Report by a large utility on C&I power reliability shows the significant increase in outages impacting companies (from 20% to 40% from 2019 to 2020) is due to intermittent renewable power and the decline of baseload generation. Report predicts it will only get worse.
Solar installers are reporting a record level of confidence in the industry, according to a recent EngerySage/NABCEP survey of 650 people. 67% continue to place an emphasis on gaining market share over increasing the gross margins of installations.
Aurora’s exhaustive article on all things res and commercial energy storage includes info on benefits, thermal vs. battery vs. mechanical, deep dive on commercial and res storage, and a short FAQ about lead-acid and lithium-ion, length of charge and number needed.
Growth of solar and drop in prices has meant mom and pop solar now has a multi functional format: sales, management/engineering, electric, tech support; new construction is covered by 3 different company types: developer, electrician, roofing; and retrofit solar installs are here to stay.
Two senators offered The Save America’s Clean Energy Jobs Act to assist in economic recovery from COVID and help create good-paying jobs in renewables. It allows for temporary refundability of section 45, 45Q and 48 investment and production tax credits to promote private development of solar.
5 reasons for roofers to move into solar: a roof may need to be redone before a solar install, 20% of res solar jobs don’t finish due to the need for a new roof, there is tech specifically built to support roofers adding solar to their biz, it’s easy to start small and build up, and roofers can sell solar more easily as they can get age roof.
Soligent has a webinar on PV Mag’s Inverter of the Year Energy Hub from SolarEdge. The video walks through the features including add-on options, consumption meter, MySolarEdge app; compatibility with EVs; multiple homeowner benefits, and tips/info on how to sell it.
PV Mag rounded up the renewables policy developments for Q1. Includes the striking down of ACE, rejoining the Paris agreement, the GREEN Act reintroduction, the Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator offering, and the DOE commitment of $100 in funding for low-carbon tech.
Global solar PV installs are predicted to grow by 27% in 2021 to a record 181 GW. Leading countries are China, the US and India. China is expected to install 60 GW more and the US 27 GW. India will probably have a demand surge for modules in the summer when a duty-free import window opens.
In a video from Baywa r.e., their VP of Operations discusses how installers can evaluate new products and tech to most effectively keep pace. He considers factors like a company’s target market, sales modeling, how to position a new product and ways to include the competition in the decision making process.