Tesla’s roofing dreams. We all saw the presentation about Tesla’s solar shingles and the solar industry answered with great skepticism. The roofing industry doesn’t seem too eager to weigh in quite yet. DOW recently pulled the plug on its solar shingle probably writing down a good amount of investment. Musk makes a new goal public; the solar tile will be cheaper than a non-solar roof even without the energy production. Unless he is comparing to French slate material, he is clearly mistaken because it is doubtful that there is a technical potential for solar to be cheaper than asphalt shingles.
Taking the Terraforms. Brookfield and Appaloosa have upped their pressure to take over Terraform Power and potentially Terraform Global. They proposed to acquire the shares at $13/share which is near their current value. If TERP enters into the agreement before December 6th, they yieldco will not have to make another creditor payment.
FERC goes for storage. A new proposed rulemaking process was started by FERC that focuses on storage and demand response. Public comment is now open but the goal is to allow storage to participate in wholesale energy markets. Another market for storage is positive, now is time to create more wholesale markets.
Illinois goes Christmas shopping. Apparently, legislators call 500 page bills a Christmas list because there is something for everyone. One legislator called this bill a $24billion rate hike because it goes to save the nuclear power plants similar to New York. The solar industry is united behind the opposition for this bill because of the indiscriminate demand charges placed on solar customer’s bills.
- Vox: Elon Musk claims Tesla’s solar roof will be competitive even without the energy it produces
- PV-Magazine: Brookfield, Appaloosa propose expedited buy-out of TerraForm Power, Global
- Renewable Energy World: Federal Power Regulators Propose Rule to Remove Barriers to Energy Storage
- Utility Dive: Inside Exelon’s last-minute push to save its nukes and remake the Illinois power sector
- Greentech Media: As Tesla Has Approval to Buy SolarCity, Here’s What a Combined Company Might Look Like
- Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Electricity rates – down for We Energies, up for Alliant
- Engadget: Six innovative solar systems that go beyond standard arrays
- GreenBiz: Hundreds Of US companies urge climate action
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann