Learning The Lessons of 2008. I’ve heard from some of you and see it online from many. Now is not the time to ask for things like the ITC extension or the grant. Especially when the headlines from the weekend read that democrats are holding up additional aid for PPP. The truth is that good policy doesn’t come around until the politics allow for it and right now is when the politics work. Solar doesn’t just want policies like automatic permitting, we need them to rebound but other than now, getting that done would be almost impossible. A year from now, all we would hear is that we shouldn’t pick winners and losers or the need for balanced budgets. The politics allow for solar to see a future where every roof in America can have it and every new power plant is solar with storage, let’s give it our shot.
Pollution Is A Cost. A new Harvard study found that the death rate was higher in counties where long term exposure to pollution was more prevalent. This isn’t the first correlation between quality of life being worse off when pollution is a part of it. So why haven’t regulators been able to include societal benefits when utilities file for new power plants? Well, politics tend to prevail when money talks, even when lives are at stake. Like I said last week, we now have exact data on the cost of pollution, regulators should use it.
WFH vs Traffic vs ICE. There is an interesting problem developing all over the country. With everyone working from home and no longer commuting, you see the impact it has on pollution. While they are at home, energy consumption in commercial buildings is also down. So now the technical problem is what if working from home isn’t temporary. If companies are getting used to the remote nature of workers how does that impact the solar industry. Overlay the natural progression to electric vehicles, you now have the reverse charging that we were anticipating which was a commuter charging their EV at their work. Less cars on the road means less traffic which means less pollution. More people working from home means energy consumption trends change. The working technical papers for utilities probably wasn’t anticipating this, let’s see what they and the solar industry come up with.
New Survey Next Week. We are taking the week off from the tracking survey. There are too many open ends in the market and we had the last four weeks to summarize. It will come back next week. A free copy of the summary is available to any residential solar installer, just hit reply and ask for it.
Solar Stimulus $0 Year 1 PPA. My friends over at Sustainable Capital Finance are offering an extremely beneficial financing option for businesses & non-profits looking to adopt solar. Their Solar Stimulus PPA offers a $0 solar energy spend for the first year of operation, helping organizations redirect those dollars towards payroll and other critical operating expenses. If you are a solar installer or developer whose potential clients have voiced concerns over COVID-19 in relation to adopting solar, this is a great solution for you.
- Los Angeles Times: Should we spend billions on clean energy? It worked during the last crisis
- New York Times: New Research Links Air Pollution to Higher Coronavirus Death Rates
- Axios: Coronavirus leads to historic drop in carbon emissions
- PV-Tech: Global solar project M&A activity immune to pandemic impacts in Q1 – Mercom
- Greentech Media: How Much Money Does Smart Fleet Charging Save? 40%, for This California Bus Operator
- CleanTechnica: TOTAL Invests $490 Million In Indian Solar Joint Venture
- Grist: Turns out, traffic spreads like the coronavirus
- Utility Dive: Clearer picture of coronavirus-driven grid load declines emerges in US after weeks of lockdowns
Opinion
Best, Yann