This is your SolarWakeup for August 20th, 2018

SB 700 Advances In CA. After a great day of lobbying by the 200 solar pros in Sacramento, SB 700 came out of the House Appropriations committee with a positive vote on Thursday evening. This means that the bill heads to the House floor and is expected to come to a vote. If successful, the bill may head to the Senate before going to Governor Brown. This is a fantastic bill that extends the SGIP funding for 5 years and lays the groundwork for future Governor Newsom to lead solar further down the road. A 5 year SGIP is key to solar’s growth given the importance of storage within a solar value proposition in time of use rates. California would lead the volume that drives the cost of storage down for States that are a bit more aggressive on net metering than pro-solar markets.

SC Utility Board Ousted. As I often do, I go to Twitter to see what is happening and a story made its way through energy Twitter on Saturday. A shareholder meeting of a co-op utility in South Carolina was gathering a crowd that was far bigger than any before it. When it was all done, shareholders voted to fire the board by an overwhelming margin for abusing their positions and excessive pay amongst other things. It’s an incredible story that could be a precursor for utilities across the Country if they abuse their positions.

Module Costs Decline. I’ve stopped guessing what happens to the stocks, especially solar stocks but this review of First Solar takes the view of module costs which is interesting. What happened to the pricing after tariffs and where is it going? I’ve heard not only Chinese pricing but all module prices dropping consistently into a market favorable way. Let me know what you’re seeing.

The Impact Of Policy. Utah is a strong solar market and has shown great residential solar growth. Some of the largest residential solar companies are based there. But with limited local advocacy support there was a change in net metering that has caused a bit of a reset. I’ll be looking at the State chapters a year after speaking with many of the State chapter directors to see how the industry can prop them up.

Solar Compared To Homebuilders. Homebuilders have national brands but for the most part they are quite fragmented like the solar industry. Jon Carson uses homebuilders as an example of a market that does very well in DC. Here’s my discussion with him.

Opinion

Have a great day!

Yann