Tag Archives: Daily Rundown

This is your SolarWakeup for February 12th, 2020

The News Business. Former GTM Editor in Chief, Eric Wesoff, reports that Wood Mackenzie is shutting down greentechmedia.com and the GTM squared subscription portal. WoodMac acquired GTM for $40million in 2016 which also included the strong research and event business units which are going to continue. The decision to shutter the site has caused many to recount how GTM shaped the news in solar over the past decade plus but I am more concerned about what this means to the industry from a news coverage standpoint. We need strong and amplified coverage of the industry, not just for outsiders but for each and everyone of you to keep track on who’s doing what and what comes next. There are a few sites still operating and they need to be supported but we need to find ways to expand coverage and reporting in a sustainable and profitable way. SolarWakeup exists because I have a day job, I have published over 2,700 newsletters over the past 8 years and most of that time I had a job that paid my bills so I know how hard it is to actually do the news for a living. I’m rooting for the remaining journalists at GTM and I’m open to ideas that help and support them or the expansion of journalists in the space. GTM has been a staple for all of us in getting the story out, I’ll be sad to see it go away. 

Opinion

Best, Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for February 11th, 2020

A 2010 Build. In 2010, CPS built a new coal plant and now they want customers to decide whether that plant should be shut down. I assume that during the public hearings pre-construction, someone said that coal wasn’t a good idea and the 30 year life expectancy is a fallacy. Now CPS wants to CYA by their customers.

Instant Permitting. Santa Barbara understands that when you want more solar on roofs, you cut the proverbial red tape. On demand permitting is now coming to a building department near you. You recall, as we’ve stated many times before on SolarWakeup, that permitting cost reductions are the best way to lower the cost of solar for homeowners. Listen to OpenSolar’s Andrew Birch talk about it on the Freeing Energy podcast.

Unlimited Money, Limited Pipeline. Macquarie adds another $2billion in announced capital for renewable energy infrastructure investment. The key is more around the types of projects that infra groups are willing to fund and how they gain their pipelines. Every good project gets funded, at least that was possible in a world where we didn’t have to do deals via zoom. On the other hand Macquarie has a history in doing deals that others won’t, like a storage aggregation in Walmarts 5 years ago early.

Margin Focused, Always. Enphase released Q4 earnings on Tuesday and they beat on revenue and margin. While the company is growing their services to installers through acquisition they are also investing in major R&D on their product roadmap. Both of those, if executed, will likely grow the margin for the company even better than the 40% they are at now.

Demand Grows, Then Grows Again. What happens when every home has an EV in the driveway or two? And every bus on the road goes electric as well? Fleet conversion is also  going to happen much faster than anyone expects. All of that extra demand, at the end of the distribution lines, is going be a major added variable for grid operators. 

Find A Vehicle. Congress needs a vehicle to pass items in their environmental agenda, like the ITC expansion and extension or environmental justice laws. COVID or infrastructure vehicles are pending this year and could be tagged as a possible vehicle. 

Opinion

Best, Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for February 10th, 2020

Opinion

Best, Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for February 9th, 2020

What Is A SPAC? When a company goes public via a SPAC, which is a vehicle that has already gone through an IPO with the intention of acquiring a private company, it does so with the basic intention to raise additional capital. It is not (in most cases) an exit event, it is meant to provide hundreds of millions of dollars to a private company through the acquisition and a PIPE (private investment in public equity). A lot of folks talk about valuations, market caps and stock prices but SPACs are a vision into the future. While public companies are typically thought of as short term, SPACs are meant to make monster companies over the next few years with the fuel of money today. Some will fail, even $200million can’t make unicorns, but others will take the fuel and do big things and that’s the investment thesis.

The GREEN Act, ITC Edition. The House Ways and Means committee has a GREEN act filed with includes a 5 year extension of the ITC at 30%, direct pay at 85% and includes storage. There is also a version of a credit upside if certain labor requirements are followed. This is early and legislation needs a vehicle and momentum but now you have the outline of what the new Congress is thinking about

Midwest Solar Goes Bigger. 195MW in Indiana. Do you need more proof that solar is going to be everywhere?

Ratebase Performance. In many ways Hawaii is looking at utility profits in the way that they should have been since the start, paying for performance instead of simple ratebase spending. Over the past 50 years regulated monopolies have simply become expensive banks that get paid for how much money they deploy and passing along operating costs. The problem with that is some utilities are better than others and the good ones should be rewarded.

Enphase Shops Again. Last week Enphase acquired a software startup that supplies layout and proposal tools to hundreds of installers but today the company announced that it has acquired an India based proposal and design company. It may seem like an overlap but it’s actually that complement to the tech tool. It’s becoming clearer now that Enphase is focused on supporting installers, sales people and homeowners from understanding how much solar fits, how much solar is needed and the financial value proposition to getting the project into permitting. Some companies provide leads to installers, Enphase may be trying to provide contracted projects with permits to contractors. I don’t think installers will mind paying double for inverters if they get a fully permitted project. The question is, how will they fill the remaining parts of the process?

Opinion

Best, Yann