Tag Archives: Daily Rundown

This is your SolarWakeup for July 9th, 2018

Intersolar Happenings. If there was a doubt about attendance at ISNA, the schedule definitely doesn’t show a slowdown. Multiple events each evening and lots of people looking to figure out how to move their business forward with some dealmaking. I like the that the conference has been brought into Moscone, colocated with solar and storage into a single venue. If you are in town for the show, let me know how it goes for you.

Exciting Resi Times. All the noise doesn’t seem to really come down to the local installer level. Maybe it’s because you don’t find the time to devote worry to things you can’t control. I talk to a dozen installers a week, at minimum, and without fail your biggest concern is delivering installs to your customers faster and keeping more of your loan proceeds by lowering the dealer fees. I’d love to see more happening on the training side because installers need qualified labor to install solar, which is becoming one of the biggest constrictions to growth right now.

The Trump Trade War Starts. The mainstream media is all over the official start of the Trump trade war, and I’d love to see more solar in the news showing that this is the 4th or 5th level of consumer taxes in the solar industry. Module prices are dropping right now and developers are jumping at the opportunity to buy compliant inventory at lower costs. Reality remains that the uncertainty is paralyzing larger businesses that don’t buy product on a daily basis and need to get 6 months of certainty that allow for projects to be started, financed and built under a solid set of assumptions.

Lithium. EVs. China. VW’s announcement brings up the topic that I’ve warned about before, especially to legislators that read SolarWakeup. If the US wants to be in the game of manufacturing LiOn batteries, it needs to do so right now. The boat hasn’t left the harbor but it’s getting close. My operating assumption that this is likely a lost battle for the US but we will remain the global leader in executive platforms and dealmaking much like solar. The problem with that divergence is that the future probably mimics the trade fights unless the auto OEMs and utilities get together and make sure that politically that doesn’t happen.

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Opinion

Have a great day!

Yann

 

This is your SolarWakeup for July 6th, 2018

Welcome to the second Friday of this week. See you next week in San Francisco, you can find me near the Quick Mount lounge or hit reply to this to say hello. Have a great weekend!

Scott Pruitt Becomes A Lobbyist. In between looking for chicken startups and buying used mattresses with his interns credit cards, Scott Pruitt did a really bad job protecting the environment. I said it in the past but his irrational behaviour put his regulatory policies on the front page of the news constantly. Can you name Obama’s EPA administrators? George W. Bush’s? Now we move to Scott Pruitt’s replacement, Andrew Wheeler, who knows the EPA well. He started his career there and learned how to apply the right pressure when he became a coal lobbyist. I expect Wheeler to be more manicured as administrator but just as bad at protecting the environment. Stay tuned because with FERC Commissioner Powelson resigning, a coal bailout could be coming soon.

Everyone Still Loves Solar. Another poll that takes solar to both sides of the aisle. In this case, a poll asked supporters of the NRA and Greenpeace how they feel about solar and businesses that use more solar energy. 75% of the respondents said that businesses that go solar should be rewarded.

That’s A Big Solar Rooftop. I’m not big on project announcements but a 40MW project that is built for self-consumption seems like a big deal. There’s a GM plant in Spain that has something around 13MW but this is more than three times that. Will be interesting to see if other large manufacturers will be doing the same since everyone wants them to according to the above poll.

Correcting Yesterday’s Note. Yesterday I made note that DeLeon wasn’t moving forward to the general election in November since he lost to Feinstein in the primary. While he was beaten in the primary by 1.5million votes, California has a top two process that results in DeLeon making it to the general in November. Apologies on the error.

Opinion

Have a great day!

Yann

 

This is your SolarWakeup for July 5th, 2018

I hope you all enjoyed your July 4th holiday, played with sparklers and indulged in a parade. Now it’s back to work to kick off Q3 and get solar on some rooftops. If you are coming to Intersolar next week, please let me know. I always enjoy meeting you in person.

Growing Florida’s Solar Market. We can call it a double. From 2016 to 2017, the Florida market increased by 92% according to the just released net metering report issued by the PSC. This is very much felt on the ground here in the market but we are just scratching the surface. Florida will break 100,000 systems per year in 2019 and may do it in 2018 if companies are able to put the funding and labor plans in place to execute. I’ve spent 10 years working in solar while living in Florida and am now leaving just went the market picks up, but Walnut Creek is calling my name! See you next week at Intersolar!

Goldman Gets A New Solar Fund. South Jersey Industries, operating a solar portfolio under Marina Energy, went to market a few months ago. This wasn’t the first time it came to market but this time it transacted. Many investors participated in the process made complicated by the structure but the assets are largely desirable in a hot New Jersey market. Goldman Sachs ended up on top with their $350million bid for the ~200MW. This is a nice cornerstone for the fund that just recently put a great team together. Congrats the GS team.

The EV Infra Ratebase Is Going To Get Gotten. Utilities across America have asked themselves how to play in the EV space and owning charging infrastructure is the most obvious to me. I used to advocate to utility CEOs that shareholders should front the money to increase demand in the service area without putting the infrastructure into rate base. It seems that IOUs will get the best of both worlds, increase demand with EVs while also getting a return on the EV infrastructure. I expect that we will see a big rush to take advantage of this boon.

100% In California. The California Assembly will be starting their hearings on the 100% RPS bill, SB100, after passing it through committee. This came after receiving 38,000 letters from constituents to pass a clean bill on the issue. Last year, this came really close to getting done but politics in an election year probably got in the way. Now that De Leon is out of the general for the Senate, I can see him getting this work over the finish line. His leadership is remarkable, especially on this issue.

Presented by ENGIE. ENGIE (formerly SoCore Energy) is a market leader in commercial, industrial, and distributed solar and storage portfolio development with installations across some 25 states. ENGIE offers commercial and industrial companies, electric cooperatives, and communities solar and storage solutions that provide energy cost savings, increased resiliency and carbon reduction opportunities.

Opinion

Have a great day!

Yann

 

This is your SolarWakeup for July 3rd, 2018

Reminder that SolarWakeup will be off for the 4th of July. Please be safe and enjoy your day with your family. We will be back on Thursday before heading to San Francisco for InterSolar.

The Fight For 21st Century Power. Glad that the full time reporters are catching up but here is a recap on the upcoming battle caused by the electric vehicle industry. Fundamentally, this is the first time ever that utilities that generate and deliver electricity will be competing with oil companies that create and deliver fuel for transportation. If transportation moves to electricity as a fuel you can see how utilities take market share from oil companies. That is why, even in the greenest States like California, it is very difficult to pass aggressive EV policies. Moreover, electric vehicles threaten the internal combustion engine manufacturing sector which causes further disruption. On the other hand, oil companies make more profits, billions every quarter, and it’s a cheap proposition for them to get into the electric space especially through the solar industry. I’m still a bit surprised at the pace and strategy by the oil companies. I find none to be advantaged tactically over others or any of their acquisitions and investments surprising, yet.

It’s Time For GWh. What is a utility to do if it doesn’t find natural gas peaker plants to be cost effective generation for its customers? In PG&E’s case, build storage. A massive storage plant. Last week I mentioned that it could be possible that the Oakland peaker plant could become a storage asset but I was wrong by a hundred miles or so. The Moss Landing plant owned by Vistra will become a 1.2GWh storage asset, this coming just a few weeks after they announced their 180MWh plant with our friends at FlexGen. Who wants to wager the over/under date on when storage falls below $100/kWh?

Will Arizona Follow Michigan? Tom Steyer looked at three States for his RPS ballot initiatives. Arizona, Nevada and Michigan. Michigan has already come to terms with him plan and it looks like Arizona could be close behind. The RPS is a policy, within monopoly markets, that can be a great policy for utilities that need reasons to transition generation due to policy and increase rate base. Quite frankly, if I were the CEO of APS, I’d be all over the plan for a 100% solar utility and my shareholders would love me for it because my customer net promoter score would be 99.

The Unsung Success In Haiti. Let’s take a moment to thank the folks that are still working hard and adding solar in Haiti which is by far the poorest Country in the Western hemisphere and a close friend to the community in South Florida. I can’t imagine how hard it is to add a few panels to areas in the poorest sections of Haiti, just the logistics alone seem daunting. But thankfully there are folks still doing it and making a difference. A small battery with a few panels can change the life of someone living without electricity.

Silicon Jobs. This is your quarterly reminder that the first AD/CVD caused a retaliatory tariff on US silicon which hurt REC in Washington State and Hemlock in the midwest. Tariffs are bad for everyone.

Presented by Sunrun. Sunrun is the largest residential solar, storage and energy services company in the United States with a mission to create a planet run by the sun. Since establishing the solar as a service model in 2007, Sunrun continues to lead the industry in providing clean energy to homeowners with little to no upfront cost and at a savings to traditional electricity. Sunrun is excited to expand its solar offerings to Illinois residents.

Opinion

Have a great day!

Yann