SB700 Becomes Law. This bill passed with the hard work of solar pros and solar supporters means cheaper energy storage in your future. Regardless of whether you work in California or not, take note of where storage makes sense and at what price point it breaks through.
Vote Solar Equinox DC. Would you be so kind to join me and some of the best solar advocates in America in DC on October 18th? Equinox DC is an event to celebrate the solar industry and raise money for a great cause. You can get super cheap tickets here and if you buy a lot of them you get to put a paragraph on SolarWakeup by sending me the receipt
Thoughts About Elon. This isn’t a statement about what Elon did when he wrote about ‘funding secured’ but my thoughts on why a settlement was required at all. Over the weekend, Musk had to settle with the SEC for the statement and process surrounding the go private actions. The SEC came after him quickly and sought to oust him as Tesla’s CEO. This is absurd in my opinion. Ford, GM and the other OEMs have had scandals that literally kill people (remember airbags and ignition switches?) which resulted in no action by the SEC. I personally had a Ford that put exhaust fumes into the car which made my kids sick and Ford nor the NTSB gave a damn about it. The SEC action is much like utilities coming after solar, changing an incumbent market with monopolies gets all sorts of pushback and the regulatory environment is embedded with those that are loyal to the system.
News About New Stuff. A good breakdown of the new stuff at SPI by the GTM team. Some are new and some are improvements to technology we already had in the market.
Gates and Bezos Tech. The Venture fund which pools some of the biggest names is focused on technology that can change the world. I support the initiative to find better technology but without a fund working in parallel to develop and fund projects, it will be hard to scale this initiative. The risk tolerant money needs to be available to make investments into projects where the technology risk falls on the project owner and not the offtaker.
Wholesale Storage Deals. One of the biggest questions I have for one of the speakers at SolarWakeup Live! Jersey City is how and when wholesale solar and storage can make sense in the markets. There are cost considerations and regulatory oversight to consider but I don’t think we are far from that reality in PJM markets. To hear the conversation live with Gabe Phillips from GP Renewables, register at solarwakeuplive.com.
- SolarWakeup: SB700 Signed By Governor Brown, Extends SGIP 5 Years
- CNBC: SEC settles charges with Tesla’s Elon Musk, will remain as CEO but relinquish chairman role and pay stiff fine
- Greentech Media: A Whole New World of PV – Product Launch Roundup From Solar Power International
- Utility Dive: Gates, Bezos invest $1B in 7 new energy startups
- Marketwatch: Saudi Arabia tables $200 billion solar-energy plant with SoftBank
- PV-Tech: Enel completes largest solar project in Mexico, connects 1,089MW to the grid
- SolarWakeup: Could Perovskite Solar Cells Be Close To Commercialization?
- Climate Change News: UN recruits Mike Bloomberg to lead green finance push
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann