This is your SolarWakeup for January 7th, 2022
Opinion
News
1 Bloomberg:
The Future of Power and Transport Markets Is Decentralization
2 PV-Magazine:
Palmetto maps roughly 75% of U.S. rooftops
3 The Hill:
Challenge to Biden Keystone XL revocation dismissed as moot
4 Axios:
Excess deaths tied to urban air pollution
5 Reuters:
Shell-backed U.S. solar developer raises $775 million in equity
6 Energy Storage News:
New York doubles 2030 energy storage deployment target to 6GW
7 Canary Media:
US government squandered hundreds of millions on ‘clean coal’ pipe dream
Opinions:
8 GreenBiz:
The politics that will shape our clean energy future
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 6th, 2022
Opinion
News
1 New York Times:
Why the Coming Months Will Be Critical for Biden’s Climate Plan
2 Axios:
GM's electric onslaught - Pickups, SUVs and delivery vans
3 Utility Dive:
Texas power plants 'ready for winter' following weatherization assessment, ERCOT says
4 Reuters:
Virginia's governor-elect taps Trump EPA chief for key role
5 PV-Tech:
Build Back Better remains deadlocked as Manchin insists negotiations at a standstill
6 Energy Storage News:
US$20bn Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations opened by US Department of Energy
Opinions:
7 Canary Media:
Grid energy storage surged in 2021, as we predicted
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 5th, 2022
Opinion
News
1 Politico:
Manchin on Biden's spending bill - 'No negotiation going on'
2 Utility Dive:
Data centers, EVs drive PJM's long-term load growth forecast, but it expects some utilities to see declines
3 PV-Magazine:
Rystad - Residential solar soars past C&I in 2021
4 Bloomberg:
Europe Sleepwalked Into an Energy Crisis That Could Last Years
5 Solar Power World:
California legislator introduces bill requiring large counties to use instant online solar permitting
6 Axios:
Ford to double electric F-150 production
7 Energy Storage News:
Decommissioned Audi EV batteries used in 4.5MWh stationary energy storage system in Germany
Opinions:
8 RMI:
Washington State Could Lead the Nation on Building Electrification Codes
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 4th, 2022
Opinion
News
1 Axios:
U.S. oil producers plan to boost output despite rising costs
2 Canary Media:
Tesla delivered almost 1 million EVs in 2021, a historic milestone
3 New York Times:
Europe Plans to Say Nuclear Power and Natural Gas Are Green Investments
4 Utility Dive:
MISO proposal to let utilities profit from upgrades for HVDC lines sparks debate at FERC
5 Forbes:
Standard Industries’ GAF Energy Debuts New Solar Roof Aimed At The Masses
6 Solar Industry:
Massachusetts Advances Dozens of Solar Projects on Hold for Nearly Two Years
7 E&E News:
DOE unveils $1B loan for hydrogen plant. But is it ‘clean’?
8 PV-Magazine:
Enphase celebrates the new year by entering the EV charging market
Opinions:
9 Yale Climate:
New D.C. solar farm is response to Pope Francis’s call to care for Earth
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 3rd, 2022
Happy New Year! I hope you have a great start of the year and ready for what is shaping up to be an enormous step forward in the energy transition. Solar is big business and getting things done right is more important than ever, we’re no longer the next big thing. Energy storage is creating the glue that allows all of the interconnection points to transition or becoming more resilient in the grid transformation.
What We’re Looking At
Manchin and BBB. Manchin pulled the plug on build back better but there is likely to be a version that he finds acceptable in the coming weeks, what’s in it? That’s to be determined.
Big Resi Solar. Resi solar isn’t just the cute family business anymore, look for more consolidation and vertical integration. A solar installer making their own mounts and extruding their own rail? Already happening and they should all be doing it.
State Solar Fights. NEM 3.0 isn’t abnormal, get re-engaged with your state solar policy units and get involved.
The Electrification. That is the real transition, look for oil companies to look more like electric utilities by the end of this year.
Bankability And Digitization of Storage. Energy storage is hardware installed with software and that software needs to be bankable enough for your investment dollars. You may not know it but that’s exactly what you should focus on when you order your 2023 and 2024 energy storage assets this year.
SolarWakeup Partnerships. We’re setting up a few things all to make your life simpler and more profitable, while I will still be sourcing the stories and writing as much as possible, the SolarWakeup team will lead the front end as I focus on my day job. More to come on this front!
News
1 New York Times:
Coming Soon to This Coal County - Solar, in a Big Way
2 Bloomberg:
SunPower in Advanced Talks on Sale of Commercial Business
3 US News:
TVA Fights Proposed Solar Cooperative in West Tennessee
4 CNBC:
Tesla asks employees to fight policy proposal that would make rooftop solar more expensive in California
5 Utility Dive:
'Anecdotal evidence' points to price gouging during winter storm Uri, NERC official says
6 Axios:
Study - 10 biggest climate disasters of 2021 cost $170 billion
7 Reuters:
Germany to pull the plug on three of its last six nuclear plants
8 PV-Magazine:
CPIA pushes back against U.S. ban on solar imports from Xinjiang
9 Politico:
A Georgia solar factory shows the promise — and peril — of Biden's new industrial policy
Opinions:
10 GreenBiz:
How to make the US clean energy transition equitable
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for December 20th, 2021
Opinion
News
1 Politico:
White House lights up Manchin after he crushes Biden's megabill
2 Utility Dive:
FERC orders utilities to fine-tune line ratings to boost transmission efficiency
3 Reuters:
U.S. to face increasing power reliability issues over next 10 years - NERC
4 Axios:
U.S. to face increasing power reliability issues over next 10 years - NERC
5 NY.Gov:
Governor Hochul Announces New Framework to Achieve at Least 10 Gigawatts of Distributed Solar By 2030
6 Canary Media:
Rounding up the year in climate politics
7 PV-Magazine:
GameChange Solar receives $150 million investment by Koch Strategic Platforms
Opinions:
8 Bloomberg:
In Hamburg, Surviving Climate Change Means Living With Water
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for December 17th, 2021
BBB Right Back. BBB is hitting some barriers with Manchin on issues like child tax credits, family leave and offshore drilling. While Lindsey Graham things that the bill is dead, we’ll have to wait for the new year to see if the Senate can get it done.
Making Markets Drive Behavior. PJM has one of the lowest penetration rates of energy storage and that’s because the power markets aren’t creating the revenue opportunity that align with the technical grid operation needs. That will change, whether through PJM directly or FERC orders 2222 and 841. Homeowners, businesses and grid scale storage will be matched to generation connections.
ClimateTech Boom. The energy transition is a change of how energy is used, moved and generated. The transition infrastructure will move trillions of dollars in the US alone over the next decades but it will require the build up of companies and platforms that make the electrons move a success. There will also be hundreds of billions invested in the creation of these businesses and as the article portrays, climate tech investment is surging.
All About The Interconnect. Homes have grid connections, substations relay through a connection and generators have land and grid interconnects to deliver energy. That’s the 20th century version of a skyscraper with load/force control only happening at either end of the chain, otherwise known as dispatching and demand side management. Looking forward, just like New York’s newest skyscrapers which have blow out floors half way up, the grid is going to add dampers, or load management within transmission and distribution networks. Homeowners will not only lower their demand, they have the ability to store energy, produce energy or shift their demand to other times. This is no longer a top down/bottom up grid, it’s all about the inside out serving the outside in.
News
1 Politico:
Senate that 'sucks' gets a dose of reality from Biden
2 Utility Dive:
Energy transition likely requires market changes, transmission growth, PJM finds
3 Solar Power World:
Biden expected to sign Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which could further affect solar supply chain
4 Axios:
"Untapped potential" in climate tech investments
5 PV-Tech:
Annual EU solar PV deployment reaches new high of 25.9GW
6 RMI:
Report Release - Headwinds for US Gas Power
7 Energy Storage News:
Europe’s biggest battery project announced by UK subsidiary of Singapore’s Sembcorp
8 Canary Media:
The avoided-cost calculator - The controversial metric at the center of California’s solar net-metering fight
Opinions:
9 PV-Magazine:
California first state to require solar power and batteries in commercial structures
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for December 16th, 2021
Opinion
News
1 Utility Dive:
Shell, KKR invest in solar + storage as renewable market booms
2 Politico:
'Going very poorly' - Biden can't nail Manchin down on Dems' bill
3 Axios:
Carbon capture firm nabs $30M in VC funds
4 PV-Tech:
US developer Geenex Solar bags funding to advance PV and energy storage pipeline
5 Energy Storage News:
LG Chem, LG Energy Solutions sign recycled nickel deal, invest US$50m in recycling specialist Li-Cycle
6 Renew Economy:
The solar farm where inverters operate all night, doing voltage control for the grid
7 PV-Magazine:
Three solar installations to feed Meta data centers completed in Georgia
Opinions:
8 Solar Power World:
Solar Power World’s Top 10 stories of 2021
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for December 15th, 2021
Opinion
News
1 Energy Storage News:
FlexGen CEO - 2.1GWh California BESS contract shows the grid transition is here today
2 Canary Media:
California net-metering proposal would decimate rooftop solar market, industry says
3 Utility Dive:
White House unveils EV charging action plan, prepares network rollout guidance for cities, states
4 PV-Tech:
Shell acquiring US solar and energy storage developer Savion
5 Axios:
John Kerry hints at plans for post-COP26 summit
6 Solar Power World:
Illinois can expect solar boom as Adjustable Block Program reopens
7 PV-Magazine:
U.S. residential solar trends, 2021
Opinions:
8 RMI:
A Discussion with Author Bill Nussey on RMI, His Latest Book, and Disrupting the Global Energy Industry
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for December 14th, 2021
Build Back Better Draft. Looks like a toss-up on the Senate being able to pass BBBA before the end of the year and Manchin isn’t showing his cards. Reality is that BBBA is going to be needed based on what’s going on at the State level in CA and FL.
California’s Drafting Error. Much like Formula 1 taking the title from Hamilton and giving it to the whiny driver by changing the rules, California is picking winners and losers with their draft of the NEM 3.0 policy. It’s hard to imagine that the road to 100% clean energy includes $60 per month charges to homeowners that install solar on their homes. The fight will continue and the Governor should be getting involved because the fight against climate change and a resilient grid includes robust inclusion of DERs financed by homeowners across the State.
Talking Cyber. This is an undiscovered topic and one we will dig into more and more. Cybersecurity and the overlap with the hardware that controls the smart homes, especially in aggregate, through virtual power plants or at the grid level will need to be a focus for many of our companies that are seeking to get smarter about the FERC and NERC policies that overlap with State requirements.
Holiday Season. The team behind the scenes at SolarWakeup are working hard to bring a newer version of the buyer’s group back in play, saving residential solar installers more money than ever before. Also, heading into 2022, if you’re budgeting for digital advertising, SolarWakeup has spaces to get your word out, reach out to our team to reserve marketing opportunities going into the new year.
News
1 Politico:
Manchin keeps Dems guessing on their megabill
2 PV-Tech:
Manufacturing tax credits for inverters, trackers included in updated Build Back Better draft
3 Utility Dive:
ISO New England can meet winter power demand 'if the weather is mild,' grid operator warns
4 Solar Builder:
California NEM 3.0 Proposal - CPUC set to impose highest solar tax in the country
5 Reuters:
California proposes cutting major rooftop solar incentive after years of debate
6 PV-Magazine:
Shoring up the solar industry’s resilience to cyberattack
7 Electrive:
ABB spins off electric mobility division
8 Axios:
Russia blocks UN effort to treat climate as security threat
Opinions:
9 Energy Storage News:
Repowering project at 40-year old California wind farm will add 200MWh of battery storage
Have a great day!
Yann
