This is your SolarWakeup for January 15th, 2025
Opinion
News
1 Solar Builder:
Four Chinese wafer, ingot makers banned from U.S., added to UFLPA Entity List
2 Reuters:
UAE's Masdar announces $6 bln project to deliver reliable clean power
3 Utility Dive:
PJM’s proposal to unlock unused interconnection capacity gains broad support
4 BLoomberg:
Abu Dhabi’s Masdar Seeks US Acquisitions to Hit Green Power Goal
5 PV-Tech:
China reviewing expiry of anti-dumping measures on solar polysilicon from US and South Korea
6 Renewable Energy World:
“Speed and scale” - Biden signs landmark executive order to accelerate AI, clean energy infrastructure
7 Energy Storage News:
Neoen begins permitting for 1.6GWh BESS selected in Canada’s biggest-ever procurement
8 Canary Media:
SSAB quietly pulls out of $500M green steel award negotiations
Opinions:
9 PV-Magazine:
Anti-solar backlash in Michigan stymies solar expansion
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January14th, 2025
Opinion
News
1 Reuters:
Trump's likely first moves on US energy policy
2 NPR:
How batteries are already changing the grid
3 Axios:
Southern California faces rare fire warning
4 PV-Magazine:
Global cleantech investment expected to surpass fossil fuels for the first time in 2025
5 Bloomberg:
European Power Prices Rise as Wind Forecast Is Revised Down
6 PV-Tech:
Waaree Energies acquires Enel Green Power India
7 Renewable Energy World:
PJM all over again? Changes at MISO signal potential for high prices at upcoming capacity auction
8 Utility Dive:
Will the success of Biden’s clean energy policies impede Trump’s agenda?
Opinions:
9 Energy Storage News:
Year in Review - EPC Burns & McDonnell on energy storage innovation, workforce and Trump
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January13th, 2025
The Mega Power. Constellation is acquiring Calpine for $16billion to create a portfolio of 60GW and adds quite a bit of thermal power to Constellation’s fleet. There’s an expectation that regulators will want some divestiture to limit concentration but with the demand for power, regulators will likely also be sensitive to the pushback on anything limiting power generation.
News
1 Utility Dive:
Constellation’s $16.4B purchase of Calpine would create largest US power generator
2 Bloomberg:
In Hottest Year Ever, US Homes Used a Record Amount of Power to Keep Cool
3 Axios:
Climate change plays key contributing role in LA fires
4 Solar Power World:
Scale Microgrids acquired by investment firm
5 NPR:
People are rushing to install solar panels before Trump becomes President
6 PV-Tech:
The top 10 PV module suppliers in 2024
7 Renewable Energy World:
Polysilicon is back on the menu - Feds award Michigan company $325M for new factory
8 Canary Media:
Chart - 96 percent of new US power capacity was carbon-free in 2024
9 PV-Magazine:
The impact of wildfires on PV power generation
Opinions:
10 Reuters:
German coal plants vital for electricity supply, importers say
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January10th, 2025
Is Texas Right? It’s always been a wind state, now at 42GW, but the past few years it’s been the sunny star of solar and storage with 22GW and 6.5GW respectively. Is it the development process? The ERCOT mechanics? Lack of capacity markets? Or just the growth of demand for energy. We know it’s not the politics so it’s something else, what is that and can we replicate it?
LA Fires. My thoughts go out to any of you affected by the fires in the LA area, it is an unimaginable horror to see how devastating those fires have been. If you know of legitimate aid or fundraising efforts that I can pass along to the SolarWakeup community, please reach out to me
News
1 Reuters:
Texas tops US states for renewable energy and battery capacity
2 Axios:
Wildfires and hurricanes could make parts of U.S. uninsurable
3 New York Times:
U.S. Efforts to Cut Emissions Stalled in 2024 as Power Demand Surged
4 PV-Tech:
LS Power acquires Algonquin Power’s renewable energy business
5 Renewable Energy World:
Puerto Rico’s new governor appoints an energy czar to tackle the island’s power crisis
6 Utility Dive:
PJM ‘shovel-ready’ interconnection plan draws mixed reviews at FERC
7 Energy Storage News:
Illinois Senator passes legislation to ramp up energy storage
8 Canary Media:
PosiGen wins another $200M for lower-income rooftop solar
9 PV-Magazine:
Hemlock Semiconductor receives $325 million U.S. government funding for polysilicon production
Opinions:
10 Bloomberg:
How a Utility Actually Sets the Price of Electricity
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 9th, 2025
Taking Inventory. Imagine for a moment that we don’t all work in solar and/or storage and we need to assess the rising need for energy by the hyper scaling data center build out. There is a need for energy, power, density, and reliability while solving for clean and cheap. Now do it as fast as possible. The exercise is a bit like the old adage about wanting it cheap, fast and high quality. You can only have 2 of the 3. That’s how I think about the data center need, the pipeline of generation is easily tilted towards solar with cheap and clean a clear winner. With batteries, reliability also takes a victory on this front but density can be challenging. Will there be a mix? For sure, gas will likely play a role but speed of execution is a key aspect of this exercise and also the opportunity where regulation could make a giant impact if government wants to get involved to win the AI data center dominance on the global scale.
News
1 Bloomberg:
Gas Power Won’t Provide an Easy Fix for AI Boom
2 New York Times:
What We Know About the Wildfires Raging in Southern California
3 Axios:
Treasury issues tech-neutral tax credit rules
4 Reuters:
Key solar themes to track after torrid 2024 for investors
5 PV-Tech:
European module prices continue to decline in December, says sun.store in latest pv.index report
6 Energy Storage News:
US-China battery trade war looms with AD/CVD case and export curb proposals
7 Canary Media:
Biden’s clean hydrogen tax credits are officially decided — for now
8 PV-Magazine:
Oversized solar farm keeps lights on until midnight
Opinions:
9 Utility Dive:
9 US electric power sector issues to watch in 2025
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 8th, 2025
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Rising Rates. Electricity rates are rising at a pace faster than the most absurd models I saw back 20 years ago. With the demand continuing to increase and the economy thirsty for growth underpinned by that demand, i.e. data centers. There is also a renaissance for manufacturing which requires new energy access with high capacity which translates into new utility capex, all of which is made more expensive given where today’s cost of money is. In some ways, utilities are like banks, they front the capital for infrastructure and generation (mostly infrastructure) which is then recouped by selling electrons and power via demand charges. The problem is that the total capex is spread across the board and consumers, which are largely reducing their demand, are also paying for the infrastructure investments for the corporate growth load. Solar net metering gets a knock for costing consumers money, but in reality solar has reduced the need for distribution investments.
News
1 PV-Magazine:
U.S. electricity rates rise about 5% annually – outpacing inflation
2 Canary Media:
The US clean energy manufacturing revolution is real
3 Bloomberg:
Texas Snow Threatens to Unleash Blackouts and Travel Chaos
4 The Hill:
Solar panels are powering through US West wildfire smoke - Study
5 New York Times:
A Key Part of Biden’s Climate Law Was Built to Survive Trump. Now, the Test.
6 Reuters:
Biden team wraps up expanded clean energy credit guidance
7 Renewable Energy World:
Pentagon adds world’s largest EV battery maker to blacklist, posing problems for Tesla, Ford, and GM
8 Energy Storage News:
New York utility Con Edison launches RFP for bulk energy storage projects
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 7th, 2025
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The Carter Panels. Establishing American Energy Dominance (a SEIA 2025 policy priority) has some roots in the Carter era and decade of oil turmoil. During the Carter administration, the White House installed solar thermal panels over the White House pool and then the Reagan admin pulled them off. A decade ago I received a tip that the Obama White House had installed PV panels on the actual White House roof but I never asked what happened to the original Carter panels. So today’s story about their provenance is quite a nice break from the usual noise coming from DC.
News
1 New York Times:
What Happened to Carter’s White House Solar Panels? They Lived On
2 PV-Magazine:
SolarEdge stock jumps as the company announces more layoffs
3 Reuters:
Trump denies report that his team is eyeing pared-back tariffs
4 Utility Dive:
National Grid, Con Edison urge FERC to adopt gas pipeline reliability requirements
6 PV-Tech:
From product exports to supply chain planning
7 Renewable Energy World:
Are renewable energy credits enough? Big tech companies take contrasting approaches to cleaning up their act
8 Energy Storage News:
US’ biggest solar-plus-storage power plant a sign of things to come, says Primergy
9 Canary Media:
Community solar expands access to clean energy, new study shows
Opinions:
10 Politico:
Solar is riding high. Will Trump take it down?
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 6th, 2025
Station Identification. Welcome to 2025, the 13th year running SolarWakeup for me. For those of that joined us in the past year, you may not know what this is all about or who I am. My name is Yann Brandt and for the better part of my solar career I have started my day by publishing this newsletter. The first newsletter went out to 37 people, and today’s will go to nearly 8,000. In the world of email newsletters that’s not a big number but the SolarWakeup community has grown to be its own phenomenon for which I’m grateful. While I love doing this, I have a day job and get to interact with many of you and help each other find successes. That job today is as CEO of FTC Solar, the tracker manufacturer serving many utility scale solar farms, so if there’s a way for me to be helpful to you, just hit reply on any of these emails and it comes directly to me. Cheers to an amazing 2025 and keep cleaning up that solar spill!
The 2025 Outlook. As I think about 2025 and what it brings, I can only think of some version of uncertainty. Don’t view that as a negative sentiment, on the positive side there is lots to do with regulation and bureaucracy in interconnections, permitting and development approvals that would provide more projects. The President’s desire to lower the cost of capital could also play a big role in solar’s year. On the other hand we don’t know what we will see with the solar portion of the IRA, I say we don’t know because solar is incredibly popular and the margins in DC are razor thin. Solar was a $60billion market last year and the appetite for solar energy is at an all-time high especially with the Silicon Valley execs that are running many portions of the DC ecosystem now. Microsoft wants to build $80billion worth of data centers and I’d assume that most of their energy will come from solar. Of course the solar and now the battery market will have to deal with trade issues, how those play out is to be determined as well, hence uncertain what it means for us. So at the end of the day, I’m optimistic that there are known risks on the horizon that are being advocated thoroughly by well funded trade associations so as along as the solar industry works intelligently and focuses on smart business decisions, we’ll be in a good spot come the end of the year.
News
1 Axios:
Polar vortex poised to spin into U.S., leading to frigid January
2 New York Times:
After Fierce Lobbying, Treasury Sets Rules for Billions in Hydrogen Subsidies
3 Bloomberg:
What to Watch in Climate This Year
4 UTility Dive:
Pennsylvania asks FERC to lower PJM capacity price cap to prevent ‘runaway’ costs
5 Reuters:
Exclusive - TPG in talks to acquire solar firm Altus Power, sources say
6 Solar Builder:
NEMA establishing BESS standards for data centers
7 PV-Tech:
REC Silicon abandons US polysilicon production at Moses Lake
8 Energy Storage News:
Aypa Power secures US$190 million financing for 200MW/400MWh Texas BESS
9 Canary Media:
Lots of demand, too little grid
Opinions:
10 PV-Magazine:
‘High electricity prices in California have nothing to do with renewables’
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for December 18th, 2024
Opinion
News
1 Reuters:
Half US at high risk of power shortfall in next decade, regulator says
2 CNBC:
Goldman Sachs double upgrades this solar stock, says 2025 will mark a major turnaround
3 Bloomberg:
Cybersecurity Risks Rise With Growth of Rooftop Solar
4 Utility Dive:
Cambridge, Massachusetts, inks record 50 MW virtual PPA deal with MN8 Energy
5 New York Times:
PG&E Secures $15 Billion Loan From U.S. Energy Department
6 Axios:
2023, 2024 climate change records defy scientific explanation
7 Energy Storage News:
Boralex closes financing for Canada’s largest BESS at 300MW/1,200MWh
8 PV-Magazine:
$10 billion in government loans announced for EV companies
Opinions:
9 Canary Media:
Rooftop solar keeps getting more accessible. Here’s why.
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for December 17th, 2024
Safe Harboring. If you’re looking at safe harboring materials for your projects, the team at FTC Solar is happy to help ensure that you get the right solution in place for you. Happy to connect you with the right people on our team to get you setup in advance of the deadlines, definitely running out of days for that.
News
1 Reuters:
US power deals down 36% in last year due to political uncertainty, PwC says
2 Utility Dive:
NERC adopts 2 new standards to boost extreme weather reliability
3 New York Times:
‘Unfettered’ Gas Exports Would Harm U.S. Economy, Energy Secretary Warns
4 Axios:
U.S. and Europe look to break China's grip on key minerals
5 PV-Tech:
Transatlantic interconnection could stabilise electricity prices and reduce curtailments – Ember
6 Renewable Energy World:
US says $365 million is available to install solar and battery storage systems in Puerto Rico
7 Solar Power World:
New HJT player NuVision Solar plans cell and panel manufacturing in Florida
8 Canary Media:
A new way to fix grid bottlenecks for EV charging
9 PV-Magazine:
Phillips 66 to power oil refinery with solar
Opinions:
10 Bloomberg:
Fervo CEO Tim Latimer on Ramping Up Advanced Geothermal Enegy
Have a great day!
Yann
