This is your SolarWakeup for November 15th, 2017

We’ve Got You Covered On SMART. If you were to look around other publications you would be hard pressed to find information about the SMART program release in Massachusetts even though it’s the most important topic in the State in years. Not to worry, we’ve got you covered with information that you need to figure out your bidding strategy. Not to shorten it to a few words, you have a 40 minute information filled interview with the person in charge of the program. This platform isn’t about covering news, instead looking to give you exactly the facts you need to run your business.

The Point of Live! Events. It’s been two weeks since SolarWakeup Live! in Boston. The people that attended that event already knew what you are only reading today. They also know more information about NEM caps than you. My reason for creating the events and asking for your trust in the content is to change the way you have experienced conferences. Right now, you go to conferences for networking, not content. You go for several days and spend thousands on a badge. While I look forward to having people travel to SolarWakeup Live! events, I trust that you believe in the content you’ve been reading for 5 years on this site. Live! DC is coming up in a few weeks and there are still tickets available. If you live on the East Coast you should either be at Live! DC or waving signs in front of the USTR hearing on December 6th.

When, Not If. This is a unanimous assumption in the solar industry, storage is coming. It may not pencil everywhere today, neither does solar but it will grow like a hockey stick similar to the solar growth from 2007 to today. It may actually happen faster than solar since the solar penetration aids in the market growth. In the near future, I will share with you my upcoming venture which involves energy storage with a value proposition aimed at the solar industry.

Terminate That Language. Schwarzenegger is right, stop talking about climate change especially to people outside of your echo chamber. Clean air, clean water and solar energy. All of these things poll at over 70%. Monopoly utilities poll at well below 50% so play the spread between those two issues and you will win people over. Great coverage from Amy Harder at Axios from COP23 in Bonn.

Micro And MacroGrids. This may be the 2017 buzzword of the year, microgrids. Really what we are talking about is power generation and power controls inside a disconnect switch. If the grid shuts off, the home/building/network can continue to function within the designated panel loads. The trick comes with multiple power generation sources on the inside of the disconnect switch. When you look at it this way, I’ve come to learn that there are less suppliers able to participate than you would expect. Backup power may be a better way to sell this, it also allows a homeowner to buy emotionally as opposed to asking for payback numbers.

Who Is Terence Stewart? Making the case for 201 tariffs is always tricky, you have to lie to yourself and the people you are speaking to. I don’t know who this lawyer is that got to write for the WSJ on behalf of the 201 petitioners, but he did a poor job. It took GTM’s Shayle Kann more than 140 characters but less than 280 to destroy the case he was making.

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.

Opinion

Have a great day!

Yann