By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Freedom Forever, one of America's fastest growing solar power companies, announced today that the company has doubled its revenues in 2018 from $55 million to $110 million. Freedom Forever has established itself as one of the home solar industry's most dynamic forces - and is poised for continued growth and expansion in 2019 and beyond. "At the core of Freedom Forever's business model is the fundamental belief that our customers come first. Our ongoing success is a direct result of the consumer-driven, service-oriented approach we follow, which is designed to make renewable energy an attractive proposition for homeowners by maximizing their return on investment," said Brett Bouchy, CEO of Freedom Forever. "2018 was a banner year as we cracked $100 million in revenue for the first time. As we look forward to 2019, we see continued room to grow as we bring our services to a broader market in more states, and as more homeowners become aware of both the cost-savings possible with solar energy and the role that renewables have in ultimately countering climate change." Freedom Forever has been among the fastest growing energy companies in the United States with 3000% revenue growth over the last three years. So far, the company has installed solar systems on more than 10,000 homes in California, Arizona and Nevada and installed a total of 26 Megawatts of solar capacity in 2018. In November, Freedom Forever expanded operations to Colorado and looks forward to continuing to expand into several additional states in 2019. "From the beginning, Freedom Forever has continued to show consistent and rapid growth, showcasing our ability to cultivate and maintain long-lasting relationships with our customer base through impeccable service to our clients," said Jessica Sumikawa, Executive Vice President & Chief Legal Officer, Freedom Forever. "We are proud to be a leading force behind the increases in solar energy adoption rates and we will continue to cultivate consumer demand for home solar as we spread our green energy solutions to new regions throughout the United States."

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

As North Carolina climbed the list of best solar states in the country, the growth was often attributed to utility-scale solar installations. But Duke Energy wants to remind you that it's also provides nearly $6 million in solar rebates to 1,300 residential and commercial distributed generation customers, too. And the new window for getting solar rebates for next year opens on January 2. The Duke Energy solar rebate program is one of many customer programs the company is implementing as part of the Competitive Energy Solutions for North Carolina law passed in 2017. The rebates have helped many residential and business customers take the solar leap. "We are proud to make Birdsong the first Charlotte brewery to go solar," said Chris Goulet, president of Birdsong Brewery. "Partnering with Duke Energy and its solar rebate program made the project's economics even more attractive. The company's solar installation is a big step toward making our organization more sustainable." North Carolina is No. 2 in the nation for solar power, including more than 8,000 Duke Energy customers in the state owning private solar systems. The company's rebate program launched this summer attracted so much interest that capacity for residential and non-residential customers was fully subscribed within weeks. There is still capacity for nonprofit customers in 2018. More than $6 million has been distributed to customers in 2018, with additional rebates set to be paid later in the year as systems are connected. The program will run through 2022, with an estimated 7,500 customers expected to receive Duke Energy rebates for solar systems. The company will soon begin accepting new applications from customers who want to participate:

• On Jan. 2, the company will open the window for an additional 20 megawatts of new rooftop solar installations for residential, non-residential and nonprofit customers.
• Per the N.C. Utilities Commission order earlier in the year, the company will also reallocate any 2018 capacity for projects that have not been installed. That means customers who were waitlisted in 2018 with already-installed projects will be allowed to collect any available rebates. Any unconnected customers, or those that connected projects Oct. 3, 2018, or later, are eligible to apply in 2019.

Under the program, residential customers are eligible for a rebate of 60 cents per watt for solar energy systems 10 kilowatts (kW) or less. For example, a typical rooftop array of 8 kW is eligible for a $4,800 rebate. Installed systems 10 kW or greater are eligible for a maximum rebate of $6,000. Nonresidential customers are eligible for 50 cents per watt. Nonprofit customers (such as churches and schools) are eligible for an enhanced rebate of 75 cents per watt for systems 100 kW or less.

Selling The Green New Deal. A recent poll about he Green New Deal revealed that almost nobody knows about the bill or what is in it. When the surveyor provided some of the details, 100% renewable energy in 10 years, clean energy job training and money for energy efficiency and renewable energy, the respondent came out in favor of the Green New Deal. This included 75% of moderate republicans and 57% of conservative members of the GOP. This is one step off from Fox News running a trailer for the inconvenient truth! The takeaway is simple, don’t sell the issue, sell the solutions. But make sure to sell it nonetheless, explain what is in it for the voter and they’ll be in favor!
All About New York. Governor Cuomo had a big day when it comes to big goals. The NY PSC rolled out the goal to reach 3GW of energy storage by 2030 (it will be higher). During the Governor’s speech on his 2019 legislative priorities, Cuomo outlined the goal to get to 100% renewable energy by 2040, 5 years before the goal set by California. This is a big goal for one of the largest energy users in the Country but more important is that the State needs to move to execution. Time for talk is over and the Governor needs to enable the execution of the development that will allow the work to start.
Offshore Wind Farming. 3 developers bid into a Department of Interior auction to lease Federal lands. The bids were for $135million PER ENTITY and they were to build offshore wind. One person that would know about this is Abby Hopper, who before joining SEIA was the Director of BOEM, the government entity in charge of the auction that enabled $405million in leasing fees to be paid for the ability to generate this electricity. 
Get Your Podcast Conversations. Three new podcast recordings have been released in the past week, NJ BPU President Fiordaliso, SEIA CEO Abby Hopper, and Gabe Philips of GP Energy Management. Please share the podcast with your friends and colleagues and help spread the word about them. A lot of work goes into recording and editing them so it would be appreciated to get the listen count up. Stay tuned for more coming up, make sure to subscribe to the podcast to stay in the loop on everything SolarWakeup Live!

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Have a great day!
Yann

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

As community solar continues to streak across the solar sky as the hottest segment in the industry, the questions are twofold: Why is it the hottest segment, and what are the keys to getting deals done. Scott Wiater, president and CEO of Standard Solar, a national solar company that has recently done community solar deals in New York and Colorado, agreed to answer those questions - and offer advice to anyone trying to launch community solar programs in new areas. SolarWakeup: Why is community solar one of the fastest-growing segments of the solar industry? Scott Wiater: The size of the market is staggering. According to a GTM Research, Wood Mackenzie and Vote Solar report, between 50% and 75% of U.S. electricity consumers can’t put solar arrays on their own roofs. That means there’s 50% to 75% of U.S. electricity consumers that can’t be a part of the Solar Revolution unless there’s an alternative way to reach them. People are realizing that community solar provides them with that opportunity. SolarWakeup: According to a recent study, only 19 states have programs that actively promote community solar programs. Why is that? Scott Wiater: It’s a relatively new market, and just like any other new market, there’s an education process that we have to go through. It's not that states don’t want community solar programs. I just think that right now that they don’t know any better. SolarWakeup: What kind of education effort is needed to explain the benefits of community solar to policymakers? Scott Wiater: You’d be surprised how quickly policymakers start to get it once you explain to them not only the benefits to the consumers but also the neighborhood that’s connected to the community solar program. So it doesn’t take much, though it does require that the solar company involved be willing to take the time to explain the process to them. In the end, it’s so worth every effort we make. SolarWakeup: What kind of reception do you get when you start talking about community solar to customers? Scott Wiater: They get excited. After all, what’s not to get excited about? It’s an opportunity to access clean energy without the complex process of putting it on your own roof. People like easy, and community solar gives them an easy way to do their part to help the environment—and it saves them money on their electric bills to boot. What’s not to like? SolarWakeup: What are the three most important elements to getting a community solar deal done? Scott Wiater: The three most important elements to getting a community solar deal done are education, financing and customer acquisition. The key to making sure all of that goes smoothly is to have a development group involved that has done it before and won’t get tangled up in the complexity of the deal. There’s a specific set of skills companies must have to do community solar projects smoothly, and not everyone has that skill set. If you’re considering doing a community solar project, do your due diligence and make sure the company you choose to spearhead your deal fully understands everything that entails.