This is your SolarWakeup for October 31th, 2014
Brazil is having a second big event this week after a presidential election. Tomorrow Brazil hosts its first solar only auction and is expected to add more than 500mw of capacity. It will be intriguing to see at what price the solar energy is successful at achieving. At the end of the day it means another major market that becomes a little bit more familiar with solar in this case a country with over 200 million residents. Best of luck to the bidders and congrats to Brazil on an exciting day.
News
1 Technology Review:
Will a Breakthrough Solar Technology See the Light of Day?
3 Reuters:
Brazil's first solar power auction to clear 500 MW of new plants
4 Slate:
How do you make ray-soaking roof panels a hot investment? By making them a boring one
5 Voanews:
Solar's Future Looks Brighter
6 Capital Newyork:
LIPA to conduct internal review of solar contract
7 PV Magazine:
Greek PV market remains idle, defined by paradox
8 Breaking Energy:
New York Green Bank Begins Transactions
Opinions:
9 Renewable Energy World:
German Experts Lock Horns over Storage
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 30th, 2014
China is moving in on Russian solar while at the same time Sunedison’s Terraform is going shopping. Not part of the rundown but in separate news sources, TERP financed and acquired new projects from other funds. The entry to solar in used to be “We want to own and hold” but holding solar assets has become so competitive that owning may have become the new solar commodity.
News
1 Clean Technica:
US Solar Now 59% Cheaper Than Analysts Predicted Back In 2010
2 RT:
China expected to invest $1bn in Russian solar energy
3 Think Progress:
Florida Residents Rally Against Rick Scott’s Solar-Killing Policies
4 PV Magazine:
Alevo sets up gigfab in US, expands storage operations in China
5 PV Solar Report:
How to Reach and Acquire Residential Solar Customers
6 Solar Industry Mag:
The Search For Solar Cost Reduction Turns To Racking And Mounting
7 Bloomberg:
While You Were Getting Worked Up Over Oil Prices, This Just Happened to Solar
8 Renewable Energy World:
Part 2
Opinions:
9 EDF:
Barriers to clean energy financing could fall with EPA plan
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 29th, 2014
Love it or hate it, the SolarCity story is a great example of American business success. Great idea, lots of barriers, hurdles and pain helped by visionaries and forward thinking investors. Fast forward less than 10 years and the ideas have burgeoned into the residential solar industry we have today with multiple Billion dollar companies. I didn’t see it then but I am happy that residential solar entrepreneurs are getting the publicity now.
News
1 Entrepreneur:
This Elon Musk-Backed Startup's Rocky Road to Solar 'Grand Slam'
2 NY Times:
Europe Strives to Overcome Its Reliance on Russian Gas
3 Grist:
Black lawmakers push back against coal utilities’ new trick
4 ABC News:
Electric-Car Drivers Trading Gas for Solar Power
5 PV Magazine:
Utility scale solar tops 30 GW globally, finds Wiki-Solar
6 Renew Economy:
How Coalition proposes to kill $20 billion renewables industry
7 Thinkprogress:
How Solar PV Can Power A Carbon-Free Energy Revolution, In 4 Charts
8 Edf:
Germany’s Energiewende is Shifting the Energy Paradigm – Now it’s Time to Optimize
Opinions:
9 Renewable Energy World:
How the Right Kind of Electric Utility Can Increase Solar Energy and Jobs
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 28th, 2014
Since I didn’t make it to the main stage during SPI, today’s news catch me a bit off guard. The trade fight continues and from the press side of things it does not appear positive which is a shame. Seeing additional news out of EU make this smell a bit fishy and coordinated but maybe I am reading into this a bit too much or maybe not. Why this keeps happening is beyond me…why anyone wants to keep solar from getting installed is just plain silly.
News
2 Renewable Energy World:
SolarWorld To US Solar Developers
3 Huffingtonpost:
Five Principles for Taming the Wild West of Beyond the Grid Clean Energy Policy
4 PV-Magazine:
Deutsche Bank
5 PV Solar Report:
DOE Still Betting Big on Solar, Says Energy Secretary Moniz at SPI
6 Renew Economy:
Australia installs 1GW of rooftop solar since July 2013
7 WTSP:
Energy activists want answers from candidates
8 Triple Pundit:
SunShot Helps Bay Area Startups Drive Down Solar Costs
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 27th, 2014
One of the most important aspects of this column is to clear up misconceptions. It probably warrants a broader piece but the debate between solar and utilities isn't necessarily about solar but more about owning the investment. On one side utilities strive for energy demand growth that needs to be met by capital investments versus the potential of distributed generation investments that lower the demand growth, therefore reducing utility investments. Utilities love solar, especially if they get to own the investment. More on this soon.
News
1 Huffingtonpost:
Utility Group Tries To Rally Black Caucus Against Solar Incentives
2 The Desert Sun:
A tough road ahead for concentrated solar power
3 The Denver Post:
Reframing rays
4 SFGATE:
Bay Area solar firms take dim view of Arizona utility’s move
5 The Street:
Solar Economics May Be Too Good for BP to Pass Up in 2015
6 Clean Technica:
LCOE of Utility-Scale Solar Power Getting Really Competitive
7 Vox:
Solar power is contagious
8 NPR:
Solar Advocates Fight Utilities Over Grid Access
Opinions:
9 Miamiherald:
Fred Grimm
Have a great day!
Yann
These are the top 10 most read solar articles by your peers this week!
News
1 Wash Post:
Why people put solar on roofs? Because other people put solar on theirs
2 PV-Magazine:
SEIA calls for renewed effort to pass ITC at Solar Power International
3 RE World:
SPI Slideshow Day Three
4 Utility Dive:
ITC fight could lead to 'Tomorrow Power & Light' or 'World War III'
5 RE World:
A Tale of Two Booths
6 Nasdaq:
Why Solar Panels Are More Important Than Ever
7 Fortune:
Can solar bonds transform America's energy infrastructure?
8 AZ Daily Star:
The dark side of residential solar tax credits
9 Bloomberg:
U.S. Solar Consolidation Seen Before Tax Credit Expires
10 CNBC:
Costs of solar key to growth
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 October 24th, 2014
News
1 The Washington Post:
Why do people put solar on their roofs? Because other people put solar on their roofs
2 Solar Industry Mag:
SPI Roundup
3 Daily Caller:
Obama Administration Spends More Money Trying To Make Solar Energy Profitable
4 PV Magazine:
Spanish supreme court paves way for lawsuits against solar FIT cuts
5 Breaking Energy:
Pace yourself
6 Renewable Energy World:
SPI Slideshow Day Three
7 Solar Novus:
Department of Energy Funds to Create National Community Solar Platform
Opinions:
8 Renewable Energy World:
A Tale of Two Booths
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 23th, 2014
I don’t know about you, but SPI was great. As we go into the last day, make sure to reconnect with old friends. We may move around at times but all you have at the end of the day is the relationships with the good people of solar. We lose together and we win together, this week was a winner for each of us. On to the next year of the ride that is the solar coaster.
News
1 NY Times:
Home Solar Power Discounts Are Worker Perk in New Program
2 Clean Technica:
Net Energy Metering Debate Distracts From Bigger DER Opportunity
3 PV Magazine:
US Energy Secretary Moniz announces $53 million in funding for solar R&D at SPI
4 Biz Journals:
GSA aims to engage contractors on solar power for federal buildings
5 Solar Industry Mag:
SEPA Crowns Top Solar-Friendly Utilities Of The Year
6 Think Progress:
U.S. Solar Is 59 Percent Cheaper Than We Thought It Would Be Back In 2010
7 Forbes:
This Startup Gets DOE Grant To Create A Solar FICO Score Card
8 Reuters:
Big utilities pushing into booming home solar market
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 22th, 2014
First impressions are important and that's what drove the optimism walking into the SPI show yesterday. Things always change especially when we, as an industry, come together about a very specific goal. Earlier this year we gathered around two goals. Free and open net metering policies and a long term extension of the ITC. Net metering is strong and with the help of thousands of #solarpledge supporters, we created the basis for the argument to support the ITC extension.
News
1 Utility Dive:
Solar's tax credit fight could lead to 'Tomorrow Power & Light'—or 'World War III'
2 Slate:
Walmart Is Killing the Rest of Corporate America in Solar Power Adoption
3 Forbes:
Trends In Silver Demand By The Solar Photovoltaic Industry
4 Wwltv:
Future of solar power in La. may hinge on Nov. election
5 The Denver Post:
There are many ways to do solar right
6 Clean Technica:
Solar Installers Are Getting Around Utilities’ Restrictions
7 Tucson:
The dark side of residential solar tax credits
8 Smartgridnews:
Survey says the majority of Americans don’t know solar’s getting cheaper… yet
Opinions:
9 Grist:
Rooftop solar is just the beginning; utilities must innovate or go extinct
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for October 21th, 2014
I’ve been critical of SEIA in the past. Today, on the first day of SPI, I am happy to say I stand with SEIA and the call to renew the ITC before the sunset in 2016. Is it an uphill battle? Maybe. Is it impossible? Absolutely not. Is solar ready for 10% ITC? If it has to be. Visit the Solarpv TV panel in the Shoals booth at 1:30pm tomorrow to hear the leading solar companies discuss this topic. Yours truly will be there.
News
1 PV magazine:
SEIA calls for renewed effort to pass solar tax credit at Solar Power International
2 The Energy Collective:
Abandoned Solar Energy Project Highlights Pitfalls of Tax Uncertainty
3 CNBC:
Costs of solar key to growth
4 Bloomberg:
U.S. Solar Consolidation Seen Before Tax Credit Expires
5 Clean Technica:
The Future of Solar Economics and Policy
6 Renewable Energy World:
European Commission Studies Renewable Costs
7 Green Tech Media:
Will the Solar Industry Get Behind CPS Energy’s Alternative to Net Metering in San Antonio?
8 BBC:
Cheap African solar energy could power UK homes in 2018
Opinions:
9 PV Solar Report:
What Happens in Vegas? Solar Power International, That’s What
Have a great day!
Yann
