Let’s Get Into The Weekend. Trump finally gets the green light to remove the 201 exemption for bifacial modules. This comes after a long line of litigation that delayed this. Biden would be well situated to give the market some certainty and announce a review of the 201 with the intention to eliminate the tariff with an announcement to help the solar industry create more domestic manufacturing.
A Word From A Policy Pro. A great friend to many solar pros, Tony Clifford, gives you 5 things to watch in the new Biden era.
PG&E Gets New CEO. The CEO of Michigan’s Consumers Energy is moving to the Golden State. Not to take advantage of the lower San Francisco rents but to become the next CEO of PG&E. Consumers was recently trying to eliminate net metering by cutting the value of solar in half while increasing residential rates by double digits. I hope Ms. Poppe will take the time to understand the benefits of solar and storage in the California grid.
841 Times 2222. FERC has shown its intentions with FERC orders 841 and 2222 which allow storage and other distributed resources to become market participants with both front and behind the meter installations. States are responsible with filing their plans on how this would work in their markets but interconnection rules will have to keep up at the same time. State policy advocates will have to work this in parallel.
Another VPP Headline. Sunrun is running away with virtual power plant offerings to utilities. We are still in very early stages of this market which will become one where all homeowners will be able to participate through aggregators. Owning the individual assets is an easy early adopter strategy but not one for the long run.
Not Just Cars. This week brought headlines on the policy movements in the transportation transition to electric vehicles. The broader point is that fleets, including vans, trucks and buses, are transitioning at a faster pace than consumer cars. One to watch.
Spotlight On Community Clinic. This 412 kW-DC solar carport installation at Vista Community Clinic (VCC) will provide long term renewable energy for the sustainability-driven healthcare facility. M Bar C Construction, CollectiveSun, and VCC leadership joined together in bringing this system from funding to design to installation. Solar energy produced from the installation will free up facility resources allowing VCC to continue to serve their patients and the surrounding community while setting a powerful example of their commitment to renewable energy.
- Reuters: Trump may end tariff exemption for imported solar panels, judge rules
- PV-Magazine: 5 pro-renewable energy actions to expect from President-Elect Joe Biden
- Utility Dive: PG&E taps Consumers Energy chief Patricia Poppe as new CEO after months-long search
- Solar Builder: FERC Order 841 mattered, but state interconnection rules
- Barrons: Sunrun’s ‘Virtual Power Plant’ Agreement Could Boost Solar and Battery Companies
- Vox: Big electric trucks and buses are coming. Here’s how to speed up the transition.
- PV-Tech: Canadian Solar adding significant manufacturing capacity in 2021 in attempt to keep pace with rivals
- Greentech Media: Sonnen Launches Lower-Priced Battery for Home Backup and Grid Services
- Axios: Clean energy startup Ecolution kWh nabs seed money pledge
Opinion
Best, Yann