Tag Archives: Daily Rundown

This is your SolarWakeup for January 5th, 2020

Losing Money Redefined. If you buy a house and you make that mortgage payment every month, your checking account balance goes down. Would you consider that losing money? The money that the bank invests in you by providing that mortgage, is that money lost by the bank? If you were to read the New York Times article below, you would get the sense that Sunrun and Sunnova are losing hundreds of millions. In reality, their income statements have always been misunderstood by reporters because every dollar that goes into a solar project results in another 20 year contract that generates cash flow. There will come a time when the cash flow from those assets will generate more cash than the companies are investing and there will be GAAP EBITDA but even then it’s a dumb argument and I’m annoyed that the New York Times can’t report this accurately. Solar shouldn’t be made to be a bad investment by the pre-eminent newspaper in the Country, editors need to do better.

Will Government Contract Fast Enough? Biden is set to take the reins and he’s spoken at length during the campaign about government contracting. It is true that the military and GSA are enormous energy users spending billions for electricity and I hope that they are part of the solution. We need a project warp speed at the GSA and DOD to enter into PPAs for on and offsite renewable power purchasing. This can’t drag out and bureaucracy can’t get in the way this time.

Oil, Gas And Coal. If you’re an oil executive, where do you focus in the next 4 years? You’re losing your market share to EVs, so how do you play that? The harder question is for the gas executives, who are looking at their coal colleagues and see the writing on the wall.

Expanding Portfolios. Gibraltar, which trades publicly as $ROCK, has acquired Terra Smart to add to its portfolio alongside RBI Solar. Making portfolios of solar manufacturing companies is going to build great investments. Congrats to the team.

Consolidate Your Power. As you walk back into your offices (remote or otherwise) you will realize that the conversation is about what isn’t available. Modules, inverters, wires, tax equity, labor and other core requirements are in high demand and short supply. On product supply look towards consolidating your purchasing with similar companies to maximize your access and keep your pricing competitive. We’d be happy to give you more information at the SolarWakeup Buyer’s Group. 

Opinion

Best, Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for January 4th, 2020

It’s A New Year. We’re headed into 2021 but in reality we’re going into a three part series. With some certainty on the federal policy front for the ITC, DC will refocus on trade issues which causes modules and inverters to cost more than any other market in the world. Solar is also going to have a conversation at the State level starting with the NEM 3.0 battle in California which affects half of all solar revenues. Every manufacturer in America should be on the phone with CALSSA this week to talk about how they can help ensure that solar in California keeps the industry moving forward.

All About Permitting. Today’s top story is an op-ed co-written by Mike Casey and myself on the topic of permitting, expanding some views on the issue that you’ve read here. Our hope is to broaden the conversation beyond solar so that legislators, county officials and city politicians participate in the dialogue as well. Reality is that most people don’t know it costs a fortune in time and money to get a permit for solar and it doesn’t actually help the homeowner get better solar. I see plenty of poor installations that paid thousands in permitting fees. What have you seen and what do you pay for permits?

Welcome To The S&P 500. Congratulations to the Enphase team for going into the S&P 500, officially joining the index later this month. From written off at under $1 per share, execution led the company to new heights with some exciting homeowner focused initiatives well under way including direct to installer sales in Europe.

 Consolidate Your Power. As you walk back into your offices (remote or otherwise) you will realize that the conversation is about what isn’t available. Modules, inverters, wires, tax equity, labor and other core requirements are in high demand and short supply. On product supply look towards consolidating your purchasing with similar companies to maximize your access and keep your pricing competitive. We’d be happy to give you more information at the SolarWakeup Buyer’s Group. 

Opinion

Best, Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for December 30th, 2020

Happy New Year. Here’s your last rundown of the year, some of the best stories lists and of course the story that gives us a 2-year extension of the ITC courtesy of Trump signing the spending bill. If you read nonsense online about the ITC being bad for solar, remember that while solar is for everyone not everyone is for solar. Stay tuned for my year in review and predictions email before the clock strikes the end of 2020. It’s been a pleasure getting through the year with you (most of you at least) and look forward to what the next year in solar news has in store for us.

Opinion

Best, Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for December 22nd, 2020

ITC Extension Language. At long last, the bill has been printed. You can read the entire 5500 pages here. Page 4908 for section 48 and 4015 for section 25 extensions.

Breaking It Down. John Marciano of Akin Gump and his colleagues provide some analysis here of the legislation.

Closing Coal. Every time an article talks about the closure of a coal plant there is a byline of the cost of closing it early but I ask the question in a different way, what is the cost for keeping it open?

Things Are Changing. The director of regulatory policy of the SELC is headed to the White House as the director of the council on environmental quality, Brenda Mallory brings actionably state experience very close to the White House. Yesterday the Executive Director of the Virginia Advanced Energy Economy, Harrison Godfrey was sworn in as a commissioner of the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission, that’s the kind of inside baseball that moves us in the right direction.

Public Company Market Cap. Public solar companies added several billion dollars of market valuation yesterday due to the extension of the investment tax credit. A real-time manifestation of policy is good business argument.

Market Call Recap. You can catch our market update webinar replay for the next few days here. Make sure to listen to my call to action at the end. I appreciate Phil from Roth including me in the conversation.

Giving Week. Over the next week and a half, for the days that I publish, I’ll share with you one group that is deserving of $10 of your hard earned money. The ask will be $10 each time for a total of $50, it’ll be a good cause and some will be tax deductible. Today it’s Solar Rights Alliance. Donate to Solar Rights Alliance here.

Opinion

Best, Yann