Solar ends heterojunction foray - shifts Malaysian plant to CdTe Series 5 assembly
5 Forbes:
California Outshines Other States In Solar Power
6 WFSU:
A Solar Report And Its Shades Of Meaning
7 Bloomberg:
MGM Resorts Beats Toys ‘R’ Us With Biggest Rooftop Solar System
8 Utility Dive:
California dreaming - Utilities uneasy with regulator's vision to remake their business model
Opinions:
9 EDF:
How More Transparent Electricity Pricing Can Help Increase Clean Energy
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 6th, 2016
We need to have a chat. There is a lot going on in solar and most likely it is affecting you in some way. I want to hear from you so that we can talk about the most important obstacles that we need to overcome and how we can accomplish that. There is a link on solarwakeup.com that you can use if you want to remain anonymous, you can send an email to me at anytime or you can use Snapchat (add me on this link). Most importantly, let me know if you are at Intersolar next week.
News
1 Fortune:
Solar Power Is Finding Its Day in the Sun
2 Greentech Media:
Senator Heinrich to Introduce Energy Storage Tax Credit Bill Next Week
3 Bloomberg:
Japan’s Solar Boom Showing Signs of Deflating as Subsidies Wane
4 Vox:
A flagship “clean coal” plant is a flailing mess. Does that mean the technology is doomed?
5 CNBC:
Tesla's delivery miss is bad news for Elon Musk's solar ambitions
6 Solar Industry:
EU Solar Groups Call For End Of Chinese Trade Measures
7 Business Insider:
Big solar is leaving rooftop systems in the dust
8 Treehugger:
Hanergy's solar-powered electric cars can charge themselves while driving
Opinions:
9 Renewable Energy World:
The Battle of Silo - Connecting the (Policy) Dots on Renewable Energy
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 5th, 2016
Check out more SolarWakeup on Snapchat! @SolarWakeup. Another great way for us to have a conversation about solar rumors, insights and more. Follow us today! I got into the solar industry through a novel thin film product, Uni-Solar mostly due to the impact that solar could have on the roofing industry. In 2006, roofers held the key to the C&I market including residential. Nobody knew anything about warranties or how to ensure roofs would be kept up. Almost every roofer tried and got out but also almost every manufacturer made a play as well. I could list the partnership attempts down the line but if you go to the roofing expo, you will see less solar than you did in 2008. Dow exiting their solar shingle play makes me think how badly the roofing sector mistimed the entry into solar.
News
1 Greentech Media:
Dow Chemical Sheds Its Solar Shingle Business
2 PV-Magazine:
Turkey opens anti-dumping investigation against Chinese solar firms
3 CleanTechnica:
World Bank Approves $1 Billion For India’s Solar Power Program
4 Renewable Energy World:
Poll Shows Widespread Support for New York’s REV Initiative
5 PV-Tech:
New French tenders put country in contention for top European market spot
6 Renew Economy:
Will Australia’s Far Right lose its stranglehold on climate policies?
7 Think Progress:
While The Spotlight Was On Offshore Drilling, Fracking Quietly Made Its Way Into Our Oceans
8 Rocky Mountain Institute:
Brexit and Climate Change - 4 Questions Answered
Opinions:
9 Quarts:
The real reason Elon Musk is bringing Tesla and Solar City together
Have a great day!
Yann
These are the top 10 most read solar articles by your peers this week!
News
1 New York Times:
Sungevity, a Solar Panel Provider, to Go Public in Merger
2 Buffalo News:
In New York, solar companies and utilities form an unlikely alliance
3 New York Times:
Apparent Conflicts of Interest May Dog Tesla-SolarCity Deal
4 CleanTechnica:
Quotes From Tesla’s SolarCity Acquisition Press Conference
5 The Guardian:
US solar power market hits all-time high
6 New York Times:
North American Leaders to Pledge More Reliance on Renewables
7 GreenBiz:
Want to expand renewable power? Know these states
8 Greentech Media:
New CA Interconnection Ruling Increases Transparency and Limits Costs
9 Motley Fool:
3-Point Checklist for Investing in Solar
10 Los Angeles Times:
Gov. Brown announce major reorganization of CA's PUC
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.
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 1st, 2016
Reading the 8-K about the Sungevity reverse merge reveals some interesting behind the scenes on the transaction. Easterly, which is known as a SPAC, was created as a public vehicle to make merge with a private company to take it public. Instead of raising money in an IPO, the cash from Easterly ends up on the Sungevity balance sheet, in this case about $190million minus costs and fees. The Sungevity shareholders, including management, will own 58.8% of the new company and the employees will end up with 1.75million shares in the options pool, about 3% of the overall company. Sungevity’s financials are also released to some extent, revealing a GAAP net income loss of $128million in 2015 with 6,159 systems installed. Net loss is always tricky in solar because the equity invested into the projects is typically booked as a loss. The company takes a dig at its competitors, SolarCity/Sunrun/Vivint, for being asset heavy and rolling their own installation crews. Curious how the previous announcements of collaboration with Sunrun and Mosaic are being handled going forward. Feel free to read more in the full presentation here.
News
1 Fortune:
Solar Company Sungevity Is Going Public in an Interesting Way
2 PV-Magazine:
Inside Ingeteam's acquisition of Bonfiglioli's solar business
3 CleanTechnica:
SolarCity Explores The Impact Of Its 8 Million Installed Solar Panels
4 Renewable Energy World:
US Treasury Attorney Discusses Pending ITC Guidance at Finance Forum
5 PV-Tech:
Colorado PUC reverses decision and approves community solar programme
6 Utility Dive:
SDG&E becomes first California utility to hit net metering cap
7 The Guardian:
Floating solar is a win-win energy solution for drought-stricken US lakes
8 US News:
World Bank to back India's solar power initiative
Opinions:
9 Greentech Media:
Will String Inverters Completely Replace Central Inverters in the US Solar Market?
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 30th, 2016
M&A is definitely happening in solar right now. Yesterday, Sungevity announced that it is going public through a SPAC, with Easterly Acquisitions renaming and becoming Sungevity Holdings. The company expects to go public by the end of the year. Brookfield Asset Management has taken a 25% stake of Terraform (TERP), potentially opening up new avenues for that vehicle to grow from here. Tesla hosted a conference call to go over its acquisition of SolarCity, some interesting viewpoints and quotes that came out of that.
News
1 New York Times:
Sungevity, a Solar Panel Provider, to Go Public in Merger
2 CleanTechnica:
Quotes From Tesla’s SolarCity Acquisition Press Conference
3 Bloomberg:
‘Tesla Solar’ Wants to Be the Apple Store for Electricity
4 PV-Magazine:
Brazil postpones the July solar auction
5 PV-Tech:
Investment bank ready to bet on US solar duties being dropped
6 Renew Economy:
Mercedes Benz to take on Tesla in home battery storage in Australia
7 Greentech Media:
The End of the Era of Baseload Power Plants
8 Utility Dive:
'Something's got to give'- Why Wall St is uneasy with the renewable energy boom
Opinions:
9 Fast Co Exist:
Is Solar Power Only For The Rich? Sort Of
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 29th, 2016
Sometimes MIT lacks some intellectual belief in where technology is and where it is going. After President Obama’s pledge to bring US energy to 50% renewable energy, MIT is saying that it is not possible without growth in nuclear as well. The reality, in my opinion, is that nuclear power capacity is reducing versus increasing given that Watts 2 is the latest plant trying to get started after having been started in the 90’s. Solar and wind plus storage, including storage in EV’s, is much more likely to electrify our renewable grid by 2025 than nuclear power.
News
1 MIT:
Obama’s Ambitious Clean-Energy Goal Will Depend on Nuclear—and the Next President
2 CleanTechnica:
Solar Roadways Coming To Route 66 In Missouri
3 PV-Tech:
Development banks ‘filling the gaps commercial capital won’t’ in Africa’s energy sector
4 Grist:
Sanders and Clinton teams fight over climate language in Democratic platform
5 New York Times:
Climate Change High on Agenda as Obama and Trudeau Meet for Summit
6 The Guardian:
Here comes the sun - US solar power market hits all-time high
7 Utility Dive:
Clean energy groups call on regulators for uniform rate design approach
8 Yale:
Yale Researchers Release Municipal Solar Scorecards for Connecticut
Opinions:
9 GreenBiz:
Want to expand renewable power? Know these states
Have a great day!
Yann
