This is your SolarWakeup for February 2nd, 2023
Opinion
News
1 Solar Builder:
Tracking the growth of domestic solar tracker manufacturing
2 Utility Dive:
FERC approves PJM capacity accreditation, modeling reforms aimed at boosting reliability
3 Nasdaq:
COLUMN-Rising US oil production frustrates OPEC⁺ cuts - Kemp
4 Energy storage News:
Storage a ‘key element’ for new 2040 renewable energy targets, leaked EU draft says
5 Bloomberg:
Mexico’s Top Court Voids Government’s Statist Power Reform
6 Axios:
The big challenges facing the U.S.'s new climate diplomat
7 PV-Tech:
Vesper Energy closes US$590 million on 600MW Texas PV project
8 Renewable Energy World:
Board clarifies solar siting restrictions for large solar facilities in New Jersey
9 PV-Magazine:
Solar tracker provider Nextracker amps up its 2024 earnings guidance
Opinions:
10 New York Times:
Coastal Cities Brace for Climate Change
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for February 1st, 2023
Opinion
News
1 Axios:
John Podesta to succeed Kerry as lead U.S. climate negotiator
2 Energy Storage News:
‘Big expansion’ in battery manufacturing essential to global net zero goals, BloombergNEF says
3 New York Times:
Teach About Climate Change With 30 Graphs From The New York Times
4 Bloomberg:
Texas’ Wobbly Power Grid Spurs DFW Airport to Map Backup Plans
5 Reuters:
Lender CIF to kick-start nearly $300 mln in funds for Kenyan renewables
6 PV-Tech:
Germany’s latest PV auction ends 3.5 times oversubscribed
7 Renewable Energy World:
Energy transition investments hit record $1.8 trillion in 2023
8 PV-Magazine:
Tribes to sponsor 1 to 3 GW of renewables to help retire dams and restore salmon
Opinions:
9 Heatmap:
The New Climate Laws’ Tax Credits for Homeowners Are Crazy Powerful
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 31st, 2023
Get What We Expect. My frustration with policy is that it rarely states the intention or goal of the legal words that go into the bill. The reason for that is some version of diplomacy or political nature of not wanting to offend anyone. This leads to investments being made to meet customer demand with the expectation of some underlying support and yes, I’m talking about domestic supply chains. Europe’s manufacturers need support from governments because local content isn’t finding enough demand in the market. Of course, as projects get built, demand is going to balance price, quality and other factors. While the individuals may desire to support domestic content, the price also has to be there which causes the rub between trade policies and/or local support of domestic content. Solar panels and batteries have some similarities in that respect but also some large differences. Solar panels will not degrade at nearly the same pace of battery containers, which are largely made to order. At the same time, battery containers weigh over 70 thousand pounds and shipping them is it’s own major challenge, giving local supply a built in benefit. We’ll see how markets evolve, but in the meantime if Europe wants any domestic supply chain, they’ll have to decide if that goal is worth building policies around.
News
1 Reuters:
Europe's solar panel manufacturers ask EU for emergency support
2 PV-Magazine:
Solar power purchase agreement prices rise 15% year-over-year
3 Utility Dive:
Energy storage venture capital funding soared to record $9.2B in 2023, Mercom reports
4 Bloomberg:
Global Clean Energy Spending Surges to $1.8 Trillion. It’s Not Enough
5 New York Times:
U.S. Will Pay to Add Solar Panels to Hospitals, Schools After Disasters
6 GreenBiz:
As US electric bus market expands, manufacturers struggle to keep up
7 PV-Tech:
Sunrun reports successful residential solar-plus-storage programme in California
8 Solar Power World:
FEMA includes solar microgrids in net-zero disaster response program
9 Heatmap:
We Fact Checked Everything Trump Has Said About Climate Change Since 2021
Opinions:
10 Energy Storage News:
Long-duration energy storage is ‘better option than gas to back up Ontario renewables’
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 30th, 2023
Opinion
News
1 Bloomberg:
Spain’s Top Renewable Fund Expands in US by Acquiring Heelstone
2 PV-Magazine:
A retirement boom for fossil fuels
3 New York Times:
Georgia Senators Press Biden for Tougher Tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels
4 Utility Dive:
Duke Energy pilot could open door to VPPs at vertically integrated utilities, SELC attorney says
5 Axios:
Red Sea, Mid-East troubles raise specter of high energy prices
6 Renewable Energy World:
Geothermal heat pumps could reduce U.S. electricity demand by as much as 15%
7 Energy Storage News:
AES gets regulatory approval for 200MW, 4-hour BESS at retiring coal plant in Indiana, US
8 Canary Media:
The dawn of the clean hydrogen economy — visualized
Opinions:
9 PV-Tech:
Will Auxin Solar’s latest AD/CVD lawsuit be a thorn in the side of US solar?
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 29th, 2023
Tax Equity Rules. Based on some bad ideas, the Basel 3 rules are considering tighter balance sheet requirements for banks that participate in tax equity. Doing so would obviously put tax equity in a less preferential spot even though the risk to the balance sheet has always been minimal. Advocates continue to lobby hard to make sure these draft rules are changed for the market’s sake.
Political Risk? Hundreds of billions have been invested thanks to the IRA and some are starting to be concerned if the IRA could be a political football if the party in power changes in November. Here’s my thoughts…First 2016 had similar thoughts and ultimately (with a lot of noise) solar continued to grow between 16 and 20. Both parties have been hard on solar with tariffs for well over a decade. A republican President brought the ITC to 30% originally and I can give you examples where a republican governor vetoed an anti-solar net metering bill and where a democrat governor let anti-solar net metering rules be implemented. While there is noise in the system to extend the tax policies currently in place that will sunset next few years, which will need pay-fors, many of the popular IRA policies are likely very safe. And at the end of the day, the grid needs energy and power to continue this extensive economic and manufacturing growth we’ve seen over the past few years.
News
1 Bloomberg:
Wall Street Has a Dire Warning About Green Investments Under New ‘Endgame’ Rule
2 Utility Dive:
NextEra CEO downplays chance of Inflation Reduction Act repeal if Trump re-elected
3 Wall Street Journal:
Bipartisan Backing to Explore Fast Tracking Solar and Wind on Oil-And-Gas Lands
4 New York Times:
Democrats Say Biden Hasn’t ‘Made the Case’ on Climate Despite Achievements
5 Axios:
Biden eyes "pause" of new LNG export facilities
6 Reuters:
China's installed solar power capacity rises 55.2% in 2023
7 Renewable Energy World:
‘We’re playing catch up’ - How grid operators see the future of battery storage
8 Solar Power World:
ADT Solar to close remaining branches, exit residential solar business
9 Energy Storage News:
Regulator quashes ERCOT’s proposed state-of-charge rules for BESS
10 Canary Media:
Big electric-truck charging depots are coming soon to California
11 PV-Magazine:
Nebraska introduces legislation to prevent HOA from barring solar installation
Opinions:
12 Grist:
How California is casting a cloud over residential solar
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 26th, 2023
Opinion
News
1 Utility Dive:
As trucking electrifies, how we prepare the grid must evolve
2 Bloomberg:
Solar Factories Slow Output as Overcapacity Weighs on Profits
3 Reuters:
US clean electricity momentum stalls slightly in 2023
4 New York Times:
Biden Vetoes Republican Measure to Block Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
5 PV-Magazine:
Venture capital funding in energy storage increases 59% year over year
6 Grist:
Meet the communities trying to take over their local electric utility
7 PV-Tech:
NexWafe expands to the US, aims 6GW of wafer capacity
8 Canary Media:
This Georgia refinery is making low-carbon jet fuel from alcohol
Opinions:
9 Time:
The Rooftop Solar Industry Could Be On the Verge of Collapse
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 25th, 2023
Opinion
News
1 Bloomberg:
EU Sees Electricity Production Doubling by 2050 to Reach Net Zero
2 Axios:
Non-OPEC countries could boost global supply in 2024
3 PV-Tech:
Why are US utilities selling their solar businesses?
4 PV-Magazine:
Distributed solar and storage policy trends
5 Renewable Energy World:
What are the long-term effects of extreme weather on solar performance?
6 Energy Storage News:
Sweden’s flexibility market could open up in May, 200MW+ of BESS set to come online in 2024
7 Canary Media:
New guidance makes EV charging incentives widely available
8 Solar Power World:
How solar + storage technologies are aiding Hawaii wildfire relief
9 Reuters:
Policy Watch - Solar Impulse pilot Piccard calls for new narrative to take political heat out of climate action
Opinions:
10 Utility Dive:
America’s aging grid threatens national security. Here are some steps to fix it.
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 24th, 2023
Opinion
News
1 PV-Magazine:
California unlikely to reach clean energy targets without rooftop solar
2 PV-Tech:
“Highly valuable” solar driving investors to snap up utility businesses – WoodMac
3 Renewable Energy World:
FERC accepts MISO’s generator interconnection reforms, rejects MW cap
4 Utility Dive:
NERC issues 3-year plan for setting reliability standards for wind, solar, storage
5 Axios:
Why replacing fossil fuels is "a whale of an issue"
6 Bloomberg:
BlackRock to Invest $500 Million in Canadian Solar Unit
7 Reuters:
TotalEnergies agrees to acquire battery storage company Kyon Energy
8 Energy Storage News:
Queensland battery storage programme ‘fundamental to success’ of net zero policies
Opinions:
9 Canary Media:
The big battle brewing over LNG exports
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 23rd, 2023
Opinion
News
1 PV-Magazine:
IRA creates 100,000 clean energy jobs and attracts $110 billion in private investments
2 Utility Dive:
FERC rejects MISO interconnection queue cap, saying it could be undermined by exemptions
3 Canary Media:
Long wary of batteries, New York’s now poised to go big on energy storage
4 Bloomberg:
Solar Firm Expands to Chicago, Vows to Spend $2 Billion in State
5 Reuters:
Germany set for gas power plant expansion deal this week
6 Solar Builder:
Connecticut doubles upfront incentive to install home energy storage
7 Renewable Energy World:
Nearly 200 clean energy projects were announced in 2023, with $64B in private investments
Opinions:
8 Solar Power World:
U.S. solar panel manufacturing claims from Intersolar North America
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 22nd, 2023
Opinion
News
1 Wall Street Journal:
California’s Rooftop Solar Reckoning
2 Utility Dive:
Extreme weather shows need for dispatchable resources, new transmission - FERC commissioners
3 Axios:
How Texas' power grid weathered the latest freeze
4 Bloomberg:
Europe’s Climate Push Fails to Stem Crisis in Solar Industry
5 Reuters:
SolarEdge to lay off 16% of workforce to trim operating costs
6 Solar Builder:
U.S. energy transition to speed forward through 2025
7 PV-Tech:
CALSSA - California solar industry to face a downward trend in 2024
8 Solar Power World:
Connecticut increases incentives available to residents installing battery storage
9 PV-Magazine:
Solar corporate funding hits decade-long high in 2023
Opinions:
10 Renewable Energy World:
Texas grid survives, thwarting NIMBYs, and companies turn to ‘greenhushing’ — This Week in Cleantech
Have a great day!
Yann
