This is your SolarWakeup for August 2nd, 2018

A lightning round recap today on the top news in your solar inbox. Speaking of quick and easy, make sure you check out the junction box with integrated flashing for your residential installs. Available at most distributors across the Country.

Gone With The Wind. An Iowa nuclear power plant is closing in favor of more wind. This comes from one of the largest nuclear power operators, NextEra. Aside is the internal power struggle since CEO Jim Robo is a avid supporter of nuclear power and nuclear engineering. In the Spain wind rush a decade ago, Robo was notorious for his disdain for the money lost by his company in those projects.

Look At This Picture. You saw this article yesterday but when I looked at it again yesterday afternoon the picture caught my eye. It is a stock image of an installation in the Miami area. This is what many homeowners are getting now and it’s a shame. It also shows how much more we have to do to educate the AHJs and getting SEIA and the NRCA to warn consumers about the roofing aspect of solar.

Electrify It All. I can’t wait until the high mileage, route vehicles are electrified. The delivery trucks, transit and school buses, and postal vehicles are on/off or idling all day long. The routes and distances are very precise so the battery sizing is easy to calculate. The other side of mass electrification is how the concentrated charging will cause hotspots and peak power needs that will likely get served by batteries.

More PV Manufacturing. It looks like the Tesla plant in Buffalo is ramping up, good to see this happening. I haven’t seen them in the wild but hope to soon. Maybe some of the Tesla employees can invite me over now that I’m a local to the Bay area.

More FPL, In Florida. Florida solar is growing quickly, this time with more IOU rate based solar to the tune of 300MW from FPL. I think this type of capacity is causing FPL to think bigger than a threat from DG by focusing on EV growth and the upside of rate base for their shareholders.

Opinion

Have a great day!

Yann