Yes! The market looks great! Weeeee!
Double positive momentum!

U.S. president is pressing to give Americans more say in what kind of power they use
Obama wields executive power to steer Americans away from fossil fuels

U.S. president is pressing to give Americans more say in what kind of power they use

By Nancy Benac, AP August 24, 2015 11:00 AM
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/fp/resources/Obama+wields+executive+power+steer+Americans+away+from/11313478/story.html

WASHINGTON — Pushing back against fossil fuel interests, President Barack Obama is pressing to give ordinary Americans more power to choose what kind of power they use.

The president, in a speech at a clean energy conference in Las Vegas on Monday night, planned to announce new executive actions and other efforts aimed at making it easier for homeowners and businesses to invest in green energy improvements that in the past may have been impractical or unaffordable.

The moves are designed to build on the clean power plant rules that the president announced earlier in the month to cut carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants by a third. They all feed into Obama’s goal of cutting overall U.S. emissions by 26 per cent to 28 per cent over the next decade to combat climate change and encourage other countries to do likewise.

Monday’s actions are focused on giving families and businesses more say in what types and how much power they rely on. That could mean rooftop solar panels, once largely the province of committed environmentalists, or other renewable energy innovations.

Housing Secretary Julian Castro said the plan “hits the sweet spot” by making clean energy more affordable for people and protecting the environment. He said people too often have been “riced out” of clean energy options.

Obama’s speech, at an annual energy conference hosted by Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, was aimed at countering fossil fuel and utility interests that have been working at the state level and elsewhere to undercut clean energy policies with arguments that the matter should be left to the free market.

The Heartland Institute, a conservative think-tank that denies manmade climate change and gets money from the billionaire Koch brothers and ExxonMobil, was among groups co-sponsoring a simultaneous “affordable energy summit” in Las Vegas as a counterpoint to Reid’s gathering, maintaining that Obama’s policies promote wind and solar power at the expense of conventional energy and “will inevitably cause skyrocketing electricity prices while providing little if any net environmental benefits,” according to the summit’s website.

Among the steps being announced by Obama:

—New guidance from the Federal Housing Administration that could dramatically expand the use of so-called PACE loans that allow homeowners to install energy improvements and pay back the costs over time. So far, use of Property-Assessed Clean Energy financing has been constrained by regulatory obstacles.

—Making $1 billion in additional loan guarantees available from the Department of Energy to encourage innovation in technologies that give Americans more flexibility in choosing renewable energy options.

Obama also was announcing the approval of a transmission line to support a planned 485-megawatt solar plant planned for Riverside County in California. The Blythe Mesa plant is expected to produce enough renewable energy to power more than 145,000 homes.

The Wilderness Society’s Chase Huntley called the project a good example “of how we can meet our clean energy goals with limited impact to wildlands and wildlife habitat.”

While in Nevada, Obama also planned to attend an evening fundraiser benefiting the Nevada State Democratic Party.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun


Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/fp/resources/Obama+wields+executive+power+steer+Americans+away+from/11313478/story.html#ixzz3jlbra1WL

Manipulators are back!
Bid | Size 3.05 | 100
Ask | Size 3.07 | 100

Somebody else joining the movement!
Australian capital ‘to be 100% green by 2025'
Aug 24, 2015 Laura Buckley Markets & Finance, Sustainability & Environment

Canberra, Australia. Image: Thinkstock
Australia’s capital city Canberra has a new target of 100% renewable energy by 2025.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr from the city’s ACT Labor Party made the announcement at a confernence last week.

Its current target is generating 90% of electricity from renewables by 2020.

Canberra will be the first capital and the largest city in Australia to be powered solely by green energy in the next 10 years if it succeeds.

Mr Barr said: “We can do this. We have shown it’s possible, now we have one small step left, 100% renewable energy will drive further jobs growth in our research and corporate sectors.

“We’ve already seen a 400% increase in renewable energy jobs in the past five years and there will be more to come.”

He added Canberra “can and should be a beacon for everyone who realises the world must act decisively now to stave off a future of catastrophic climate change”.

He went on to say the policy is a “stark contrast” to the Liberal Party’s and Prime Minister Tony Abbott “who insists coal is good for humanity”.

Mr Barr added: “A further step I will announce today is the government will continue to divest the ACT investment portfolio of high-carbon emitting companies and sectors – all without costing the Canberra community one cent in lower returns.”

He went on to say for a city “striving to become the knowledge capital”, the policy “is the right thing to do”.

“ACT Labor has a vision for Canberra which centres around job creation, world-class education, social inclusion and delivering the quality of health Canberrans deserve”, Mr Barr concluded.

I'm backing up the truck to drop off money, unfortunately.

$22M backlog....

JN's conservative ways are paying off.......
1 no debt
2 nice backlog
3 fresno
4. cell (I hope)

Now the almost have Elite which knows off grid, I hope that this is the way that SLTD goes..
ARENA says one million Australian homes “hungry” for battery storage
By Sophie Vorrath on 24 August 2015
One Step Off The Grid
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/arena-says-one-million-australian-homes-hungry-for-battery-storage-46327
http://onestepoffthegrid.com.au

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has again stressed just how rapidly and thoroughly it expects battery storage to change the shape of Australia’s electricity market, and what networks should be doing to prepare for – and capitalise on – this shift, in an op-ed written by ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht.

Frischknecht says the rapid pace of the coming home energy storage ‘megashift’ – a term borrowed from the AECOM study ARENA commissioned, and we reported on here, in early August – will be driven by a fall in battery costs of between 40-60 per cent by 2020, as forecast in that same AECOM report.
As this fall in costs collides with the end to generous state-based solar feed-in tariffs – starting next year – Frischknecht says it will find many of Australia’s one million-plus solar households “hungry for an option that lets them store and use the power they generate, rather than being forced to immediately sell it back to power companies for almost nothing.”

He continues: “It’s difficult to overstate just how quickly things are moving in the energy-storage space. Ergon is just one provider eyeing storage as a way to improve its service to customers and find new markets for its products.

“AGL is offering a solar/battery system for homes (rival Origin also has plans to launch a similar product) and home battery vendors, such as Sunverge and Octillion, are quickly setting up shop in Australia. Within months, every major solar installer will also offer a storage product.”

Frischknecht says that while ARENA is excited by the potential benefits to consumers this solar plus storage market will offer, it is the other side of the equation – the upside for the network – that is the Agency’s real focus.

“That’s because advances in storage hold the promise of removing a key criticism of renewable electricity: its oft-discussed supply variability, driven by the simple reality that the sun isn’t always shining and the wind is not always blowing.

“The AECOM report stresses the need for industry players such as energy retailers, networks and technology suppliers to see these changes as an opportunity rather than a threat. They can undoubtedly play a role in minimising the cost of maintaining a reliable network and mitigate the gold plating that has occurred in the past,” he said.

As this fall in costs collides with the end to generous state-based solar feed-in tariffs – starting next year – Frischknecht says it will find many of Australia’s one million-plus solar households “hungry for an option that lets them store and use the power they generate, rather than being forced to immediately sell it back to power companies for almost nothing.”

He continues: “It’s difficult to overstate just how quickly things are moving in the energy-storage space. Ergon is just one provider eyeing storage as a way to improve its service to customers and find new markets for its products.

“AGL is offering a solar/battery system for homes (rival Origin also has plans to launch a similar product) and home battery vendors, such as Sunverge and Octillion, are quickly setting up shop in Australia. Within months, every major solar installer will also offer a storage product.”

Frischknecht says that while ARENA is excited by the potential benefits to consumers this solar plus storage market will offer, it is the other side of the equation – the upside for the network – that is the Agency’s real focus.

“That’s because advances in storage hold the promise of removing a key criticism of renewable electricity: its oft-discussed supply variability, driven by the simple reality that the sun isn’t always shining and the wind is not always blowing.

“The AECOM report stresses the need for industry players such as energy retailers, networks and technology suppliers to see these changes as an opportunity rather than a threat. They can undoubtedly play a role in minimising the cost of maintaining a reliable network and mitigate the gold plating that has occurred in the past,” he said.

As for those one million-plus Australian households that already have rooftop solar, Frischknecht says they need to be convinced “their newly affordable home battery system shouldn’t be seen as an enabler of them leaving the grid.”

“Doing so would, in most situations, cost them and those who stay connected more money, and those who leave will run the risk of having a less reliable energy supply. We have to get the message out to consumers that participating in the grid makes it stronger and, in turn, helps further promote the uptake of renewables,” he wrote.

THIS IS NOT HELPING!
NV Energy says cap on net metering reached
http://www.reviewjournal.com/business/energy/nv-energy-says-cap-net-metering-reached

By Sean Whaley
Review-Journal Capital Bureau
CARSON CITY — NV Energy says the 235-megawatt cap on net metering capacity was reached as of 8 p.m. Thursday.

The data from the utility, operating as Nevada Power in Southern Nevada, comes as the Nevada Public Utilities Commission is set to hear testimony Friday on a new proposed interim net metering tariff in an effort to ensure the rooftop solar industry can continue to flourish in Nevada.

The company' website says in part: "New applications will be subject to new net metering rules and rates that will be established by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada before December 31, 2015."

But there is no new interim rate yet in place and won't be for at least a few days.

Commissioner David Noble said at a hearing last week that he plans to have a draft order on a new tariff ready for the full commission to consider at its regular meeting next week.

NV Energy has proposed a new rate that The Alliance for Solar Choice says would end rooftop solar in Nevada and cost 6,000 jobs. The group has proposed that the existing net metering policy be incorporated into a new interim rate through Dec. 31 when the PUC is required to finalize the tariff.

Net metering allows rooftop solar customers to receive a credit for excess electricity they generate and deliver to the utility from their installations.

Lawmakers who passed the measure requiring the PUC to set a new rate for rooftop-solar customers were told just a few months ago that the cap would not be reached until sometime in 2016, giving regulators plenty of time to craft a new rate by a Dec. 31 deadline.

But that estimate has proved to be way off-base.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Just a guess. Could the damage this week be the dilution for Elite? It's the end of the Aug nearing Elite time.....
Tesla sold 3.1M shares for $738M..........

Understanding the Residential Solar Ecosystem, Part I

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/understanding-the-residential-solar-ecosystem-part-i
Three ways to define the leaders in residential solar
Nicole Litvak August 7, 2015
The team at GTM Research often discuss the leaders in U.S. residential solar in terms of installers or financiers. But there are many steps in the downstream value chain, and the same companies aren’t necessarily controlling all of them. Even SolarCity, which we generally refer to as vertically integrated, sometimes uses third-party originators to acquire customers.

Thus, there are several ways to classify the "leaders" in residential solar. All are important, but the many different business models that now exist make it difficult to follow which companies participate in each stage of the process.

In order to keep track of it all, it's helpful to think about the three most important parts of the value chain.

Customer acquisition

In the past, all sales were done by the installers. However, residential solar customer acquisition is both difficult and expensive. There is now a growing group of originators (sometimes called resellers), who sell solar on behalf of an installer or financier.

These include companies like Evolve Solar, Blue Raven Solar and LGCY Power. Because of this, the seller can be the hardest player to identify, as the installer and/or financier ultimately receive the credit for the installation.

Installation

This is generally the easiest player to identify: it’s the company that actually installs the system. We also count companies like Sungevity as an installer, as they oversee the installation but use a subcontractor, similar to an EPC in the commercial sector that subcontracts installation.

All installers do at least some of their own customer acquisition, if not all of it. There are two primary cases when the installer does not make the sale: 1) when an installer like SolarCity buys customers from originators; and 2) when a financier like Clean Power Finance closes the sale (either themselves or through yet another party) and passes off the installation to a partner.

Financing

The financier is either the owner of the system (if it is financed with a lease or PPA) or the loan provider. In other words, it’s whichever firm sends customers the bills.

This is also the company that maintains a long-term relationship with the customer. There are far fewer financiers than sellers or installers, but the market is growing due a number of pure-play loan providers that have emerged.

There are three main types of financiers: 1) those that only finance (e.g., Sunnova); 2) those that install all the systems they finance (e.g., SolarCity); and 3) those that only install some of the systems they finance (e.g., Sunrun).

FIGURE: Leading U.S. Residential Solar Installers and Financiers, 2014

Source: GTM Research U.S. PV Leaderboard, U.S. Residential Solar Financing 2015-2020
For any given residential installation, the same company can do the sales, installation and financing -- or up to three different companies can be involved (see figure below for examples). Confusion can arise when talking about the leaders and their market shares in any one of these categories when market shares differ in another.

Take the example of Sunrun, whose financier market share is much larger than its installer market share because most of the systems that Sunrun finances are installed by partners. In contrast, SolarCity and Vivint Solar have identical market shares in the two categories because they both install and finance all systems.

Sunrun’s sales market share is potentially even smaller than its installer market share since it outsources some of its sales to originators like LGCY Power. On the flip side, Sunrun could also be doing some customer acquisition for its installer partners (I warned you -- it’s confusing).

FIGURE: Selected Residential Solar Companies and Value Chain Participation

Source: GTM Research

There are new players entering the market, and M&A is constantly occurring in each of these three areas, making it all the more vital to track their respective leaders. Part II of this series will examine some of this activity and how it is affecting the market landscape.
Understanding the Residential Solar Ecosystem, Part II
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/understanding-the-residential-solar-ecosystem-part-ii
Senior Solar Analyst Nicole Litvak breaks down the consolidation across the value chain.
Nicole Litvak August 20, 2015
In Part I of this series, we tapped into our latest report and examined the three main parts of the residential solar development value chain (customer acquisition, installation, and financing) and three related ways to classify the market leaders.

Having such a fragmented process for closing a customer, installing the system, and providing financing can lead to inefficiencies and slow down the sales cycle. Because of this, the market has begun to consolidate across these areas as solar providers find that being vertically integrated can lower costs and maximize growth rates.

We can break down most of the recent M&A activity into a few categories.

1) Acquisition of lead generation and sales companies

As discussed in Part I, the ability to acquire customers cheaply and efficiently has proven to be a rare skill among installers. The fact that installers have had to turn to third-party originators is a testament to this challenge.

However, it’s also very expensive to pay for another company to close a customer. For this reason, one of the most common types of M&A deals over the past two years has been the acquisition of companies that are particularly good at sales. These include both originators (such as Paramount Solar, the phone sales company acquired by SolarCity in 2013) and lead generators (such as Clean Energy Experts, acquired by Sunrun this year). There is now a growing group of companies specializing in door-to-door sales (several founded by former Vivint employees) that are shaping up to be the next acquisition targets.

2) Vertical integration of installers and financiers

The next two M&A trends are the result of the struggle of partner-model financiers -- companies like SunPower that only finance systems but rely on local partners for installation. These companies must compete against each other to win the business of installer partners, which can sometimes mean taking margin hits. This competition has only intensified with a number of new loan providers entering the market using the same business model. Additionally, the installers compete with the dominant vertically integrated players, SolarCity and Vivint Solar.

Several partner-model financiers have decided that the best way to solve this problem is to acquire one of their installer partners. Sunrun and NRG Home Solar both made these acquisitions more than a year ago, and they are already proving successful. SunEdison is currently a minor player in the residential market, as NRG was before its acquisition of Roof Diagnostics Solar, but is acquiring Vivint Solar to provide an already large and growing residential pipeline to its YieldCo.

3) Consolidation of finance providers

This is the most recent trend that has emerged. Rather than acquiring an installer, another way to reduce competition between partner-model companies is to consolidate them. Clean Power Finance (CPF) and Kilowatt Financial (KWF) recently merged to create a new company, Elevate Power. In addition to combining the investor and installer networks of both companies, Elevate Power leverages CPF’s TPO platform as well as KWF’s energy-efficiency and solar loans.

Intense competition in the residential market will inevitably lead to more M&A activity as solar providers continue to face the challenges of customer acquisition and the partner financing model. The crowded loan landscape, filled with new companies trying to gain market share, is the next area to watch.

***

Nicole Litvak is a senior solar analyst at GTM Research and the author of the recently released report, U.S. Residential Solar Financing 2015-2020. For more information, contact Zack Munsell at zmunsell@gtmresearch.com.

On attachment1
https://fresno.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=3991859&GUID=2D14E0D2-D502-4320-B0BE-830CD6C7AB7A
Guaranteed delivery?
4,178,172 Mw/Yr?
2Mw system* 5.66 Sun Hours * 365 days..... =4,131.8 MW/yr

We are moving on up competitively
Solar Farm Beats Gas With Biggest Colorado Project
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-20/sunedison-solar-power-beats-gas-with-colorado-s-biggest-project
SunEdison Inc., the biggest clean-energy developer, began construction on a Colorado solar farm that will be the largest in the state and comes out ahead in direct competition with natural gas.
The 156-megawatt Comanche solar farm will deliver power to Excel Energy Inc.’s Public Service of Colorado utility under a 25-year agreement, Maryland Heights, Missouri-based SunEdison said in a statement Thursday. The utility awarded the contract through an open solicitation, with the solar farm beating out other power sources including gas, SunEdison said.
The deal shows that renewable energy is increasingly able to compete on price with fossil fuels. Utilities that are planning for future demand growth are looking more carefully at solar panels and wind turbines, which will be cheaper to operate over the next few decades in part because they have no fuel costs, said Julie Blunden, chief strategy officer at SunEdison.
“We actually can offer solar and wind that’s cheaper than gas,” Blunden said in a phone interview Thursday. “It’s such an important inflection point. We can sell power without any fuel-price risk.”
State Policy
Buying power from Comanche will also help Public Service of Colorado meet state policies that require investor-owned utilities to get 30 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020, according to the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency, operated by North Carolina State University.
Public Service of Colorado told regulators in a 2013 report it had received proposals for solar photovoltaic power that was competitive with gas priced at $5.90 per million British thermal units over a 20-year period. Another project was competitive with gas at $5.96 over 25 years.
While the redacted report doesn’t identify the solar farms, Blunden said Comanche was one of the power plants that received contracts through the 2013 solicitation process.
Natural gas for delivery on Friday to the Denver area was $2.55 per million British thermal units, according to data from Intercontinental Exchange Inc.
Rising demand as new gas plants come online over the next few years will likely increase that price. The utility’s base gas forecast shows prices exceeding $6 by about 2020.
“For the first time, the company received bids for utility-scale solar PV resources that are cost-effective head to head with natural-gas fired generation,” Public Service of Colorado said in the report.

Lemme see, just checked. up 500% AFTER taking out my original investment and a 100% profit....
Not complaining. When they wake up, I make more profit.... LOL!

Still ainna got no product. Den we mooove!!!!

Not about SLTD specifically but will affect our business....
SolarWorld Endorses Industry Shift to Rail-Free Racking for Solar Installations
Company announces distribution of Quick Mount PV systems

An installation specialist adjusts Quick Mount PV's Quick Rack rail-free rack system in this residential installation of SolarWorld solar panels in Alamo, California. (Photo: Business Wire)
August 20, 2015 11:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time
HILLSBORO, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SolarWorld, the largest U.S. solar manufacturer for 40 years, today announced its alignment with an industry trend away from use of long rails in mounting solar panels and toward rail-free racking in light of the latter’s cost savings in materials, labor, storage and shipping. Innovative rail-free racking attaches the solar panels directly to individual roof mounts, instead of conventional, long rails.
“Rail-free residential racking fits well into SolarWorld’s portfolio of the best solar products on the market,” said Ardes Johnson, U.S. vice president of sales and marketing for SolarWorld. “Our rail-free racking systems offer lower material costs, reduce installation time on often hot roofs, take up a much smaller warehouse footprint, cost significantly less to ship and, at the end of the job, look better.”

In SolarWorld’s drive to bring the market’s best products to installers, SolarWorld announced an alliance with Quick Mount PV, a leading U.S. manufacturer of solar roof mounts based in Walnut Creek, Calif. Quick Mount’s patented Quick Rack rail-free system upholds the company’s best-in-class standards of quality and customer experience.

“Quick Mount is honored to be a part of this select group of racking vendors and industry elite,” said Anne Wright, vice president of sales for Quick Mount. “SolarWorld and Quick Mount have the same values and standards that installers can bank on: made in America, commitment to quality, customer support, training and manufacturing excellence. With simplified ordering from SolarWorld, we believe installers can save time and money on every installation, and sell more solar. When good companies work together, the industry moves forward.”

As a result of the alliance, SolarWorld will offer the Quick Rack rail-free systems alongside other best-in-industry residential, commercial and utility-scale solar products.

“SolarWorld is carrying out its history of providing products that live up to the high expectations and requirements of its customers and partners,” Johnson said. “We are committed to providing whatever level of support that our customers need to help them have more success in an increasingly competitive landscape.”

About SolarWorld REAL VALUE: SolarWorld manufactures and sells high-tech solar power solutions and, in doing so, contributes to a cleaner energy supply worldwide. The group, headquartered in Bonn, Germany, employs about 3,500 people and carries out production in Freiberg, Germany; Arnstadt, Germany; and Hillsboro, Oregon, USA. From raw material silicon to solar wafers, cells and modules, SolarWorld manages all stages of production ? including its own research and development. Through an international distribution network with locations in the United States, Europe, Singapore, Japan and South Africa, SolarWorld supplies customers all over the world. The company maintains high social standards at all locations across the globe, and it has committed itself to resource- and energy-efficient production. SolarWorld was founded in 1998 and has been publically traded on the stock market since 1999. Connect with SolarWorld on Facebook, Twitter and www.solarworld.com.

About Quick Mount PV

Quick Mount PV manufactures 100 percent code-compliant, waterproof solar mounting systems for installing solar electric and solar hot water systems on residential and commercial rooftops. Quick Mount PV was founded on the principle that the mounting system is just as critical to the success of a solar installation as the modules and inverters. Since 2006, Quick Mount PV has advanced rooftop solar through its innovative, high-quality waterproof mounting systems. With industry-leading R&D, engineering, product testing and ISO 9001:2008-certified manufacturing in California, Quick Mount PV is committed to producing the industry’s most advanced solar mounting systems. For more information, visit www.quickmountpv.com.

HE has started early...
08:00 $ 3.65 High 1 Share LOL!
3.56 -0.07 (-1.93%)
Pre-market: 3.65 +0.09 (2.53%)
On one share....
It would be nice.....

And ACI fighting to stay out of BK is up 50% today... 32X debt than the MKT cap of the company. Loses 4x the MCap of the company for the qtr...

Solar-powered Sustainer Homes give you the freedom to live anywhere
http://inhabitat.com/solar-powered-sustainer-homes-give-you-the-freedom-to-live-anywhere/

All solar companies are suffering from they same problem.
Because crude is down, they think that solar is suffering.

Abbott Announces New Rebate Scheme For Rooftop Coal-Fired Power Stations
By The Shovel on August 13, 2015

Australians who install coal-fired power stations on their roof at home will soon be eligible for a Government-funded rebate, under new plans unveiled today.

Speaking at the program’s launch, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the initiative would become the centerpiece of a range of Government policies designed to address the country’s future energy needs.

“Let’s be up front about this, the world is changing. So we need to think differently about how we generate our power needs into the future,” he said.

Mr Abbott said the new scheme was innovative and cost effective. “What this new scheme does is allow ordinary Australians to generate their own electricity, reducing their reliance on more traditional forms of energy, and lowering the monthly bill at the same time”.

Homeowners will be eligible for rebates of up to $5,000, depending on the size of their power station.

Environment Minister Greg Hunt said the scheme will mean production and emissions levels at large-scale coal-fired power plants will fall. “We expect carbon emissions in some stations to fall by as much as 30%. That’s above and beyond the targets set by many other OECD countries,” he said.

Mr Abbott said as part of the new initiative rebate schemes for solar panels will be scrapped. “People can still install solar panels if they wish, but there won’t be a rebate. They’re unsightly and ugly, so we’re trying to discourage them”.

Now let me see...
Record low coal prices I pay 18¢ to 20¢ /KWH
Record low Crude prices gas prices are $3.25/GAL (I don't drive)
Off Grid Solar/Wind/Batteries for whole home power and transport!!!!!

Renewable energy becomes second largest source of global electricity
http://www.edie.net/news/6/Renewable-energy-becomes-second-largest-source-of-global-electricity/
14 August 2015, source edie newsroom
Renewable electricity generation outpaced natural gas this month to become the second largest source of electricity worldwide, according to the International Energy Agency.
Globally, coal remained king with 9,613TWh of electricity produced, around 41% of global electricity production compared to 5,130TWh (22%) from renewable energy sources.
In OECD economic zone countries, electricity production fell slightly by 0.8% from 2013-14, with massive decreases in coal electricity production offset by increases in non-hydro renewable energy production from wind and solar power.

Renewable electricity overtook natural gas to become the second largest source of global electricity
The report also found in OECD countries that solar power had overtaken solid biofuels, used in biomass plants, to become the second largest non-hydro renewable source after wind power.

The figures come as the Department for Energy and Climate Change released its Energy Trends figures for Q1 energy generation. Renewable energy electricity in the UK was up to a record 22.3% share of generation, up 2.6% on the same period in 2014.
Increases in solar generation to 0.8GWh and wind generation to 11.7TWh drove up overall renewable energy generation.
At the end of Q1 the UK’s renewable electricity capacity totalled 26.4GW, an increase of 7.4% on new capacity installed in Q4 in 2014.
79% of new capacity (1.4GW) came from new solar photovoltaics at the start of 2015, with onshore and offshore wind increasing by a total of 1.9GW.

The new figures follow announcements from Scotland that wind power in July provided enough electricity to power 72% of all Scottish homes, providing more than 660,000MWh of electricity to the national grid.
The increases to solar power capacity and wind energy in Q1 2015 came ahead of Government cuts to renewable energy subsidies and ending renewable power's exemption from the Climate Change Levy in the Budget last month.
Matt Field

when we were still on OTC, I moved the market cap Over a million with $25.....

Somebody bought 1 share AH at 3.94. Will it do any good...

Why solar financing is moving from leases to loans
By 2020, the rooftop solar market will be $10 billion and half may be owned through loans.
By Herman K. Trabish | August 17, 2015

The U.S. residential solar market is once again re-inventing itself, even as its growth skyrockets.

The third party ownership (TPO) financing structure that revolutionized the business has peaked. From 2010-11, it changed residential solar by bringing billions in institutional money into the sector to drive out the high-upfront-cost adoption barrier.

"Loans and direct ownership are playing a bigger role in the market. That is the big story of 2015," explained GTM Research Sr. Solar Analyst Nicole Litvak, author of U.S. Residential Solar Financing 2015-2020. "The market reached 72% third party ownership in 2014 and we think that is the peak."

Most of the top TPO financier-installers, led by SolarCity, have introduced a loan product, Litvak said.

Though loans have not yet reached 20% of SolarCity’s 2015 sales, they are increasing, according to the sector leader's Q2 earnings report. SolarCity expects 25% to 30% of its total 2015 installations to be through loans, according to Litvak.

Since SolarCity sells a third of U.S. residential solar, "that alone is a big part of the market," Litvak said.

Sunrun, third in market share, also has a loan product. Number two Vivint Solar was working on one before it was acquired by SunEdison. Clean Power Finance, in partnership with Elevate, will soon add loans for solar and energy efficiency. Sungevity and NRG Home Solar offer loans through Mosaic. American Solar Direct and Petersen Dean are also now emphasizing direct ownership through cash sales and loans.

This profound business model shift has not slowed solar growth. The residential sector has grown in 15 of the last 16 quarters. In Q1 2015, one of the Northeast's snowiest winters, residential solar added 437 new MW, a 76% increase over Q1 2014 and its biggest-ever single quarter growth.

For the first time, residential solar grew more than non-residential solar in 2014. GTM Research forecasts it to be the biggest of solar's three sectors after 2017, when the sunset of the 30% federal investment tax credit (ITC) is expected to cause a sharp drop-off in utility-scale solar.

TPO Trends

"The [solar] market is still in its infancy, and it is yet to be decided which business models, financial products, or sales strategies will beat out the competition," the research explains.

Just as TPO eased into the market after 2010, it will not abruptly disappear. Total capacity installed through TPO financing will increase with the market even though its share will give way to direct ownership after 2017. A referral base will remain and installers will offer the option because "there will always be consumers who prefer to not own," the research reports.

The Solar Energy Industries Association is fighting to preserve the 30% ITC beyond 2016 but most industry watchers expect its built-in phase out to begin with a drop to 10% for commercial forms of solar, including TPO, and to zero for residential solar.

"In 2016, the TPO share goes down because there will be demand from customers who want to buy their own systems before the residential ITC expires," Litvak explained. "In 2017, it will shift back toward TPO because it will still have the 10% tax credit for the fund and the customer may not be able to get a loan with zero down."

After that, the market is expected to trend steadily back toward direct ownership as loan designs become more appealing, system costs continue to fall, and more people see the benefit in a purchase.

Both leases and power-purchase agreement (PPAs) will remain viable products, according to the forecast.

Consumers and installers tend to prefer PPAs, in which customers pay for system production with a cost per kilowatt-hour and, usually, an annual escalator to raise the price but keep it below expected electricity rate increases.

The tax equity investors that fund TPO prefer the fixed customer payments a lease offers but have accepted PPAs as performance data has validated them.

In California and Hawaii, prepaid leases and PPAs are popular to reduce risk or to expand coverage to energy efficiency with a property assessed clean energy (PACE) loan.

The loan market

Of the 742 MW installed by the top ten residential installers in 2014, 94% was TPO and installers will continue to push TPO sales where they can, the research suggests. "But they will also be working for cash sales and preparing consumers to turn to direct ownership through loans after the end of 2016, when the ITC is no longer available."

Residential solar loans are either secured or unsecured.

A secured solar loan is typically secured by the home. There are three types: (1) Home Equity Loan/Home Equity Line of Credit, (2) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Title I or PowerSaverLoan, (3) Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Loan.

Much of the market has moved away from secured loans but PACE remains popular in California.

Most of the new wave of loans are unsecured, though some are actually secured to the solar hardware.

Installers prefer working with companies that offer unsecured loans for several reasons. First, they tend to have the lowest and therefore most marketable interest rates, often below 3%. Second, because they tend to be marketing-savvy, unsecured loan providers often also offer a sales-friendly software platform that makes installers' pitches easier. Finally, the research finds, installers prefer being able to offer financing to waiting for the buyer to get a home loan.

One drawback to providing an unsecured loan is that the installer pays a "dealer fee" of between 5% and 20% of the total cost, with higher fees attached to the lower interest products.

Most installers avoid this obstacle "by passing the fee along to the customer, hidden in the cost of the system," Litvak said. "But it often inflates the cost to the customer."

The other important drawback is that unsecured loans, while providing the marketability of a no-down-payment product, often require a balloon payment at the end of the first year that matches the 30% ITC return the customer, as owner, gets. This does not cost the installer anything but can lead to a loss of good will and vital referrals if the customer isn't informed.

As solar financiers become familiar with unsecured loans, they are structuring them with longer terms, of 10-12 years or 20-30 years. This allows for a low-to-no-down payment plan.

With a 20-30 year term, a loan resembles leases and PPAs but offers the benefits of direct ownership like tax credits and increased savings when the loan is paid off. With a 10-12 year term, customers get many of the same benefits but have a shorter payback period and therefore even more savings.

Loan providers have also begun to realize they need to provide the same system monitoring and operations and maintenance services customers get with TPO solar.

SolarCity has developed its own loan construct. “It is the newest loan model but not necessarily a better loan model, just maybe better for SolarCity,” Litvak explained.

With most loans, like leases, the customer makes a monthly payment. With SolarCity's 30-year term MyPower loan, the customer pays for the system's production as in a PPA. The numbers are structured so that the customer theoretically has paid the price of the system at the end of the contract term. But there is risk for SolarCity because output can vary.

"If the customer's payments are lower than the total cost of the system, SolarCity takes the loss," Litvak said. "But they will be pretty conservative in their estimates."

SolarCity uses a "retained value" metric that is based on "the net present value of all future cash flows the company will receive from solar assets currently under contract," the research reports.

The industry is watching because SolarCity is usually ahead of the curve but "it is a complicated model and no one has made a good case against it yet," Litvak said.

A group of companies are "pure play loan providers." GreenSky Credit, which partners with financial institutions, and EnerBank, which works from its banking services, have been offering unsecured solar loans since before most others came into the market. Both are known for 2.99%, 12 year offerings that earn high dealer fees from installers.

Admirals Bank, a full service bank, has been trying various ways to work in solar for some time. It recently introduced an unsecured loan. Mosaic was originally a crowdfunding platform for commercial-scale solar but now offers a range of loan products and is working with major installers, including NRG Home Solar, Sungevity, and American Solar Direct.

Sungage Financial has a $100 million loan fund with Digital Federal Credit Union. It offers 5, 10, 15, and 20 year term loans. Dividend Solar, Sunlight Financial, and Blue Raven Solar are also active.

As with TPO players, there will be consolidation, the research forecasts. During 2017, they will have to survive without the ITC. The unlikely case would be a TPO provider acquiring a loan company, because most TPO providers have or are developing their own loans. The more likely case would be a loan provider acquiring an installer.
Utilities in solar financing

Utilities have tried or are in the process of trying most of the ways to get into the solar market, as the research documents. Pacific Gas and Electric, an investor owned utility, provided funds to both SolarCity and Sunrun in return for the tax benefits. Integrys Energy Services, an unregulated subsidiary of Integrys Energy Group, funded Clean Power Finance (CPF). And Edison International, Duke Energy, and other undisclosed utilities invested in CPF.

In Arizona, Arizona Public Service (APS) and Tucson Electric Power (TEP) have initiated commission-approved pilot programs to own solar installations on the roofs of their customers' homes. Arizona installers say it is anti-competitive for regulated utilities to compete in the private sector but the Arizona Corporation Commission has sanctioned the programs.

Customers with APS-owned solar on their roofs get a $30 monthly electricity bill credit for 20 years. TEP customers participating in its commission-approved 10 MW or more program will pay an upfront fee of $250 to lock in a 25-year fixed monthly rate based on their historical electricity consumption. It is more expensive than the APS plan but is expected to provide more savings over the agreement term if Arizona electricity rates rise as predicted.

More recently, both Georgia Power and New York's Consolidated Edison have taken advantage of new legislation to enter the solar market with unregulated branches of their companies. It is not yet clear the extent of their involvements.

There are, the research notes, clear winners and losers when utilities go into solar.

Because regulated utilities are prevented from discriminating against their customers, some may get access to solar despite credit worthiness that might otherwise disqualify them.
Financiers that fund programs put their money to work with the secure backing of the utilities' strong balance sheets. (This means financiers that do not work with utilities would be losers.)
Because the utilities will be constrained to rely entirely on local installers, they will get work that might otherwise go to national installers. (This makes national installers losers.)

Looking beyond 2016

GTM Research compared the costs and benefits of a 20-year PPA in leading TPO states and a 12-year, 2.99% loan or a cash purchase in the leading solar markets. Even in 2017, when the ITC falls to 10% for PPAs and leases and is not available to purchasers of residential solar, TPO's market edge "is not as great as is generally perceived," the researchers find. "All three financing options experience a slight but not drastic downturn."

In the long term, the research concludes, it will not be savings but marketing and the services offered by installers that will determine the kind of financing customers choose.

Assuming electricity prices rise and policies don't significantly change the equations, year one savings with a PPA in 2020 will be 30% instead of the present 25%; year one savings on a 12-year loan will be 26%; and a cash sale will take 6.5 years to pay off instead of 6.1 years.

As a result, preferences for PPA, loan, and cash purchase in 2020 are expected to be about the same as they are now.

Multiple state level trends will buoy the growth of loans but both approaches will grow in volume, even as the rapidly falling solar installed cost lowers the markets' dollar value. The $100 million fund that supports 30.8 MW this year will support 45 MW in 2020.

But even residential solar's 32% cost drop by 2020 will not prevent it from being a $10 billion market, the research foresees. After 2017, direct ownership will grow by 166% to 2020 while TPO grows by 33%.

This means the billions that have gone into tax equity financing will be looking for an opportunity. That opportunity, GTM suggests, will be in the loan market. It was, at 10% of the 2014 market, about $130 million. If it is half of the 2020 market, $3 billion will be needed for debt financing.

Top Image Credit: Fotolia

Google Announces Project Sunroof Initiative To Help Cover Your Roof With Solar Panels
Bertel King, Jr. 2 hours ago
http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/08/17/google-announces-project-sunroof-initiative-to-help-cover-your-roof-with-solar-panels/

All over the world, countries and the people who live in them are looking for ways to tap into renewable energy. Solar power seems like one of the more obvious ways to reduce our environmental impact and maybe even save money, but the process of getting started serves as a deal-breaker for many of us. How much does installation cost, and will it even be worth it?

Since this is 2015, Google is one of the first places we turn to with these questions. Seeing this, Google has announced an initiative that will consolidate this information in one place. It's calling this effort Project Sunroof.
http://www.google.com/sunroof
Project Sunroof works with Google Maps to show how much sunlight falls on a roof. Users can then see how much solar power they can generate the amount of money they can expect to save. Google also points them to an installer in their neighborhood.

So is fresno on the 27th right now, instead of the 20th?

Progress?