This is your SolarWakeup for February 3rd, 2020

Utility Ownership Fallacy. Utility ownership of behind the meter or community level assets reveals the flaw that is the 21st century business model. When it comes to building the most competitive and dynamic energy grid, it requires consumers to be at the center of the services that are provided. Not in a way that is secured by minimum bills or required contracts but by a provider showing the value proposition and actually delivering what was promised. Years from now there will be books written about how PG&E has been able to survive this long as an IOU through two bankruptcies, multiple criminal convictions and an ongoing search for executives. At the center of that story will be the regulatory capture in Sacramento.

Better Jobs. Part of the solar industry’s goal for the next decade is geographically dispersing the job opportunities. Of course the installations are spread around the Country but what about the office jobs? I’d be interested to see trade groups working with local economic development councils to find siting opportunities for solar companies in places that aren’t usually considered or are hard to find.

Plan For Big Solar. Every week passes and the realization comes that for the foreseeable future the limits to the growth in solar will be labor and materials. The pipeline appears endless, consumer demand growing in depth and geography and capital loves solar more each day. Trying to buy materials for a project in the next two quarters however, is far more complicated and unpredictable than ever before and it may get worse before it gets better. Next week, Enphase will report earnings and you may hear that they are sold out and raising margins simply due to fundamental economics of supply and demand. 

Opinion

Best, Yann