SunPower Goes Big On Storage. In exclusive pictures obtained by SolarWakeup, SunPower unveiled the addition of Sonnen and Tesla residential battery systems to their dealer product line. In San Diego for a dealer meeting, 150 installers represented by 500 people heard CEO Tom Werner go through their business offerings. SolarCity used to be SunPower dealers’ biggest competition but that is water under the bridge for SunPower at this point. Joining with both Tesla and Sonnen means that SunPower isn’t going to take a risk on supply chain. Slides showing the entire product line and storage offerings are inside the story.
The C&I Goldmine. Engie continues the buying spree adding Socore, the solar developer, to its roster. This comes just a few weeks after the acquisition of Infinity Renewables, the wind developer. Socore has been known for its C&I development adding community solar and other segments in recent years. The challenge for Engie going forward will be integrating the various companies into the umbrella and leveraging the capabilities across the value chain. Go back and listen to my interview with Engie’s VP of Innovation, Thierry Lepercq.
Let The Kids Save Us. Kids turning 18 and voting can’t come soon enough. Even on climate change, an issue that is polarizing in the polls, both sides of the millennial aisle believe that it’s happening. What our industry needs to do however, is stop talking about climate change. We need to change the conversation on solar energy, jobs and monopolies. Every question about energy, about job growth needs to show our talking point while explaining that incumbent market participants are against us and using consumer’s money to fight solar.
Storage Retrofits. Big news for residential solar as a private letter ruling comes out stating that storage can be added while qualifying for the ITC. This PLR is only for this one case but is often used across markets with similar situations but don’t rely on that PLR or my comments for tax advice! Homeowners will want to make sure they install proper hardware and software so only solar energy charges the batteries.
CO SEIA. Next Wednesday, I will be interviewing the team behind the nation’s first clean energy federal credit union at the Colorado SEIA conference. If you would like your company to partner with us and sponsor this episode, please reach out.
- SolarWakeup: SunPower Adds Tesla, sonnen to Equinox Home Solar Systems (W/Slides)
- PV-Tech: ENGIE North America to acquire SoCore Energy, 320MW PV pipeline
- Scientific American: Millennials’ Climate Views Could Sway 10 House Elections This November
- Greentech Media: IRS Letter on Home Batteries Could ‘Open Floodgates for Residential Storage Retrofits’
- SolarWakeup: More Tariffs, And The Entire World (No, Really) Freaks Out
- SolarWakeup: Water, Wet – 80% Of U.S. Electricity Could Be Produced By Renewables
- Utility Dive: PSEG, Exelon cancel capital projects at Salem nuke after legislation stalls
- NRDC: Climate Action Makes (Business) Sense for U.S. Utilities
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann