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
This is your SolarWakeup for February 11th, 2016
News
1 New York Times:
Rooftop Solar Providers Face a Cloudier Future
2 Los Angeles Times:
California solar industry job growth reaches record levels
3 Huffington Post:
Utilities, Solar Energy and the Fight for Your Roof
4 Las Vegas Review Journal:
Tesla asks new rooftop-solar rates be reconsidered
5 Greentech Media:
SolarCity Installed 870MW of Solar in 2015, But Lowers Q1 2016 Guidance
6 Greenbiz:
How much does energy storage really cost?
7 Renewable Energy World:
Renewable Energy Finance Outlook 2016 - The Year of the Green Dollar
8 PV-Magazine:
Australia sails past 5 GW of PV
Opinions:
9 Utility Dive:
Ex-regulator - NextEra's energy vision for Hawaii isn't good enough
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for February 10th, 2016
Yesterday the first in the nation primary took place in New Hampshire. What isn’t in the mainstream media is the net metering discussion in New Hampshire. The cap needs to be lifted and a bill recently passed the Senate to allow the commission to work on this. Quietly, the utilities are pushing against this which is not unusual. The kicker here is that the utility is, at the very same moment, studying on how to own distributed generation assets. It’s well hidden in the resource plan that had to be submitted to the regulators. So on this February Wednesday, enjoy a nice political cartoon that trade and local media should publish and write about what is going on in NH.
News
1 Concord Monitor:
Our Turn - The truth about net metering
2 New York Times:
Supreme Court Deals Blow to Obama’s Efforts to Regulate Coal Emissions
3 Boston Globe:
Major solar incentive runs out in Mass., surprising many
4 Greenbiz:
Green Bank Network aims to unleash private clean energy capital
5 PV-Tech:
Panasonic suspending more than a third of HIT cell and module production - reports
6 Reuters:
UK grab for tariffs boosted European solar panel sales in 2015 - industry
7 Renewable Energy World:
Bloomberg News Editors
8 PV-Magazine:
U.S. President Obama seeks to double federal clean energy R&D spending
Opinions:
9 Motley Fool:
Why Three of China's Leading Solar Companies Dropped in January
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for February 9th, 2016
We spoke about this a few months ago but the biggest thing that could happen to solar in the US would be the removal of the Chinese module and cell tariffs. These cause an unnecessary increase to the cost of solar for millions of Americans. To think that the trade war was started by a single entity that employs a few hundred in Oregon makes you think of the cost vs benefit. Government should think again, because the trade war resulted in a silicon tariff from China against the US that is now closing a factory in Washington State. We need to have a discussion as an industry on how to get rid of this tax on modules. Let’s move forward to advance our industry.
News
1 Forbes:
China Scores Big Win In Solar Trade Battle As REC Silicon Shutters US Polysilicon Production
2 Los Angeles Times:
How and when to install a rooftop solar system
3 EDF:
Moms Know What’s Best - How Time-of-Use Electricity Pricing can Benefit California Families
4 Renew Economy:
Graph of the Day - Why solar power is taking over the world
5 PV-Magazine:
Canada - Alberta introduces new solar initiative
6 Arizona Central:
My Turn - 3 ideas to guide Arizona utility rates
7 Solar Industry:
Energy Dept. Unveils $21 Million To Tackle Deployment Barriers And Soft Costs Of Solar
8 Utility Dive:
Virginia lawmakers mull slew of clean energy bills
Opinions:
9 Reno Gazette Journal:
The Reno Memo - You won't like it when Nevadans get angry
Have a great day!
Yann
