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
This is your SolarWakeup for April 22nd, 2016
The worst kept secret in solar and Wall Street was the imminent Chapter 11 filing by Sunedison. Trading at 1% of their stock price from a year ago, the fall looks like a culmination of bad management decisions. With $16billion of liabilities in the filing, it had nothing to do with the solar industry and everything with an inability to pay liabilities. I like the people at Sunedison and I was hoping that this would not happen. What bothered me the most about the messaging is that the blame is being put on the capital markets (see #4). Don’t blame an industry that is growing and going well for the failure, we never asked you to become a ‘supermajor’.
News
1 Bloomberg:
SunEdison's Filing Leaves the Renewable Energy Industry Unfazed
2 Fortune:
SunEdison's Epic Failure Had Little to Do With Clean Energy
3 Greentech Media:
The US Solar Market Is Now 1 Million Installations Strong
4 Think Progress:
We Fact-Checked A High-Profile Article On Climate And Energy. It Wasn’t Pretty.
5 EDF:
The Supreme Court Continues a Trend of Protecting Competitive Markets. Here’s Why it Matters for Ohio.
6 Forbes:
Emerging Markets Draw Solar Developers
7 Utility Dive:
Indiana Supreme Court rules to keep lawmaker-utility emails private
8 Renew Economy:
Rooftop solar gets cheaper finance with first green bond in Australia
Opinions:
9 Renewable Energy World:
A Cleantech Recipe that Finally Works - Student Entrepreneurs
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 21st, 2016
It is compromise week, in New York and DC. In New York the IOUs and solar developers negotiated a compromise around net metering. In this iteration, the policy looks like it will largely remain the same for a few years before going along with a formula that will create long term certainty for new solar installations. In the Senate, the energy bill passed. On a bullet point basis, it looks like a State by State wish list for certain easements and land use rights. It still needs to reconcile with the House which should happen over the next few months if there is appetite to get the deal done.
News
1 New York Times:
An Energy Bill in Need of Fixes
2 Bloomberg:
An Unlikely Alliance Is Born in the Battle Over Solar Power
3 PV-Tech:
Polysilicon producer Hemlock suing JA Solar for almost US$1 billion
4 Green Biz:
We Mean Business - The Paris Accord is a $13 trillion opportunity
5 Greentech Media:
As More Corporations Go Solar, How Are the Deals Structured?
6 Fortune:
There Will Be More New Jobs in Solar Than Oil by the End of the Year
7 PV-Magazine:
Total to create new Gas, Renewables and Power segment
8 Vox:
San Francisco is requiring solar panels on all new buildings. But here's a much greener idea.
Opinions:
9 Utility Dive:
Minnesota judge urges higher carbon price to guide utility system planning
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 20th, 2016
This week there was an energy conference hosted by Platts in Las Vegas. Apparently, according to Power Finance & Risk, some IPP execs went a bit negative on the subsidies thrown at renewables. They are obviously confused considering their fuels receive billions more in subsidies but I understand their frustration. The wholesale markets are changing and being an IPP means you depend on the ability to trade and monetize your energy in those markets. There are several things happening here to try and add more value to firm capacity to allow power plants to make more money. Maryland in some way attempted to do that but a judge has sided with FERC against the rule (story #2 today). Keep watching this space…
News
1 Utility Dive:
'Graceful transition' - ISO-NE's CEO on how wholesale markets can ease decarbonization
2 PV-Tech:
US Trade Representative - India’s tit-for-tat WTO filings not helpful
3 NRDC:
Supreme Court Decision Striking Down Maryland Program Contains Good News for Clean Power
4 Bloomberg:
New York Utilities, Solar Companies Offer Alternate Payment Plan
5 PV-Magazine:
New Development Bank greenlights $811 million for renewable energy in member countries
6 San Francisco Examiner:
Leading the way on solar energy
7 Florida Times Union:
JEA delays vote on rooftop solar changes
8 Phoenix New Times:
Sparks fly in New Arizona Solar- Energy- Initiative Campaign
Opinions:
9 Huffington Post:
Fossil Fuel Companies Need to Become Renewable Energy Companies
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 19th, 2016
Yesterday after the market closer, David Einhorn from Greenlight Capital sold around 11million of his Sunedison shares between $0.29 and $0.37 per share. Clearly not a winning trade for the hedge fund but better to get out now before a probable imminent bankruptcy filing. So when some in the media label Sunedison as taxpayer funded, make sure to tell them about the hedge funds, private equity funds and private capital that funded the corporation because I doubt that any of the tax equity is going to be at risk in the proceedings. It will be messy for sure but I doubt any taxpayer dollars will have been misappropriated in this case.
News
1 Bloomberg:
SunEdison's Complex Finances Make Potential Bankruptcy `Messy'
2 Greentech Media:
Regulators Reject Third-Party-Ownership Petition in North Carolina
3 Vox:
How cheap does solar power need to get before it takes over the world?
4 Renew Economy:
New report shows 100% renewable by 2030 can save Australia money
5 Rocky Mountain Institute:
“Community Storage” Is a New Way to Think About Reducing Grid Costs
6 Utility Dive:
Utilities should join us in working toward a 21st century rate design
7 PV-Tech:
FERC to assess distributed solar-plus-storage impact on wholesale markets
8 Sun Herald:
NC regulators reject solar test of electricity monopoly law
Opinions:
9 NRDC:
It’s Alive! Senate Energy Bill Returns—But With More Problems for Our Environment
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 18th, 2016
Subsidy, seems like an ugly word and policy that almost everyone dislikes. But given the political environment we live in and conditioning of society to think long term, I wonder if subsidy is no longer considered bad but good. Ask your neighbor if more should have solar, likely answer is yes. Ask them if Government should subsidize it, likely answer is yes. Paying extra for your societal goals and social values is part of our DNA and we should test that concept more often. Be on the lookout - Sunedison is finalizing their DIP (bankruptcy) financing and likely files for protection shortly thereafter. Here is their deck they submitted to SEC on Friday. Rhone Resch has left SEIA after 12 years as the CEO, I look forward to see what is next for Rhone!
News
1 PV-Tech:
SunShot Initiative’s ‘Orange Button’ programme to slash solar industry finance costs
2 Portland Press Herald:
Subsidizing solar power in Maine would cost us each less than $5 a year
3 Greentech Media:
Rhone Resch Is Stepping Down as Leader of the US Solar Industry’s National Lobbying Group
4 Bloomberg:
Cheaper Than China Again, First Solar Vindicates U.S. Investment
5 PV-Magazine:
SunEdison reveals details from its debtor-in-possession talks
6 Arizona Central:
Arizona solar ballot initiative launched by super PAC
7 Think Progress:
We Just Crushed The Global Record For Hottest Start Of Any Year
8 Fortune:
Ray Kurzweil - Here's Why Solar Will Dominate Energy Within 12 Years
Opinions:
9 Motley Fool:
3 Lessons the Solar Industry Has Learned the Hard Way
Have a great day!
Yann
These are the top 10 most read solar articles by your peers this week!
News
1 San Diego Union Tribune:
Anatomy of a solar meltdown
2 Greentech Media:
David Crane and Tom Fanning Spar Over Distributed Generation
3 Renewable Energy World:
With Too Much Solar, California Looks To West For Markets
4 Fortune:
Financial Turmoil at SunEdison Imperils Solar Projects Worldwide
5 Greentech Media:
Charting SunEdison Employee Morale Against Its Collapsing Stock Price
6 Renew Economy:
Why rise of solar, and fall in costs, still shocks energy experts
7 Boston Globe:
Governor Baker to sign solar compromise
8 The Economist:
Follow the sun
9 MIT:
Watching SunEdison’s Collapse, Solar Industry Resets
10 Fortune:
The Other Side of the Solar Firestorm in Nevada
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
