This is your SolarWakeup for September 18th, 2019
Come On Bill Gates. Bill Gates wants to shift the ITC and PTC to new energy solutions, a fair trade since solar and wind no longer need it I guess. I have an idea, why don’t we start with removing the incentives from oil and gas? Or charge flared off-gas a methane tax that is used to fund new technology development? O&G have permanent tax credits that are exempt from active/passive rules and not based on percentages while solar has dropped more than 90% in cost causing the ITC to get more than 10x the output it once paid for. Gates seems to continue the trend that solar and wind are not worth fighting for even though they are the key to fighting against climate change. I wish he would see that his words matter and choose them more carefully.
Big Pipeline. The era of braggawatts is strong, the pipeline has reached an all-time high.
Go Blue Jays. I always hoped to be the one that developed a solar deal with Johns Hopkins but I am still glad they did a deal.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 17th, 2019
Are You Carbon Neutral? Aside working in solar, what do you do to reduce or eliminate your carbon footprint? I thought about this question a lot yesterday and realized that the little I do, is not enough. Tell me your biggest tricks and habits you use to lower your footprint and how you calculate it.
Would You? Ikea is a retailer that does solar in a big way. On every roof and as an investment. Here’s a question for you and them, if they calculated the carbon cost of each product and imposed their own carbon tax, would you pay for it? This is the thought behind my carbon adjusted margin analysis. More to come.
Tesla’s C&I Offer. On the heels of the residential solar rental, Tesla is releasing their offer for C& I sites. Fixing commercial solar is my Achilles heel and this is about as close to what I would have liked to do as possible. The offer is either cash or ‘subscription’ (PPA) with the PPA only available in PGE and SDG& E-service areas. Three standard sizes are offered with 240kW on the large end, definitely skewing to the lower size spectrum than you would expect from C&I installers.
What It Solves. It’s cheap, 240kW for under $1.50 or 9.9cents per kWh with caveats for a standard install. That’s lower than most installers would propose. Let’s focus on the PPA though. First, no term, you can cancel anytime with a removal fee. Second, it doesn’t appear to have credit criteria (thank you!). Last and most importantly, it makes it super simple, building owners are consistently frustrated with their solar process.
Obvious Issues. I’d like to see the contracts to understand what they are really doing. There is an obvious concern for tax equity on the PPA, what happens if the cancellation happens in the first 5 years? What is the company going to do with the modules that get returned, clearly this will happen as customers look to upgrade some time down the road but within 10 years?
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 16th, 2019
More Software Acquisitions. Congrats to the great team at Energy Toolbase for successfully getting acquired. On Friday afternoon, news broke that Pason Power was taking majority ownership of ETB to build out the next era of the software. I first met John a few years ago when someone told me there was a software startup in Florida working on solar and I didn’t quite believe it so I drove up to his office and recorded one of my first podcasts. They’ve come a long way and look forward to seeing what they do next!
PURPA Deal In Michigan. There’s been a pipeline of solar brewing in Michigan and last week the MPSC struck a deal with developers and Consumers Energy to open up that funnel. Starting in 2020 and through 2024, 584MW of solar will be connected. We’re a long way from the vision that former Governor Granholm had for Michigan as the solar leader in America but this is a step in the right direction.
No Deal In Louisiana. I can’t say that I am surprised that solar lost this fight and net metering is going to have to pay for lost revenues to the utilities. Maybe they will be paying EV owners for the extra energy they buy? This perpetuates the nonsense that southern States believe in free markets because this is just the monopoly man jumping into a gold-filled pool.
Wrong Headline. Bloomberg (is all about the paywall now) has an in-depth look at what caused the boom in the renewables markets and their answer is (wrong) capitalism. Before I get into my reasons for not buying it, let me say that I understand why they say it. Capitalism, i.e. the ability to make a profit from investing, plays a big role in the growth off the renewables market, mainly the ability for investors to develop, buy and hold long term physical assets with creditworthy revenue streams for decades. The flaw is that it wasn’t capitalism that created the opportunity or the growth. It was policy and regulators, i.e. politics. If it weren’t for Germany’s feed-in tariffs, those that followed and the RPS mandates in the US, capitalists would never have found the opportunities. This market is rooted in politics and it’s sad to see so many shirks the importance of the policies in their businesses.
Wind ITC Math Doesn’t Compute. I didn’t write this on Friday but I hated the headline about the Wind market being worried about the solar ITC being extended. It’s sad and flawed (if true). If solar ITC goes away, much like net metering going away, then the policies that drive the wind market will go away as well. This is a rising tides market, solar needs wind and wind needs solar. And both need the ITC/PTC, just ask our cousin, energy storage.
Infrastructure Argument. Look for more talk today about oil infrastructure as Trump releases strategic oil reserves after the oil attack in Saudi Arabia. I also would like to hear some talk about the diversity of power generation including distributed generation as a defensive strategy.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 13th, 2019
Have a great weekend! Hats off to Powerhouse for a great fundraising event last night!
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 12th, 2019
Quick rundown on this sunny Thursday!
Big Money. Goldman Sachs has put together the capital needed to deploy $4billion levered, unclear if that includes tax equity which would increase it to over $6billion.
Sunny Deliciousness. If you don’t know Wawa then ignore this post and review your life choices. The rest of you, you can stop wondering how awesome it would be to have solar on those huge tilted roofs at Wawa.
Covering The Lead. NOAA got into the middle of an Alabamian political storm but the real story is that when climate science gets covered, solar tax credits cover the headline.
Speaking Of ITC. Following up on the oped by SEIA CEO, Abby Hopper, in GTM yesterday, SEIA exec Sean Gallagher is giving you some behind the scenes views on the politics of climate change. When it comes to the reality of the ITC having a chance to pass it comes down to Congressional leaders seeing the ITC as a path to fight climate change.
Module Money. The all-black module manufacturer, Solaria, raised $40million to double capacity. I’m impressed with the company being able to do that but given the team, Solaria has put together, I am not surprised.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 11th, 2019
LA Solar Wins. After some hiccups with union representatives, the Eland solar project developed by 8minute Solar is moving forward to the City Council. There was an unsigned labor agreement with the IBEW union in Kern County which has now been rectified. The giant solar plus storage project will deliver dispatchable (time to add this word to spell checks) solar energy to LADWP. Consider this the new norm!
Rivian’s Cash Haul. Building a car company is hard work and expensive too. Especially if the CEO isn’t a marketing engine that never needs to spend a dime on marketing. Rivian has raised another $350million to make the future come to reality and has been driving the prototype vehicles across the Americas. I really hope these cars hit the road and are as awesome as they appear to be!
Recapping Big News. In case you missed it, and because it’s exciting to repeat, the company I work for Quick Mount PV has been acquired. For the past 13 years, being founded in 2006, Quick Mount PV has been leading the charge to make the best mounts possible for installers and selling them through the distribution channel. Through the acquisition by Esdec, alongside the acquisitions of Ironridge and EcoFasten, we are forming the largest racking and mounting group of companies in the US. Why? As a group, each company operating independently, we can provide you better products, better service and more certainty in your supply chain. This also highlights the maturity of the marketplace, where a warranty has to mean something and the products you sell to homeowners making an investment need to match up with the promises you make.
Think Progress. I’ve been meaning to comment about the end of the Think Progress website. Having accessed it almost daily to look for interesting solar related news, I am saddened to see the site go dormant. It highlights a broader issue in solar. The collective ‘we’ need to create an ecosystem where solar publications are able to operate sustainably. If they websites/publications can’t make money then they won’t cover the space. Believe me, if I was publishing UtilityWakeup instead, I’d be doing it full time and living in waterfront accommodations. Solar websites can’t run on advertising alone and that’s why we need their side projects to flourish whether those are events, research or marketing services.
Environmental Fundraising. Axios had a great article yesterday about the upside of the Trump White House for environmental organizations. Sierra Club raised $130million in 2017, up 30%. NRDC got to $178million. Makes me wonder why the solar groups can’t get fundraising off the ground to those levels. I keep dreaming about the day where Vote Solar has a $100million budget.
Tweet of the Day. Sunrun’s Lynn Jurich had a great comeback to the Forbes list of most innovative leaders given that 99 men and 1 woman made the list.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 10th, 2019
Big (Personal) Professional News. As you know, I started working at Quick Mount PV a little over a year ago. Our team has done extraordinary work over the past year and alongside amazing customers and partners, we grew at an unbelievable pace. Yesterday we announced that we joined the Esdec group of companies, with Quick Mount PV being acquired alongside Ironridge. Together, we join previously acquired EcoFasten to form the largest group of mounting and racking companies in the US. Personally, I look forward to working with some of the best folks in this sector. The residential market is growing well above estimates and our group of companies will surely lead the way!
What It Means. All three “Esdec Companies” will continue to operate independently, serving their existing customers with unique product lines through their current sales channels. Installers, along with their distributors, will continue to be able to buy the products they love with the additional upside of knowing that these companies are ready to grow with them. In an era where trade and regulatory uncertainty drive the news cycle, a stronger supply relationship will provide business certainty installers need in their rapid growth. If you have questions about this please let me know or reach out to your reps, we’re all here to answer your questions.
Louisiana Shenanigans. When a flawed study makes its way to a PSC that doesn’t regulate monopolies in a fair way, bad things can happen. Louisiana has all the signs of a situation that makes solar have to compete on an uneven playing field where incumbent monopolies have an advantage. If you are in the LA market, make sure to make your voice heard.
A Climate Call From SEIA. The solar ITC is the best tax credit taxpayers can buy. Being a percentage-based credit, in a market that has been declining unit costs for over a decade, the value of the credit for the taxpayer has gone up exponentially. This is very important looking forward, where the energy economy is looking for a giant increase in solar capacity on homes, on buildings and in the fields. Abby Hopper, CEO of SEIA, is right to connect the dots between the value of the ITC and climate change, showing that solar is here to play its role and the importance of the extension. Take some time this week to contact your member of Congress and let them know this is important to you.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 9th, 2019
Flawed And Basic Analysis From MIT. The movie has been seen before, solar homeowners reduce their consumption and therefore pay for less of the fixed grid costs that are added to your bill on a per kWh basis. I have come to expect more from MIT but will continue to be disappointed. When someone says that solar owners shift their costs to other energy consumers they do so at great investment, much like a homeowner that installs all new appliances and air conditioners that use less electricity. What about people that change their light bulbs to LEDs or install a tankless water heater fueled by gas? All of those situations decrease kWh consumption and thereby lower infrastructure payments. We will also ignore seasonal homeowners in this conversation. What about homeowners that buy electric vehicles, should they be given a discount on their consumption since they are absorbing more of the infrastructure but not paying a gas tax that pays for the roads they travel? Here is the reality, this isn’t a one-way analysis and a fixed charge is far from a solution to this non-existent problem. Solar owners buy less kWh from the utility and therefore pay less for the infrastructure. Solar owners also firm up the infrastructure with their investment and make the utility less likely to have to invest in the infrastructure. When the payments lost are less than the savings gained, solar owners come out in the green. They save money for other utility customers and experts have shown this time and time again.
The Importance Of Quality. Congratulations to CALSSA for tackling the important issue of consumer protection and making it a standard for its members. Homeowners will have another way to know if a contractor is doing it the right way and not pulling a fast one on them, whether they are doing it with aggressive sales tactics, dubious financing or subpar installation techniques. SEIA has a guide as well and I’d like to see that expanded to the installation/products side of things as well.
San Francisco’s Muni Power. San Francisco is asking PG&E to let it go, offering $2.5billion for the electric infrastructure so that the city can create its own utility system like Los Angeles and Sacramento. They are not asking to acquire the gas system. San Francisco has voiced interest since the bankruptcy and now wants the company to ask the courts to let it make the deal. Voters have already approved the funding mechanism so the city can buy the wires and no further votes (through election) would have to be taken. PG&E didn’t say no explicitly in their comment but “we’re not interested” would have saved us a minute of reading. This story is not over yet, stay tuned…
Island Infrastructure. It’s been two years since Puerto Rico was ravaged by Hurricane Maria and the industry spent time to figure out the best way to rebuild the electric infrastructure. The upper Bahamas are now in a similar situation, some islands left with nothing, after Hurricane Dorian last week. The Bahamas have to rebuild in a way that serves the tourism economy and tries to create some sustainability. Most transportation is marine and aviation so all-electric is impossible today but how can we help the Bahamians with our lessons learned?
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 5th, 2019
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This is your SolarWakeup for September 4th, 2019
The Flawed Dilemma. Following up with on yesterday’s poll that showed separation from voters on the importance of climate change, is this article about the varying views of the policies being debated within the democrat party. Some view the green new deal as extreme and going too far, especially on the non-climate related policies. And that’s okay, if the democrats finds ways to pass some or all of the policy, we are stepping in the right direction. I don’t think that this is bad politics, voters actually want debate and action; the politics comes in when one side says we want to do something and the other side has no counterpoint. It’s as if your house is on fire and two fire trucks debate which side of the house to spray first while the third says the house isn’t burning. Spray the damn house!
The Real Life Upside. This Rolling Stone story about the Harlan County coal miners is one of the best articles of the year. The story is about a coal company that filed bankruptcy and cheated workers out of 2 paychecks, the first check bounced and the second check never came. At the same time, $1.4million in coal was loaded on a train at the mine and ready to be sent out to a buyer. So for the past month, out of work miners in Harlan County, KY, have been sitting on the railroad tracks. The train is stuck until the workers get paid, “No Pay We Stay,” is their slogan. Some 1,700 workers lost their job in this bankruptcy and there would be nothing that would make me happier than figuring out how solar can play a role in their next job opportunity. Coal communities are oftentimes solely reliant on the mine being open, without it, the community has nowhere else to turn for economic opportunity. When it comes to debating climate change, let’s debate the climate change upside in a way that means something tangible to the workers on the Harlan County railroad tracks, so they make a decent wage doing a day’s work but instead of mining for coal they are installing solar panels, making hardware or climbing wind turbines. That’s the political argument that means something to voters.
Ignoring The Pundits. One person who is ignoring the polls is Elizabeth Warren, who adopted and doubled down on the Inslee plan to combat climate change. In a medium post, Warren called for trillion dollar level investments that decarbonize the economy over a ten year period. This was met with quick endorsements for her by ex-Inslee staffers.
Solar Market Optimism. The optimism for the US market continues, not just with talking points from executives but tales from the financial statements as well. Module and cell companies are talking about massive investments and backlogs from strong global market demand and a US market that is looking to push strong going into 2020, especially with hopes that the ITC gets pushed through.
Watch The O&M Space. BayWa r.e. acquired the Toronto based software company, PowerHub, yesterday. PowerHub is well known in the asset management space as a solution to manage projects after they have been placed in service. Originally started to help Ontario solar projects manage their domestic content certifications, PowerHub made a quick pivot to the broader market and found an exit in this acquisition. Congrats to the team on this and keep watching the O&M space for more consolidation.
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Yann