This is your SolarWakeup for February 11th, 2020

A 2010 Build. In 2010, CPS built a new coal plant and now they want customers to decide whether that plant should be shut down. I assume that during the public hearings pre-construction, someone said that coal wasn’t a good idea and the 30 year life expectancy is a fallacy. Now CPS wants to CYA by their customers.

Instant Permitting. Santa Barbara understands that when you want more solar on roofs, you cut the proverbial red tape. On demand permitting is now coming to a building department near you. You recall, as we’ve stated many times before on SolarWakeup, that permitting cost reductions are the best way to lower the cost of solar for homeowners. Listen to OpenSolar’s Andrew Birch talk about it on the Freeing Energy podcast.

Unlimited Money, Limited Pipeline. Macquarie adds another $2billion in announced capital for renewable energy infrastructure investment. The key is more around the types of projects that infra groups are willing to fund and how they gain their pipelines. Every good project gets funded, at least that was possible in a world where we didn’t have to do deals via zoom. On the other hand Macquarie has a history in doing deals that others won’t, like a storage aggregation in Walmarts 5 years ago early.

Margin Focused, Always. Enphase released Q4 earnings on Tuesday and they beat on revenue and margin. While the company is growing their services to installers through acquisition they are also investing in major R&D on their product roadmap. Both of those, if executed, will likely grow the margin for the company even better than the 40% they are at now.

Demand Grows, Then Grows Again. What happens when every home has an EV in the driveway or two? And every bus on the road goes electric as well? Fleet conversion is also  going to happen much faster than anyone expects. All of that extra demand, at the end of the distribution lines, is going be a major added variable for grid operators. 

Find A Vehicle. Congress needs a vehicle to pass items in their environmental agenda, like the ITC expansion and extension or environmental justice laws. COVID or infrastructure vehicles are pending this year and could be tagged as a possible vehicle. 

Opinion

Best, Yann