This is your SolarWakeup for August 11th
The Point of 232. Stop relying on foreign made solar panels and create a domestic manufacturing ecosystem. Through a series of duties and tariffs, the US has built out a supply chain for domestic module assembly, nearing 60GW and growing while starting a cell manufacturing ramp up. There is a hopeful mission that can be written as a headline with an undertone of shifting margin to a few companies that are taking victory laps for the 232 proclamation that gives domestic suppliers room to breathe in that 40cent per watt range. I don’t know that this is the end of the road though and whether the runway exists to drive the Capex for the full build out of the domestic supply chain given the ITC and 45x sunsets.
News
1 Bloomberg:
The US Has a New Tactic to Challenge China’s Solar Dominance
2 PV-Magazine:
Sunset of ITC means solar PPAs will do more heavy lifting
3 Utility Dive:
Siemens’ gas turbine backlog nears 70 GW as company expands manufacturing
4 Reuters:
Mapping America's mammoth power machine
5 CNN:
Americans are rallying against data centers. Surprisingly few are actually getting built
6 Axios:
The U.S. just had its hottest month on record
7 PV-Tech:
Sunrun solar-plus-storage capacity additions up in Q2, trims forecasts
8 Canary Media:
In North Carolina, rooftop solar is alive and well despite headwinds
Opinions:
9 Energy Storage News:
PJM BESS developers’ struggles to get financing are often due to inaccurate financial modelling, enSights CEO says
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 10th
Anti-Solar Consequences. Solar forces behind The Invest in Tomorrow Coalition PAC pushed and succeeded in helping Representative Ogles lose his primary race in Tennessee. There is a political price to pay for members of Congress that are anti-solar and it appears that this is true on both sides of the aisle. Pro-solar is pro-jobs, pro-business, anti-inflation and just makes common sense. Here is my new tagline for members, Keep your job and support solar!
News
1 Politico:
How solar donors helped take down a Trump-backed Republican
2 PV-Magazine:
Trump signs Section 232 tariffs, placing minimum import price on polysilicon imports
3 Bloomberg:
How the US Is Trying to End Solar Tariff Whack-a-Mole
4 Utility Dive:
$20B in federal climate grants unblocked by appeals court
5 Wall Street Journal:
Cuba Is Low on Oil. Now, It’s Counting on Solar, With China’s Help.
6 New York Times:
New Amazon Data Center Stokes Worry It Would Be the Most Polluting Power Plant in the U.S.
7 Axios:
The future of the NextEra-Dominion megadeal
8 PV-Tech:
PV Chart of the Week
9 Solar Power World:
Heliene lays off nearly 100 workers at Mountain Iron solar panel assembly facility
10 Energy Storage news:
Fluence books first big data centre deals, but manufacturing ramp-up delays hit revenues
Opinions:
11 Reuters:
Everybody wants energy security post the Iran war, but how?
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 7th
Opinion
News
1 New York Times:
In Upset, Andy Ogles Loses to a Republican Challenger in Tennessee
2 Reuters:
Trump unveils trade actions to compete with China on solar and chips
3 Solar Builder:
T1 Energy inks PV module supply deal with Clearway
4 PVTech:
SolarEdge forecasts weaker Q3 despite 20% Q2 revenue growth
5 Energy Storage News:
EU’s Chinese inverter ban could be sign of things to come for BESS, ex-Northvolt BESS exec says
6 Canary Media:
Trump is blocking billions of dollars of grants that would fix the grid
7 PV-Magazine:
Sunrun pivots to direct sales origination as affiliate installer channels slump
Opinions:
8 Bloomberg:
Solar Tariffs Will Hurt America’s Allies, Not China
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 6th
MIPs and TRQs. The administration is going to announce a long anticipated minimum import price under the 232 polysilicon case any moment now. Here’s what you need to know. This is meant to drive up the price of all modules imported in the US above the price that domestic producers want. With enough domestic production, you should be able to buy modules well below the MIP if the competition is thorough and there is no collusion on pricing. (Different topic). Here’s what comes next, you’re likely to see two things. A flurry of supply announcements between domestic factories and IPPs that are trying to lock in production, something that solar has actually done not enough of based on the earnings announcements this week. (You know your backlog but keep buying at the market to try and save a penny but then screw up your schedule). The bigger story that few people know is that there is likely to be a TRQ, tariff rate quota that allows some domestic producers to import parts of their module based on their investment levels (or as details emerge during the announcements). This will allow some factories to have access to imported cells while building out their domestic supply chain but not be subject to all the tariffs. This is where the rush will be to lock in the supply of pre and post factory startup. More to come, get your deals done today.
News
1 Reuters:
Trump administration to impose 15% tariff in polysilicon probe meant to counter China
2 Bloomberg:
Trump Readies Tariffs and Price Floor to Help US Polysilicon
3 PV_Tech:
Shoals posts record quarterly revenue of US163.4 million, returns to profitability in Q2 2026
4 Utility Dive:
Facing an estimated 474 GW of interconnection requests, Texas hits pause on data centers
5 Canary Media:
PJM’s big new data center plan
6 Energy Storage News:
KKR’s ContourGlobal begins construction of ‘Sun at Night’ solar-plus-storage project in Chile
7 PV-Magzine:
SolarEdge swings back to operating profit in Q2 as margins hit 27.5%
Opinions:
8 Rand Corp:
What Is Blocking U.S. Power Expansion for AI—and What Could Unlock It by 2030?
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 5th
Minimum Import Price? The section 232 on poly looks to be coming soon, at least it seems so by some companies’ stock price pops. With a likely MIP (minimum import price) on modules, the question comes on how it will drive domestic factories and does it need a 45x extension bill in order to really drive that. At what MIP will the market slow in a way that is painful or can the off taker market manage it, those are the questions I am hearing right now.
News
1 Reuters:
US weighs polysilicon price floor, tariffs to counter China in solar and chips
2 PV-Magazine:
Base Power launches 39.2 kWh U.S-made Base Core home battery, secures $1 billion in new funding
3 Bloomberg:
Solar’s Boom in Europe Is Reaching Places Once Deemed Too Dark
4 Canary Media:
Data centers take center stage in Wisconsin governor’s race
5 New York Times:
Plug-In Solar Panels Are Starting to Sprout in U.S. Backyards
6 Utility Dive:
Southern Co. contracted large load rises to 17 GW
7 Axios:
The grid's climate stress test
8 PV-Tech:
T1 Energy, Clearway ink 641MW module supply deal using domestic cells
Opinions:
9 Energy Storage News:
Load smoothing, cold-start backup and speed-to-power - Fluence maps the battery storage opportunity for Australian data centres
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 4th
The LFP Scale Up. Samsung is building out their domestic LFP production and already highlights that demand will outpace their capacity which is a reasonable start to take. There is an overlap of the demand between the auto and energy sectors and finding the volumes that will drive pricing and cost structures. The trade cases will also come to the storage market, which will surely take some time to find a rationalization as well.
News
1 Energy Storage News:
Samsung SDI on track with US LFP cell production, expects demand to outstrip production
2 Heatmap News:
Scoop - Clearway Cancels Plan to Swap Solar Farm for Data Center and Gas Plant
3 Bloomberg:
KKR Buys Total Renewable Power Stake in €1.8 Billion Deal
4 Axios:
TotalEnergies agrees to buy Shell's European onshore renewables business
5 Reuters:
Ameresco books $1.8 billion in new awards as power demand remains strong
6 Salt Lake Tribune:
Utah produced more power from solar than any other source in May, marking a new first
7 Politico:
Kansas’ data center boom is shaking up the governor’s race
8 Utility Dive:
AEP secures 13 GW of gas turbines as generation ‘central’ to growth plans
9 Canary Media:
Virginia lays groundwork to combine more solar with farming
10 PV-Magazine:
First Solar hits sales record as it reaffirms 2026 guidance, balances tariff risk
Opinions:
11 PV-Tech:
Building with bankability in mind
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 3rd
Opinion
News
1 Bloomberg:
Brookfield Faces Looming Creditor Clash Over Polish Solar Firm
2 Axios:
The grid's climate stress test
3 Reuters:
US bars imports from 43 more companies over China's alleged forced labor involving Uyghurs
4 PV-Tech:
FIC acquires US solar-plus-storage firm Perfect Power
5 Solar Power World:
Xpanner unveils pile installation aid that attaches to skid steer
6 Energy Storage News:
‘Business as usual, just accelerated’
7 Canary Media:
New York takes on the myth that solar is swallowing farmland
8 PV-Magazine:
Tigo announces expanded eligibility for virtual power plants
Opinions:
9 New York Times:
A Cyberattack on US Water Systems And the Growing Threat of Falling Space Junk
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 31st
Opinion
News
1 Energy Storage News:
‘Tremendously important market for storage’
2 Wall Street Journal:
First Solar Sales Fall on Contract Cancellations
3 PV-Magazine:
Solar nonprofits are taking the federal government to court over rescinded grants
4 Utility Dive:
DOE mulls changes to Biden-era transformer rule, raising utility concerns
5 Bloomberg:
China Crosses Energy Milestone as Coal Falls Below 50% of Power
6 Reuters:
Data center boom to make Portugal one of Europe's fastest-growing power markets, EDP says
7 PV-Tech:
Origis Energy inaugurates first half of 2GW Texas solar-plus-storage complex
Opinions:
8 Solar Buildermag:
Report - U.S. data center development slows in Q1
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 30th
Inverter Rule Deployed. Just as I wrote about my concerns on the inverters, the FCC came out with a rule about inverter production. Somewhat going further than I expected in that it ‘bans’ all countries of origin but then limits it to ‘new models’. Having heard some experts on what this could mean and how it rolls out, there is room for interpretation on how bad and impactful this could be. More to come.
News
1 Canary Media:
Trump admin bans ‘new’ foreign-made inverters. What does that mean?
2 PV-Tech:
US government bans foreign-produced inverters
3 Bloomberg:
US Risks Broadening China Clash With Robot, Inverter Curbs
4 New York Times:
Trump Administration Is Repurposing Federal Land for A.I. Data Centers
5 Energy Storage News:
Battery storage is an important growth driver, NextEra CEO says, amid merger to create largest regulated utility in US
6 UTility Dive:
CMS Energy plans to sell renewable assets to focus on regulated utilities
7 PV-Magazine:
Enphase leans into Europe, TPO and new tech as U.S. residential solar slump persists
Opinions:
8 Reuters:
Europe's energy transition is now an economic security race
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for July 29th
Inverter Supply Chains. I worry about this one and worry about the lack of concern from the broader market. Whatever happens at the DC level could range from disruptive to market altering but any situation will cause headaches for the market. The growth of domestic manufacturing will have to come from players that are subpar and not ready for primetime while the larger folks have learned their lessons with scaling power manufacturing. My point being, you should get ahead of this now.
News
1 PV-Tech:
European PV inverter manufacturing
2 Bloomberg:
As US Residential Solar Industry Craters, Florida Bucks Trend
3 Utility Dive:
PJM board proposes backstop capacity auction, data center curtailment plans
4 Reuters:
Big Tech takes on power project risk to avoid forecast jump in prices
5 Energy Storage news:
Inside the container
6 Canary Media:
Solar-powered EV carshare pilot launches in Massachusetts
7 PV-Magazine:
MN8 Energy to acquire Greenbacker for $375 million, creating 6 GW renewable energy platform
Opinions:
8 Solar Power World:
Op-ed
Have a great day!
Yann
