This is your SolarWakeup for May 20th, 2021

F-150 Release Success. Here are some reasons why the F-150 release is a success and why it’s important for our industry. It still looks like a truck with the advantages of an EV with acceleration and range. It also gives truck owners their first truck without giving up the bed because the frunk is created. The Lightning will also have an onboard generator for all those working men and women powering tools on construction sites. For folks like me, we’ll pretend to go camping and tailgating. This is exactly the opposite of the EV1, you get all the benefits of an EV without sacrificing what you like about the truck and normalizing electrification makes you want to own this. $100 to reserve yours today, paying to join a marketing list is the new customer acquisition tactic!

V2G Activated, Solarized. But wait, there’s more. Ford is including a feature called intelligent backup power, a feature that will allow you to use the truck as a battery for your home. They have productized vehicles to grid or home in this case. The solar overlap is that Sunrun announced last night that it has been chosen as the preferred installer for Ford Intelligent Backup Power. With a battery bank expected to be in the 120kWh range for the extended range model (300 miles), this has energy use ramifications a bit beyond anyone was expecting from a car company. I’ll be realistic here that this isn’t real V2G since it assumes a disconnect from the grid has occurred, islanding the home, and therefore regulatory policy could be limited but surely regulators are wondering how else this could be used. Charge the car at night, island the house during peak times, and then do it all again? What about the warranty on the car? You can also charge the truck on commercial rates and offset residential charges perhaps? I’m intrigued and I like the auto OEM / utility legislative battle that this promotes. Get the popcorn!

How To Sell It. Ford is reserving the trucks through their dealers. If the dealers don’t get real on supporting specialized sales folks and partnering with local contractors to build out the infrastructure, this is going to struggle getting out the door. I’ll hold my enthusiasm for this.

And The Gas Tax? EVs are great and I think every car should be electric. How will we pay for the roads with the lost gas tax revenue? Ponder that with Secretary Pete.

Black Solar Professionals Database.The Society of Black Solar Professionals and Black Owners of Solar Services invite you to fill out this 5 minute survey.  With this information we are creating an opportunity ecosystem to serve the needs of Black people in the solar space. The database formed by this information will serve as an opportunity matcher between Black people in the industry and industry opportunities (jobs, RFPs, Financing opportunities etc.) Thank you to Savannah Whitfield from Black Bear Energy for highlighting this.

PPAs For C&I Deep Dive. On May 26th, 10am PST, Sustainable Capital Finance (SCF) will host the next webinar in its 2021 webinar series analyzing solar power purchase agreements (PPAs) for Non-Profits and Municipalities, including SCF’s 8-Step PPA process. Additionally, SCF will examine a series of project case studies illustrating common challenges specific to school, non-profit and municipal projects, and requisite solutions. This webinar is recommended for anyone looking to provide solar PPAs for schools, non-profits and municipalities, as well as solar developers & installers looking to increase their knowledge on SCF’s PPA solutions. Click here to sign up for this exciting, free webinar!

 Opinion

Best, Yann