This is your SolarWakeup for September 19th, 2018

Quick take on the tariff issue before taking the day off for some atonement. See you Thursday and let’s make sure to say hello at SPI. I’ll be tied up peddling the best mounts in solar but you should check out the private preview room by reaching out to your Quick Mount reps. I will be at several nighttime events and hope to see you at some of them to say hello.
SunPower Gets Relief. I know people will view this from a market standpoint and I understand if you stand on either fair/not fair side of the aisle. I do think it’s important that the Government saw the different in the IBC technology but would have liked to see it get relief across the board. SunPower markets itself in the trade case as the Apple of solar, doing R&D and corporate HQ in the US while manufacturing across the globe. The side effect of SunPower not being subject to the 201 tariff is what happens to the SolarWorld USA factory in Oregon. The transaction is not closed yet and no indication that it won’t close. It could also anger the Trump administration or Senator Wyden if SunPower didn’t proceed with the plant acquisition so I don’t expect any last second changes.
SolarWakeuplive.com. Register now, register often and share the event with your friends and colleagues. Then get your company to sponsor the event as well!

News

Have a great day!
Yann

No Bridge Necessary: Solar+Storage Cheaper Than Natural Gas In Southwest

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent According to a report from Bloomberg, natural gas is going to run into significant price competition from solar+storage in the coming years – perhaps even eliminating the need for new natural gas plants in parts of the American Southwest. The report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance advances a story SolarWakeup has been telling you about for months, which is that new natural gas-fired plants are increasingly being seen as unnecessary as the costs of solar+storage, especially at the utility-scale level, continue to come down. Prices are so low, in fact, that Bloomberg predicts solar+storage will … Read More →

California Universities Set Aggressive Renewables Path: 100% By 2025

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent The state university system of California just took the aggressive renewable energy goals set at the state level and turned them up to 11. The University of California system is committed to reaching its own goal of being powered 100% by renewable energy by 2025 – 20 years before the entire state’s deadline of 2045. The announcement is in parallel with the system’s intent to become carbon neutral the same year. According to the release, the California universities’ system has already saved $220 million with its energy efficiency programs, and continues to leverage the benefits … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for September 18th, 2018

In Jersey We Grow. Policy certainty, policy guidance and willing market participants means a growing market. That’s what we have in New Jersey and why we picked it as the next SolarWakeup Live! event. Check out the growing agenda at solarwakeuplive.com and reach out if you want to be a sponsor.

EV You Missed It. It happened late last week and the coverage was weak. The final version of SB 1014, a California legislation by Senator Skinner, may not be as strong as the original version but it shows the path forward. The legislation pushes ridesharing companies to move towards electric vehicles. Ubers and Lyfts (and others) have a much higher utilization than personal cars so if we electrify those, you are electrifying more vehicle miles than you could imagine. This is the TPS (Transportation Portfolio Standard) where we measure the total vehicle miles driven by non-fossil powered motors. Merge a 100% RPS with a 100 TPS and you have an interesting future.

East Coast Storage Punch. Both of Frank’s stories yesterday are about energy storage, one story out of MA about big storage and another from New York about the continued push by Governor Cuomo. I think there is a reality in storage that people understand whereas solar seemed somewhat magical. I am keen to see real energy storage business models develop, this is one of many topics I will be discussing with Gabe Phillips of GP Renewables at our Jersey event.

Solar On Your Side. Sol Systems made a big portfolio purchase with their capital fund partnership with Nationwide. This is a transfer of assets from Cypress Creek and Sol Systems, two companies many in solar know well and have seen grow over the years.

Certainty In Pricing. What makes the community solar market in Minnesota bigger than other markets? I put the difference on the certainty in pricing from the regulator instead of the utility. While having a regulator in the process creates some risk, it makes the customer very clearly understand what their savings would be from a reliable source without having to read a complicated tariff schedule.

News

Have a great day!
Yann

New York Prepares To Go Full Speed Ahead With Energy Storage Goals

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent The New York Public Service Commission (NYPSC) has taken the next step toward reaching its energy storage goals when it accepted the environmental review report connected to the state’s Energy Storage Roadmap. The roadmap, announced with great fanfare by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, envisions 1.5 GW of storage installed in the state over the next seven years. The NYPSC has undertaken steps to make that goal a reality in the most effective, environmentally friendly way possible. According to a release announcing its acceptance of the environmental review, the NYPSC says the goal means that … Read More →

Utility-Scale Storage Comes To Massachusetts

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent After receiving a grant from Massachusetts of $875,000, National Grid has added its first battery – a vanadium redox-flow battery (VRB) – in connection with its 1 MW solar farm outside of Shirley, Massachusetts, according to reports in the RTO Insider newsletter. The battery setup is designed to demonstrate how utility-scale storage can work in this state, which is currently ranked No. 7 in the country in overall solar deployment. [wds id=”3″] As RTO Insider reports, “Carlos Nouel, vice president of innovation and development at National Grid, told RTO Insider that ‘the Shirley project will … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for September 17th, 2018

States Will Lead. As we saw last week with Governor Brown signing SB100, the States are continuing to move their policies into our direction. The reasons are clear, the policies create local jobs and improve local air quality as coal plants close across the Country. This trend should continue to drive into the distributed sector to remove diesel generators and replace them with renewable charged energy storage. As States make the decisions that determine the speed of growth in solar, I remind you of the importance of the Governor’s mansions especially in places where the Governor appoints the public service commissioners.
The EEI Playbook. Do you remember the leaked EEI memo from a few years ago that tried to rename utility owned solar, community solar? This similar rhetoric testing is ongoing and the memo was leaked to David Roberts of Vox. Interestingly, even when EEI poll takers tried to ‘push’ folks into their thought process, it didn’t work. Americans want more renewables even though EEI says it it is not technically feasible. Americans want more renewables until its 100% renewables and they want it basically without regard to cost. This is the problem with the overlap of EEI and the solar industry and EEI member companies with solar trade organizations. Just read the highlights of the EEI memo, EEI is shocked that their customers are so ready to move to renewables which utilities view as their competition.
Cities Take Action. If 57% of Cities are taking action on climate change, how are you getting involved in shaping that action? This is part of the year-long talk about the 10/10/10 plan from this platform. You should be taking 10 hours a year for yourself and each person in your company to advocate for the policies that will grow your market. Don’t think about policy as an obtuse concept, instead use the word market growth.
Big Solar, Big Market. Utility scale solar is cheap and available. Corporations are fighting with utilities to buy the output of solar farms across the Country as long as the regulatory framework allows the bilateral arrangement. We are entering the era of sub 2 cents per kWh solar energy and will soon enter sub 5 cents per kWh dispatchable solar with energy storage.
Live From Jersey City. November 6th, solarwakeuplive.com. Thanks to the sponsors that have signed up already, Aten Solar and Pfister Energy.

News

Have a great day!
Yann

Memo To Forbes Writer: Nuclear Energy Is NOT Clean Energy

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent As I was scrolling through my LinkedIn feed this weekend, I ran across an article from Forbes magazine writer Michael Shellenberger that both made me laugh out loud and shake my head. The headline of the article was “Had They Bet On Nuclear, Not Renewables, Germany & California Would Already Have 100% Clean Power.” Which, if you think about it, is like saying, “If my dog meowed, she’d be a cat.” Shellenberger bases his article on a study by Environmental Progress, which a quick glance at their website shows is a shill organization for the … Read More →

Rhode Island Issues RFP For 400 MW Of Renewable Energy

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent When you think of renewable energy leaders, Rhode Island may not immediately leap to mind – but thanks to a recent request for proposal (RFP) issued by Governor Gina M. Raimondo for 400 MW of renewable energy, that may be about to change. The state’s largest utility National Grid developed the RFP in coordination with the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources (OER) and Division of Public Utilities & Carriers (DPUC). According to a release, the state has more than tripled the amount of renewable power in its portfolio since Governor Raimondo announced her goal … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for September 14th, 2018

Solar Markets’ Insights. The second quarter solar market insight by SEIA is out. A total of 2.3GW was installed and California continues to lead. However, there are some new States in the top 10 including Texas and Florida which are due to surprise many in the industry. Residential didn’t slip year after year, signifying a return to growth for the market in my opinion, with many markets becoming more stable.
Nevada and Arizona NEM. It is no secret that Arizona and Nevada went through long battles around net metering which got worse before they got better. Part of those processes was the elimination of a cliff caused by a NEM cap instead replacing it with a reduction of net metering credit, now called an export tariff. Call it a FIT, a VOS or otherwise, this is NEM 2.0 becoming NEM 3.0.
Deloitte Chimes In. Deloitte is out with their renewable energy outlook which backs some data on announcements that are confirmed during the Global Climate Action Summit. Just yesterday, 21 corporations and many mayors came together for big goals on an integration of renewables and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. I think we are all on the same page at this point that renewables are on the upward trend. The regulatory hurdle now is how fast and how profitable the trend is.
Gigasolar Photos. Pretty cool images of the solar project on top of the Gigafactory in Nevada.
SMART But Slow. Many State newspapers are running solar growth stories but MA has to give a hard look at the fact that SMART is yet to get going. The struggle to delay the program is part of the regulatory battle. Delays for solar developers means overhead and costs that aren’t in the plan or budget. Delays are always part of the regulatory goal for those that seek to hurt the solar industry’s ability to grow. Hopefully, the MA solar market can trust that the future holds a fair program that allows solar to prosper and get back to the success it had a few years ago.
Be Seen Here. Jersey City is the 5th event in the SolarWakeup Live! series. As part of the program, we invite sponsors to help defray the costs and provide the best visibility in the industry for events and digital media. You can see the exact details but you’ve seen the sponsors on this email in the past, the visibility is consistent and long duration. Check out the sponsor page for more details and hit reply if you are interested in speaking to me about it.

News

Have a great day!
Yann