This is your SolarWakeup for June 18th, 2020

The DG Power Plants. This week I interviewed the CEO of East Bay Community Energy, Nick Chaset, to talk about local resource adequacy and distributed virtual power plants. In the news yesterday was a duo of residential aggregated solar plus storage systems that make up a virtual power plant, both with Sunrun. The first with SCE in California and the other on the east coast. These projects are a three party arrangement between the installer/investor (Sunrun), the site host (homeowner) and the utility. In most cases, the management of the system is aligned between what is best for the homeowner and what the utility needs, though a divergence of benefits in that relationship would be interesting to play out. For the homeowner it is a version of revenue stacking, an additional benefit for installing a more expensive system. For the installer, it’s more revenue upfront, an ongoing management relationship and a complexity that will drive stickiness. For utilities, it’s demand response and lower infrastructure costs for the overall system. I like this space and can’t wait to see others play in it.

$16 Trillion. Goldman Sachs has a new report about the value of the renewables space and it does not disappoint. They are talking about an economic investment opportunity of $16 Trillion dollars between now and 2030. The firm annualizes the opportunity at $1 – $2 Trillion per year and job creation of up to 20 million over the next decade.

Cleantech Shark Tank. Let’s say it with great enthusiasm. Cleantech VC is cool again. I can only name two VCs that have been doing it since before I got into solar 15 years ago but I welcome all of the new participants. The convergence of folks that have done VC at the top of their game that now merge their work with climate based investing is incredibly exciting to me. So here’s how I want you to think about it, if you are a startup or know a startup, send them my way. I want to highlight and interview them so that the word spreads that our solar community has the next unicorn in it. Just look at the first two paragraphs and tell me that this isn’t possible!

Big Impact From Big EV Fleets. Lyft is promising 100% of their cars will be EVs by the end of the decade and a report comes out about California’s clean truck rule which will save billions. I promise you, if Joe Biden wins the election then I hope he appoints Mary Nichols as Secretary of Transportation. 

Bill Walton And Friends. In a fun event on June 24th, join me, Bill Walton and his friends at the virtual PAC-12 Sustainability Conference. This is a free event and if you’ve never seen Bill talk about solar, it’s a huge treat. Pass along the registration link to anyone that may want to join you.

Presented by Adani Green Energy. Adani is a fully integrated renewables company, from solar cell and module manufacturing to ownership and operation. The company has a top global operating and contracted pipeline of over 14 GW. Adani is the recipient of the largest solar award ever of 8 GW, which includes a single site project of 2 GW – tied for the world’s largest. No one knows mega-scale projects like Adani. 

Opinion

Best, Yann