This is your SolarWakeup for February 23rd, 2016
The data is in. 2015 was a great year for solar in the US with 7.3GW installed. Over half, 4GW, came from utility scale but residential picked up some traction exceeding 2GW for the first time. The top 10 States made up 87% of the capacity, which again shows that the US may be a single Country but made up of many different markets across the Country. After the top 10, the data is essentially negligible which means a lot of upward momentum is capable. Staffing will be a key for companies in 2016, as our growth will need new people to come work in our industry.
News
1 PV-Tech:
US installed 7.3GW of solar power in 2015, says report
2 PV-Magazine:
City of Palo Alto considers solar power contract at under $37/MWh
3 The Hill:
Federal study - Tax credits will cut emissions, add new wind and solar power
4 EDF:
Clean Energy Can Help Tackle Rural Poverty
5 Greentech Media:
SunPower CEO - ‘Fundamentals for Solar Have Never Been Better’
6 Salt Lake Tribune:
Bill advances to allow new way to buy solar power
7 Utility Dive:
Taming the Wild West - CAISO begins study of a full regional electricity market
8 Bloomberg:
Japan Clean-Energy Panel Proposes 11% Solar Tariff Cut in 2016
Opinions:
9 Solar Power World:
Five strategies to help installers build a solar workforce
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for February 22nd, 2016
The top two stories today are related. EDF has a story on the polling that continues to show that Americans favor more government support of actions that stop climate change and pushing for more renewable energy. The number is 59% of Americans are more likely to support a candidate that supports these topics versus 9% that few it negatively. That’s why it makes sense that Republican Jay Faison has started a $5million Action PAC to push GOP Congressional candidates to support common sense policies that bend down the carbon curve. Conservation is part of the GOP DNA, let’s make it part of the fundraising as well.
News
1 Think Progress:
How Clean Energy Became A Code Word In Washington
2 EDF:
Despite Overwhelming Nationwide Support for Clean Energy, Poll Shows Personal Disconnect
3 Renew Economy:
Wind and solar replace coal in South Australia. But will the lights go out?
4 Utility Dive:
Is a national high voltage transmission system the cheapest way to cut emissions?
5 Renewable Energy World:
Now is the Wrong Time for States to Reduce Solar Incentives
6 PV-Magazine:
World’s largest coal producer to tender additional 800 MW of solar
7 Greentech Media:
Negative Prices Require Positive Changes in Community Solar
8 New York Times:
In Britain, a Green Utility Company Sees Winds of Change
Opinions:
9 USA Today:
Utilities get aggressive against solar industry
Have a great day!
Yann
These are the top 10 most read solar articles by your peers this week!
News
1 MIT:
Suddenly, the Solar Boom Is Starting to Look like a Bubble
2 Think Progress:
Sanders And Clinton Offer Different Solutions For Nevada’s Sabotaged Solar Industry
3 The Hill:
Sanders calls out Warren Buffett over solar energy
4 Huffington Post:
Target, Do Solar Like You Do the Grammys
5 Motley Fool:
5 Facts You Didn't Know About Solar Energy
6 Greenbiz:
Why community solar is becoming big business
7 Greentech Media:
Utilities See Distributed Generation as a Challenge—and Owning It as the Solution
8 CleanTechnica:
To Lease or To Own - Simplified Solar Calculator
9 Fortune:
Here's Why Shares of SolarCity Are Soaring
10 Bloomberg:
SunEdison Missed Deadlines on Solar Farms It Plans to Unload
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 February 19th, 2016
Moody’s says that 2016 will have $50billion in green bonds issued. Apparently in 2015, the total was over $42billion which is a stat that I would not have expected. Apple issued a green bond of $1.5billion this week in order to invest in projects like solar for their data center. The green bonds have a voluntary disclosure addition to otherwise standard corporate bonds and are tracked by the Climate Bonds Initiative. Their goal is to get to $100billion per year in green bonds.
News
1 Grist:
Apple issues $1.5 billion in “green bonds” for clean energy projects
2 Greentech Media:
Utilities See Distributed Generation as a Challenge—and Owning It as the Solution
3 NRDC:
Oregon's transition to clean energy - Cutting coal, building a renewable future
4 PV-Tech:
Scaling up solar after Paris
5 Energy Collective:
Electricity Regulation Is Back at the Supreme Court, Again
6 Renewable Energy World:
New Developments in Brazil’s Solar Power Sector
7 Bloomberg:
SunEdison Missed Deadlines on Solar Farms It Plans to Unload
8 Utility Dive:
A rational look at the value of solar
Opinions:
9 Arizona Central:
Rural utility's case could have big impact on rooftop solar fees
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for February 18th, 2016
Corporate solar is a big deal. Companies have been selling to the big box stores for years but now there are some metrics. A report came out that analyzed 96,000 stores and found 4 billion square feet of usable space that could save those companies over $8 billion dollars per year. Put that together with how many corporates are becoming buyers of solar energy and the cross learning that is occurring between corporations. The Department of Energy has a great program that swapped energy managers at Whole Foods and Hilton, see story #3.
News
1 Huffington Post:
Target, Do Solar Like You Do the Grammys
2 Rocky Mountain Institute:
First-Time Buyers Are Dominating Corporate Renewable Purchasing
3 Bloomberg:
Can a Reality TV Show Help Cut America's Power Bill?
4 Greenbiz:
Why community solar is becoming big business
5 PV-Magazine:
17 U.S. governors sign clean energy accord
6 Fortune:
Elon Musk Buys Up SolarCity Shares, Stock Jumps
7 Reuters:
Unclear if U.S., India can reach solar settlement
8 Business Journals:
Hawaiian Electric cancels SunEdison's 3 Hawaii solar farms
Opinions:
9 Portland Press Herald:
As solar power grows in Maine, so does tension over its future shape and direction
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for February 17th, 2016
Politics is far from a spectator sport and one of the best polling issues in the Nevada Presidential primary is the ongoing solar debate. Why? Because it pins government, regulators and a monopoly against hardworking Nevada families. On both sides of the aisle, solar polls very well and fighting free markets in favor of incumbent market participants rarely does. That is why both Clinton and Sanders are chiming into the debate. With Governor Sandoval yet to take a stand against his former advisors and NV Energy lobbyists, we will see how the politics play out.
News
1 Think Progress:
Sanders And Clinton Offer Different Solutions For Nevada’s Sabotaged Solar Industry
2 Greentech Media:
Innovation in Fossil-Fuel Extraction Is Making It Harder to Create a Low-Carbon World
3 Renew Economy:
It’s time to shine for 24-hour solar power
4 Renewable Energy World:
We'll Always Have Paris
5 CleanTechnica:
To Lease or To Own - Simplified Solar Calculator
6 Utility Dive:
Utility regulators face unfriendly — and unfair — fire
7 Civil Beat:
Can Kauai Solve The Solar Riddle?
8 Tech Insider:
Elon Musk says 'you can easily power all of China with solar'
Opinions:
9 Greenbiz:
King Coal and the irony of the endgame
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for February 16th, 2016
I never went to law school but did take the LSAT. More than anything I always respect intelligence and an intelligent debate. There were very few issues on which I agreed with Justice Scalia but I respect his time on the bench. Like it or not, and I don’t think Justice Scalia did, the Supreme Court is in the middle of important cases including the Clean Power Plan. Read Eric Wesoff’s take on the topic but I will leave you with a quote from Justice Scalia that Eric posted.
News
1 Greentech Media:
Moment of Quiet Reflection for Deceased Justice Scalia.
2 PV-Magazine:
Mexico’s first electricity auction is 15x oversubscribed
3 Solar Industry:
Fitch - Tax Credit Extensions Mean Stability For Renewable Energy Projects
4 PV-Tech:
Is polysilicon heading for shortage?
5 CleanTechnica:
Renewables = 16% of US Electricity in November 2015
6 Energy Collective:
Facing Utility Opposition, Virginia Legislators Punt on Renewable Energy Bills
7 Bloomberg:
APS solar customers facing approval delays while paying electric bills
8 Arizona Central:
APS solar customers facing approval delays while paying electric bills
Opinions:
9 Los Angeles Times:
Op-Ed It's time to give the DWP a reboot
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for February 15th, 2016
In case it wasn’t yet obvious to you, solar is complicated. It requires an endless flow of capital, whether directly from end customers that invest for themselves or loans and leases. Now that the industry is driving the scale up, new capital is interested which is obvious by the number of public solar companies. Being public is complicated because you have to create quarterly results which does not go hand in hand with a 20+ year asset class. MIT, which has a history of loving fossil and nuclear, is taking some joy of the recent drop in solar stock prices and calling it a bubble. I have a question for MIT, Bank of America stock is down 30%+ in the past 6 months, is the banking sector bubble bursting too?
News
1 MIT:
Suddenly, the Solar Boom Is Starting to Look like a Bubble
2 The Hill:
Sanders calls out Warren Buffett over solar energy
3 Vox:
Flattening the "duck curve" to get more renewable energy on the grid
4 PV-Magazine:
Judge limits asset transfers by SunEdison, TerraForm Power
5 Greentech Media:
Nevada Regulators Approve New Rate Hike Timeline For Rooftop Solar Customers
6 Solar Industry:
Maine Solar Supporters Call On Legislators To Preserve Net Metering
7 Motley Fool:
5 Facts You Didn't Know About Solar Energy
8 Mankato Free Press:
Sunburst - The solar boom has hit south-central Minnesota
Opinions:
9 Renew Economy:
Energy industry needs to focus on consumers, it may need them
Have a great day!
Yann
These are the top 10 most read solar articles by your peers this week!
News
1 Rolling Stone:
The Koch Brothers' Dirty War on Solar Power
2 New York Times:
SolarCity and Other Rooftop Providers Face a Cloudier Future
3 Boston Globe:
Major solar incentive runs out in Mass., surprising many
4 Concord Monitor:
The truth about net metering
5 Vice:
MIT Tool Gives the Cost of Installing Solar Panels on Any Roof in Your City
6 Greentech Media:
PG&E Launches Community Solar Program Enabling Customers to Go 100% Renewable
7 Forbes:
China Scores Big Win In Solar Trade Battle As REC Silicon Shutters US Polysilicon Production
8 Renew Economy:
Why solar power is taking over the world
9 Ralston Live:
Jon talks with Bryan Miller about solar energy in Nevada
10 CNN:
Nevada's perplexing war on solar
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 February 12th, 2016
A long form piece by Rolling Stone about solar energy. More importantly about the forces that we, as an industry, are up against. We can label it as utilities, Koch Brothers, etc but on a deeper level, we are the change that the 20th century monopolies fight to keep away. Capitalism embraces but at the same time rejects disruption but the market will ultimately prevail no matter where regulators or politicians get their money from, things work out. That being said, the time it takes to create change can be slowed so we have to remain active participants in the process with time, people and money.
News
1 Rolling Stone:
The Koch Brothers' Dirty War on Solar Power
2 Las Vegas Sun:
Clinton - Don’t penalize solar customers by changing rules
3 Sacramento Bee:
California’s push for clean energy is paying off
4 Bloomberg:
KKR Puts $500 Million Into Expanding Spanish Solar Acquisition
5 Solar Foundation:
Solar Jobs Census 2015
6 Utility Dive:
Florida critics say utility-backed amendment curbs solar choice
7 EDF:
Good Policy Gone Bad - How Nevada Killed Jobs and Clean Energy Competition
8 Greentech Media:
The Middle East Solar Market Is Set for a Big 2016, But Experts Worry About Risks
Opinions:
9 Huffington Post:
We Went Solar, and So Should You -- Because It's Free
Have a great day!
Yann
