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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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

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.

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Yann

These are the top 10 most read solar articles by your peers this week!

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Have a great day!
Yann