This is your SolarWakeup for September 18th, 2015
Another successful year for SPI, a huge crowd which hopefully won’t be the peak of the event as we go into an execution year. Acquiring developments across the Country is the focus for many of us but we have to keep looking ahead as well. Storage is now being looked at as having the potential cost declines similar to that of solar with the electrification of the transportation sector gaining momentum and scale driving up volumes. Enjoy your weekend and get some rest for your feet!
News
1 PV-Magazine:
Utility-scale battery storage to reach 12 GW, $8.44 billion by 2024
2 Vox:
How inefficient climate policies can build support for efficient ones
3 Think Progress:
New Study Shows Just How Deadly Air Pollution Really Is
4 Renew Economy:
Tesla coming, but consumers may lose as networks, retailers fight over solar and storage
5 Variety:
David Letterman Will Explore Climate Change For National Geographic Docu-Series
6 Greentech Media:
Small, Early Investors in Suniva Washed Out in Shunfeng Acquisition
7 Bloomberg:
SunEdison's Yieldco Overreach Stirring Angst for Solar Companies
8 The Guardian:
Boris Johnson speaks out against government plans to cut solar subsidies
Opinions:
9 Arizona Central:
Roberts - Retired chief justice - Regulators can force APS to disclose dark money
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 17th, 2015
Yesterday the Vice President addressed a packed room at SPI in Anaheim. He came with a preface to the sure fire refutes that would come hours later at the GOP debates. His best comments came when he directly spoke about the tax credits and how crazy it is that an industry like oil and gas still relies on tax credits but a thriving job creating industry like solar is asked to do without. In comparison, my US Senator Marco Rubio, is educating us all on how the United States is not a planet. Imagine if we were talking about another issue, Senator Rubio would be saying how the U.S. Is failing to be a global leader. Time to step up Senator!
News
1 Fortune:
Vice President Biden - Give oil industry's tax credits to clean energy
2 The Washington Post:
Why storing solar energy and using it at night is closer than you think
3 Fortune:
In the solar industry, it's a scramble to the top
4 KSL:
9 reasons now is the time to invest in solar for your home
5 Benzinga:
Analysts Are Having A Hard Time Predicting Solar Beyond 2016
6 The Hill:
Solar industry already a boon
7 PV Tech:
New BNEF report reveals costly effects of ITC sunset in US
8 PV-Magazine:
Trina not ruling yieldco out, addresses criticism
Opinions:
9 Slate:
“America Is Not a Planet”
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 16th, 2015
A cloudy first day of SPI 2015 today and I am not just talking about the weather. SEIA, through Rhone Resch, is rightfully pressing the panic button in its communication to the solar industry. There are some 200k solar professionals working in the space and if we had been proactive and actually calling our Senators, solar ITC could be much farther along. If you are a small contractor selling cash deals to residential and small commercial customers, solar without the ITC is painful for your business. Run a financial model without the ITC and tell me what it says, in the meantime you can pick up the phone and ask your Senators to help.
News
1 PV-Tech:
SPI 2015 - US solar industry must unite to save ITC, warns SEIA’s Resch
2 Bloomberg:
U.S. Solar Heads for Slump in 2017 If Tax Incentive Is Cut
3 24/7 Wall Street:
After the Sell-Off, 3 Solar Stocks to Buy Now
4 CleanTechnica:
Utility Trade Association Needs To Come Clean On Lobbying Efforts
5 PV-Magazine:
UK solar cuts will cost country in the long run, says REA
6 Renew Economy:
Eight things Malcolm Turnbull should do on climate, renewables
7 Energy Collective:
Are We Too Fixated on Rural Electrification?
8 Utility Dive:
CPUC pushed to study solar-storage further after filing pegs value at $0.25/kWh
Opinions:
9 Huffington Post:
Interior Secretary Defends Fossil Fuels - 'You Can't Just Cut It Off Overnight'
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 15th, 2015
Money talks! That’s what you are getting across the Country as the companies interested in making sure solar doesn’t disrupt energy markets, especially their long time monopolies. Those money interests are right here in the solar industry and you are most likely helping fund anti-solar ITC efforts by attending SPI. A year ago, I asked if SPI will have to split up. The reason? The event is put on by SEIA and SEPA, and those interests are no longer aligned in growth of solar. SEPA’s members are mostly utilities and they have spurned SEIA’s request to push for an ITC extension. Don’t buy Julia Hamm’s response about tax status, it is very bad PR on her end. Let’s see how it plays out this year, but there is a rift and SEPA needs to step up and push for an ITC extension or pull out of SPI 2016 and perhaps choose to sponsor EEI’s annual conference.
News
1 Greentech Media:
Two National Solar Trade Groups Clash Over How to Lobby for a Key Federal Tax Credit
2 Bloomberg:
California Climate Law an $8.6 Billion Coup for Solar Utilities
3 Media Matters:
The Overlooked Dirty Energy Money Behind Solar Net Metering Battles, And Why It Matters
4 PV-Magazine:
What the new PM could mean for solar Down Under
5 Huffington Post:
The Next Solar (r)Evolution
6 PV-Tech:
Dubai officially opens 800MW PV tender
7 CleanTechnica:
Ever Greater Share Of New Power From Distributed Solar
8 Utility Dive:
Sierra Club fights Buffett-owned Pacific Power bid to shorten PURPA contracts
Opinions:
9 Wall Street Journal:
Solar-Power Sharing Programs May Be Poised to Take Off
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 14th, 2015
Planes across the Country are full of solar people flying to Anaheim for SPI (me included). On Friday, California showed again why the majority of total and annual solar growth is in their State. The legislature passed a 50% renewable energy by 2030 bill, clearly putting them into a leadership position on a macro level. Don’t let the details be missed, utilities want to gut the policies that will make solar a portion of the 50% which would put California behind South Carolina in comparison. So as you see the headlines, stay aware of what the other (incumbent and monopolistic) market participants want to do to solar.
News
1 Greentech Media:
California Passes a Bill Targeting 50% Renewables by 2030
2 Vox:
Reimagining electric utilities for the 21st century
3 Bloomberg:
Dubai Plans to Award Solar Power Contract in First Quarter
4 PV-Tech:
Trina Solar to establish a ‘growthco’ for downstream PV projects – report
5 Renewable Energy World:
The Cheapest Route to 50 Percent Renewable Includes Concentrated Solar Power
6 CleanTechnica:
Thirteen UK Investors Implore UK Chancellor To Support Renewable Energy Investment
7 Renew Economy:
Queensland, Victoria look to reverse falls in solar feed-in tariffs
8 USA Today:
Vermont solar plan brightens green energy hopes
Opinions:
9 Public Radio:
The coming years may be rooftop solar's time to shine
Have a great day!
Yann
These are the top 10 most read solar articles by your peers this week!
News
1 Wall Street Journal:
Rooftop Solar Means Competition
2 Forbes:
Flextronics - A Quiet Giant In Solar
3 Vox:
Solar power is still growing rapidly — but it's about to hit a speed bump
4 Grist:
Massachusetts has a bunch of new roadside solar panels. Too bad they’re so ugly
5 Boston Globe:
A bright future for roadside solar farms
6 Renew Economy:
Why solar PV is unstoppable – and renewable targets will cost little
7 New York Times:
Green Energy for the Poor
8 Nasdaq:
2020 Could Mark The Tipping Point For U.S. Solar
9 CleanTechnica:
The Federal Solar Tax Credit Extension - Can We Win if We Lose?
10 PV-Magazine:
Sunrun shows growth in first quarterly results as a public company
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 September 11th, 2015
Solar profits are a funny metric. Yesterday, Sunrun had its first earnings release post IPO and along with every other solar company, the street will hype about their losses and how it cannot be sustained. On the other hand, the company will be judged by how many MW it added to its balance sheet. So here’s the catch, how is a solar company supposed to add assets to its balance sheet and not pay for them? If the company doesn’t use equity to invest in the assets, they aren’t their assets and will sit on someone else’s balance sheet. I am oversimplifying the complexity of solar project finance but you catch my drift. Stop judging solar companies on EPS, instead look at their assets and the retained earnings those add to the company.
News
1 PV-Magazine:
Sunrun shows growth in first quarterly results as a public company
2 Renew Economy:
Australia tipped to have 50GW of solar capacity by 2040
3 Renewable Energy World:
The Future of the Internet of Things in Renewable Energy
4 CleanTechnica:
California’s First Commercial Solar Desalination Plant Offering Shares Through DPO
5 Las Vegas Sun:
Solar industry pressures Sandoval, while thanking PUC
6 Nasdaq:
2020 Could Mark The Tipping Point For U.S. Solar
7 KWCH:
Westar Energy to make solar energy available to all customers
8 Fox:
Gov. Baker pressing lawmakers to take action on solar, hydro power bills by end of year
Opinions:
9 Think Progress:
Renewable Energy Progress Eclipsing Capitol Hill
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 10th, 2015
A speedbump is perhaps the right description or perhaps its more like those spikes that I see at the rental car places. The US solar market is growing tremendously and next year will only get bigger before the dreaded ITC cliff. Your help is still needed, in a full court press to your Senators. If you want to see what can happen to a solar industry for lack of regulatory support, look across the pond to the UK where overnight the distributed rooftop market was essentially canceled. See you at SPI next week!
News
1 Vox:
Solar power is still growing rapidly — but it's about to hit a speed bump
2 Think Progress:
The Next Generation Of Solar Panels May Be Inspired By Ancient Japanese Papercraft
3 Energy Collective:
Congress - Extend the Investment Tax Credit for Advanced Energy Technologies
4 Clean Technica:
The Federal Solar Tax Credit Extension - Can We Win if We Lose?
5 PV-Magazine:
Mexico to award longer PPAs under energy auctions, specific scheme for renewables
6 Solar Power Portal:
EU ProSun requests extension of trade duties as old battlelines redrawn
7 Bloomberg:
U.S. Solar Power on Track for Record 2015 as Utilities Lead Way
8 New York Times:
Green Energy for the Poor
Opinions:
9 The Guardian:
Solar industry is being slashed and burned by the Tories
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 9th, 2015
I get excited about big deals in solar. Not only about the big projects that make global companies grow, like in Brazil last week, but the corporate deals that make investors wonder why they didn’t invest a bit more like DBL Investors. DBL, as you may know, were early in Tesla, SolarCity and also in NEXTracker. NEXTracker was acquired by manufacturer, Flextronics, this week for a whopping $330million. As the US market adds 1,400MW in Q2 of 2014 and surpasses 20GW of capacity, the market is huge and ready to make investors a ton of money.
News
1 Forbes:
Flextronics - A Quiet Giant In Solar
2 Mass Live:
Massachusetts on target to exceed solar energy goals, amid debate over solar incentives
3 Bloomberg:
Yingli Cuts Outlook, Sees Charge as Solar Panel Sales Drop
4 Reuters:
Disagreements over scope and ownership delay Saudi solar projects
5 Grist:
Massachusetts has a bunch of new roadside solar panels. Too bad they’re so ugly
6 Breaking Energy:
Top 6 Things You Didn’t Know About Solar Energy
7 PV-Magazine:
UK energy secretary defends solar FIT cuts
8 El Paso Times:
El Paso Electric wants to increase charges for solar homes
Opinions:
9 Utility Dive:
Solar face-off taking shape in Michigan as new bill would expand net metering
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 8th, 2015
Last week, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board went after solar and in particular the head of policy at Sunrun. Now he gets to respond to the WSJ and to the readers that think they know, especially the fact that WSJ only highlighted his stint at the Department of Energy. Many in solar just want the ability to compete and not necessarily ask for a leg up on the incumbents. Here is the money line from his response, "Conservatives understand that unilateral disarmament isn’t free markets, it’s big government picking winners and losers at its worst.”
News
1 Wall Street Journal:
Rooftop Solar Means Competition
2 KUER:
Utah Solar Jobs on the Rise, While Oil & Gas Jobs Decline
3 Greentech Media:
Brazil Announces the Winners of Its 833MW Solar Auction
4 Forbes:
Energy Takeaways From The Saudi King's Visit With Obama
5 PV-Tech:
US dominates solar manufacturing capacity expansion announcements in August
6 Bloomberg:
India's Modi Tells Coal Power Plants to Subsidize Solar
7 Solar Industry:
Adding Solar To Mining Operations Can Substantially Decrease Energy Costs
8 Boston Globe:
A bright future for roadside solar farms
Opinions:
9 Renew Economy:
Why solar PV is unstoppable – and renewable targets will cost little
Have a great day!
Yann
