Hannity Goes Solar. I wasn’t expecting to find a video with audio from Sean Hannity speaking intelligently about the solar trade case. The audio was dubbed over the video and I haven’t figured out the original airing of it yet but it’s real. Make sure to tweet it out and get it viral.
Price Inflation. GTM Research published a 201 petition analysis. The data shows that the petition has already distorted market reality and driven prices well above global average. That’s the problem with this because even if the remedy isn’t put in effect yet, impacts are already felt. Deals aren’t getting done and people are already losing their jobs. Most of all, the market isn’t looking into the future. I urge you to keep moving forward because you will regret the gap in pipeline if you pull back now.
Market Bottom Falls Out.Looking at remedies in increments of 10 cents per watt, it shows what would happen to the market (it’s not good). The utility scale market would drop 10% at 10 cents and over 50% if a full 40 cent tariff is put in place. The requirement of the 201 petition is that the benefits of the remedy outweigh the negative impacts. No responsible person could argue that a remedy would help the solar industry or the US job market in any way.
Redefine Suniva’s Ownership. Many talking points have named Suniva as a foreign owned company, which structurally is probably true. It does create the confusion because Shunfeng has come out against the 201 petition. Suniva is controlled by the court and its primary DIP lender, SQN. So when you talk about Suniva, I think controlled by an offshore hedge fund is more accurate.
Stion’s Situation. Yesterday, news about Stion ceasing business operations was reported by multiple outlets. The company, which testified in favor at the first 201 hearing, gave little comments to me at the time. They did however continue to market themselves, I received an email urging me to buy product as late as last week. Stion’s failure is one of managements doing. They spent over $200million over the past decade on a bet that silicon prices would create high commodity pricing for crystalline modules. Ask Uni-Solar, Miasole, Solyndra and other thin film how that same bet worked out.
Storage In MA SMART. One of the interviews at SolarWakeup Live! Boston will be Michael Judge, the person in charge of getting SMART drafted and implemented for the MA solar market. Part of the program is the adder for energy storage, within a matrix on % of capacity and hours of charge. I look forward to learning more about how the dispatching of solar assets will play into the market resiliency.
Presented By True Green Capital. Our current partnership, Fund III, is actively seeking investment opportunities and channel partners to deploy capital in a scalable focused on DG and small utility scale projects. Fund III has ~$350million in equity commitments to build out a ~$1billion solar portfolio.
- Greentech Media: The Potential Impact of Solar Tariffs in 12 Charts
- Axios: China plays all sides of solar fight
- Utility Dive: Updated – NRG asks California agency to suspend hearings over Puente natural gas plant
- PV-Magazine: Thin film PV maker Stion to discontinue operations
- Washington Post: Australia rejects clean energy target for cheaper power
- New York Times: A Small Firm in Germany Has Big Ambitions in Green Energy
- CT Mirror: DEEP taking heat on its proposed changes to solar policy
- PV-Tech: New Taiwan powerhouse to become leading non-Chinese producer of solar cells in 2018
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann