These are the top 10 most read solar articles by your peers this week!

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for April 3rd, 2015

The data regarding the solar eclipse a few weeks ago is very interesting. Germany went from 13GW of solar power to 5GW within 45 minutes when the eclipse started. 20 minutes later, the grid was back at 20GW of solar. The point of the story is that solar isn’t going to be breaking the grid anytime soon. Engineers are pretty good at being able to forecast these things and make sure your light switches still work. So let’s make sure we remember the reality when someone is trying to hype up the ‘danger’ of solar.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for April 2nd, 2015

Thank you for the kind notes yesterday, especially those of you somewhat angry with my SolarSunset concept. Much to your dismay, yesterday was April 1st so April Fools to you! On a serious note, I am always intrigued what investors write about solar because they look at our sector with a different point of view. It’s amazing how an article can be written about the “2” leaders in solar is clearly between SCTY and VSLR, my guess is that a new #2 will come in quickly. Lastly, there is another intangible between the two companies. SolarCity has an incredible policy team that fights for fair solar policies and has line of sight on what will be good for their business. Vivint Solar does not participate in policy and just hopes that SolarCity and others are successful, which in my eyes is complete free loading and bad for the industry.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for April 1st, 2015

This summer will mark 3 years that SolarWakeup will be running. Started with a list of 30 recipients and now thousands of readers. Doing the Wakeup every morning is a lot of work but moreover a cumbersome task which gets in the way of the work of my day job at Conergy. As such we will be launching SolarSunset, in line with the 2016 sunset of the ITC, and sending you the email every evening instead. I hope that this will not cause too much issue with your reading and your understanding is greatly appreciated!

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for March 31st, 2015

The art of the headline. It’s happening all over media and there is no shortage of it around the headlines on solar. Some are meant to get you to click (see yesterday’s “It’s Okay To Hate Solar”) and some are factual but it sounds so far fetched you may think it’s a joke. The overhyping of solar’s impact on energy grid is at times impressive, if only our grid operators were engineers of some thought that understood the impacts of technology on the grid…But most of all let’s make sure that politicians have to decide how much solar gets installed so that we can keep creating jobs and getting clean energy into our portfolio for future generations’ benefit.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for March 30th, 2015

On my way back to California, this time to SFO for some company meetings but it’s a reminder that California is so far ahead of the rest of the Country when it comes to solar. Looking at financial models and costs of solar installations, it reminds me how crucial an ITC extension is for our industry and the Country. Listening to the GTM podcast on Thursday, it is amazing to hear that losing 100k jobs is okay for some, but let us reiterate that those that want the ITC to go away or are OK with it is a very small minority. Don’t get caught up in the noise and get ready to be involved because your job quite literally could depend on it. And don’t hesitate to push back on those that speak haphazardly about the ITC.

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Yann

These are the top 10 most read solar articles by your peers this week!

News

Have a great day!
Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for March 27 th, 2015

Back in Florida, this week was a bit eye opening at the solar finance conference. For one, it was great to see how many of you were there and to meet you in person. This event was symbolic of the types of jobs that solar creates and jobs that cannot be outsourced to another Country, so it was great to hear a fellow panelist bring up the headwind of tariffs for 400 jobs in Oregon. For comparison, there were 547 people registered for this event. Also a great day yesterday for solar, with Solar Edge successfully listing on NASDAQ, selling for $18, first trade around $20 and then closing above $21. Congrats to $SEDG!

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for March 26 th, 2015

How much is the ITC extension worth to your business? At the conference I've been attending over the last two days, everything revolves around "before the deadline" or "post 2016". It's a bit tiring that all of the highly paid smart people in solar give up so easily. So I ask it in a different way, if someone asked you to write a check that could extend the ITC, how much would your company write? Reply to this email and let me know (if you care about the ITC).

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for March 25 th, 2015

After the first day at Infocast in San Diego, I have some initial thoughts. 1. There is no better place to catch up with people than these conferences, regardless if it is always the same people. Seeing people again is great and you end up seeing new opportunities. 2. You discover new buzzwords, like “the fourth pillar” which apparently refers to Community Solar (h/t to SunShare). 3. Solar has A LOT of service providers, engineers, lawyers and accountants primarily. 4. I wish there was more time to listen to the panels, I really enjoy learning the random thought I hadn’t heard before and I get that urge to challenge the speakers on many of their topics.

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Yann