The Energy Show

We often talk about smaller solar power systems on homes or commercial buildings but on this week’s Energy Show we are talking about gigawatt scale solar installations, and here is the logic --solar panels continue to get cheaper, panels are getting more efficient, and by the same token, for whatever reason, electricity from the utility companies keeps getting more and more expensive. So it’s no surprise that we are now seeing gigawatt scale solar installations to take advantage of these economies of scale and less expensive electricity. When I started doing PV installations back in 2001, the biggest projects were about 5 MW. Just over the past couple years I’ve seen 500 MW installations go in here in the US and there is several 1,000 MW (a gigawatt) installations in India and China. Now there is gigawatt plant construction underway in the US and to put these projects in perspective, it’s twice the capacity of most natural gas plants, it covers about ten square miles, have over three million solar panels, and employee thousands of people during construction. So to talk about projects of this size, my special guests on this week’s Energy Show are Mark Cox and Shola Ashiru of New Energy Fund II, a private equity investment company.

Battery storage is roughly where the solar industry was in the early 2000’s. It’s a tiny market now but it is exploding and the technology is evolving rapidly. There is money saving potential for customers but there are risks for incumbent energy providers who are pushing back. The standards for battery storage are changing like quicksand and investor funds are pouring in to take advantage of this inevitable market. The rapid “hockey stick” growth that we are seeing in the energy storage industry is likely to be even more accelerated than the growth of the solar industry. All the pieces are in place for a number of successful companies throughout the storage value chain, but as with the solar industry, there is going to be some spectacular train wrecks along the way as well as some companies that just do not have the staying power to succeed. On this week’s Energy Show, we talk about the following eight mistakes that companies in the solar industry made that hopefully storage companies can avoid: Mistake #1: Constraints on critical upstream components (Li or Co = Si?) Mistake # 2: Live by incentives and die by incentives Mistake # 3: Releasing half-baked products Mistake #4: Ignoring software Mistake #5: Assuming electricity rates will always go up Mistake #6: Not paying enough attention to safety issues Mistake #7: Selling commodity components, not bankable systems Mistake # 8: Inevitable black swan events

Public policies have a tremendous influence on the energy we use, as well as the condition of our environment. State and Federal legislators make these policies with input from private citizens and businesses. The solar industry quite frankly has thrived with policies in favor of clean renewable energy, and it’s no accident that California is a leader in solar and clean renewable energy. The Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG) helps advocate for favorable business and citizen policies in Silicon Valley and they have made a tremendous impact not only in California but also in Washington DC. Listen up to this week’s Energy Show where we speak with Tim McRae, Vice President of Energy at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. Tim is an energy policy expert and an environmental lawyer. He helps Leadership Group Members define and carry out energy policy, programs and events covering issues like energy supply, grid modernization and reliability, and demand side solutions.

Solar is clean and renewable and cheap. So more solar is better for everyone…except your local utility. Keep in mind that utilities generate their profits from selling electricity and building generation, transmission and distribution assets. When electricity customers install more solar, utilities make less money. Unfortunately, utilities have the political clout to enforce their monopoly on customers who would otherwise prefer less expensive rooftop solar. The biggest battles are emerging in relatively mature solar markets. Over 15% of residential customers in some areas of Hawaii have rooftop solar. As a result, Hawaii is the first “test case” in the U.S. for high penetration solar. Faced with this loss of profits, the Hawaiian utilities clamped down on new solar installations by capping net metering, raising solar-specific rates, and in some cases simply prohibiting installations. Instead of upgrading the local grid to handle these two-way power flows efficiently, their knee-jerk reaction has been simply to limit solar. Their rationale for these limitations is questionable at best, especially at these still low penetration levels. The impact on the Hawaiian solar market has been severe. Installations have dramatically slowed down and solar companies have gone out of business. The Solar Survivors (who have not been kicked off the island) are migrating to install battery storage systems which are compatible with new utility solar limitations, albeit at less favorable economics. My guest on this week’s Energy Show is Marco Mangelsdorf, CEO of Provision Solar on Hilo. Marco has been installing solar since 2000 – and has an abundance of insights and advice for solar installers and customers throughout the U.S.

Most people know what an electric grid is -–basically it's power generated centrally by the utility companies from a variety of energy sources like oil, gas, nuclear, coal, and then transmitted at high voltages via overhead and sometimes underground transmission lines to local substations where the voltage is reduced down to the distribution voltage level and distributed over power utility lines to homes and businesses. It’s called a “grid” because there is a network of wires that move the power around from node to node –basically a combination of power source, wires and controls. A micro-grid is the same concept but on a much smaller scale. One example of a microgrid is a complex of buildings on an island. This complex of buildings may have one outbuilding that has a central power plant which almost always used to be powered by diesel. Now many are solar with batteries and have also have a backup generator, often powered by diesel. So these power plants have a combination of solar diesel and maybe wind and sometimes batteries, and then they have wires going from this power plant to power multiple buildings on the island. Another example of a microgrid is one you might have in your pocket. Think about a cell phone. It’s got a battery, sometimes a backup battery, and you might have a mini solar charger. Those thinks are a microgrid. So we have different scales of microgrids, but why so much interest in microgrids lately? Listen up to this week’s Energy Show to learn more about microgrids and the importance they are playing in the changing landscape of central and distributed energy.

Solar and Energy Storage System Engineering with Josh Weiner of SepiSolar by Barry Cinnamon 366248

solar inverter

This week’s show is about TAXES! I know, try to contain your excitement. It’s been 32 years since President Reagan pushed through the last comprehensive tax reform bill. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 makes similar huge changes in the ways that individuals and businesses pay their taxes. These tax changes are going to have impacts throughout the economy and basically impact everything businesses and individuals do regarding economics. So join us on this week’s Energy Show, as we discuss what the tax changes mean for solar for your home, solar for your business, and solar financing.

Energy efficiency in our homes has improved steadily over the millennia. Now while I’m counting a cave as a home, luckily we no longer have to sleep on the floor of a smoke filled cave. But even a home built 25 years ago are not as energy efficient as current homes. So on this week’s Energy Show we look at home energy efficiency from two perspectives. One, what are the technologies that should go into a brand new home so you can spend less money on energy? And second, how can you improve your existing home? Regardless of your home energy efficiency budget, Listen Up to the Energy Show to get tips on how you can save money on your home energy costs.

Businesses use leasing to finance their buildings vehicles and equipment all the time. The key advantage of a lease is businesses can reduce their operating expense purchasing and owning assets and without taking on personal debt. Leases also make sense for commercial solar and energy storage installations. So my guest this week is Stan Fishbein with Cleanview Capital.  CleanView Capital is an equipment finance company specializing in making ownership of clean energy systems affordable and profitable for commercial and industrial companies nationwide.  Listen up to this week’s Energy Show, as Stan shares his insight on commercial solar and energy storage project leasing, and how Cleanview Capital structures their leases to help customers reduce cash flow and maximize deductions.

Many solar contractors are getting into the battery storage installation business. When I think about it, it’s like the early days of solar circa 2000, there’s a lot to learn, and a lot to get excited about but the equipment is still in at the early stages, so it takes time to design and install these systems. Nevertheless, many of the integrated systems that are out there are reliable and most importantly, because there is high electric rates, backup power needs, and some good incentives, businesses and homeowners can save money now. Listen up to this week’s Energy Show as we go into the details behind a successful battery storage installation.

The economics of energy have changed drastically over the past dozen years because of new energy generation technologies like wind and solar and new energy saving technologies like heat pumps and Electric vehicles, LED lighting and lithium-ion batteries. The combination of these new technologies to generate, store and the way we consume electricity has changed. So Listen Up to this week’s Energy Show as we talk about 10 Energy Saving Myths.

Barry Cinnamon shares his 2018 predictions for the rooftop solar industry.

My guest on this week’s Energy Show is Neil Maguire, CEO of Adara Power. Adara is a Silicon Valley company that integrates battery and inverter technology with software to reduce peak demand charges, maximizes the value of net metering and also provides backup power.

From Solar Thermal to Integrated Battery Storage - Interview with Jeff Brown by Barry Cinnamon 366248