This is your SolarWakeup for January 18th, 2023
Nextracker Goes Public. This isn’t a surprise to readers of SolarWakeup, I called this shot almost two years ago when the mad rush for tracker IPOs was hitting the market. With the S-1 we have some additional information including the 3.1billion dollar valuation that TPG invested in last year. Having written thousands of columns over the past 10 years, it’s nice to have my predictions on the record especially when they’re right. You can see the full filing on the first link and I send my congratulations to my friends Shug and Howard Wenger leading another solar success story. This also marks a victory for TPG’s Rise Fund who should see at least a 2x on their investment depending on valuation but analysts expect at least $6.5billion based on comparable public peers.
Batteries At Gas Plants. Yesterday, FlexGen announced that we will be providing our services to Middle River Power as they build 4 stand alone batteries at existing natural gas plants. These batteries will add to MRP’s capabilities in CAISO using the FlexGen operating system that ensures the batteries turn on and stay on. The interesting aspect of this is about where these batteries will go and where they’ll go on a global market basis. Basically every point of connection on the grid will have or could use some version of energy storage. Power plants, substations, homes and businesses are points in the grid that need some elasticity. The key is to have durable batteries matched with the digital controls and operating system that make it work the way you want and that’s what FlexGen does.
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This is your SolarWakeup for January 17th, 2023
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This is your SolarWakeup for January 13th, 2023
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This is your SolarWakeup for January 12th, 2023
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This is your SolarWakeup for January 11th, 2023
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This is your SolarWakeup for January 10th, 2023
Innovation Economy. The tech sector would tell you that it’s when the ride looks like it came to an end that the best new ideas come to the forefront. VCs look at smart, hungry entrepreneurs that may have been faced with layoffs from their cozy job and find ideas to invest in. We’re in an era in renewable energy where cheap money isn’t so cheap anymore, developing takes big bucks and finding square farm land is so 2010. On the other hand, you have a 10 year ITC runway, energy inflation has increased electricity rates and technology maturity is the best it’s been (ever). Now is the time to figure out where the innovation is and if it’s in your blood, take the leap to build something new. I’m excited to see what great ideas come to fruition and who builds the next…
Trackers For All. The top article today is about one of those innovations. The tracker that eliminates the need for grading, i.e. civil costs, for utility scale solar projects. The all terrain tracker was pioneered by an amazing startup called Nevados, I’ve highlighted them a few times in the past. Now Nextracker and Array Technologies have seen and realized the potential of this tech but it starts with the near decade of head start that the Nevados team has. It’s an interesting concept that also has challenges on how to build it so installers don’t waste a ton of time putting it together, think very steep slopes and uneven pilings. While also withstanding the ever growing wind, snow, rain loads that may undermine a project’s lifespan. Nevados talks about the direct impact from a hurricane in some of their experience set so it’s definitely worth looking int.
Controls And Software. I had a quick chat with the Nevados CEO yesterday and something he said struck me given my experience at FlexGen, helping EPCs, developers and IPPs get started with storage. All terrain trackers have more complexity and need more sophisticated controls and software. Shading analysis isn’t one sized fits all for example and the tracking algorithm requires a meaningful topographical analysis. It’s like storage in that way, you can buy the same battery from different vendors or different chemistries but until you put an operating system and controls configured to your project in place, you have a desktop without windows. Something has the turn the lights on, or your asset in this case.
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This is your SolarWakeup for January 9th, 2023
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This is your SolarWakeup for January 6th, 2023
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This is your SolarWakeup for January 5th, 2023
FERC Moves. President Biden has named FERC commissioner Phillips as the acting chair of the commission and the task to review the recent outages across the country kicks off at the same time. Within days of unscheduled outages, plant operators must notify FERC of the outage. ERCOT and other utilities had high profile reductions in available capacity during the recent winter storm.
Executive Moves In Tracking. Friend of SolarWakeup and former guest on our podcast, Jenya Meydbray, makes a leap from a company he founded and sold to join the innovative tracking company Nevados Engineering. Nevados is best known for the leading all-terrain tracker that eliminates grading on utility scale solar projects. The move by Jenya, announced on his Linkedin, follows former SunPower executive, Jack Bennett, joining the company as President and COO.
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This is your SolarWakeup for January 4th, 2023
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