An EPA report warns of serious changes in the US partly caused by global warming. Apparently ocean heat is at its highest level ever, wildfire and pollen seasons are going longer, and permafrost is thawing in Alaska. The release of this particular report heralds the return of the EPA’s climate change website, one that was dismantled under Trump.
Effective wire management for rooftop low-slope, rail-less solar systems includes layout design with string diagrams before you are on the roof to properly manage all the optimizer conductors and planning for narrow walkways to access all modules and correction gaps where needed. Check out the article for more, including how to account for microinverters and trunk and branch wire management.
Big utility companies are doing far too little to phase out coal and replace it with renewables. A report found that 79 US companies that account for 68% of the remaining coal generation only plan to retire 25% of that coal by 2030. In the next ten years they plan to build 36GW of new gas but only 100GW of new clean energy.
In CA, SEIA and Vote Solar are focusing on solar+storage while CALSSA emphasizes protecting the distributed storage and solar industry, pointing to the need to compensate self-generators at attractive levels. The Public Advocates Office of the CPUC is looking improve rooftop solar compensation and tack on a grid service charge.
When considering creating an O&M division it helps to look at important factors like making sure you have enough critical mass to justify it, having access to a specialized workforce and the necessary internal systems, being able to deliver a customized offering, and understanding how to approach it from a customer service orientation.
On June 8-9 Aurora Solar is bringing back its Empower Virtual Summit – this year called Moving Solar Forward. It will pull in industry leaders, professionals, policy insiders, and growth experts to discuss the industry post-COVID. Some topics: CEOs visions for the future (including Sunnova CEO/founder), remote/hybrid selling and NEM.
In an interview the Shell Oil CEO reported that they plan to transform to a climate friendly and “net-zero emissions energy business” by 2050. They’re asking their investors to back a transition to move away from oil and want to focus on how its oil and gas products are used as opposed to how they supply them.
One way to up your game in a solar sales pitch is to make sure to include utility rates in your discussion (higher utility rate = bigger potential savings) particuarly when talking to someone in a less sunny state. Aurora breaks down how to approach the conversation using numbers from CA (high solar radiation levels) and MA (low solar radiation levels).
An ACORE report calls for a transmission ITC to allow for 30,000 MW of renewables via regional high-voltage transmission infrastructure. It would generate jobs in the industry and drum up $15+ billion in private capital investment. It would also mean $2.3 billion in energy cost savings for households in the lower 80% income bracket.
To accurately calculate total BOS costs you need to account for expensive cables/wiring needs. An alternative to cumbersome Excel spreadsheets is solar design software that can account for factors like wiring requirement changes based on inverter location, precise roof-to-ground run calculations, and comparisons around where to position the inverter for ground-mounts.