Tag Archives: Daily Rundown

This is your SolarWakeup for November 2nd, 2020

Tomorrow. Like many of you, it’s been a stressful and anxious time. Tomorrow is not the end but a marker in time when you get to have you say if you haven’t voted yet. Whether or not there is a result before we talk on Wednesday, make sure you have a plan to vote or help someone that hasn’t yet. No-one knows what is going to happen and every vote matters. iwillvote.com to access resources for you.

Let’s Talk 100 Days. I’ll have some notes tomorrow about ideas for first 100 days. Many of you chimed in, but I’d love to get more ideas from the readers. The question is: What would you pitch/ask for if you had 5 minutes with Biden/Schumer/Pelosi to advance solar/clean energy?

Because He Got Caught. FirstEnergy fired its CEO and a few executives for bribing the Ohio House Speaker to get a nuclear bailout/RPS kill bill. Let me correct that statement, FirstEnergy fired its chief executive because he got caught, not because the bribe actually happened.

Mary Nichols For Many Things. Mary Nichols would be a phenomenal EPA administrator, she would also be a great secretary of transportation. Regardless of title, I very much hope to see Mary Nichols leading a very relevant agency in DC.

PG&E Flashbacks. A utility watchdog wants the utility fined for shutting off power without adequate notice but the bigger story came from PG&E directly. They are letting its shareholders know that it could be held liable for a recent fire.

Educational Materials. I’m being asked by my kids’ teachers to talk about solar and I’m asking you to help. I need a ‘what is solar’ presentation for 3rd and 5th grades that won’t bore the kids while also making my kids think that their dad is the coolest (focus is on the latter). Who’s got what I’m looking for?

Q1 Supply Challenge. While 2020 definitely had its challenges, solar not only bounced back but has been increasing backlog since April. Manufacturers, based on new expectations, lowered their forecasts and inventory levels are very low. Make sure you control your product flow, look at what you need and when you need it. If you need a check on supply and where the market is for pricing, reach out to SolarWakeup’s Buyer Group. Not only are we lowering your costs, but we’re giving you big insights. You can get some price discovery or other products on our members page. 

Opinion

Best, Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for October 30th, 2020

What’s Your Plan? This is where we are, in one way or another you or the company you work for has been building something great for years, maybe even more than 10 years. Solar is both big and valuable, valuable thanks to newly found profits and future growth promise. The same European private equity firm that acquired my former business is acquiring Panelclaw according to PV-Magazine. It couldn’t have happened to a better group of people, if you know the leaders of Panelclaw, you know that they’ve been busting their rear end with the highest level of character while making and inventing some great products. What is your plan for the next phase of your business? You should be thinking about that right now, knowing how you feel about various paths  is key to managing the 2020 solar decade.

Weekend Roundup. Here are your quick tips for the weekend reading. Two things to keep your eyes on that hasn’t been published in publications yet. Arizona is set to enact a sweeping clean energy standard including 50% by 2032 with focus on storage as well. Flex LTD, the parent of Nextracker, reported earnings yesterday and most of the questions in the analyst call were solar related, a new topic for the company’s analysts. Enphase and SolarEdge also use Flex for contract manufacturing.

What Will Biden Do? Go to my LinkedIn and tell me what you would pitch if given 5 minutes.

Give Me A Fracking Break. Fracking is 26,000 jobs in Pennsylvania. Don’t underestimate fracking’s PR capabilities. Solar in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia is the way to get long forgotten workers back to work without threatening their health. Axios needs to do better.

Solar From Home. Work from home workers are greening their homes with greater interest than ever before. This isn’t a temporary phenomenon.

The Buyer’s Group Grows. We’re into our second month at the Buyer’s Group and we’ve added another top supplier to the product portfolio. REC modules are now available at an amazing pre-negotiated rate for buyer’s group members. Both Alpha and N-Peak products are on the list. You can get some price discovery for REC or other products on our members page. 

Opinion

Best, Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for October 29th, 2020

Sea Of Green, 950 Below. Yesterday was not a great day for stocks, market closing down 950 points and the VIX reaching near April levels. Except for solar companies trading in the public markets. At the start of the day Generac joined Enphase and First Solar to publish their Q3 earnings since the close on the previous day. The positive numbers, beating estimates and highlighting growth ahead which pushed almost every solar stock upward.

Beyond Stock Prices. Stock valuations are not everything but they do tell a story about sentiment and future growth analysis. This positive view on the ability to perform is a signal that the market is demanding more opportunities to invest. More importantly, it means that more private companies are going to reach for the markets for exits or liquidity event. Over the next few months you’ll see acquisitions by private equity, SPACs and new IPO announcements. Not all deals will be met with positive commentary, at least on this platform, but they are becoming increasingly obvious. If you’re involved in any of those transactions, feel free to give me the heads up.

Earnings Slides. Generac, Sunnova, SunPower

Today’s Earnings. 

Another Public Tracker. Following the ridiculous performance in and following the Array Technologies IPO, Soltec went public in the Spanish stock exchange. According to estimates by Wood Mackenzie, Soltec is a top 3 supplier of tracking equipment in the European market alongside the US based competitor Nextracker, which until now remains a subsidiary of Flextronics (reporting later today). 

Watch This. Bloomberg is putting $2.6million behind a railroad commission race in Texas which oversees the oil and gas sectors amongst other things. This is how solar should think about regulatory races.

The Buyer’s Group Grows. We’re into our second month at the Buyer’s Group and we’ve added another top supplier to the product portfolio. REC modules are now available at an amazing pre-negotiated rate for buyer’s group members. Both Alpha and N-Peak products are on the list. You can get some price discovery for REC or other products on our members page.

Opinion

Best, Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for October 28th, 2020

Earnings Season Is Here. First Solar had strong earnings last quarter and the stock jumped after hours by over 10%. This comes on the heels of the analyst upgrade by Roth Capital. I’ll let PV-Magazine give you the breakdown of that earnings report because I spent time listening to what happened on the Enphase call. Today, we start with Generac earnings pre-market and SunPower and Sunnova reporting after market close. This will be SunPower’s inaugural report without the module business. Sunnova announced this week the addition of a former FERC commissioner to their board of directors and I expect lots of grid service talk on that call.

Enphase Reports. Before we talk about the dollars, I want to highlight the R&D excitement that often comes out on the Enphase calls. Badri, CEO of Enphase, broke script and gave some highlights of the IQ9 which will follow the IQ8 into the market, which isn’t shipping quite yet. The company hired 140+ engineers last quarter to focus on R&D. The company outperformed expectations in Q3, with $60million in free cash flow and improving international revenue by nearly 50%, making up 22% of the total revenue. Margins also exceeded forecasts. This is on the strength of their supply chain higher than their 8-10 week target inventory levels. I.e. a lot of product is hard to find right now but they are working on it. September had a 49% increase over June, the rebound you wanted to hear in this earnings call regarding the COVID situation and in line with what we’ve seen in finance documents and SolarWakeup market surveys. Some fun quotes from the call. A123 Systems was the supplier of batteries for the Encharge system (they are adding others), which also sounds sold out in Q4. A123 was the US based battery maker that went under and patents were acquired by Chinese investors.

Only $11 Trillion. BNEF is forecast the capital needed for the energy transition based on their energy outlook. That number is an $11 Trillion opportunity over the next 30 years and here’s the operator’s caveat. Uber was misvalued by early investors because they viewed the taxi market as too small to disrupt but now Uber’s revenue is multiples higher than that original market opportunity. Clean energy will also be multiples higher than this because the enterprise around the conversion of brown kWh to clean kWh will present market segments well beyond the replacement. Kara Swisher has bene saying for a year that the world’s first trillionaire will come from the fight against climate change.

CO Now OC. Thoughts are with our readers in Southern California, specifically Irvine area that are dealing with their wild fires and horribly strong winds.

Insider Blog Of The Day. Obama’s former senior advisor and communications direction, Dan Pfeiffer, writes about the oil gaffe or gift from Biden’s last debate. Dan is the highest level of politics, outside of our echo chamber, so it’s worthwhile to read his thoughts on this.

The Buyer’s Group Grows. We’re into our second month at the Buyer’s Group and we’ve added another top supplier to the product portfolio. REC modules are now available at an amazing pre-negotiated rate for buyer’s group members. Both Alpha and N-Peak products are on the list. You can get some price discovery for REC or other products on our members page. 

Opinion

Best, Yann