This is your SolarWakeup for May 4th, 2016
1 million solar installs! That’s a big deal but what is really the big deal is that the next million will happen in less than 2 years. Dubai is signing PPAs for sub $0.03/kWh and storage prices are dropping like silicon in 2010. Here’s the kicker, States like Florida contributed less than 1% of those solar projects while being one of the largest energy users in the Country. We have a long, long way to go and I really enjoy going through this growth with everyone of you. Take a moment, pat yourself on the back and go sell another project!
News
1 Huffington Post:
Million Solar Strong
2 Time:
Bill Richardson - What Saudi Arabia’s Bet on Solar Power Means
3 PV-Magazine:
US - DOE grants $25m to aid grid integration of solar energy
4 PV-Tech:
New Hampshire bill expands state financial incentive for solar
5 EDF:
Benefits of Clean, Distributed Energy - Why Time, Location, and Compensation Matter
6 Bloomberg:
New Record Set for World's Cheapest Solar, Now Undercutting Coal
7 Utility Dive:
Oklahoma utility proposes demand charges to cover distributed energy costs
8 Greentech Media:
Do We Really Need Solar That’s Too Cheap to Meter?
Opinions:
9 New York Times:
What’s Holding Back Renewable Energy? / Utilities Must Stop Blocking Solar Growth
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for May 3rd, 2016
EEI (utility trade association) says “Vision without execution is just hallucination.” Let’s talk about their vision and execution because the execution shows that the vision seems to end at the next quarter. Over $100bb in grid investments per year and $90mm in EV fleet investments with a whopping 740 charging stations. That’s a 1000 to 1 ratio between betting against distributed generation and growing demand by competing with oil companies. So look at conglomerates like Berkshire that have fought distributed solar all over America including Washington, Utah, Iowa and Nevada. Let’s have a vision that helps consumers and doesn’t push ratebase up for the wrong reasons.
News
1 Utility Dive:
EEI - How investor-owned electric companies are delivering America's energy future
2 Renewable Energy World:
US Celebrates One Million Solar Installations
3 PV-Magazine:
GTM Research predicts 2016 market declines in China and Japan as India and the U.S. boom
4 Energy Collective:
Power Sector Coal Demand Has Fallen in Nearly Every State Since 2007
5 Fortune:
Vivint Solar's Chief Executive to Leave
6 EDF:
Texas Cities Lead on Solar, But Tapping The State’s Potential Has Just Begun
7 GreenBiz:
Community solar - An unlikely utility savior?
8 Fast Company:
New Apple campus drone fly-over video shows huge solar panels, theater
Opinions:
9 Huffington Post:
New York’s Clean Energy Commitment Is a Great Economic Strategy
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for May 2nd, 2016
There is a trend in the utility sector. While NRG is not a typical utility, more of an independent power producer, it does have to make decisions on what type of power plants to invest in. David Crane has an interview with Greentech Media that touches on a few topics but emphasizes one point. Solar is the future and that is where he wants to be. Jim Rogers, former Duke Energy CEO, made similar comments after leaving Duke following the Duke/Progress merger. The question is, how does the market allow the difficult internal transformation of utilities going solar?
News
1 Greentech Media:
A Conversation With David Crane on Getting Fired From NRG & What’s Next for His Energy Plans
2 PV-Tech:
Yingli Green delays financial reporting on liquidity issues
3 AZ Central:
Rooftop solar cease-fire takes ballot measures off table for now
4 PV-Magazine:
Mexico launches call for second electricity auction in September
5 CleanTechnica:
What Uses The Most Energy In US Homes? (Infographic)
6 Solar Industry:
Solar Policy Report Card - 10 Sunny States Fail
7 Vox:
Millennials love clean energy, fear climate change, and don’t vote. This campaign wants to change that.
8 Utility Dive:
Duke University backs push for third-party renewables sales in North Carolina
Opinions:
9 Motley Fool:
California Has Too Much Solar Power -- And That's a Good Thing
Have a great day!
Yann
These are the top 10 most read solar articles by your peers this week!
News
1 Investor's Business Daily:
First Solar Q1 Torched On ITC Extension - SunPower, Sunrun Burned
2 PV-Tech:
SunEdison’s upstream suppliers hit hardest with US$321 million owed in bankruptcy
3 PV-Magazine:
Senate passes energy bill with benefits for solar and renewable energy integration
4 Fortune:
Startup That Provides Home Solar Loans Raises Big Cash
5 New York Times:
Renewable Energy Stumbles Toward the Future
6 Greentech Media:
Grid Alternatives Sues SunEdison for $2.3 Million in Unpaid Donations
7 SF Gate:
If you have solar panels in Oakland, Prince might have paid for them
8 EDF:
The True Cost of Electricity
9 Huffington Post:
Billionaire Has A $25 Million Plan To Get Young People Voting For Climate Action
10 USA Today:
Can N.Y. solar-electric deal recharge U.S. green-energy effort?
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 April 29th, 2016
Let’s talk about headlines that release information that you didn’t even realize existed. Public companies have to release information to shareholders that affect the business. Sometimes PR professionals (some are very very skilled at this, trust me) bury the story in the lead and you don’t even realize it. The ITC extension for example had some serious effects on our sector because many companies never expected it to happen, surely not much more than commence construction. I was much more bullish but the corporate world wrote that off. Once the ITC was extended, companies had to reassess their 1 year plan and revise to a 7 year plan. This caused shifts that have effects, read the headlines more closely and I will point some out for you.
News
1 Investor’s Business Daily:
First Solar Q1 Torched On ITC Extension; SunPower, Sunrun Burned
2 EDF:
The True Cost of Electricity - What we’re not paying for through our utility bills
3 PV-Tech:
A graduate’s view of the Solar Ready Vets training schools
4 Utility Dive:
Beyond pilots - Duke Energy looks to install storage in regulated market
5 PV-Magazine:
Maine legislators push to override veto of controversial solar policy
6 CleanTechnica:
Exploring How Cities Can Switch To A Low-Carbon Energy Grid
7 Tucson.com:
Measure would mean higher rates for Arizona solar customers
8 TechCrunch:
Solar startup M-KOPA leapfrogs Africa’s electricity grid
Opinions:
9 Senator Boxer:
Americans Want to Fight Climate Change — Let’s Give Them a Way to Help
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 28th, 2016
You’ve heard the saying, “All politics is local.” The Solar Foundation with the help of several entities including DOE’s SunShot Initiative launched SolSmart yesterday. SolSmart is about placing advocates for short term roles to advocate positive solar policies. Whether some codes or ordinances need to be adjusted or permitting sorted out, Advisors will be working to lower the soft cost barriers in their own backyard. I can’t think of a better way for excited solar advocates to advise their community leaders on how they can improve. Of course they will be doing this with a great support network behind them. Another great initiative by Solar Foundation and SunShot, two great organizations.
News
1 Solar Power World:
The Solar Foundation launches recognition program for communities going solar
2 Greentech Media:
Rhone Resch Exit Interview -Crash Course on Modern Political History of Solar in Washington
3 Utility Dive:
Oregon regulators set ambitious timeline for clean energy programs
4 Renewable Energy World:
Utility Veterans Urge Industry Away from 'Dumb' Power Grid Tech
5 CNBC:
First Solar posts Q1 profit, appoints new CEO
6 Fortune:
Startup That Provides Home Solar Loans Raises Big Cash
7 PV-Magazine:
Australia large-scale renewable investment plunges again to near record low
8 Portland Press Herald:
LePage vetoes solar energy bill after compromise talks fail
Opinions:
9 GreenBiz:
Why SunEdison's bankruptcy won't deflate the solar boom
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 27th, 2016
“We have to focus on the grid of the future.” Talking points like this one, from AEP CEO Nick Akins, are exactly why solar can’t trust the utility sector. On one hand the utilities in Ohio pushed to freeze the RPS and kill the solar industry and on the other they want to develop solar farms (to put into ratebase of course). Then they want to charge DG customers for “using” the grid. This one is for anyone on the mailing list that is a Kasich voter, all two of you. For readers that work for utilities, that would be hundreds of you, get some internal input to stop the intellectual dishonesty from your bosses or stop doing it if you are the boss.
News
1 Columbus Dispatch:
AEP wants to lead Ohio solar-power development
2 Utility Dive:
Tesla's 2016 storage sales to SolarCity could dwarf entire US behind-meter market for 2015
3 Think Progress:
Saudi Prince Announces Plan To Free Kingdom From Oil ‘Addiction’
4 Greentech Media:
Is Distributed Generation the Answer to Regulatory Dysfunction?
5 National Geographic:
14 Pictures From an Epic Solar Flight Around the World
6 Bloomberg:
SunEdison to Sell 202 Megawatts of Solar to Chile's Colbun
7 PV-Magazine:
Brazil - 5 solar PV module factories accredited by BNDES
8 CBS:
Solar stocks have investors feeling burned
Opinions:
9 GreenBiz:
The Living Grid - A new frontier in energy demand response
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 26th, 2016
Sunedison may have filed bankruptcy but the saga is just beginning. We get the first glimpse at the suppliers that are owed money. What is not yet entirely clear is if the creditors are global or just the US. Regardless, it is disheartening to see growing startups like NEXTracker and Grid Alternatives owed millions and taken advantage of. I can see the immediate reverberation in the sector coming in the forms of supply terms being tightened up.
News
1 PV-Tech:
SunEdison’s upstream suppliers hit hardest with US$321 million owed in bankruptcy
2 Greentech Media:
Grid Alternatives Sues SunEdison for $2.3 Million in Unpaid Donations
3 New York Times:
China Curbs Plans for More Coal-Fired Power Plants
4 PV-Magazine:
Ontario IESO Announces Temporary Suspension of the microFIT Program
5 Utility Dive:
Report - Big US utilities shelled out $400M in political spending
6 AEE:
Facilitating Utility-Solar Collaboration on Net Metering in New York
7 GreenBiz:
Clean tech and innovation - Solar Impulse's view from 10,000 feet
8 Huffington Post:
Billionaire Has A $25 Million Plan To Get Young People Voting For Climate Action
Opinions:
9 KWh Analytics:
An Open Letter to Big Oil
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 25th, 2016
Friday was Earth Day and 165 Countries signed the Paris Agreement which makes it a great day for everyone. Another report showed that energy use in the US went down, however slightly, but it went down. Some utility experts say that the primary reason that energy usage went down can be attributed to light bulbs. Seems simple enough and makes logical sense considering what installing LEDs does to energy demand. My guess is that this is a temporary effect because electric vehicles are right behind the LED trend. My concern along with others is how the energy is made because natural gas was up 3% last year which needs to be reversed right away.
News
1 CleanTechnica:
World’s Nations Sign Unprecedented Climate Change Agreement
2 Utility Dive:
The US used less energy in 2015 with less waste, new report shows
3 PV-Magazine:
Senate passes energy bill with benefits for solar and renewable energy integration
4 Renewable Energy World:
Stronger US Focus on Africa - The Electrify Africa Act
5 PV-Tech:
Green utility buys SunEdison’s UK rooftop business
6 Renew Economy:
100% renewables might be fantasy, but it’s what Australia is signing up for
7 New York Times:
Renewable Energy Stumbles Toward the Future
8 San Francisco Chronicle:
If you have solar panels in Oakland, Prince might have paid for them
Opinions:
9 USA Today:
Can N.Y. solar-electric deal recharge U.S. green-energy effort?
Have a great day!
Yann
These are the top 10 most read solar articles by your peers this week!
News
1 Bloomberg:
SunEdison's Chapter 11 Filing Leaves the Renewable Energy Industry Unfazed
2 Fortune:
Ray Kurzweil - Here's Why Solar Will Dominate Energy Within 12 Years
3 PV-Tech:
SunShot Initiative’s ‘Orange Button’ program to slash solar finance costs
4 Think Progress:
We Fact-Checked A High-Profile Article On Energy. It Wasn’t Pretty.
5 Bloomberg:
An Unlikely Alliance Is Born in the Battle Over Solar Power
6 Greentech Media:
Rhone Resch Is Stepping Down as Leader of SEIA
7 New York Times:
An Energy Bill in Need of Fixes
8 Motley Fool:
3 Lessons the Solar Industry Has Learned the Hard Way
9 Greentech Media:
As More Corporations Go Solar, How Are the Deals Structured?
10 Vox:
How cheap does solar power need to get before it takes over the world?
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
