7 Things Worth Reading This Week (10/27/23)

CPUC is about to vote on a proposed decision that will take a big bite out of the value of rooftop solar for renters in multifamily housing, farms, and schools. It would remove the right for residents of multi-meter properties to consume their own rooftop solar production, even if they own the solar array. Customers would have to first sell their solar production to the utility and then buy it back at higher rates.

Execs from Bodhi Solar, Greentech Renewables, and Lighthouse Solar sit down with Nico Johnson of Suncast to discuss challenges faced by companies in resi and C&I given declining sales and high interest rates. They talk about strategies regarding product diversification, customer service, financing options, and marketing approaches.

In three recent reports, the White House is attributing clean energy job growth to the IRA. These jobs have grown in every state and in D.C. in 2022, totalling 3.9% growth. Employment in power generation and supply recovered after a several-year downward trend and reached its highest levels in a decade in the first quarter of 2023.

The CEO of Bodhi argues that the secret to long-term success in solar is digitally transforming your company. He states that it allows companies to handle scale, delivers insights and empowers employees. It does this using three key pillars: data organization, workflow automation and streamlined communication.

A Harvard law lecturer released a report asserting that FERC needs to overhaul regional grid operators to speed up renewables deployment. He says they should require regional grid operators to add under-represented voices like state regulators to their boards. The researcher attributes the slow pace of new renewables connections and building out of transmission capabilities and new tech to this issue.

EnergySage reviewed Schneider’s latest offerings, including their new smart electrical panel, Pulse. They give an overview of the company and look at The Schneider Home app plus their flagship BESS, the aforementioned Pulse, as well as their hybrid inverter, EV chargers, and smart light and switches.

BayWa r.e. sat down with execs from Qcells and Chariot Energy to discuss the future of Qcells, growth in the United States plus navigating deregulated utilities in Texas. They cover Qcells’ strategy around growing US manufacturing and more, job growth in the US via Qcells, what’s up with retail energy rates in markets like Texas, and how these changing retail energy rate plans are impacting homeowners and installers.