Proterra CEO Predicts EV Adoption Timeline

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: In this edition of the SolarWakeup Live! podcast, Yann Brandt sat down with Ryan Popple, CEO of Proterra, an electric vehicle manufacturer currently focused on building buses and driving and discussed:

why China is so far ahead of the United States in EV development,
how Tesla made it from being a small startup to the electric vehicle behemoth it is today (Popple was present at the creation), and
how soon will there be an EV in every driveway (OK, that last one’s made up, but they do talk about how quickly mass-transit EVs will be adopted)

SolarWakeup’s View: I will never tire of listening to energy visionaries describe the future in terms that I, with my limited understanding of my day-to-day life let alone the FUTURE, haven’t even conceived of yet. And so I listened with great interest to Managing Editor Yann Brandt’s podcast interview with Ryan Popple from Proterra, an electric vehicle (EV) company dedicated to putting electric, mass transit buses in all U.S. cities in the near future.

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The whole interview is worth listening to, but as you can see from the bullets above, three things really captured my imagination:

First, Popple talks about what it was like to be present at the creation (or at least the early years) at Tesla. What I was most interested in, honestly, was his contention that you don’t necessarily have to have the best technology when you first start a business as long as you have the top intellectual talent throughout the company to get you there eventually.

It’s a sentiment Popple shares with Jim Collins, former Stanford Business School professor and best-selling author of the book Good to Great: Put the best people you can hire in key positions first; then the products will follow.

Second, Popple talks about why China is so far ahead of the United States in EV development. His explanation will be obvious to anyone who ever sat in their college dorms at 2 a.m. discussing the merits of communism vs capitalism and coming to the conclusion that ultimately, capitalism wins – eventually.

Third, Yann asks Popple when he thinks EV development, at least on the mass transit front that Proterra serves, will hit 50% of all the purchases of those types of vehicles. Your jaw may well drop when you hear his answer (I know mine did).

Oh, and he has a prediction of what long-haul trucking will look like in 20 years that will blow your mind.

More:

Can EVs Save The Utility Model?

Proterra

Clean Energy Credit Union Will Back Solar Projects

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: Yann Brandt sat down with Blake Jones and Terri Mickelsen, the driving forces behind the Colorado-based Clean Energy Credit Union (CECU), which they expect will:

provide loans to people who want to invest in products like solar installations, electric vehicles, energy efficiency and other similar investments.
give new clean energy markets another financing option.
It’s also important to note the CECU is a federally insured credit union, where advocates and enthusiasts can put their money and feel good about how their money is being used.

SolarWakeup’s View: I can’t believe someone hasn’t done this already.

Yann Brandt, managing editor of SolarWakeup, flew to Colorado to chair a panel at the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association (COSEIA) conference with Blake Jones and Terri Mickelsen, the driving forces behind a new solar financing vehicle called the Clean Energy Credit Union. As Jones says, it’s a place where clean energy geeks can park their money and know that the loans it is used for align with your values.

I say it surprises me that no one has done this already, but that’s not really true. After listening to the podcast, I have a much greater appreciation for the hurdles Jones and Mickelsen had to clear before they could even open the credit union for business. As a “21st century financial institution,” of course, the entire operation is online – and the savings collected from not having brick-and-mortar locations will be passed on to borrowers in the form of lower interest rates.

The podcast is quite mesmerizing. It’s not an easy road Jones and Mickelsen (and the rest of the team at CECU) have chosen. But they are confident that they are starting a movement that will draw more traditional financial institutions into the space and make loans for clean energy as ubiquitous as car or home loans.

Here’s wishing them the best.

More:

Clean Energy Credit Union

Is DC-Coupled Storage The Next Solar Boom Segment?

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: Our own Yann Brandt, the proprietor of this place, interviewed Josh Prueher, CEO of FlexGen, about the concept of DC-coupled energy storage and what it could mean for the solar industry.

What are the major advantages of DC versus AC coupled energy storage for solar?
How does solar start integrating storage in its projects?

SolarWakeup’s View: As the race to unlock the solar+storage market heats up, the idea of DC-coupled storage is an intriguing one. In such a system, the storage devices are placed between the solar modules and the inverter, instead of the traditional configuration of putting it behind the inverter.

“OK, Frank, but what difference does that make?”, I can hear you saying out there. Here’s the difference it makes: It means there are fewer components to install, meaning there are fewer parts to break down. In addition, you eliminate the unnecessary step of converting DC power to AC power (at the inverter) and then back to DC power (at the storage level) and then back to AC to deliver the electricity to the offtaker.

It lowers installation costs and stabilizes the entire project, including the power-output percentage. Such stability makes projects much easier to finance. And if you don’t think financiers are attracted to stability, I’d respectfully suggest you’ve never met a financier.

At the moment, FlexGen is focusing on adding storage to existing C&I and utility-scale projects, but as the technology becomes better understood, Prueher expects it to become another storage option mandated by these projects before they have even begun.

The concept of DC-coupled storage is an interesting one that is just coming into its own – and has the potential to revolutionize the storage industry as we know it.

More

FlexGen Solar Case Study

Tony Clifford from Standard Solar: Being acquired by Gaz Metro and working on SEIA

Tony Clifford has been with Standard Solar for over a decade, spending much of his time as the CEO until stepping aside late in 2016. This wasn’t his first time in solar, having worked for Solarex and BP Solar in the Carter/Reagan years. What are the parallels between the Carter/Reagan transition to those between Obama/Trump when it comes to solar?

Standard Solar was recently acquired by Gaz Metro, a diversified energy company based in Montreal, which also owns Green Mountain Power. Tony and I discuss how the process played out and how Standard Solar was able to stand out amongst the many solar companies that went to market last year.

Our discussion also goes into Tony’s work in policy. Since stepping down as CEO, he has been devoting much of his time on policy and business development. As an longtime elected member of the SEIA board, Tony was part of the search committee for the CEO job at SEIA that went to Abby Hopper.

The next steps for Standard Solar look bright. With access to capital, including tax equity, Standard will be looking to acquire development projects throughout the Country.

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