By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

In a previous life, writer Frank Andorka spent his Februarys at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington D.C. attending the Legislative Day for the pest management industry. He's always been surprised there isn't such a national conference/day for the solar industry, but he did discover that the California Solar + Storage Association holds its own version in Sacramento on Wednesday. He asked Bernadette DelChiaro, the group's executive director, about why she thinks "Lobby Day" is important. Here are her answers. Frank Andorka (FA): What is Lobby Day? Bernadette DelChiaro (BDC): Our annual Solar & Storage Worker Lobby Day is a chance for workers from across the state to educate lawmakers about the jobs our industry supports, and the value of those jobs to people and families. It also gives us a chance to push for our top legislative priorities, such as passing SB 700. FA: Why is it important? BDC: The state legislature sets the pace for the continued growth of solar and storage in California. Despite the state’s commitment to clean energy, powerful opponents to solar spend millions of dollars on insider lobbyists and make large contributions to political campaigns. The best way to cut through all this is for the men and women who make up our 86,000 work force to speak face-to-face with the decision makers, telling personal stories that will leave a lasting impression. FA: Why should people attend? BDC: Before the end of August, California legislators will take several major votes that will drastically shape the solar & storage market. Anyone who works in solar or storage in California will be directly impacted by the decisions made by these lawmakers. Solar & Storage Worker Day is a great opportunity for average, everyday solar and storage workers to directly share their story, make a positive impression and win over votes. FA: What is the most useful thing solar installers can do on Lobby Day (if they attend)? BDC: Tell a story about themselves. Why did they choose a career in solar and storage? How long have they been doing this work? Why is their job worth protecting? FA: How important is it for solar and storage professionals to get involved in the political process? BDC: Utilities and fossil fuel companies are heavily involved in the political process, and they spend millions of dollars lobbying elected officials and influencing public policy. It's critical for solar and storage professionals to get involved in the political process to counteract that messaging and let [legislators] know how things really are. FA: What is the biggest issue facing California in the solar + storage industry? BDC: In the near term, the looming expiration of the storage rebate program coupled with changing utility rates that make solar harder to pencil out. SB 700 would extend those rebates out five years [and dedicate] another $700 million to the Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP).

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

It took forty years for clean energy - solar and wind specifically - installations to reach 1 TW of installed capacity. BNEF says we're only five years away from reaching the next TW. Talk about an accelerated adoption speed. BNEF says the global solar and wind industries reached 1 TW of installed capacity sometime in the middle of the year, which if it all was in the United States could power the entire U.S. electric fleet. Albert Cheung, BloombergNEF’s head of analysis in London, offered this exciting insight:

Hitting one terrawatt is a tremendous achievement for the wind and solar industries, but as far as we’re concerned, it’s just the start. Wind and solar are winning the battle for cost-supremacy, so this milestone will be just the first of many.

According to Cheung and the rest of the BNEF team:

The findings illustrate the scale of the green energy boom, which has drawn $2.3 trillion of investment to deploy wind and solar farms at the scale operating today.BloombergNEF estimates that the falling costs of those technologies mean the next terrawatt of capacity will cost about half as much – $1.23 trillion – and arrive sometime in 2023.

The majority of the new capacity has been in Asia, with 44% of new wind and 58% of solar being built there. One-third of those installations are in China. Which is somewhat depressing, frankly, given how much capacity could be added to the U.S. grid. 54% of the first terrawatt was wind, but by 2020, solar is expected to catch wind, BNEF reports. But here's one of the most interesting tidbits from the article:

More than 90 percent of all that capacity was installed in the past 10 years, reflecting incentives that Germany pioneered in the early 2000s that made payouts for green power transparent for investors and bankers alike.

Here's to an industry that is on the rise, and I can't wait to see what the next five years brings. More: Green Energy Producers Just Installed Their First Trillion Watts

Oklahoma Is Prime For Free Markets. The news out of Oklahoma is that the AG (not Scott Pruitt anymore) says that providers of third party solar contracts are not to be classified as utilities. The reality is that it’s Oklahoma and that the AG opinion may change as required by the politics. But, there is little that I want to see more than the State of Pruitt and Inhofe to have to wrestle with cheap solar and wind especially cheap solar and wind with cheap batteries.
A Step Backward. The politics of fossil fuels is really the politics of the incumbent markets. When we electrified the nation the deal was that monopolies were carved out and private capital was guaranteed a profit. The incumbency is the struggle here, not just the fuel source. The DNC wrestled with the wrong problem, which was not enough money, instead of wrestling with the issue of taking that money from the fossil companies solar subsidiaries. How great would it be to have a $10million donation from an oil company coming from solar company X?
SB100 And CA Lobby Day. California needs to show the nation and the world that the future is 100% renewable energy. Amongst other things, the California solar industry is coming to Sacramento this Wednesday to lobby for the local industry with CALSSA. If you are in solar it means you are likely doing business in California. Couple ways that you can help. First, come to Sacramento this Wednesday. If you’re not local and can’t make it then take the $1k that it would have cost you in time and travel and send a check. I’ll take that from you and deliver it to the CALSSA PAC that helps advance our market here. We talk about how we cannot compete on money but I’m not asking you for $10k, just $1k that you spend every time you travel for a meeting. Hit reply and I’ll give you the details. Let’s get at least $12k together today as a SolarWakeup team.
A Better Way To Splice. We all use rail to mount our modules but while most rail is created equal, there is a way to use rail to save money on labor. With the Quick Mount PV QRail you get an internal splice that requires not hardware that needs to be screwed in and the clamps won’t fall out when placed in the channel. Check out this quick video to see the difference!

Have a great day!

News

 

Have a great day!
Yann

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Baby steps. That's what you could call the Oklahoma Attorney General's recent opinion that says third-party solar contracts - PPAs, leases and loans - would not result in solar installers or consumers being considered utilities. This is a debate that has swept the country, and most recently occurred in Florida, where a decision similar to the Oklahoma one has led to a flood of residential solar companies into the state, including some of the nation's largest solar companies with names you know like Sunrun and Vivint. Could Oklahoma be next? Probably not, according to an article at NewsOK, but solar advocates in the state certainly see the attorney general's decision as a step in the right direction. Solar advocates told NewsOK:

"It has been viewed forever and ever that you couldn't offer (those types of agreements) in Oklahoma," said Tyson R. Taussig, president of the Oklahoma Renewable Energy Council. "I view it as casting a glimmer of sunlight on this issue," Taussig said. "If the opinion gets backed up, it will be a huge development because it will allow motivated, creditworthy individuals in our state to buy their own rooftop solar systems at a really reasonable price. It would open up a whole new market."

It certainly shouldn't be viewed as a done deal by any stretch of the imagination, of course. After all, Oklahoma is the heart and soul of oil and gas country, and a fight with traditional utilities and fossil-fuel interests is bound to ensue before solar gets too far off the ground. Plus, electricity rates in Oklahoma are dirt cheap. (Longtime solar advocates will recognize these arguments from Florida, where cheap electricity and powerful utilities scotched solar for decades.) But the fact that this decision could start a serious conversation about a significant solar market here is, in and of itself, newsworthy. Mike Teague, Oklahoma's Secretary of Energy and Environment, told NewsOK:

"Our goal is to find the right ways to do this," adding that the task force deliberately includes all interested parties in an attempt to avoid future legal entanglements or other issues. He said he expects its work to continue for years. "This is how you get progress without turning it into a fight, and I think that is what we need," he said.

More: Oklahoma attorney general opinion energizes solar enthusiasts