US Cell Manufacturing Ending. The news broke yesterday that Panasonic is planning an exit of their partnership with Tesla’s Buffalo factory which manufactured PV cells. This may cause the end of the domestic manufacturing of solar cells even with the import quota put in place by the 201 tariffs. At the end of the day, it appears that Tesla will meet their promise to New York State in terms of the jobs created and Tesla may hire many of the jobs impacted by the Panasonic exit. The market is creating an obvious reality that domestic assembly of modules could be the future that the solar market seeks, much like the auto sector solar could be big enough that that logistics savings outweigh the domestic cost increases.
Trade Group Splits. BP and other oil majors are conducting formal reviews of their trade group memberships. BP has released their results and is leaving three trade groups that no longer align with their views as they relate to climate. They are also staying in influential groups that hold opposition to climate policies like the Paris Agreement. A process that begins with some victories is not a war on climate change lost. It is another opportunity to educate and create more understanding of what could be if the conglomerates move further towards policies in line with solar. I’d welcome their policy budgets to solar trade groups including their understanding that spending money on policy is not money wasted.
Oil Companies’ Solar Hedge. At the same time that oil companies are reviewing their trade group involvement, they are using their billions of cash and investing it into solar portfolios, pipelines and platforms. Their involvement in the industry could be interesting given their long term view on development and understanding with free markets. Taking a 50 year view on land acquisitions means that an oil major could acquire 1 million acres of land and continuously plan on mining it for solar energy, building plants over time as the revenue streams appear favorable. Moreover, many of the majors have robust trading desks that view the risk related to commodity trading par for the course, different than infrastructure funds that look for physical assets to be locked up for the term.
Voters Wish For Change. One topic where Trump voters disagree with him is his rollback of environmental policies. In States like Florida, voters voice concern about climate change and how it could impact their State and don’t see the positive argument for making these changes. That being said, it doesn’t look like it could switch their vote away from Trump. At the same time, polls are rarely a good argument for not making an argument, we need politicians to make their case to those voters and create a change in their opinion. You lose 100% of the fights you don’t get into so let us get into this one, I think it’s a winner.
Go OG&E. There’s a special place in my heart for Oklahoma Gas and Electric and OG&E going solar is a notch on the belt that I’m hoping to see more of.
- Reuters: Panasonic to exit solar production at Tesla’s New York plant as partnership frays
- Axios: Cracks emerge in the oil lobby over climate change
- Greentech Media: The Solar Industry’s New Power Player – Oil Majors
- Grist: Trump’s environmental rollbacks are deeply unpopular with swing voters
- Solar Industry: OG&E Partners with the Chickasaw and Choctaw Tribes on New Solar Projects
- PV-Tech: China solar exports witness 35% year-on-year slide in January
- Utility Dive: Dominion’s first storage projects to test increased solar integration, fewer distribution upgrades
Opinion
Best, Yann