This is your SolarWakeup for October 22nd, 2020

Less Is More. Australia is sending the solar postcard from the future. With over 20% of homes already with solar, storage going through the roof, the market is putting solar on homes at $1/watt with instant permitting and innovative inspection processes. You can order products directly from your software tool and get to work the day after signing the contract with e-signatures. With all of that rooftop solar, look at the demand data that shows an overall reduction.

Oceans Rise, Empires Fall. Some solar EPC is going to be hiring hundreds of workers to install a 400MW solar farm in Indiana, part of NIPSCO’s 900MW solar and storage plan. Indiana is a bellwether for me, and as I talked about with TJ Kanczuzweki, the midwest solar industry is ready to go. So here’s some words of wisdom from Hamilton’s King George of what the fossil empire thought was going to happen, and here we are. “You’ll be back soon you’ll see, You’ll remember you belong to me, You’ll be back time will tell, You’ll remember that I served you well. Oceans rise, Empires fall.”

The EV Hummer. General Motors is bringing back the off-road line as an electric vehicle. This version misses the consumer but it’s another step towards the EV in every driveway future that will drive more demand in solar.

Why The Down Day? You may have seen your solar portfolio was down a good amount yesterday and that’s because there is a new wrinkle in silicon supply chain. This is largely caused by Obama’s original trade war with China that moved a lot of the silicon manufacturing to the Xinjiang. It appears the labor pool in Xinjiang could include some Uyghur risk. With the House passing a bill requiring supply chains to be clean of this human rights issue, this is going to cause some shifts in solar supply. If you want to get more info on this, Roth Capital is hosting a call with lawyers, silicon suppliers and SEIA this morning. You can register for the Zoom call here.

Covering The ITC by M Bar C. In the last 15 years, the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) has allowed organizations to benefit from substantial cost savings to solar installations. This sustainability-driven program has helped revolutionize the renewable energy industry. Regardless, in 2021 ITC benefits will shift; here is what you need to know from my friends at M Bar C Construction and how we can help you and your organization take maximum advantage of these savings while they last. 

Opinion

 

Best, Yann