This is your SolarWakeup for April 12th, 2016
Everyone that knows me, knows that patience isn’t my strong suit. Specifically when I am waiting for a shoe to drop that I expect to be coming but it is taking longer than it should. I am talking specifically about the ‘potential’ bankruptcy filing by Sunedison. I don’t view it as a bad thing, it will give the company the ability to work some things out and perhaps come out stronger on the other side. The problem now is that the waiting game is keeping a lot of folks on the sidelines wondering what is going on and that doesn’t help anyone. In the meantime, we shall continue pressing refresh on the SEC website to see what is going on. One thing is sure, today is the last day that I will be publishing the oped pieces on what the SUNE situation means for solar.
News
1 San Diego Union Tribune:
Anatomy of a solar meltdown
2 Greentech Media:
Charting SunEdison Employee Morale Against Its Collapsing Stock Price
3 MIT:
Watching SunEdison’s Collapse, Solar Industry Resets
4 Renewable Energy World:
With Too Much Solar, California Looks To West For Markets
5 PV-Tech:
Winners of 2014 Brazil solar auction ask for more time - report
6 Rocky Mountain Institute:
Industrialised Nations Must Lead an Exit Strategy for Fossil Fuels
7 Solar Industry:
World Bank Sets 30 GW Renewables Target Under Climate Action Plan
8 Forbes:
Global Investment In Solar Slips, Venture Capital Shifts Focus To Downstream
Opinions:
9 CleanTechnica:
Sharply Higher Rooftop Solar Potential Increases Potential For Energy Self-Reliance
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 11th, 2016
Banks getting into the sector still makes news, which I think is great because it puts a name to the face. The face, of course, is the $150billion that came into the solar space in 2015. Bank of America is the brand that makes the rest of the market feel the competition for projects that are looking for the money. On Friday, BoA announced a new fund for SolarCity and has great credibility with retail investors. So as we enter a week of public failure in the solar space, remember the billions that fund solar projects every single week. The next step is to reduce the spread between project returns on where comparable real estate assets get funded.
News
1 Renewable Energy World:
Banks Pledge $7BN to Scale Up Clean Energy Investment
2 Fortune:
Financial Turmoil at SunEdison Imperils Solar Projects Worldwide
3 Boston Globe:
Governor Baker to sign solar compromise
4 Breaking Energy:
China Gives Green Light For Green Bonds
5 PV-Tech:
SolarCity’s 1GW Buffalo fab using technology from Japan, Germany and Taiwan
6 Renew Economy:
WA takes lead and tells utility to close down fossil fuel generation
7 Think Progress:
Sorry, Feds - Kids Can Sue Over Climate Negligence, Judge Says
8 Star Tribune:
Report faults Xcel's handling of solar garden project
Opinions:
9 EDF:
Transforming the Electric System to Reduce Costs and Pollution
Have a great day!
Yann
These are the top 10 most read solar articles by your peers this week!
News
1 New York Times:
A Renewable Energy Boom
2 Greentech Media:
A First Look at Amazon’s New Drone-Based Solar Installation Service
3 Bloomberg:
SunEdison Plunges on Report of Plans to File for Bankruptcy
4 Mass Live:
Massachusetts House passes bill lifting solar net metering cap
5 Los Angeles Times:
Are you paying too much for a rooftop solar system?
6 FastCo Exist:
A Texan Solar CEO Who Wants To Eliminate Subsidies Is Now A Fox News Darling
7 Renewable Energy World:
When Will Rooftop Solar Be Cheaper Than The Grid? Here's A Map
8 Bloomberg:
Wind and Solar Are Crushing Fossil Fuels
9 Renewable Energy World:
Community Solar Tipping Point
10 PV-Magazine:
Solar takes center stage at BNEF Future of Energy Summit
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 8th, 2016
Headlines are always tricky and we all fall for them. The days that you, the reader, doesn’t like the headlines you don’t read the news. I know because I see the traffic from email and website which can vary up to 40% up or down. Take today’s headline for example, I actually view less corporate activity as a positive sign for our sector because all of the data shows that project financing is up. I recognize that profits have yet to be fully understood and sized correctly but more project finance is good. The companies with the best ability to deploy capital, large sums of it, will be the leaders in the space.
News
1 PV-Magazine:
Hard times in corporate funding for solar during Q1
2 PV-Tech:
SunEdison bankruptcy risk won’t derail Indian solar targets, says government
3 Bloomberg:
Solar Energy Thrives in Face of Cheap Oil
4 Greenbiz:
Utilities push back against solar
5 Utility Dive:
Maryland Senate passes 25% RPS in clean energy jobs bill
6 CleanTechnica:
Carbon Pricing Is Necessary, But Has Limits
7 Renewable Energy World:
When Will Rooftop Solar Be Cheaper Than The Grid? Here's A Map
8 Huffington Post:
Bridge to Nowhere - California PUC’s Rubber-Stamping of New Gas Plants Holds Back Clean Energy
Opinions:
9 Greentech Media:
To Become Truly Mainstream, Solar Will Need to Cost 25 Cents per Watt by 2050
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 7th, 2016
David vs Goliath is a metaphor that we hear quite a bit about our sector. Well some good news in the discussion in Arizona because two solar advocates won board seats in an election for the 10 member SRP board. Two other solar advocates were not successful but even when you don’t have the majority, you can sway the rules of the game. Welcome to the hot seat! We appreciate solar advocates doing the hard work of getting elected. Let’s get more people involved!
News
1 Arizona Central:
Solar advocates Paul Hirt and Nick Brown win seats on SRP board
2 Mass Live:
Massachusetts House passes bill lifting solar net metering cap
3 Bloomberg:
Wind and Solar Are Crushing Fossil Fuels
4 PV-Magazine:
Healthy competition - An interview with Jenny Chase, BNEF head of solar
5 Solar Power World:
New SEPA report details drivers for cutting utility-scale solar LCOE
6 Renewable Energy World:
Five Policies Blocking Microgrids (From a Veteran of Local Energy Wars)
7 PV-Tech:
Yingli fails to find agreement with bond holders as deadline nears
8 Greentech Media:
5 Quotes We Love From BNEF’s Future of Energy Summit
Opinions:
9 Utility Dive:
'Wake up worrying' - NextEra-Hawaiian Electric merger in doubt as regulators near decision time
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 6th, 2016
The second day at the BNEF Summit brought quite the crowd to the event to watch the speeches headlined by Michael Bloomberg and Secretary John Kerry. Kerry came across knowledgeable and polished as usual in a scripted speech. The speech included comments about how the industry has to look at energy investments with a long term vision that includes the societal costs. The “insurmountable cost in the long term” cannot be ignored when we make our investments while clean energy will bring trillions of investments to our sector.
News
1 PV-Magazine:
Miracles take work - Day 2 of BNEF’s Future of Energy summit
2 Huffington Post:
Clean Energy Is Worth Trillions, John Kerry Says
3 NRDC:
The State of Clean Energy in Ohio - Thaw the Freeze, Create Well-Paying Jobs, "No Regrets" Strategies
4 Bloomberg:
First Solar Delays 2017 Guidance on Choppy Revenue Recognition
5 Grist:
Unpacking climate change’s $2.5 trillion impact
6 Utility Dive:
As RPS importance declines, 3 factors help drive growth for utility-scale solar
7 Greentech Media:
Why Does the Media Ignore Grid-Scale Solar in Africa?
8 NPR:
Solar And Wind Energy May Be Nice, But How Can We Store It?
Opinions:
9 Fastco Exist:
A Texan Solar CEO Who Wants To Eliminate Subsidies Is Now A Fox News Darling
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 5th, 2016
News
1 New York Times:
A Renewable Energy Boom
2 PV-Magazine:
Solar takes center stage at BNEF Future of Energy Summit
3 Bloomberg:
SunEdison Said to Seek Buyers for 1GW of India Solar Projects
4 Yahoo!:
TerraForm Global sues SunEdison, says misappropriated $231 million
5 Fox News:
Federal agency making waves in battery storage, energy tech innovation
6 Greentech Media:
Investor Lessons From the Past 12 Years
7 Solar Industry:
Investor Lessons From the Past 12 Years
8 Utility Dive:
Xcel Wisconsin requests another rate increase to cover clean energy, infrastructure investments
Opinions:
9 Forbes:
Coal Baron Blankenship's Downfall Corresponds To The Rise of Renewables
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 4th, 2016
I am not really changing the name! If you thought it was true, my apologies, but you fell for an April Fool’s joke.
News
1 Bloomberg:
SunEdison Plunges on Report of Plans to File for Bankruptcy
2 Forbes:
Troubled China Solar Firm Hanergy Posts $1.6B Loss As Uncertainty Deepens
3 Greentech Media:
A First Look at Amazon’s New Drone-Based Solar Installation Service
4 Renewable Energy World:
Community Solar Tipping Point
5 Think Progress:
Florida Will Vote This Year On Measure That Would Block Solar Leasing In The State
6 PV-Tech:
German government could miss own solar capacity target for third year in row
7 Greenbiz:
Will some states be left out of clean energy's economic boost?
8 Los Angeles Times:
Are you paying too much for a rooftop solar system?
Opinions:
9 Huffington Post:
The WSJ’s Long Record of Protecting Polluters
Have a great day!
Yann
These are the top 10 most read solar articles by your peers this week!
News
1 Bloomberg:
How Wall Street's Favorite Solar Company Spent Itself to the Brink
2 Wall Street Journal:
Solar-Panel Installers Face Clouded Future
3 Greentech Media:
SunEdison Moves Closer to Bankruptcy as Federal Officials Investigate the Struggling Solar Company
4 Fortune:
This Is Why Shares of SunEdison Probably Shouldn't Be Soaring Today
5 Vox:
Wind and solar are growing at a stunning pace (just not enough to stop climate change)
6 Grist:
This chart shows the United States’ mind-blowing clean energy potential
7 Solar Power World:
7 cool solar installations at U.S. airports
8 Republican Herald:
Rooftop solar becomes political football
9 Forbes:
The Very Odd Idea That Exxon Should Become A Renewable Energy Company
10 Las Vegas Review Journal:
Judge rules rooftop solar measure doesn’t qualify as referendum
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 1st, 2016
All week I have been speaking with many of you via email and Twitter. Nearly 5 years ago I started SolarWakeup as a way to get the news out but obviously our industry has changed and grown. Associations much more sophisticated have announced rebrandings this month that make a lot of sense. Their guidance and marketing skills are something I look up to. So as SEPA becomes Smart Electric Power Alliance and EEI rebrands utility scale to community solar, I figured I would take some of both.
News
1 Utility Dive:
Report - EEI hired brand crisis consultant to improve utility industry's image
2 Greentech Media:
Navigant Consulting’s Report on Residential Solar Misconstrues Value of Tax Attributes
3 Miami Herald:
Utility-funded solar power amendment approved for November ballot
4 New York Times:
Obama and President Xi of China Vow to Sign Paris Climate Accord Promptly
5 Bloomberg:
The U.K. Propped Up Europe's Ailing Solar Market Last Year
6 Solar Industry:
The Price Of Solar Policy Inaction In Massachusetts
7 Utility Dive:
Oregon PUC rejects PacifiCorp bid to trim PURPA contracts
8 Reuters:
SunEdison served DoJ subpoena on Vivint Solar deal
Opinions:
9 US News:
When Will Rooftop Solar Be Cheaper Than the Grid?
Have a great day!
Yann
