This is your SolarWakeup for July 21st, 2021
Financing EV Charging. Learn how to effectively model, finance and sell solar EV charging projects using SCF's free software, the SCF Suite. On July 28th, at 10am PST, Sustainable Capital Finance (SCF) will host the next webinar in its 2021 webinar series, providing an in-depth breakdown of SCF's new EV charging finance solution, how to use the SCF Suite to price projects and sell more EVC finance projects to C&I and non-profit customers. This webinar is recommended for solar developers and installers interested in increasing their range of offerings to include electric vehicle charging solutions, as well as combined solar+storage+EVC offerings. Click here to register for this exciting, free webinar.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 20th, 2021
Energy Transition Jobs. There are two converging talking points that are coming out of the contentious and dysfunction DC infrastructure talks. While they look like they are falling apart, ignore the sausage making for now and keep pushing your representatives on the key issue of long term tax credit extension. Biden is making the case that capitalism is shifting energy generation into renewables and that we must provide for a solid transition to new energy jobs for those that powered the Country for decades. Senator Barrasso is finding mining jobs in the energy transition as well, making the connection for the raw materials needed in clean energy generation.
Battery Storage Supply Chain. Energy storage is a growing market and the supply chain is increasing manufacturing capacity as well. Unlike solar which great in a somewhat linear path across some markets over the past 20 years, storage is growing exponentially everywhere around the world at the same time. This is the value of integration work companies like FlexGen (my day job) provide to the market, by bringing together the hardware and software capability and consolidating opportunity to OEMs, we enable more robust access to product that would otherwise not be available to individual buyers or only available at higher costs. While the headline says 2022 projects are largely not possible, feel free to send those inquiries our way and we’ll see how we can help.
The 24/7 VPPA. It’s great to see Microsoft announcing their full-time renewables data center plan. The 24/7 renewable energy process means that the hyperscale data center operator will buy generation where they use electricity when they use it.
Financing EV Charging. Learn how to effectively model, finance and sell solar EV charging projects using SCF's free software, the SCF Suite. On July 28th, at 10am PST, Sustainable Capital Finance (SCF) will host the next webinar in its 2021 webinar series, providing an in-depth breakdown of SCF's new EV charging finance solution, how to use the SCF Suite to price projects and sell more EVC finance projects to C&I and non-profit customers. This webinar is recommended for solar developers and installers interested in increasing their range of offerings to include electric vehicle charging solutions, as well as combined solar+storage+EVC offerings. Click here to register for this exciting, free webinar.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 19th, 2021
We’re Back. Welcome back to SolarWakeup’s daily newsletter. For those of you that are recent subscribers, welcome and I hope you find it informative and useful to your daily business. For long time readers, your continued readership is appreciated. We’re hoping to continue the daily overview that is solar and solar related news that helps your business. Forwarding this email to your colleagues is greatly appreciated and your feedback is as easy as hitting reply on any daily email.
Don’t Fall For The Internal Fight. Behind the scenes, mostly in policy rooms, there is always a perception that solar needs to pick a path from binary choices, large and centralized solar connect to the transmission grid or small rooftop that is connect directly to a consumer behind the meter within the distribution network. The choice is meant to pin solar against itself and the choice should be rebuffed by everyone. The value created by a 500MW solar plus storage plant (leveraging FlexGen HybridOS energy storage management software) has a value to utility operations that is not apples to apples with a solar plus storage installation on my house. All solar is not created equal because it solves different problems, has different revenue channels and promotes different values to the grid and non-solar consumers. Solar is a rising tide industry and with a rising tide all solar companies will succeed.
SolarAPP+ Hits Primetime. Secretary of Energy Granholm hosted a roundtable to launch SolarAPP+, the instant permitting effort that will reduce soft costs for residential solar in a way that few efforts have before. This effort, 3 years in the making, is like a startup that finally launches and it was not without real entrepreneurs pushing, spending time, building and raising money over the past 3 years. A lot of leaders played a pivotal role in gather folks and investing money got this done but the real thesis that kickstarted the effort came from Andrew Birch. His Op-ed in GTM and conversation with yours truly were the ‘go public’ moment in 2018 where Birchy made the case for this effort and I can personally vouch for his continued effort to get this to completion while putting amazing leaders into position to execute the SolarAPP+ effort. Birchy is the co-founder of OpenSolar, a solar operating system that provides a free proposal software platform to residential solar installers.
A Solar Dev SPAC. Altus is going public via SPAC, a SPAC sponsored by CBRE. This is an interesting combination of market with execution that could yield some results in the C&I market. Best of luck to the team.
Better Grid Access For Pipeline. FERC is launching a proceeding to reform transmission policy and with the pipeline in CAISO alone, there is no doubt that it’s needed. over 100GW of energy storage pipeline in California alone, it’s here!
The Budget Reconciliation Bill. Democrats revealed an internal agreement on $3.5trillion budget bill and the Senate energy committee passed some energy related issues. There are still some strings to pull to get the center 3 on board with energy policy topics of a clean energy standard but the bigger the bill, the more likely things get done. Wait and see….
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 6th, 2021
Boil The Ocean. In case you missed it, two separate events caused the ocean to catch on fire this weekend. Boil the ocean is an idiom meaning an impossible task, let the energy transition happen a bit faster. Gulf of Mexico, Caspian Sea.
Can It Be Done? There is some skepticism that the grid can decarbonize in the executive suite at NRG. I think there should be some faith that it can be done and that some of the cultural beliefs of the future from the David Crane days return to the HQ.
Cypress Creek Gets A Buyer. Call it a turnaround completed, Sweden’s EQT is acquiring Cypress Creek Renewables from HPS and Temasek.
Grid Readiness. This is the story of the summer. Every weather event that causes stress on the grid will be viewed from the prism of ‘is the grid ready to handle this’.
Summer Break. SolarWakeup will be off for a week taking our summer break. We’ll have one more edition tomorrow and then return on Monday the 19th.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 2nd, 2021
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This is your SolarWakeup for July 1st, 2021
Infra By Reconciliation. Yesterday we got our first view into what the White House wants in the second infrastructure bill which is (if it happens) going to pass by reconciliation and will require the vote of every Senate democrat. Highlight that you care about is a 100% clean energy standard and our requested package of renewable energy tax credits. Manchin has been less than committed to a CES though based on the press releases in my inbox yesterday, environmentalists don’t love the definition of CES that’s floating around which may mean that Manchin has been appeased by the broadening of the definition, i.e. clean coal may be considered a CES acceptable generator. First, you need Manchin’s vote to pass anything so maybe activists will be happy with losing while being ideological and second, clean coal isn’t a thing. Based on the uproar about the CES, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a red herring. A large swath of the Country already has states with 100% RPS standards and how would a federal government get a CES to be enforced anyways with energy largely regulated at the state level? I’ve always viewed a national RPS to be symbolic at best, focus FERC on strengthening PURPA contracts, speeding up interconnections and expanding pricing signals for storage on both sides of the meter.
Storage Versus Generation. There’s a new market view brewing in my head. I am getting increasingly uncomfortable with the storage replaces X generation. Storage is an enabler of choice, when to produce, when to dispatch and how to dispatch. For generators with land and interconnection, the addition of storage means additional revenue opportunity with a very quick development cycle. When that revenue opportunity crosses over the IRR hurdle, you’ll see an expansion of the build rate happen.
Radical Either Way. David Roberts writes that there is no moderate way to manage policy for the climate crisis. The view is that inaction is the more radical approach than an aggressive attack to counter emissions.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 30, 2021
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 29, 2021
Demand Response Feedback. Over the coming months and maybe even a few weeks ago, we will see how robust the grid starting point is. Given the temperature spikes happening in the Northwest aren’t actually driving demand up since there are no A/C units, grid requirements didn’t get stressed to the levels that you would think but you’d have to forecast more folks buying window and other ventilation units that may change that. CAISO had a flex alert a few weeks ago and didn’t have to manage any shut offs or loss of grid but did tap into demand response, something that will be monitored closely in the coming months with several virtual power plants and demand response aggregations in place compared to last year.
Politics Means Talking Points. Former SecState Kerry is losing some diplomatic touch in his new role as climate envoy. Likening the fight on climate change to fighting a war may be met with agreement with one side of the table but even then it doesn’t gain any traction in the political arena. The slow nature of climate change is hard to fathom and the duration of the fight makes victory seem unachievable. Voters have a short memory and when it comes to policy in this ‘fight’ how can a decision today, reap political reward now rather than 10 years from now. In some ways, Kerry may have already pushed the boulder in the right direction, capitalism has made the energy transition inevitable, consumers favoring renewable energy and electrification of everything. The policy may be as simple as, making money means fighting climate change with a side benefit of saving lives and the planet.
Consolidation. You may have seen this in our coverage last week when it was announced that the former CEO of Vivint Solar is putting together a new group of solar installers, consolidating them into Lumio. They are now joined by Pineapple Energy, which in March announced a merger with a public company that is quasi reverse merging with the core business of the original public company being sold off. Pineapple has acquired two solar installers in Hawaii in addition to Horizon Solar Power which is the current day version of what is the original form of Sungevity. There are three big paths in the resi market today, grow big, get together or leverage the democratized services and go it alone. Let’s see if there is a wrong path.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 28, 2021
A Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. Late last week, the bipartisan Senate group arrived to an agreement that had the support from President Biden. This agreement is largely for roads and bridges with a headline number approaching $1trillion or $600mm in new spending. Given what happened in my neighborhood, the Surfside tower collapsing and likely killing over 100, the need to improve infrastructure is a no-brainer. Biden advisors had to clean up a veiled veto threat over the weekend.
What’s Not In It. Solar and cleantech tax credit extensions and expansions are not expected to be in the legislative language. (They won’t be in this bill) The clean energy standard is also not included.
But Wait, There’s More (Maybe). Part of the dust up this weekend was Biden’s comment that he will pursue a second infrastructure bill for items that would not have bipartisan support via reconciliation, something that Manchin has already supported. The comments included a veiled threat that if the bill does not pass reconciliation, he would no longer support the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Of course that’s the truth and the reality of the politics but saying it out loud puts the republican Senators on notice and they have to pretend to be upset.
PR Win Anniversary. I’ve had the pleasure to be involved in telling and pitching many great stories in my career. Most of the time it comes as part of a pitch or relationship with a reported to tell a particular story. The coverage I am most proud of wasn’t pitched to a reporter, it was an action that was covered by reporters at CNN. June 26th is the day that the Supreme Court legalized marriage equality and it was a great day in America. On that day, I was the Global Head of Marketing and PR for Conergy and we posted a tweet in support that landed us on a list with Google, HBO and Gap.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for June 25, 2021
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Yann