Buy a ticket to Equinox. Vote Solar does great things and you should give them at least $100 per year. In return you get to go to Equinox, a great party, or just buy a ticket to support the group. Most importantly, I am on the host committee which means we compete to see who can drive the most traffic to ticket purchases. My proposal to you again. If you buy a ticket, email me the receipt and you will be recognized. If you buy 10 tickets or donate $1000, you get to write a paragraph in a future edition. If you want to donate more, email me and I’ll figure out a way to get you even more exposure. Ticket link here.
The Sungevity demise. 10 years ago, someone showed me this idea of a customer typing their address into a web browser which pulled up their house on a map. Once you did that, a solar consultant would send you a layout and proposal within 24 hours. These were the beginning days of Sungevity, a solar sales platform that over the years did very well but may have gotten caught up in the craziness of owning assets. Without a proper sponsor, Sungevity went for the reverse merger. I was told the merger was in trouble as early as Intersolar North America in July so I am sure the company has been trying to find an alternative suitor throughout the process. As I said last week, I feel bad for the employees that tried to make things work and hope they find other opportunities in the solar industry. Sunrun called itself the largest standalone solar company last week, which may be true for the moment but I don’t expect that to hold true through the rest of the year.
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Are you down with IPP? Big news out of Europe with the potential acquisition of Innogy by Engie. Innogy is the decentralized part of the RWE separation and Engie is the rebranded GDF Suez, where GDF stands for Gaz de France. Engie has been making big investments and buying into the new IPP model, including energy storage, solar and energy efficiency. The company also sold power assets in the US to Dynegy totaling almost 10GW which shows more steps to decentralization. Let’s see what’s next for the company.
Scientists can’t stand for it. The head of the EPA’s environmental justice program resigned from the agency. Mustafa Ali wrote a 3 page resignation letter to Scott Pruitt asking to focus on the science, saying “I needed to stand up” in an interview with Think Progress.
- PV-Magazine: Sungevity files for bankruptcy
- Renewable Energy World: Engie Eyes Bid for $19.8 Billion Utility Firm Innogy
- Think Progress: EPA environmental justice leader on his resignation – ‘I needed to stand up’
- Utility Dive: As solar booms, utilities look to build new business models with strategic investments
- Arizona Central: Utility regulators vote 3-1 to let APS slide on political finance records
- Greentech Media: Trump’s Business Council Is a Who’s Who of Renewable Investors & Climate Champions
- Venture Beat: Google’s Project Sunroof now shows solar potential in all 50 states
- CleanTechnica: US Air Force Hilariously Trolls Trump With New California Solar Energy Upgrade
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann