This is your SolarWakeup for June 16th, 2016
Many of you are probably members of your local Chamber of Commerce and perhaps even the national Chamber. I’ve been a member of the Chamber and even served on the board but I am incredibly disappointed but not surprised in yesterday’s email blast. Solar is one of the fastest growing business segment that lives of capitalism and free markets, stalwarts of the Chamber’s mission. Yet, the Chamber is taking an anti-solar mission on at the hope to accomplish something for someone. The someone is what interests me and I hope that I can figure that out.
News
1 Grist:
U.S. Chamber of Commerce joins anti-solar crusade
2 Vox:
Energy transitions are usually slow. Here’s why the clean energy transition might be faster.
3 Utility Dive:
CPUC approves extra demand response in wake of Aliso Canyon gas leak
4 PV-Magazine:
SunEdison takes on $300 million in new financing
5 Energy Collective:
3 Clean Energy Ideas the Left and Right Agree On
6 Rocky Mountain Institute:
It’s Time to Plan for Electric Vehicles on the Grid
7 GreenBiz:
10 climate change-fighting energy apps to tap
8 CleanTechnica:
Maryland PSC Approves Final Community Solar Regulations
Opinions:
9 OilPrice:
Can Trump Change The Direction Of U.S. Energy?
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 15th, 2016
Have you ever checked the properties on a word file? All sorts of information can be tagged into the file including the author’s name. This is particularly awkward if you are a Congresswoman and send a request to a Federal agency and ask them to investigate a matter you find important. In this case, Yvette Clarke (D-NY) from Brooklyn, sent a complaint to the FTC and asked the agency to investigate solar sales tactics. The problem is that the letter was written by EEI, the utility trade association that earlier this year hired a crisis communication firm to fight and rebrand its attack on solar. EEI is clearly showing its intent across the board and a clear dividing line between solar and EEI needs to be drawn.
News
1 Grist:
Why is this liberal congresswoman spreading anti-solar arguments?
2 PV-Tech:
Nevada PUC - Upcoming NEM cost-benefit study ‘won’t win the day’
3 GreenBiz:
Why Apple's new energy business should scare utilities
4 Bloomberg:
Yingli Green Says Some Banks Agree to Modify Loan Payments
5 Energy Collective:
Europe Can Retrieve its Lost Clean Energy Leadership by Moving Away from Subsidizing Renewables
6 Utility Dive:
Hawaii officials plan changes to struggling renewables program
7 Greentech Media:
Will Virtual Net Metered Projects Survive Under Massachusetts’ New Solar Policy Regime?
8 Tech Insider:
SolarCity's CEO told us solar energy will reach a tipping point in just 5 years — here's why
Opinions:
9 MIT:
Virtual Power Plants Get Around Solar Power’s Intermittency Problem
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 14th, 2016
News
1 Grist:
Renewables are poised to put global fossil fuel investment to shame
2 Think Progress:
Harvard Study Finds $38 Billion Economic Benefit From EPA’s Carbon Rule
3 Rocky Mountain Institute:
Usage-Based Segmentation Can Create Value in Electricity Markets
4 GreenBiz:
3 reasons the clean energy transition will be a bumpy ride
5 Renewable Energy World:
Energy Storage Market to Equal Rooftop Solar by 2028
6 Bloomberg:
Cheapest Solar in Africa Comes to Zambia Through World Bank Plan
7 Utility Dive:
Net metering talks break down in Arizona
8 The Hill:
Net metering for solar power sounds simple, but is it fair?
Opinions:
9 MIT:
Wind and Solar Will be the Cheapest Way to Generate Power by 2040
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 13th, 2016
Apple joins Google to set up a FERC regulated subsidiary meant for renewable power. Being a regulated power company doesn’t mean more than being Apple being able to market its power production beyond the wholesale markets but my guess is that there is so much more where that can go. Google doesn’t appear to have done much with its regulated power company. I do see the potential given that both companies have more consumer data than pretty much anyone (except Facebook perhaps).
News
1 PV-Tech:
Apple starts a company to sell excess solar power
2 CleanTechnica:
US Carbon Tax “Close To Inevitable,” Conservative Leader Proclaims
3 Renew Economy:
Australian solar market rebounds as battery storage interest grows
4 Grist:
Donald Trump once backed urgent climate action. Wait, what?
5 The Verge:
Boeing wants in on the solar airplane craze
6 New York Times:
Dear Conservatives, You Can Go Green Again
7 Greentech Media:
Texas Regulators Saved Customers Billions by Avoiding a Traditional Capacity Market
8 Wired:
The Lonely Transatlantic Journey of a Self-Sailing Solar Ship
Opinions:
9 Motley Fool:
U.S. Solar Industry Sets Record in Q1 2016 but Questions Remain
Have a great day!
Yann
These are the top 10 most read solar articles by your peers this week!
News
1 Business Journals:
The 20 highest-paid Bay Area executives under 40
2 New York Times:
NRG Shifts Focus Away From Empowering Consumers
3 Motley Fool:
The Next Solar Shakeup - Death of the Solar Lease
4 Grist:
John Kerry just cannot with Donald Trump’s climate plan
5 AZ Central:
The bigger electricity subsidy no one talks about
6 Huffington Post:
Why the Next Five Years Will Determine Our Clean Energy Future
7 Greentech Media:
Solar Will Replace Nearly All Retiring Coal in Texas
8 MIT:
Finally in Sight, $1-a-Watt Solar Milestone Shows Long Road Ahead
9 PV-Magazine:
North American solar investors concerned about H2 oversupply
10 Solar Industry:
Groups Call On N.Y. Regulators To ‘Put Community Solar Back On Track’
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 June 10th, 2016
Ready for some ramp up this year? Only 1.6GW of solar were installed in the first quarter of 2016, confirming the thoughts that things have been a bit slow to start the year. That doesn’t bode poorly for the rest of the year because we are still supposed to get to 14.5GW. In the 1.6GW you see an almost even split between residential and utility scale, a split that I don’t believe we have seen in years past. Time to get pushing towards the next 5 years and get projects into the ground.
News
1 Greentech Media:
Solar Made Up 64% of New Electric Generating Capacity in the US in Q1 2016
2 Reuters:
GE starts production of solar power inverters in Brazil
3 PV-Magazine:
North American solar investors concerned about H2 oversupply
4 CleanTechnica:
Illinois Power Plant Closings Reveal Worldwide Nuclear Issues
5 PV-Tech:
11,493 rooftop solar systems in Hawaii still waiting to be installed, says report
6 Utility Dive:
Nevada officials to fund new rooftop solar study
7 Grist:
Solar panels don’t raise regular utility rates — and might even lower them
8 Portland Press-Herald:
Solar supporters urge Maine PUC to go slow on new rules
Opinions:
9 Renewable Energy World:
Seize The Day — Market Solar to Solidify the Future
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 9th, 2016
Some fun stuff today. The Business Journal in the Bay Area published the 20 highest paid under 40. Who knows the methodology for this but number 1 and 19 are from solar. The CEOs of Sunrun and SolarCity. I will let you scroll to number 1 but you will enjoy seeing Lyndon Rive's comp for 2015.
News
1 Business Journal:
The 20 highest-paid Bay Area executives under 40 in 2016
2 Bloomberg:
Japanese Solar Summers May Trim Peak Fossil Fuel Power Costs
3 PV-Tech:
China sets 2016 solar cap at 18.1GW
4 CleanTechnica:
Australia Can Be Powered 100% By Renewables Without Fossil Fuel ‘Baseload’, Reports WWF
5 Renewable Energy World:
Industry Seeks Regulatory Clarity on Energy Storage Paired with Renewables
6 Rocky Mountain Institute:
Accelerating Sustainable Electricity Access in Sub-Saharan Africa
7 Solar Industry:
Groups Call On N.Y. Regulators To ‘Put Community Solar Back On Track’
8 PV-Magazine:
Germany - Cabinet approves EEG draft
Opinions:
9 Utility Dive:
New PJM capacity rules challenge demand response aggregators
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 8th, 2016
At the risk of reversing the tremendous gains made in Paris, President Obama unveiled a $1.4billion market opportunity with Prime Minister Modi of India yesterday. Climate goals are not only about changing our electric profile but also a race on how we electrify the billion plus people around the world that have no access to electricity today. That is why this initiative is relevant, it doubles and triples down on the fact that solar is the cheapest, fastest and cleanest way to electrify the entire world. Electricity means internet and connectivity but it also means cleaner method for cooking and lighting to let children read after the sun goes down. Solar is so much more than a means to an end, its a means to the beginning.
News
1 Think Progress:
A Million New Solar Homes Projected With India-U.S. Announcement
2 PV-Tech:
Recognising solar’s value key to NEM 3.0, says interim SEIA chief
3 Greentech Media:
Renewables Are Getting Cheaper. But That Doesn’t Mean We Should Eliminate Subsidies
4 Utility Dive:
APS rate case sparks concern beyond mandatory demand charge proposal
5 Forbes:
TVA Way Ahead Of The Pack With Nuclear And Solar
6 CBS:
How going solar can lighten your tax bill
7 The Guardian:
UK solar eclipses coal power over month for first time
8 Renewable Energy World:
Forget Red-Blue Divide - When It Comes To Clean-Energy Deployment, Both Sides Lead
Opinions:
9 Arizona Central:
Robb - The bigger electricity subsidy no one talks about
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 7th, 2016
If you get involved in markets outside of the US, as I have recently, you realize that complications in projects come of different shapes and sizes. In the US, tax equity creates the biggest complexity but with the right sponsor or sponsor partner, this can be solved. In other Countries you start thinking about other things like exchange rates and currency volatility. The volatility drives the cost of your financing if you are hedging (you probably should) so you have to think about events that cause issues. Brexit, the UK’s potential desire to leave the EU, has a vote coming up and such an event creates a lot of volatility and depending how the vote ends up, really changes the value of a project that was underwritten a few years ago with a feed in tariff.
News
1 Greentech Media:
UK Solar Industry Split on How a British Exit From the EU Would Impact Business
2 PV-Magazine:
France - EDF embraces self-consumption and digitization
3 PV-Tech:
Yingli Green’s shipments in Q1 lead to profit claims
4 Think Progress:
Another Giant Pension Fund Divested From Oil, Coal, And Gas Companies
5 Utility Dive:
Minnesota court upheld size limits for Xcel community solar
6 Renewable Energy World:
What Size is the Global Solar PV Industry? Pick a Size, Any Size
7 New York Times:
Energy Bill Prospects Dim in Dispute Over Drilling, Drought
8 Bloomberg:
GE Ventures Buys Stake in German Sonnen to Boost Solar Storage
Opinions:
9 Huffington Post:
Why the Next Five Years Will Determine Our Clean Energy Future
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 6th, 2016
The biggest problem with public companies is that they fail to see the future because everyone is just worried about the next 3 months. Sometimes when the future is actually already here, CEOs make decisions that are only good for themselves. Let me explain with a quote: "I think in the future, renewables will become a bigger part of the industry, and it will become a bigger part of …” Solar and energy choice are clearly the leading part of the energy sector and growing exponentially every year. So why is the new CEO of NRG giving such a ridiculous quote to the New York Times? My guess is that he thinks that the shareholders want to hear backwards thinking from him so he can get a bigger bonus, or worse, not get fired.
News
1 New York Times:
NRG Shifts Focus Away From Empowering Consumers
2 Grist:
John Kerry just cannot with Donald Trump’s climate plan
3 Utility Dive:
FERC - Rooftop solar, battery storage could pose threats to reliability
4 CleanTechnica:
Two Former Australian Brown Coal Bosses Switch To Solar & Clean Tech
5 PV-Tech:
Global PV manufacturing capacity expansion announcements in April close to 9GW
6 Greentech Media:
Solar Will Replace Nearly All Retiring Coal in Texas
7 MIT:
Finally in Sight $1-a-Watt Solar Milestone Shows Long Road Ahead
8 The Guardian:
Greens want 'fair price' for solar power and access to grid for all
Opinions:
9 Motley Fool:
The Next Solar Shakeup - Death of the Solar Lease
Have a great day!
Yann
