Tag Archives: Daily Rundown

This is your SolarWakeup for March 21st, 2018

Arizona Coverage. Frank has your recent news coverage from Arizona. Don’t forget that you can send tips to frank@solarwakeup.com or by hitting reply here. If you want to stay anonymous, head to solarwakeup.com and click the tips link, you can even upload files without revealing your identity.

Don’t Forget Puerto Rico. It’s been 6 months that Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico and many are still without power. The recovery effort has failed many Puerto Rico that have now had to relocate to other States across America.

Reducing Property Taxes. Florida had a big ballot initiative to eliminate property taxes that could be due after installing solar on commercial properties. An Arizona judge also ruled on this issue this week. Of all the headwinds that face C&I solar, property tax can be one of them and removing it makes it easier. Much like the cost and structure of loans to do solar, C&I solar has to do all it can to overcome cheap energy rates it is offsetting. Speaking of debt for commercial solar, many of you are in Denver for a PACE conference. PACE has lowered the cost of capital quite a bit but more importantly for C&I solar is a better structure for many businesses. Most of the time, the debt is for the property and not the operating business which makes it a better fit for balance sheets.

Equinox 2018. This is your last call to join me and many others at Vote Solar’s important fundraiser on Thursday. You can buy your ticket at equinox2018.splashthat.com.

Presented By ‘You’. Do you want the SolarWakeup community to hear your message? You can sponsor this paragraph for an entire month leading up to our event in San Francisco. Join the many sponsors that were able to message, recruit and gain more exposure on this platform. Email me for more details.

Opinion

Have a great day!

Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for March 20th, 2018

Clean Energy Credit Union. A new podcast for your listening pleasure. Recorded live at COSEIA’s conference last week, I sat with Clean Energy Credit Union’s CEO and Board Chair. Terri and Blake walked me through the start of this endeavor and the solar problem they are looking to solve. The whole concept is to show that a true lower cost of capital is possible for solar lending and this could lead the way. If you enjoyed this podcast, consider leaving a review on iTunes.

South Carolina. There are some things happening in South Carolina. With the embarrassing nuclear escapade by SCANA, the State should consider making a shift into the solar future. Frank breaks it down for you with some information from local coverage. For me, South Carolina is a great political bellweather that could show red, southern states on how solar can be an economic engine for the future. The entire solar industry should push for South Carolina to find a victory for our industry.

Nat Gas, The End Is Near? I’ve written about speaker plants in California having a hard time getting capacity contracts extended and the CPUC has been negative on letting PG&E repower some plants. LADWP also put a large project on hold pending more analysis. What I wasn’t expecting is hearing that the Arizona Commission would put new natural gas on a moratorium to give solar + storage further review. Remember, TEP entered into a contract for $45/MWh on a solar plus storage plant. A moratorium now means that gas may have reached the end in Arizona, what State will drop next?

EV Growth And Consolidation. EV growth in China has been quite quick and maybe too quick (more on that soon). Europe and North America have been far more measured in its growth and it may have been for the best. Too much investment too early may cause for a market disruption instead of sustainable market stability.

San Francisco. This town is becoming my second home. While many of you are in San Diego for the finance conference, I’ll be in SF. Hopefully many of you will be coming up for Vote Solar’s equinox this week and to SolarWakeup Live! on April 10th. I’ll be in SF to continue figuring out how PACE financing can help C&I solar grow. Access to low cost, long term debt is a great way for the business owners to go solar. Send me an email if you’d like to be connected with the great team at CleanFund.

Opinion

Have a great day!

Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for March 19th, 2018

C&I and Community Solar. Last week as we went through the 2017 Solar Market Insight, I was a bit surprised to see that non-residential (C&I) grew in a year where the market corrected from the 2016 rush. As I walked through the numbers and checked with SEIA, I was surprised to find out that the category included community solar. I don’t understand the logic of this, given that almost all community solar projects are large ground mount projects. The notion that community solar is as logical as LADWP FIT deals being considered utility scale. It would also require contract for difference/direct access projects to be considered as non-residential in this line of thought. I don’t see how any of that would work out and therefore believe that the Solar Market Insight needs to be revised with community solar going into the utility scale category.

Women in Solar, Sunrun and Johns Hopkins. Lynn Jurich is probably the best known woman in solar and deservedly so, taking Sunrun from infancy to IPO and beyond. I’d love to see her not he mainstream airwaves more given her position as a public company CEO, CNBC needs her on a regular appearance to counter the daily Joe Kernen nonsense. Sunrun has grown up in many ways as well. Years ago, it was squeezed between SolarCity and Vivint Solar when it appeared that SunEdison’s acquisition of Vivint Solar would make it hard for Sunrun to rise above, with many calling for the company to sell to a strategic so it would not suffer from possible closure. I would be remiss not to point out the Johns Hopkins University (Go Hop!) alumni, Ed Fenster who founded the company alongside Lynn a decade ago.

Germany’s Opportunity. Decarbonization ‘experts’ like to point out that Germany, with all the wind and solar, is increasing its carbon output, mostly due to the intense use of coal power. (Natural gas has been a political problem given much of it comes from Russia) That being said, I see a real opportunity for Germany to get to 100% renewable energy very quickly with large scale integration of energy storage. Offshore win is readily available to make up for the Alaska equivalent solar output. I grew up in and worked in Germany for many years and this feels like a restart of the great market which served as a baseline for the global growth.

Will SunPower Get Relief? SunPower filed its request for exemption from the 201 tariff on Friday. Frank has your coverage on this, right here

A Poll On Your Work. I’m hoping to spend more time on working to get your involvement with policy makers to increase. The goal is to get you to spend 10 hours per year with legislators and perhaps one day to the same level as union painters, 10 hours per month. The first step is to get you to tell me about your company, and if you make things. There is a focus on manufacturing in solar right now, so this is step 1 in our journey together. I can’t do this alone but as a team we will get better at this organizing. Take this poll

Opinion

Have a great day!

Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for March 16th, 2018

Solar Messaging. This morning, most media outlets released their coverage of the 2017 solar market data which showed headlines of a 30% overall drop and drop in residential solar sector. So if your editor wants an Elon Musk failed or Trump kills solar headline, you could have written it with that focus. Coverage from Axios and CNBC, which don’t tend to have an anti-solar tweak didn’t come out with the most positive headlines. At SolarWakeup, I see what gets clicks and bad headlines are adored by readers so that’s part of the story but the other part of it was the messaging. 2016 was a banner year for political reasons and 2017 had 201 headwinds throughout the year. You’d have to get to the bottom of the press release to see that so while no-one in solar was surprised when I spoke with them, the non-solar worker reading mainstream headlines would think this space is struggling.

Scary Grid Stuff. Utility execs stay awake at night thinking about cyber attacks against the grid. Now the Trump administration is making he known unknown visible to the masses. Personally I don’t know what to do with the information except add it to the bullets on the slide of why the energy system needs more distributed generation and flexibility.

Trade And Manufacturing. China hawk Peter Navarro is telling Wall Street to ‘just relax’ regarding the tariffs. Saying that our trade deficits need to be stood up against. I have a question for Navarro. What would you say to the American worker that takes raw aluminum that is imported to the US and makes patented US manufactured solar racking products? Just relax? What do you say to the banker, lawyer and solar developer that just dropped a 20MW deal in Texas because of a solar module tariff? Just relax? Now that 201 manufacturing hype is coming back to reality, the cheerleaders of ‘new manufacturing’ are nowhere to be found because they are wrong, as wrong as most of them have been over the years on most things solar.

Weekend, Next Week. For the readers that joined our March Madness bracket, most of you are rooting big for UVA. For the two of you that picked Arizona to win it all, you will not be writing a SolarWakeup paragraph this year. Next week we will all get together with our friends from Vote Solar. It’s not too late for you to join me in San Francisco and lots of your solar friends. Reminder, if you spend $1,000 or more on tickets you get a space in this opening text. Just send me the receipt.

WAKEUP20. In 4 weeks, many of you will be with me as we bring SolarWakeup Live! to San Francisco to hear from leaders in venture capital, policy and CCA energy procurement. I’d love for your to join me as well, take 20% off an already very cheap ticket.

Opinion

Have a great day!

Yann