This is your SolarWakeup for August 28th
Boots on the Ground. With Yann Brandt and Abby Hopper is out now! Find all the links from Apple Podcast, Spotify and YouTube here! Make sure you subscribe today, apparently Abby and I had very interesting takes on 232. This episode of Boots on the Ground is sponsored by Cleantech Industry Resources, CIR
News
1 PV-Magazine:
Shoals awarded more than $96 million in damages in patent dispute with Voltage
2 PV-Tech:
Trump bans foreign power equipment over national security risks
3 Canary Media:
New York’s grid is struggling to handle the heat
4 Utility Dive:
Data center load made up 9% of PJM wholesale costs so far in 2026
5 Bloomberg:
Solar Boom Sweeps Across Africa as Rooftop Demand Takes Off
6 Solar Power World:
California bill could make remote solar inspections possible statewide
7 Energy Storage News:
Ford Energy’s grid-scale BESS product
Opinions:
8 Axios:
A stunning U.S. gas build-out is coming — maybe
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 27th
It's A Heartsong. "We cannot direct the wind, we can adjust the sails." - Dolly Parton. Like many, there is a sad moment for me when I heard that Dolly passed away because I can only think about a positive outlook when I think about her music and personality. Every day in our industry is filled with moments where we adjust our sails.
News
1 Reuters:
Trump signs order banning some foreign equipment from US energy grid
2 Heatmap News:
The Texas Grid Has Had a Boring Summer Thanks to Batteries
3 New York Times:
MAHA Moms Take On Coal
4 PV-Magazine:
California plug-in solar bill SB 868 earns approval of both legislative houses, nears governor’s desk
5 PV-Tech:
ArcLight commits US$1 billion to new US transmission platform
6 Energy Storage News:
ArcLight commits US$1 billion to new US transmission platform
7 Solar Power World:
Sodium-ion batteries are ready for world domination
Opinions:
8 Canary Media:
PJM has finally greenlit a lot of new clean power. Can it get built?
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 26th
Boots on the Ground. With Yann Brandt and Abby Hopper is out now! Find all the links from Apple Podcast, Spotify and YouTube here! Abby and I will bring you at least 6 episodes while we figure out our hiatus! This episode of Boots on the Ground is sponsored by Cleantech Industry Resources, CIR
News
1 Utility Dive:
Data centers can vanish from the grid in seconds; reliability rules need to catch up
2 Bloomberg:
California Moves Closer to Approve Plug-in Solar
3 Axios:
Exclusive - Climate group presses Dems to seize on data center backlash
4 PV-Tech:
PV wafer prices surge, up to 40% in weekly gain
5 Solar Power World:
Solar panel makers and buyers have mixed feelings on Sec. 232 tariffs
6 Energy Storage News:
‘Company wasn’t ready in 2021’
7 Heatmap News:
Data Center Moratoria Are ‘Unconstitutional,’ Lawsuits Claim
8 Canary Media:
Solar delivers as Europe’s power plants struggle amid heat and drought
9 PV-Magazine:
Silver prices rebound as AI, data centers add to industrial demand
Opinions:
10 Solar Power World:
Unpopular opinion - Tax credits bought customers, not panels
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 25th
Boots on the Ground. With Yann Brandt and Abby Hopper is launching tomorrow. Listen to the teaser here and subscribe on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Make sure you are subscribed as episode 1 releases later today. This episode of Boots on the Ground is sponsored by Cleantech Industry Resources, CIR
News
1 Energy Storage News:
Handling cell imbalances, communications interoperability and other blockers to BESS asset success
2 Axios:
Data center investors are overlooking the political risks
3 Solar Power World:
45X-eligble inverters are not part of foreign ban, FCC clarifies
4 PV-Magazine:
Enphase enters commercial battery storage market, announces IQ Battery C80
5 New York Times:
Trump Shuns E.V.s and Wind Power, but He’s Pouring Billions Into Batteries
6 Bloomberg:
India Needs Batteries to Keep Its Solar Boom Going
7 Reuters:
TV maker TCL mulls spinning off photovoltaic business
8 PV-Tech:
PV Chart of the Week
9 Canary Media:
PJM has finally greenlit a lot of new clean power. Can it get built?
Opinions:
10 Utility Dive:
Bills rise when utilities use conflicting forecasts to drive gas and electric investment
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 24th
Boots on the Ground. With Yann Brandt and Abby Hopper is launching tomorrow. Listen to the teaser here and subscribe on Apple Podcast or Spotify.
News
1 Bloomberg:
CoVolt Power Files for IPO, Tapping Into Solar Power Demand
2 Axios:
Data centers "dug their own grave," says Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
3 Utility Dive:
ERCOT aims to complete Texas governor’s data center audit by December
4 Reuters:
Let there be sunlight
5 Electrek:
Tesla discontinues its Solar Roof tiles, not economically viable
6 PV-Tech:
Designing for water
7 Energy Storage News:
LG Energy Solution begins LFP and NMC BESS and EV cell production at Michigan factory
8 Canary Media:
Solar and storage still dominate US power plant construction
Opinions:
9 PV-Magazine:
FCC updates foreign inverter ban to include wired devices, adds 45X safe harbor
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 21st
The Incentives Tied to 232. 232 may not end trade politics, it may cause other things to happen unless the ecosystem changes. If you want to have my thoughts on this topic, you have to subscribe to SolarWakeup Premium, a business intelligence service.
News
1 PV-Tech:
European solar module prices up, buyer sentiment cools slightly in July
2 Axios:
The data center fight is heating up. Here's how they work
3 Politico:
Republican Mike Rogers backs Michigan data center moratorium
4 Canary Media:
PJM wants data centers to bring their own power. Pennsylvania’s on it.
5 Utility Dive:
Duke’s Carolinas resource plan targets 18.5 GW new solar by 2041
6 Solar Builder:
Enphase announces first U.S. commercial battery shipments for early 2027
7 Energy Storage News:
LG Energy Solution begins LFP and NMC BESS and EV cell production at Michigan factory
Opinions:
9 New York Times:
Climate
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 20th
Data Center Politics. Pennsylvania and Wisconsin had some interesting shifts on data center politics, Ohio Senate race and Texas (of all places) will have it as well. Surely something to watch for solar pros and catch some of my thoughts by subscribing to SolarWakeup Premium.
News
1 Axios:
The stakes of Josh Shapiro's data center pivot
2 Utility Dive:
Pennsylvania dangles permitting carrot for data centers that bring their own power
3 Bloomberg:
Solar Makes Midwest-Area Grid Biggest in US, BNEF Says
4 PV-Magazine:
TOYO revenue surges 88% in H1 2026 as U.S. solar market drives growth
5 PV-Tech:
Dimension Energy bags US$857 million for 149MW distributed PV portfolio
6 Energy Storage News:
Egyptian government minister lays foundation stone as Sungrow begins constructing MEA’s first specialised BESS factory
7 Canary Media:
How Qcells’ Georgia factory is surviving US solar policy whiplash
Opinions:
8 Solar Builder:
Vehicle-to-grid infrastructure to boost Calif. energy affordability, reliability
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 19th
What You Missed in Wakeup Premium. You can now subscribe to Wakeup Premium. If you want to hear a trial episode, send me an email by hitting reply. Yesterday I discussed what was happening in transformers and solar farm repower including a forgotten segment of that market. The entire clip was less than 8 minutes.
News
1 PV-Magazine:
Clean energy capital expenditures on track for $180 billion in 2026, reports Crux
2 Axios:
OpenAI announces massive data center in Ohio with Nvidia guarantee
3 Energy Storage News:
Startup Heron Power to build 40GW power conversion manufacturing facility in California
4 Canary Media:
California gubernatorial candidate pledges two hours of free power a day
5 Bloomberg:
French Power Hits 19-Month High on Tighter Nuclear, Solar Supply
6 PV-Tech:
Opportunities remain in US policy landscape, according to Crux
7 Utility Dive:
Hyundai unifies vehicle V2X capabilities with AllDayEnergy entity
Opinions:
8 Solar Power World:
What can Tesla really make in a $10 billion solar factory?
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 18th
Subscribe and Help SolarWakeup Grow. You can now subscribe to Wakeup Premium and get a deeper briefing into today’s news in both audio and transcript format.
News
1 New York Times:
Transformers Power Electric Grid
2 Solar Power World:
Sunrun solar + storage projects could soon power AI data centers
3 Canary Media:
Home battery installations climb despite loss of federal incentives
4 Energy Storage News:
Australia’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program officially passes 500,000 installations
5 Utility Dive:
DOE cancels 3 national transmission corridors, citing ‘Green New Scam’
6 Reuters:
Nvidia to provide up to $105 billion guarantee for OpenAI's Ohio data center
7 PV-Magazine:
Kinematics acquires RenuTrak to expand solar lifecycle services, repowering leadership
8 Axios:
Inside the tech movement to process American copper
Opinions:
9 Bloomberg:
US Ends Solar Tariff Dodges, But Building Own Sector Is Tough
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 17th
Cells And Wafers. 232 has a vision to basically stop the imports of the module ecosystem into the US. At least that’s the policy expectation. The politics of 232 was to increase margins for domestic suppliers which it will certainly do. I’ll be watching how a couple things play out, from the announcements on cell and wafer manufacturing onshoring versus just paying the import tariff and how the higher module prices impact those 2030 projects that are likely Post ITC at this point. In general, projects through 2029 should have enough development done and the 232 advance knowledge that the modules are already figured out, for those projects that haven’t secured the module, that will add another wrinkle to the markets backlog but I would expect that to be minimal.
News
1 PV-Magazine:
Section 232 minimum import prices force foreign solar to match U.S. production costs
2 Canary Media:
Data centers are officially shaping election season
3 Utility Dive:
Quantum computing is coming fast. Are utilities ready?
4 BLoomberg:
China’s 20,000-Mile Solar Trade Route That Battled US Tariffs
5 Energy Storage News:
FEOC regulations reshape US BESS financing as compliance becomes capital allocation issue
6 Reuters:
Nvidia eyes investing $3 billion in SB Energy under OpenAI data center deal, Information says
7 PV-Tech:
Section 232 may offer ‘limited prospects’ for US solar wafer capacity
8 Solar Power World:
California legislators considering bills to bolster virtual power plants
Opinions:
9 Politico:
How $600B of Biden’s clean energy funding escaped Trump’s cuts
Have a great day!
Yann
