This is your SolarWakeup for August 25th, 2023
The Friday Rundown. Some travel this week kept the regular column from getting together to you, apologies. This week, we’ve seen Arizona reup their attack on net metering, something that is taking advantage of the example set by California and a recent drag on the residential solar stocks which were already struggling with higher interest rates. The industry is going to have a renewed conversation about the importance of policy spend as companies underinvest in supporting the markets driven by regulatory pressures. In other news, we’re seeing picked up investment activities in energy storage coupled with a hot summer and more heat waves currently hitting the Midwest in a heat dome. Of course, the climate change talking points made the appearance at the RNC debate on Wednesday, not much talk about supporting solar on that stage unfortunately. Have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you at RE+ in a few weeks.
News
1 New York Times:
What if Your Town Doubled as a Residential Power Grid?
2 Axios:
The GOP debate's energy moments
3 Utility Dive:
Democratic lawmakers urge TVA to set 2035 net-zero goal in upcoming IRP
4 PV-Magazine:
Arizona to vote on 37% slash to solar net metering
5 NBC NC:
Solar panel manufacturer eyeing Fort Mill facility
6 Bloomberg:
Engie Strikes $1.6 Billion US Battery Deal With Apollo, EnCap
7 Reuters:
SolarEdge not to cut inverter prices as panels become cheaper
8 Energy Storage News:
UK BESS revenues jump 53% in one month, Modo Energy says
9 Canary Media:
US offshore wind pushes ahead despite industry turmoil
Opinions:
10 PV-Tech:
Australia - slow Q2 for renewables generation investments is “concerning”, says CEC
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 24th, 2023
Opinion
News
1 Axios:
"Brutal" heat wave brings triple-digit temperatures from Chicago to New Orleans
2 Reuters:
Column - US power system gets gasier, but not much cleaner, in 2023
3 PV-Tech:
Canadian Solar lowers 2023 revenue guidance as solar module prices rapidly declined
4 Renew Economy:
Battery storage charges on as new wind and solar projects hit new low
5 NBC News:
AZ commissioner wants to further slash rooftop solar incentives
6 Energy Storage News:
Maldives launches tender seeking 40MWh BESS and EMS across 18 islands
7 GreenBiz:
Sysco, Genentech and Amazon share 5 power moves for electrifying fleets
8 Canary Media:
Will a planned ‘blue’ hydrogen hub in Appalachia help or hurt the climate?
Opinions:
9 PV-Magazine:
How to avoid solar antidumping tariffs
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 23rd, 2023
Opinion
News
1 Reuters:
Exclusive - Northvolt raises $1.2 billion in latest funding round for factory build out - CFO
2 Canary Media:
Biden admin slaps more tariffs on several Chinese solar manufacturers
3 PV-Tech:
Biden admin slaps more tariffs on several Chinese solar manufacturers
4 PV-Magazine:
Investors, buyers losing interest in ‘speculative’ renewable projects
5 New York Times:
What Happens When Great Power Conflict and Climate Action Collide
6 Electret:
Tesla changes its solar strategy, lays off workers, bets on certified installers
7 Utility Dive:
Investors, buyers losing interest in ‘speculative’ renewable projects
Opinions:
9 Bloomberg:
How to Build a Giant Power Station Without Spending a Cent
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 22nd, 2023
Opinion
News
1 Utility Dive:
Hawaiian Electric eyes bankruptcy after Maui wildfires in ‘prudent scenario planning’
2 Wall Street Journal:
Solar Boom Spreads to Timberlands and Self-Storage Rooftops
3 Axios:
Tropical Storm Hilary's heavy rains flood California streets
4 PV-Tech:
“Allegations were meritless from the beginning”
5 Energy Storage News:
Sonnen’s German battery VPP reaches 250MWh, expects 1GWh in next few years
6 Canary Media:
Video - How the Inflation Reduction Act has transformed US clean energy
7 PV-Magazine:
California solar generation grew twentyfold in a decade
Opinions:
8 Reuters:
Renewables companies hit brakes on Alberta projects after govt delays approvals
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 21st, 2023
Disneyland versus Disneyworld. The unlikeliest of circumstances is leading to this headline, understanding that Disneyland is in Southern California and Disneyworld is in Central Florida. One of them has a hurricane emergency plan and the other has an actual hurricane coming its way. From the fire in Maui to the tropical storm hitting SoCal, this has been a crazy weather summer. My 100 degree days are a norm but I tell my friends I’m less worried about storms since the ocean is so warm, they’ve been straying north. Meanwhile doing what we can to keep up with the increased demand for energy is politicized to the point that the political divide makes solar not the obvious choice, and the obvious choice that needs to expand faster. The industry is doing great work, expanding manufacturing, retraining professionals from other sectors and leading the clean energy expansion but that isn’t getting through. So we need to say more about the individual stories and do more as a sector to expand the geographic impact across all of America in a way that changes hearts and minds.
News
1 Magic:
First Ever Tropical Storm Warning Issued for Disneyland Resort Area
2 Reuters:
US places tariffs on some big solar companies for dodging China duties
3 Politico:
Biden faces calls to declare climate emergency as he heads to Maui
4 Axios:
Maui wildfires spark new fears about outdated U.S. power grid
5 Utility Dive:
Google-backed white paper offers framework for deliverability in clean energy procurement standards
6 Bloomberg:
Bank of America’s $580 Million Renewable Tax Credit Deal Is One of Many
7 Energy Storage News:
Iron flow battery player ESS Inc improves revenue position, says IP safe for ‘years to come’
8 Canary Media:
New tax-credit transfer rules could unlock $1T in cleantech investment
9 PV-Magazine:
Clean energy jobs seeing growth across the U.S.
Opinions:
10 PV-Tech:
Supply crunch and manufacturing capacity will reverse recent US PPA price drop
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 18th, 2023
Market For Resilience. Grid operators are starting to ponder what the tradeoff for resilience may have to be because urgency without the will to act or create new markets. The issue isn’t just around resilience but also the need for more generation. As I type this, ERCOT just peaked out at 84.9GW of demand. If you recall, it broke the 80GW demand just a few weeks ago. Therein sits the predicament around interconnection queues and robust markets with infrastructure that needs updating. If consumers want and need more energy, that resource must come from somewhere and most likely that somewhere is solar and wind. At the same time the grid needs to enhance its capabilities to manage the ebbs and flows to match generation with demand as well as where the energy needs to flow. These are big problems that can be solved with action and willingness to create markets.
News
1 Bloomberg:
Texas Power Prices Surge 6,000% as Grid Calls for Conservation
2 Axios:
Electricity companies face calamity as climate warms
3 Reuters:
Analysis - A year on, Europe less fearful of U.S. green subsidies push
4 PV-Tech:
Origis Energy establishes US$750 million fund to add 2GW of US solar and storage
5 Energy Storage News:
US reached 5.4GW/15.2GWh of co-located energy storage by end-2022, LBNL says
6 Canary Media:
Your cheat sheet to the climate law’s consumer incentives
7 PV-Magazine:
Texas attorney general - Counties cannot block solar development
Opinions:
8 Utility Dive:
Virtual power plants - Resource adequacy without interconnection delays
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 17th, 2023
Opinion
News
1 Reuters:
Biden touts Inflation Reduction Act on first anniversary
2 Axios:
Tracking the flow of clean-energy investment
3 Canary Media:
The US climate law is fueling a factory frenzy. Here’s the latest tally
4 Bloomberg:
California’s Fear of Blackouts Blocks Goal of Fossil-Free Future
5 PV-Tech:
US EV charging network Electrify America opens 75MW solar project
6 Energy Storage News:
FERC interconnection reform welcome but plenty of work to do, says energy storage industry
7 PV-Magazine:
Domestic content guidance on solar cells and structural steel
Opinions:
8 New York Times:
Climate Change Was on Trial in Montana
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 15th, 2023
Opinion
News
1 Axios:
The new climate law is upending the solar landscape
2 Reuters:
Yellen upbeat on US economy, says Bidenomics is driving investment, job growth
3 Energy Storage News:
Grid-scale battery boom as US quarterly installs go up 32%, pipeline grows 45% year-on-year
4 Bloomberg:
How Carbon Capture Is Getting New Life With US Help
5 New York Times:
China’s Two Climate Directions
6 PV-Tech:
Community solar has potential to generate 1.75GW of electricity in Wisconsin
7 Canary Media:
The US passed a major climate law one year ago. Here’s how it’s going
8 PV-Magazine:
Over 155 GW of U.S. solar manufacturing announced in one year
Opinions:
9 Politico:
EU blindsided by ‘spectacular’ solar rollout
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 14th, 2023
Time To Collaborate. Service and commodity businesses serving the residential solar market are both profitable and having a moment of struggle as NEM 3.0 reset and high interest rates slow new consumer adoption. I’ve seen the residential solar market from many angles and have spoken personally to more than a 1,000 of owners of various sizes. Tinkering with the Buyer’s Group concept a few years ago and running QuickMountPV, I realize that bringing installers together make a lot of sense for stability and profitability of the installer. It would take 50+ installers to commit to group purchasing but the lowest hanging fruit of racking and financing could shave 25+ cents per watt off the total cost.
News
1 New York Times:
The Clean Energy Future Is Arriving Faster Than You Think
2 Politico:
Democrats’ climate law set off a wave of energy projects in GOP districts. A backlash followed.
3 Canray Media:
US announces first winners in $3.5B carbon removal program
4 PV-Magazine:
Sunlight Financial challenged to sell $550 million in residential loans
5 Axios:
The fastest-growing U.S. cities are roasting in extreme heat
6 Bloomberg:
Solar Built on Trash Offers Solution to Renewable Energy’s Space Problem
7 Reuters:
Dubai's DEWA selects Abu Dhabi's Masdar to construct solar park
8 PV-Tech:
Greenbacker US$148 million tax equity financing for ‘one of first’ US solar projects to get PTC
9 Energy Storage News:
Gridmatic launches US$50 million fund to manage BESS projects in ERCOT and CAISO
Opinions:
10 McKinsey:
Enabling renewable energy with battery energy storage systems
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 11th, 2023
Major Grid Resilience. Wisconsin is taking a major leap with Alliant’s leadership, adding nearly 1GWh of energy storage to be installed in the near future. The two sites will collocate energy storage at newly built PV plant, exemplifying how storage is creating more value for solar pipelines and letting us use solar energy at night. I would be too modest not to mention that FlexGen is the partner on these projects, highlighting the important work that we’ve been doing for a decade plus and more recently having focused on turning batteries on faster and keeping them on with industry leading availability through our HybridOS EMS. We’ll be at RE+ and have some exciting product release announcements in the coming weeks.
So Common So Amazing. Another day and two major factory announcements. We can’t be numb to this norm, First Solar announced a 5th factory in Louisiana and Maxeon a 3GW plant in New Mexico.
Thoughts? Every now and then a story breaks and I find out because I get 50+ texts and emails from SolarWakeup readers. Yesterday that was the ‘leak’ that Esdec (aka PanelClaw, Ironridge, Ecofasten, QuickMount) was trying to go public for over $5billion. Obviously, I have some history here while also not having been involved in a few years. We’ll see what my role is to provide comments and thoughts to you all so I’ll wait to think how much behind the scenes is appropriate. We haven’t seen the S-1 but I will say this, if this is worth $5billion, we all may be forming SolarWakeup racking co in the near future!
News
1 Energy Storage News:
Alliant Energy gets 175MW/700MWh BESS projects at Wisconsin PV plants approved
2 Bloomberg:
Blackstone-Backed Solar Company Esdec Seeks US IPO at $5 Billion Value
3 PV-Tech:
First Solar to open 5th US manufacturing facility in Louisiana
4 PV-Magazine:
Maxeon Solar to build 3 GW cell and module plant in Albuquerque
5 Politico:
Biden’s climate law
6 Utility Dive:
PJM, MISO, others warn of ‘significant power shortages’ from EPA’s power plant carbon rule
7 Axios:
Making sense of Biden's "emergency" statement on climate change
8 Solar Power World:
DOE to begin accepting low-income solar bonus credit applications in early fall
Have a great day!
Yann
