Tag Archives: Daily Rundown

This is your SolarWakeup for March 26th, 2020

Building Departments. Over 60% of this week’s survey respondents say that building departments are either closed or delaying inspections. There are also talks about departments not taking new applications because they aren’t taking hard copies. Just as there is a time to start selling remotely this is also the time to do digital permitting. Instant permits will allow solar to recover from this standstill while also give building departments the process to overcome the current situation. SolarAPP was already in the works in an orderly fashion, I hope that the process and pilot cities is drastically sped up and expanded in light of the current times.

$2.2 Trillion Dollars Unlevered. Honestly, I don’t want to talk about it. In the biggest economic stimulus and bailout by a factor of many, solar didn’t get what it tried to squeeze in. The political gamesmanship was interesting between Schumer and McConnell. Schumer’s leverage was the money needed for the strategic petroleum reserve purchase and pushed for the tax credit extension but it was McConnell’s elevation of the solar ITC that got even solar professionals to think industry went too far at the wrong time. The bailout left the ITC, 1603, storage, safe harbor out with the hopes getting pushed to the next bill, stimulus package #4. This time it wasn’t enough, hard to believe with the trillion dollar price tag.

But Wait. Couple of things to watch, there’s some talk that treasury could be asked to reinstate the 1603 program without new legislation, lawyers were quick to through cold water on that idea however. Late yesterday, Trump signaled that he would find the money for the oil purchase for the SPR by reassigning funds from the Department of Energy. This removes the biggest leverage point in stimulus #4 if Trump is successful. 

Opinion

Best, Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for March 25th, 2020

Last Day. This week’s survey ends at noon today, head there now and you receive full results tomorrow in a special email. Link

Sell From Home. My FaceTiming comments from yesterday reconnected me with my good friends at SolarGraf. They have some experience and best practices on how solar installers can sell remotely from start to finish. The company is sharing some of those in a blog post and hosting a webinar today as well. Head to the blog if you want to get some of their tips. I’ll share others when I get them. Link

A Deal In The Senate. Forget billions, we’ve graduated to trillions. Early this morning, a handful of Senate negotiators came to terms on the $2trillion stimulus package (#3). At this point the only language that we know of is around small business loans and industry grants/loans plus unemployment benefits. At the time of this writing, there is no word whether the ITC is in this bill. Insiders are hedging success for this bill and more optimistic about ITC being in package #4. What, for how long, with what conditions will all be known when words actually meet paper. No point in being first here, this all takes time. Look to the Senate to vote today and see if the House has to travel back to DC (they’re on recess) if someone objects to unanimous consent.

My Optimistic View. From a market standpoint, solar companies were way too oversold and I got myself back into the market over the past few days. It could go down further but these valuations are more than fair. My position is that years from now the market will be exponentially bigger, better and more mature than today. I’ve been in solar for over 15 years and I feel better even today than ever before in this market. Things are tough but they are tough for everyone, when we come out on the other side of this societal wide crisis, homeowners will want solar on their roofs and farmland. They will want cleaner and cheaper electricity, the fundamentals will not have changed. My future is in this market, no matter what.

Welcome To SolarWakeup. The past few weeks have brought a large number of new subscribers, welcome to the SolarWakeup family. You can reach out to me anytime at yann@solarwakeup.com or contact me on LinkedIn. Like most readers, I work every day in the solar market (selling innovative racking to solar installers) but this platform is a community to works together for the betterment of the solar industry. 

Opinion

Best, Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for March 24th, 2020

Be Heard. Participate in this crucial survey, this week’s data is showing a large disparity between what is going and where. Maximize the data by joining in.

Trackable Market Data. When coronavirus first hit the US I knew that I wanted to track sentiment and sales on a weekly basis. From sales to install we also have permit data which is usually not tracked in real-time. The best data source for this in the US is my friend Chris from Ohm Analytics. Ohm Analytics has leveraged its data sources and capabilities to track solar activity on a weekly basis. Ohm is providing access to this feature for the time being to help the industry navigate the next several months. Ohm’s Weekly Solar Activity Tracker will monitor solar permit and other available records in a sampling of the largest cities and counties in major solar states. This is a major data tracker that Ohm is making available for free for now and should drive you to subscribe to their fuller data set or sign up as a contractor. Thank you to Ohm for making this happen and letting SolarWakeup show it to the market.

A Bill Today? Late last night, negotiators appeared to get closer to a deal in package 3. This package is nearing $2TRILLION dollars and whether the solar ITC is part of it is up to a handful of people. In case you are wondering if it’s part of the discussion, just ask McConnell. He had some choice words about solar.

Are You Facetiming? I want to talk to solar installers still selling but without meeting their customers face to face. Do you have a unique approach or concept? I want to hear about it.

The Essential Industries. In California, many of you asked me about the various orders from County and State officials and where solar installers fit in. The state rules around essential and federal definitions of critical sectors leave room for interpretation, which is why we have strong trade groups like CALSSA to provide guidance. In their well crafted memo, they lay out clear language for you to use for your business. Keep in mind, stay safe and use your judgement, this isn’t a free pass to act like all is normal. While you’re here, representing solar industry isn’t free. If you benefit from California solar and storage policies, join CALSSA and let them know I sent you!

Opinion

Best, Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for March 23rd, 2020

Tracking Corona’s Impact. Here is this week’s tracking survey for you to fill out. This is for everyone in the solar industry and it takes 2 minutes. If you fill it out, you get the full set of results. Please take the time and share it with your colleagues as well.

ITC In Play. Over the weekend I sent a special alert and you responded. No link in SolarWakeup history got clicked on more and you forwarded almost 10,000 times to friends and colleagues. Your involvement could mean the difference for solar as Congress addresses a stalemate at the Capitol. The Politico story will be stale by the time you see it but stay tuned to see if solar gets included in the 3rd stimulus bill coming out, likely today. Topping over $1.5Trillion, hard to fathom solar being left out.

Managing Your Business. The CEO of Soligent posted a well crafted powerpoint on things to consider as you run your business. I think Jon makes some important points and it’s worth your time to review his recommendations. At this moment, it’s crucial we all absorb as much information and advice as we can. These are uncharted waters for all of us.

Looking At The EV Future. A bright moment coming out of the shutdown is we get to see what the future looks like. Around the world, pollution is down and dolphins are swimming in the clear waters of Venice. In Los Angeles, there is a clear reduction in pollution in the air, likely caused by the lack of cars. Hence our need to convert to EVs as soon as possible, no cars and EVs are basically the same when it comes to pollution especially when combined with a 100% RPS.

Fill Out Your Survey

Moment Of Levity

Opinion

Best, Yann