Solar Innovation. I’m a startup guy at heart. It’s where I get most excited and I am always actively seeking out the companies in solar that are executing on innovation. Last week I had the pleasure of speaking with the CEO of Energy Toolbase, a startup that many of you know well. John and I spoke about what it takes to start a business in solar and where his customers are guiding the innovation. (Hint: more detail on energy storage) Energy Toolbase is offering a free trial, make sure you tell them you heard about it on SolarWakeup, they may even extend the trial for you if you ask nicely.
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The solar spectrum. We already spoke about the acquisition of Sungevity last week. The owners are moving swiftly which makes it appear cautiously optimistic that a turnaround is being taken seriously. Sungevity is now Spectrum Solar, a new name and brand to wipe away the digital history. Unfortunately another 40 employees were let go, which happens in these situations. Once stabilized, I would assume the company to start hiring once again. This is likely a play to create a lead gen company, similar to the company that SolarCity acquired for over $100million a few years ago.
Make sure you listen to the latest episodes of EnergyWakeup. Hear from solar entrepreneur, John Gurski, the founder of Energy Toolbase, a cloud based energy bill analytics and proposal tool. I also speak with Tony Clifford from Standard Solar about being acquired by Gaz Metro and his work at SEIA.
March for Science. On Saturday, Earth Day, an amazing turn around for facts happened across America. My favorite part of the marches were the signs. Scientists are clever people and some have a great sense of humor. I did have an important takeaway. Here I saw thousands of people in the rain cheering on the speakers that spoke about the birds, the weather, the climate all around us. The problem was, who in that crowd needed to be convinced to be there? Who was wondering if scientific facts were indeed facts. We, as a solar industry, need to speak to regular people. Stop preaching and make solar mainstream. Making solar mainstream isn’t a price point, number of homes or total capacity. Mainstream is the moment when people in a deli don’t wonder how the industry works, but that it does.
- SolarWakeup: Talk with John Gurski, Founder of Energy Toolbase, a solar startup creating a smarter proposal
- PV-Magazine: Sungevity sacks 40 more workers without notice, changes name
- EDF: This Earth Day, 100 percent clean energy is 100 percent possible
- PV-Tech: Green with NV – Nevada’s monopoly utility wants to ‘subvert’ net metering restoration bill
- Renewable Energy World: Notes from the Solar Underground – The Long Slow Death of US Solar Manufacturing
- Utility Dive: New York to make $15M available to fund energy storage projects
- Washington Post: Changes to Energy Dept. websites downplay renewables as a replacement for fossil fuels
- New York Times: For First Time Since 1800s, Britain Goes a Day Without Burning Coal for Electricity
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann