This is your SolarWakeup for August 9th, 2019

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Presented By Solargraf. Solargraf is the software you need for your residential solar business. From layouts, payback analysis and proposals, Solargraf does it all and best of all the low monthly price includes unlimited projects. Save time and money with Solargraf and with SolarWakeup you can unlock a special offer. Give it a try today at solargraf.com/solarwakeup

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for August 8th, 2019

Smart Energy Week. We are just over a month out from Smart Energy Week, formerly known as SPI. This year in Salt Lake City and hotel bookings show that some of you plan on attending, would love to know if the location is making you skip this year? You may have been surprised by the change in name, just as I was, given that the companies that make this event possible represent the solar market, many of you either SEIA or state chapter members. The front lobby will be greeting visitors with a hydrogen sector (newsflash: booths still available!) while the main floor is completely booked with solar companies investing to exhibit. Even meeting rooms at the hotels are almost fully booked with solar companies at a whopping $18k for the three days! After the event, about $10million in profits will go to the organization that produces the show, SETS, which will then split it amongst its owners, SEIA and SEPA. Smart Energy Week, relabeling the solar industry, taking our money and then passing it along half of it to a (largely) utility membership. See you there!

The Co-Op Canary. Tri-State is a large entity that many co-ops across the West/Mid-West are members of and buy their energy and transmission through. Tri-State has long required that individual co-ops cap their renewable energy purchasing outside of the Tri-State relationship. Last year, when I spoke to the CEO of Connexus Energy, he told me that they were capped in renewables and could not give its membership more of what they want. Now it looks like Tri-State is realizing that the future requires that it changes and with that a large number of co-ops may become possible markets for solar and storage developers. 

Resi Cost Of Capital. During yesterday’s earnings call by Sunrun, CEO Lynn Jurich highlighted the company’s achievement of the lowest cost of capital in company history. At the same time, a day before earnings, Vivint Solar enters into a $325million debt facility. Mosaic, the residential loan provider, also announced a relationship with SunTrust (soon to be BB&T) to expand their offering. 

Roll The Eyes. The future of solar in Virginia is bright led by the growth of residential solar and corporate purchasing of solar from large solar farms. Dominion has a strong presence at the Capitol and is hyping its new energy storage plan. The plan is to build 4 pilot projects and study them for 5 years. Pardon me while I yawn at the idea that Virginia should study batteries for 5 years. 

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for August 7th, 2019

Farmers For Solar. With the farmers across America getting hurt by the trade war even worse than the solar community, now is the time to help them farm a new crop, solar panels. This is obviously a more nuanced statement but solar developers and farmers have had a bond for over a decade as the two sectors align perfectly. Going back to the last ITC extension, California farmers played a central role to explain the value of solar to Kevin McCarthy and helped create a path to the extension. This time we need local political influence from the farming community to work with solar advocates to open up new markets. Across the midwest, there are viable solar markets were it not for bad local policies that monopolize the opportunity for the powerful corporations. 
Political Statements. I’d like to see a Senate campaign make a case to lure independents and conservatives with solar. In Kentucky for example, why not showcase the success that solar has had in Texas or South Carolina and ask why solar isn’t prevalent in Kentucky creating job opportunities especially for those harmed by coal markets imploding. The ad campaign could even use the words of conservatives, like Rep Tom Massie (known for his attack on John Kerry’s Poli Sci degree), who is both a solar and EV owner. 

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for August 6th, 2019

Mayors Of America, A New Pod. I had the pleasure of interviewing Mayor Rhodes-Conway of Madison, Wisconsin a few weeks ago. If I could interview every mayor in America, I would and this interview explains it. First, we get through 10x the content in 16 minutes and the Mayor knew what she wanted which was more solar. Give it a  listen and leave a 5-star review!
Losing Solar’s Gains. I don’t know if anyone is winning the trade war but apparently, consumers, farmers and solar stock investors are going to be hoping for it to end soon. The treasury department labelled China a currency manipulator yesterday and the market didn’t like that, erasing some of the gains we talked about last week. 
Rooftop Solar Is King. I wish we could call for solar on every house in America and more importantly find a way to put it on every warehouse while we’re at it. The benefits of distributed solar are incredible but it’s still a way too expensive to get it there. Not the hardware costs but the sales, marketing and financing costs are still way too high and we need a big initiative to get us there. 
SC Is Key. The growth of solar in South Carolina is an important evolution for our industry. Combined with Florida, Texas and Georgia, the southeast could make a statement about what solar stands for politically. Solar stands with everyday, hard-working Americans that just want to generate their own electricity and not rely on the corporate monopoly anymore. That message resonates in South Carolina and I hope the growth ahead will get us into more limelight in the future. 
Presented By Solargraf. Solargraf is the software you need for your residential solar business. From layouts, payback analysis and proposals, Solargraf does it all and best of all the low monthly price includes unlimited projects. Save time and money with Solargraf and with SolarWakeup you can unlock a special offer. Give it a try today at solargraf.com/solarwakeup

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for August 5th, 2019

Solar In Coal Country. Coal is dying and that’s good for the environment but it’s bad for some hard-working Americans. What would it take to get solar going in Kentucky and West Virginia? 

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for August 2nd, 2019

Low Cost Energy. These charts that show solar costs plummeting are always satisfying but they are also incredibly misleading and I would go as far as saying they are false. When it comes to coal and gas there is no cost for the societal costs around the emissions of the direct pollution or the costs to resources like water. Asia will be making a straight 180 especially with the massive increase of storage access and cost reduction. Those markets also price renewables with the right level of return to project sponsors. 

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for August 1st, 2019

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for July 31st, 2019

Debate Night 1. Climate change, with specific mention of solar, made major appearances in the debate part deux. It comes up when the candidates talk about national security, economic growth and corporate misalignment with the american people. The debate also had job retraining from fossil to solar and wind which goes to the core of the argument we’ve been making for some time. 
Jay Inslee Impresses. I made this comment on Twitter yesterday as I keep seeing Jay Inslee and David Roberts do a back and forth on climate policy. I am sure that Roberts would be happy to cover other candidate’s climate plans but until the others roll out plan after plan, Inslee will continue to hold the gavel on the issue for many. 
So Does Enphase. A few years ago Enphase was basically out for the count, string inverters were too cheap and Enphase couldn’t get the traction it needed. I even had folks pitching me hard for MLPEs in the C&I market to no avail. That lack of traction is no more and ENPH has rebounded to $25 per share with positive earnings per share and $200million of cash in the bank. The biggest headwind for the company is making enough product as wall street analysts try to figure out the highest potential value based on how much the company can build not what it can sell. 
Demand For Community Solar. I haven’t seen a community solar press release that says that lack of consumer demand means that a solar farm isn’t going to get built. My hypothetical question to community solar developers is, how many GW of solar gardens would create an oversupply and gardens go unsubscribed? 
Residential Podcast Series. A big announcement to all the loyal followers of what is becoming the most influential podcast in solar. I will be doing a deep dive into residential solar in a series that will go out this fall. The conversations will be with the CEOs of installers across the Country, large and small, to figure out what drives the homeowners desire to go solar and how to grow and make these companies profitable. In the meantime, check out the current pods and leave a rating so that we go up in the rankings. 

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for July 30th, 2019

A Movement Indeed. This has been a year of climate activism and by all measures it has been successful. Polling and media tracking has shown that Americans care more about fighting climate change than ever before. While climate change got none of the presidential debate  questions in 2016, every major campaign on the democratic side is talking about climate change as the number one threat facing America. In a few months, there will be another major climate walkout from schools and work. The Global Climate Strike will highlight the issue across the world and get more people thinking about how they can participate. Check out some of the information here. 
Planning A Contest. Last climate strike I made a few t-shirts for my kids and even used an idea and quote that was inspired by some readers. Many of you brought up the desire to buy some as well but last minute planning made it impossible. The next climate strike is September 20th. In preparation, let’s get some ideas for a t-shirt that is appropriate for the Global Climate Strike. If you have an idea, email it to yann@solarwakeup.com. I’ll work to get them printed and make them available to you so we can all match around the world. 
The Trade Talks. The trade talks are back and the deal looks uncertain. While the politics are bad in DC, the landscape for voters keeps the issue as one that Trump finds attractive. With the GDP dropping last quarter, it may get the advisors to push for a deal. Don’t hold your breath though. 
Steyer Talks POTUS. Tom Steyer went on Julia Pyper’s Political Climate podcast. The podcast which typically features a bipartisan panel, with a republican and democrat complementing Julia, was without the republican for the interview. Steyer went strong on calling for a national emergency proclamation on day 1 and gave some of the specifics that he supports. As an aside, when talking about climate change, I prefer the lack of balance from the hosts. As long as the Republican Party refuses to deal with the issue, I could go without their opinion. 
Don’t Forget ITC. Make sure to get your I ️ MY ️ postcards out by going to itc.ilovemy.solar and reaching out to member of Congress. They are on recess and need to hear what the ITC means to you and your company. You can find their contact information on the Find Your Rep page. 

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for July 29th, 2019

The Bigger Problem. When Ohio passes a bailout bill for nuclear power plants and out of state coal plants, while gutting energy efficiency and renewable energy policies, the problem isn’t just the policy. The top 5 oil companies made over $10billion in profits last QUARTER and the investor owned utilities make billions every single year. In any given quarter, renewable energy companies can’t get anywhere near the type of profits even though they are making the product that consumers prefer. We like to say that we want a free market but this market is neither free or fair, it is broken. Solar and wind generators/developers should be making the larger share of profits or at least grow exponentially that investors can’t resist the growth potential. The system needs to be reformed in a way that moves the margin from the current products most people don’t want and brings them to the side of the equation that makes consumers happy and satisfied. 
Potential Solution. Policy. The problem with renewable energy’s future is that we don’t invest anywhere near what we should in policy. How many legislative affairs pros are on retainer in DC? In Sacramento? In Tallahassee? Most solar companies view policy as something that’s nice to have and do when there is some extra cash around (forget getting execs to dole out campaign cash) but policy is always the first to go when the going gets tough. Imagine if every single solar installer in America hired a full time policy person? There would be roughly 10,000 advocates knocking on the doors of mayors, reps and Governors. Arm them with campaign cash? If we accept that the market is too slow to change and the margins are too thin, then we have to make a bet that policy is what will drive it in the right direction. Maybe folks like Tom Steyer have the right message but $100million would be better spent in the bank accounts of Vote Solar? 
A Sunday Headline. Mike Allen writes a daily newsletter like SolarWakeup. The difference is that his comes out 7 days per week, is read by millions and shapes American democracy. When climate change makes his top headline on the Sunday series, I perk up and you should too. 
The Media Picks It Up. The DNC is moving too slow for MSNBC and CNN and they want the ratings that come with the climate change voter. One of the questions that will be interesting to hear is in relation to Trump’s Supreme Court victory and his emergency declaration. With climate change presenting a national emergency, would you as President declare it as one on day one and what actions would you take immediately?
Congrats To $NOVA. Sunnova Energy successfully went public late last week and is trading close to the $12 mark. Congrats to the entire team for showing that a solar company from Houston can go public. 

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Yann