Tag Archives: Daily Rundown

This is your SolarWakeup for June 9th, 2020

May Survey. Transitioning to a monthly survey and looking at the entire month of May for the solar industry. This 3 minute survey will help educate those watching the market and help you see what else is going on in our industry. You can see the full results of previous surveys here and fill out your response for May here.

Virtual Trade Shows And Conferences. I’ve been in solar for 15 years and I still love going to solar conferences and trade shows. Seeing new companies making their move, showing new products and most of all the reconnection with many of you. I had the pleasure of touring the virtual trade show environment that the Midwest Solar Expo will be using in a few weeks. In the video playback, you can see how you can tour the facilities, hear speakers, meet with exhibitors and have random encounters with other attendees. It’s not going to replace the in person events but it sure does a big job improving on a webinar.

Political Opportunity.  Clean energy, climate change and fossil fuels are key issues that also have a big grey area. That grey area is the undecided voter segment that doesn’t know which party is better at handling that issue. Some would see that the issues also skew heavily democratic which presents an opportunity for Biden but on the other hand turns the issue into partisan topics. Partisanship in solar has been a frustrating reality given that the solar industry has gone out of its way to be bipartisan and has shown benefits to red and blue states alike.

Presented by Adani Green Energy. Adani is a fully integrated renewables company, from solar cell and module manufacturing to ownership and operation. The company has a top global operating and contracted pipeline of over 14 GW. Adani is the recipient of the largest solar award ever of 8 GW, which includes a single site project of 2 GW – tied for the world’s largest. No one knows mega-scale projects like Adani. 

Opinion

Best, Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for June 8th, 2020

Emergency Powers. Presidential powers through emergency declaration can be powerful, Trump has tested these limits including reallocating defense department funding for these declarations. Last week, under this presidential power, the White House removed a tranche of environmental reviews for infrastructure work that was required to make up from the economic woes caused by the pandemic. Climate change is an emergency of the highest degree, something that this White House will not pursue but something for us to think about going forward.

Clean Energy For Biden. I am excited to be helping and joining the effort of many solar professionals in the Clean Energy for Biden team. The goal is to elect Vice President Biden in November focusing on our work in clean energy. I joined the same effort 12 years ago for the Clean Energy for Obama campaign. You can join as well, take part in policy discussions, outreach, fundraisers and state campaigns. Visit cleanenergyforbiden.com to take part, more to come including more thorough SolarWakeup campaigns on this topic. 

Readers Write. I am sharing two posts shared with me about lived experiences by solar professionals. If you would like to share your post, please forward it along. 

Devin Hampton, Utility API CEO. As a clean energy leader and a black man, I often go to conferences and gatherings where I am one of a few, if not the only black person in the room. It is so glaring, that I’ve made a small game out of counting. I think the game is a way to not feel the horror that is creeping up in me. Often, when there are black and brown faces, they are the faces of the hired support staff, not conference attendees. I cannot count the amount of times other attendees have asked me to fetch them something or to park their car because they assume that I am also a support staffer. It doesn’t matter that my name tag says “CEO”, they are not looking for that. They have all the info they need by seeing the color of my skin. Full Post

Jason Barrett Writes. Two days ago I facilitated a discussion with 10 boys between the ages of 10-13 about George Floyd, Amy Cooper and subsequent protests. My colleague’s son, Jojo Yawson, said “the police broke the social contract with society and people are just angry”. He further said that “there should be a number that society can call, similar to 911, when the police are behaving badly”.  Sage words from a 10 yr old. I normally don’t share personal things like this. But I can no longer stay silent. The following incidents are my recollection of two encounters my family and I have had. Full Post

My 2 Cents. As we read the word of others, I want to end with my own privileged experience. An experience that is centered around luck. I was born in 1982, decades away from the world wars in Hamburg, Germany. Had I been born 40 years earlier, it would have been different because I’m jewish. I don’t know how many jews were born in Germany in 1982, but it can’t be many. The difference for me is that while I am born jewish and the son of a Moroccan mother, I look and sound like everyone else. There is no gold star on my jacket. While I have encountered anti-semitism, those with hatred have to know me to judge me. They have to hear me before they hate me, my unique circumstance is cloaked in what is currently considered the norm. It is no longer enough for me and others to simply not be racist, we have to be anti-racist and be part of the solution not just not part of the problem. They came for my ancestors before and I’m sure that your ancestors too. Let’s all be part of the solution with deliberate actions and hear from each other before we judge. 

Opinion

Best, Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for June 5th, 2020

Our Industry. This week has been challenging for many, clearly more for others than for me. As a father of three young kids, I have struggled to explain what is happening and the privilege they are benefitting from when I have to take inventory of it for myself. So I have looked at you, the readers, and industry spokespersons for guidance and leadership and I’ve been happy to listen. That being said, we are at a stage of words and actions must follow. It has also been confirmed that the voices I am hearing from and reading statements from, lack diversity to say the least. We’ve all been to the trade shows and conferences and it’s not representative of America’s diversity. Solar needs to do better and I am optimistic that it will do so, I am proud however that our advocacy always includes activism for diversity and justice. If you didn’t catch Vote Solar’s statement this week, it more eloquently states what I am feeling.

The Platform. On Monday I offered this platform, which is read by most of solar, to readers that have a better perspective on racism, profiling and police brutality than I. Over the next 24 hours, I didn’t receive a single post to publish from readership and I know that is indicative of who I am reaching. I have always wanted SolarWakeup to be a platform that shares it’s reach with the readers, to expand the viewpoints and lived experiences but that requires that I expand the folks that I am reaching.

Germany Will Do It Again. When it comes to scaling solar, Germany was way ahead of the entire world. Now, post-COVID, Germany is expanding subsidies for electric vehicle adopters to ~$6,700 and a reduction of 3% from the sales tax paid. This will increase the total units sold in Germany and lower the cost for the rest of the world. While the US and other Countries have been ahead on this, it is also significant given the German heritage in auto manufacturing. I find EV adoption relevant for solar from two perspectives. First, it increases the total consumption of electricity especially for consumers that think about what type of fuel is powering their car. Second, the batteries used in the cars are also used in our homes, buildings and solar farms. Lowering that cost will pay dividends in our sector for a long time to come.

Forget Societal Benefits. Trump is taking this time to make it easier to build infrastructure without environmental review. These reviews are an obstacle for solar development at times as well but you can’t take a step forward while taking two steps back. It would be best to slow the development of fossil infrastructure knowing that it will be without use a decade from now. 

Opinion

Best, Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for June 3rd, 2020

Solar Is Back, On The Record. Bloomberg is out with a bit of a recap of the last 90 days in solar from the viewpoint of Sunnova and Palmetto, two companies that you know well and have a good macro view of the solar market. Sunnova was out early with confirmation of its public guidance, the first public company to do so. I expect other public companies to reaffirm 2020 numbers over the next few months as well, much of the underlying data tells us that homeowner interest in solar is higher than ever before and positive economic cases exist in more geographies than ever. While the volume will return, now is the time to focus on margins and make sure they are distributed evenly throughout the value chain. The solar product pricing index for May is now open for installers to submit data and expands beyond modules. With dozens of installers submitting information, they have already seen the ability to negotiate more fair pricing for their purchases.

Loan Markets Agree. Loanpal issued their latest securitization reports through Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) for about $400million in loans. Two data points that are of interest and reassure the market sentiment. First, commentary is made that while the latter half of March was down in volume, the company is now above pre-COVID levels. Second, a graph showing new originations shows March 2020 as the all time high, crossing $200million in loans in that month for the first time. Sunlight Financial also announced an expansion of its facility with Tech CU to finance over 80,000 solar homes, which equates to over $2billion in commitments.

Vivint Solar’s Double Capital. Not to be outdone, Vivint Solar filed two new financing arrangements. The first is basically a sale of future equity cash flows of their assets. In a deal with Brookfield Asset Management, Vivint Solar monetized a forward strip of revenue to the tune of $200million out of a possible $300million in the facility. The company also increased its warehouse revolver by $245million to $570million. Interest rates are looking quite aggressive as well.

Like I Was Saying. If you listened to SolarWakeup podcast 4 weeks ago, I made a prediction well before it was cool to say this. I said that 2020 is not going to be a down year compared to 2019. Hear that clip here and subscribe to the podcast. 

Opinion

Best, Yann