Tag Archives: Daily Rundown

This is your SolarWakeup for August 29th, 2023

Don’t Let Facts Get In The Way. Of a good story, or political talking point. Ever since the 2014 era ITC extension, solar has had to trade molecular fuels subsidies for its own extensions. Today, the US develops as much oil and gas as the global markets allow them to, with little to no say from the US federal government. In many ways, Riyadh determines how much oil is drilled in the US more so than DC but I digress. Politically, there is only one thing I really care about here which is something that I’ve complained about a lot, somewhat mitigated by the transferability of the tax credits but that’s the passive income rules that solar has to abide by that oil and gas does not. Democrat votes may complain about this leading up to 2024 but I expect the Biden administration to brag about the oil production ahead of the election while knowing that renewables are taking off with the IRA and EV impact on transportation is at its highest ever. 

But Let’s Drill. More geothermal that is, check out my friend’s startup at XGS energy for another major player getting into the space. 

Where’s The Invite? Secretary Granholm is heading to friends of solar in MN this week!

Opinion

Best, Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for August 28th, 2023

Newsflash, It’s Still Hot (And Great To Invest In Batteries). Texas hit market price caps again, many times this year and something that has become somewhat of a norm since Uri. That comes days after Engie announced the acquisition of the largest storage development platform, Broad Reach Power. With some of the earliest storage projects working in Texas, BRP has shown that having assets in market unlocks revenue streams in peak demands especially. That is the thing with storage in ERCOT, the assets need to be ready to push the limits and show that they can unlock opportunities 24/7/365 and projects ultimately will change hands and that’s where the operating software (EMS) and performance analytics are incredibly important to back up the performance data comes in. As you add storage to your pipeline and want to get more intel about storage operating systems, EMS and data analytics, reach out to meet with my team at RE+.

Grid Reliability (And Security). NERC is highlighting the overlap of energy policy with grid reliability but so does the importance of grid security. As the grid has to evolve to be more resilient and intelligent, security will undeniably be linked to grid reliability. It may be up to the market participants to set the standards thou as grid policy is oftentimes years behind the actual growth in the market.

The Problem With Physics. Germany has a grid physics problem. One of the highest penetrations of renewables, a desire to retire coal and nuclear plus a less than optimal supply of natural gas matched with increased energy demand from economic growth and a transportation sector quickly transitioning to electric fuel. Put all of that together and the grid needs flexibility but little to no storage is going onto the grid.

Opinion

Best, Yann

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.

Opinion

Best, Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for August 24th, 2023

Opinion

Best, Yann