Tag Archives: intersolar

Could Solar Generate 100% Of U.S. Energy In 12 Years? Tony Seba Thinks It Could

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Tony Seba set the Intersolar North America crowd on fire at his opening session, saying that if the trend in battery prices continue their downward plunge, solar + storage could supply 100% of the U.S. electricity supply by 2030.

“That’s not too bad for an industry in crisis, is it?” Seba told the crowd to hearty laughter. “But as the country becomes ever-more electrified, it’s going to happen.”

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Seba predicted that as battery prices continue to plunge, solar + storage will be lower than transmission costs, making solar the only logical choice for businesses and homes. The electrification of the transportation system will help push the Solar Revolution forward, too. How would this work?

Well, think about this: If Seba is right, there will be no new cars sold in the United States by 2025 that won’t be electric. But since cars are parked 94% of the time, they become instant storage capacity for individual homeowners.

The sticking point, however, will be the utilities.

“It’s time to break up the utilities,” Seba said, expanding on his presentation during a post-keynote speech. “We need a new electricity-generation structure that comes from the bottom up, not the top down.”

He believes consumers should have the right to generate their own electricity without having to ask permission from utilities to do so. He believes transmission should be decoupled from energy generation.

“Don’t subsidize anyone, don’t support anyone,” Seba said. “Let the market work. People should have the absolute right to own and generate their own electricity. Utilities shouldn’t just be able to control the electricity.”

Seba also weighed in on the issue that has continued to fascinate me: the issue of what a transition to solar will look like. In many states, natural gas has been the transition fuel of choice. But as solar + storage prices continue to fall, natural gas is losing ground. In California, for example, there’s been an increasing reluctance to allow utilities to build natural gas plants, and the same dynamic is starting to occur in otehr states.

Seba offered the prediction that there won’t be another peaker plant built in the United States after 2020 because the electrification of everything will make them obsolete.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 2:43 pm on 7/10/18 to reflect that Tony Seba said 2030, not 2020. Thanks to Suzanne Murley for the assist.

The Solar Foundation Releases Its Solar Workforce Development Toolkit

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

We can all agree that the solar industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States, right? Heck, The Solar Foundation tells us so every year with its National Solar Jobs Census (well, except for this year, because tariffs, but for the past decade or so it’s been on a huge growth trajectory – and we believe will shortly be again). But how can you find workers for this specialized industry and bring them into this well-paying career?

Well, the trick is workforce development, and now The Solar Foundation has released a 94-page Solar Workforce Development Toolkit designed to help solar companies develop their workforces with a series a proven strategies that every business can implement in their day-to-day business practices.

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According to the Foundation, the document is intended to start conversations among employers, with engagement from all stakeholders.The implementation guide and action plan promotecollaborative, regional and adaptive strategies as markets evolve and solar continues to become a mainstream part of the American energy sector.

In the toolkit, solar employers will discover the tools they need to establish the kinds of community partnerships necessary to build a diverse talent pipeline. It shows solar employers how to turn the industry from just a “job” into a career, outlining ways to integrate solar into the public workforce development system and provides strategies to overcome real or perceived challenges. Finally, it will show employers hot to implement work-based learning models to invest in the skillsets of current and future workers.

Based on two years of Solar Training Network research that included talking to employers, trainers, industry associations and community organizations in diverse solar markets, it’s expected to giver solar employers the tools and skills they need to meet the high demand for qualified employees and build a skilled and diverse solar workforce.

The release comes approximately one year after The Solar Foundation released its first-ever diversity study, which found the industry was doing a poor job of recruiting from non-traditional solar audiences. The toolkit is the first concrete proposal to improve that diversity and widen solar’s appeal as a future profession.