This is your SolarWakeup for May 15th, 2020

Press Release Day. If you’ve been reading SolarWakeup for awhile you know that I avoid press releases like the plague but not today. There are three announcements that came out yesterday (don’t release news on Thursdays) that you need to know about.

Tax Equity Getting Done. Sometimes the most interesting stories in the news don’t actually get covered in a meaningful way. $40million was raised in a tax equity partnership to own DC solar projects, a niche market that has its complications but can be profitable for those that do it right. Mike Healy of New Columbia Solar has been a longtime solar professional is behind the interesting transaction that is getting done right in the middle of a pandemic. So while you may not see it in regular coverage, trust me when I say that this deal getting done now is a strong message of optimism for solar. Not just that it’s getting done now but it’s DG, portfolio of assets and a market with policy complexity. Go into the weekend with a positive outlook.

Enphase Goes Commercial. Just when you’re getting used to the way things are, a headline makes its way to your screen. Enphase has been laser focused on residential market share growth and currently sits in second place according to GTM. Then comes this headline for a portfolio of commercial and multi family projects that is being designed with the flexibility of micro inverters. In a market that has been dominated by string inverters, the need for rapid shutdown and desire for unit level monitoring/optimization, is opening engineer’s minds to other options. I’ve spent the last week asking people around the industry, what solar looks like in 3 years but reading the headlines may be setting that stage.

Solaria Is Coming To Play. Solaria, the module manufacturer of aesthetically pleasing black modules, is adding senior leadership. In what seems like a change of leadership, it is, the new CEO and President actually represent a shift towards business strategy and execution. Like a choreographed business plan, Solaria released a 400W module a few months ago and now Tony Alvarez takes the CEO spot and Howard Wenger becomes President. Many of you know Wenger as a longtime staple in solar, former President of SunPower and one of the original solar policy advocates dating back to the 90s. Alvarez increases the Cypress Semiconductor leadership in solar adding to the many executives that joined Enphase from Cypress. Big moves for a big module, add this variable to your vision of the solar future.

So Is Solar. EIA data is showing that coal is on a major decline this year and renewables are adding to their gains in the energy mix. The data is compelling enough that New York Times covered the shift. That doesn’t stop a US Senator from North Dakota from publicly tweeting about saving a coal plant that neither ratepayers want to pay for (it is a financial loser) nor the utility wants to keep open. With Great River Energy planning the closure of the plant, Cramer wants to keep it open. First, I empathize with the community, the plant is in the middle of North Dakota and must be one of the major economic drivers of the community. That being said, what does it say about the coal industry that is bankrupting in real-time and does not answer any question related to capitalism? Even with its struggles, the industry is able to push political power to a US Senator’s twitter account.


What Do You Need? I’ve spoken to between 30 and 40 solar installers this week to answer this question. What is the biggest issue facing your business as you rebound and grow post pandemic? The industry is facing MAJOR margin stacking against it while also being the lifeblood to everyone in the ecosystem. Without a strong installer community no-one succeeds including distributors, financing companies, manufacturers or consumers. I’m one person with a newsletter but if I learned anything over the passed 15 years, we need a strong market to be a profitable market.

Opinion

Best, Yann