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In a new report from GreenTechMedia.com, solar loans are now the leading source of funding in the residential solar market.

For the first half of 2018, loans amounted to 42 percent of the total share of how home solar panel systems are financed. Third party ownership (leases and PPAs), fell to 34 percent. Cash sales have risen recently to make up the rest of residential market.

The report mentions that the financing company, Mosaic, is the leading provider of solar lending with a market share of 29 percent. While Mosaic is a market leader, they have taken on slightly less business this year to restructure their lending terms.

Much like it is for Mosaic, the solar industry represents a period of flux for some of the major players. For example, Vivint Solar has seen sales decline last year, yet it has recommitted to offering third party ownership. Tesla Energy (formerly Solar City) has pulled back from its residential sales this year by ending its door-to-door sales program and pulling out of Home Depot stores.

The one company that seems to be plowing forward at full speed ahead is SunRun. They are the new largest solar installer in the U.S. The company is not shying away from offering leases either.

Future forecasting by the report predicts that loans will continue to maintain its lead over third party ownership, although these leases and PPAs can still benefit from a 10 percent credit after the Federal Investment Tax Credit ends in 2022.

This report did not come as a surprise in the least. In fact, it’s rather unfortunate that loans did not become the primary way homeowners finance their solar installations sooner.

There’s really three reasons why this is the case. First of all, a decade ago all of the large solar installers were heavily pushing solar leases. Second, solar lending was in its infancy and not widely available. Third, homeowners were simply not aware of their options (see reason one).

Solar Power Now has always been a proponent of solar lending, or paying cash when possible. Leasing has never been in the best interest of homeowners. The fact that it still remains a significant percentage of how solar is financed is quite unfortunate.

Homeowners are finally realizing that owning their panels offers many more benefits than leasing. Two of the primary ones are that they end up paying much less over time and they will not have problems selling their home in the future either. Maybe they have also made the connection between home ownership and power ownership. Some have definitely realized that they no longer need to be renters of the electricity that they need.

Hopefully solar lending really does remain the leader well into the future!

The state of Florida has yet to realize its potential for generating solar power, but that will not be the case for much longer.

While the state’s two largest utilities, Duke Energy and Florida Power & Light, have obviously favored natural gas instead of investing in solar power, there’s some changes on the horizon. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) projects that Florida’s use of solar power may climb to as high as 30 percent (or possibly more) over the next 10 year period. Currently, the state gets less than 1 percent of its electricity from solar.

This upcoming massive solar power adoption will only happen for one reason, unfortunately. The reason is that the cost of solar will be comparatively cheaper than the fossil fuel alternatives. Yes, it’s fair to say that the powers that be would have kept using fossil fuels exclusively had solar remain more expensive.

Florida’s major utilities plan on installing many thousands of megawatts of solar capacity in the coming years. However, they both still have plans to construct more gas-fired plants which will account for more electricity generation than their solar projects.

The NREL also confronts the fact that solar, by itself, is not a complete solution. Along with massive utility scale investments in solar power expansion, adequate energy storage solutions must be part of the picture as well. Large battery systems can be deployed at both utility substations and generating stations. Much like solar panel systems, energy storage systems are very distributable. Utility scale battery pricing will continue to fall in the coming years, making the combination of solar plus storage economically viable.

Although the large power utilities are not quite “all-in” with solar power, there’s hope coming from others. Smaller utilities in Florida, many businesses, non-profits, and many homeowners have or are looking to go solar real soon. This is mainly possible due to the fact that solar power can be generated at all scales. This is the power of solar, we do not have to wait for utilities to get their acts together.

Residents of any state, like Florida, that frequently deal with power outages due to natural disasters can also stand to benefit from battery backed-up solar power. So not only does solar now help people save money compared to conventional energy, it can also provide for piece of mind (in the form of electricity) during power outages.

It will be just a matter of time before solar power is fully embraced in Florida. It has plenty of sunshine, space, and people that would like to finally take advantage of this abundant resource.

The Sunshine State will start to become the Solar Power State real soon!

The Solar Foundation, a nonprofit that was formed to help promote the growth of the solar industry, has received a $2 million award from the United States Department of Energy to help train a new workforce.

Much of this highly trained workforce will be recent military veterans looking to find work as they transition into civilian life. In addition to veterans, the program will seek out people from “underserved” communities.

Of course, this is not the first time that veterans have been the target demographic and beneficiaries of the growing solar industry. In early 2015, the White House funded a program called Solar Ready Vets.

“We’re committed to building a solar workforce that can meet the urgent challenges of the 21st century. This new program will help veterans and other job seekers develop advanced technical skills and become America’s future solar leaders.” – Andrea Luecke, President and Executive Director at The Solar Foundation.

While the program is currently considering “hundreds” of applicants, there are plans to develop a scalable model for many more people to join and take advantage of the program.

Other organizations that can be considered partners with Solar Foundation’s new solar program are; The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Solar Energy Industries Association, the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners, and Cypress Creek Renewables. Many individuals in these organization recognize the easily transferable leadership skills that veterans have and can put to use with their new solar jobs.

This is obviously great news for veterans and others seeking a new field to work in. The solar power industry will be able to supply many thousands of people with new careers in the coming years. The reason why this will happen is simple, and that is that the industry is still in its infancy. Since a very small percentage of America is powered by solar, solar jobs will continue to grow at a good pace for many years to come as the country switches from fossil fuels to solar power.

The sky is, literally, the limit.

A recent article by way of pv-magazine.com details the idea that the costs of producing solar cells may be levelling off, and even slightly increasing in some cases.

Much has been written on this site about the total costs involved with getting solar installed on a residence. A breakdown of those costs can be found here in the – cost of solar panels page. The main point is that the cost of solar panels does not represent a major part of the costs involved with going solar. In fact, it’s only about 25 percent. So if the costs involved with solar panel production changes, it won’t have a major impact on total costs.

Before we discuss the details in the article, let’s touch on the primary components of a solar panel, which are cells and modules. About 60 solar cells consitute a module and multiple modules are used to construct a solar panel. Panels are also made of tempered glass, an anti-reflective sheet, a polymer sheet, and a frame, which all add up to the total costs invlolved.

Solar cells are used to create two different types panels, monocrystalline and polycrystalline (or multicrystalline). Mono is more expensive due to manufacturing processes and offers higher energy production efficiencies.

Getting back to the PV Magazine article, we’ll consider the price changes happening currently concerning solar cells. The article gives two different pricing perspectives, one based in China, and the other for pricing elsewhere. In this case, we’ll only look at non-Chinese pricing. Here’s some very summarized pricing information from the article –

Multicrystalline – Prices have fallen slightly this year and are now between $0.103 and $0.133 per watt.

Monocrystalline – Prices have risen this year and are now between $0.137 and $0.165 per watt.

Since the total cost of a solar panel is on average about $0.75 per watt, we can see that solar cells make up approximately one sixth of the cost of a panel. Also, panels are one fourth of the total cost to have a solar panel system installed, so solar cells represent one twenty fourth of the total costs involved.

The implications of this article seem fairly obvious. Those that are waiting for prices of solar panels to decrease before they go solar may be waiting in vain. In fact, as the article mentioned, solar cell prices of the higher efficiency type are actually increasing. This is an indication of a mature market, in some respects.

It’s unfortunate so many homeowners and business owners are not aware of pricing trends concerning solar power. Many more would choose to invest in solar power now if they had this information.

Of course, any discussion of solar nowadays should also mention energy storage. Many individuals might be waiting for viable battery solutions to come online before they go solar. In some markets, solar plus storage already makes economic sense. In other markets, it won’t be long before implimenting solar plus storage solutions makes sense. At that point, the utilities will no longer have a monopolistic control over the production and distribution of energy.

That day is just around the corner.

News from the United States Department Of Energy details a $46 million commitment to assist with the safe implementation of solar power into utility systems across the country.

This article, based on a recent publication from energy.gov, might seem surprising at first considering the current administration’s pro-coal stance. However, new solar capacity is being added to the nation’s grid all the time and must be appropriately dealt with. If anything, the proposed funding has more to do with security in dealing with potential cyber threats and mitigating the effects of natural disasters.

There’s a total of 10 projects that are benefiting from this funding. Funding sizes vary from $2 to $10 million. These projects will be funded over the next 3 years.

The details concerning resiliency include real-time system monitoring, dependable communications, and the continual validation of control strategies. The bottom line is that solar power’s incorporation with the grid is still relatively new, so certain steps must be taken to ensure stable integration.

The big picture here is that, while this proposed funding is a necessary and positive idea overall, it still remains a drop in the bucket. Those currently in control in Washington do not seem to care much about promoting the overall growth of solar power. On the other hand, a much larger amount of money should be spent on the expansion of the use of renewable energy all across the country.

So while any governmental solar funding at all can be seen as a positive thing, the inherent political unwillingness to embrace solar power is extremely disappointing. Many energy industry experts have predicted that solar will one day soon become a major source of power for this country and many others around the world. It truly is unfortunate that governmental leaders are attempting to delay the inevitable. The good news is that market forces will guarantee that solar power becomes a dominant source of energy soon.

Political inaction will not do much to prevent our eventual use of the greatest source of power of all, the Sun.

The solar power industry is in a continual battle with electric utilities.

Utility corporations all across America are currently waging a war against the rising threat of commercial and residential solar power. It’s no surprise, really, as the rate of solar adoption has caught many conventional power utilities off guard and is eating into their profit margins. The monopoly that these corporations have enjoyed for many decades is finally being threatened.

This article will consider two specific situations in Nevada and California, which are easily representative of struggles across the nation.

The first case we will consider is concerning a ballot measure in the state of Nevada. Question 3 is named “Changes In Energy Market and Prohibit-State Sanctioned Electric-Generation Monopolies Ammendment.” A yes vote would…

“require the state legislature to pass laws to establish “an open, competitive retail electric energy market,” prohibit the state from granting electrical-generation monopolies, and protect “against service disconnections and unfair practices” and declare that persons, businesses, and political subdivisions have a “right to choose the provider of its electric utility service” and cannot be forced to purchase electricity from one provider.”

Large amount of advertising money has been spent, mainly by Nevada’s utility, NV Energy, to protect its mononoply. Apparently this has been quite effective as recent polls show that this measure may be a close call. This was not the case 2 years ago, which showed approximately 70 percent of voters approving the decision.

Ultimately this comes down to consumer choice and an open and free marketplace. This is one of the defining characteristics of America. It’s an important cornerstone of our country. Therefore any argument that intends to defend or preserve a monopoly is highly suspect at best and does not reflect our values as Americans. Solar companies and individual homeowners should have the right to produce their own energy and be allowed to compete in the marketplace.

In California, as in many other states, net metering policies are under attack from utitilies. California currently has a fair net metering policy which states that homeowners get the full retail rate for their excess solar generation.

However, there has been ongoing discussions about policies meant to replace net metering. The rationale, from the power companies perspective, is that those with solar have not been paying their fair share for “grid maintenance.” It can just as easily be argued that these power companies are not too happy about sudden loss of revenue streams from those customers who now have solar. The proposed replacement for net metering would be a tariff that would ultimately fall somewhere in between customers being compensated at the “avoided cost rate” and the full retail rate for electricity.

Again, what we have here is another example of incumbent energy companies throwing around their considerable weight to help preserve their choke-hold on the industry.

Another important part of this particular story is the role that energy storage will play. California utilities are also aware that if customers are not adequately compensated for their excess solar energy, whether being provided at the time of production or from a source of storage like a lithium battery pack, then they may potentially defect from the grid altogether.

The bottom line here is that, ultimately, freedom of choice must be offered in this changing energy industry, like any other.

This past Monday, October 8th 2018, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change released a report that detailed the severity of the climate path that the world is currently on.

In a basic summary, the report mentions that there will be massive wildfires, food shortages, and coral reef die offs as early as 2040. It was also indicated that, by 2040, the global temperature would rise 2.7 degrees (Fahrenheit) above prehistoric levels. This would cause severe droughts, disappearing coastlines, and a drastic increase in poverty levels.

Also mentioned in the report is the idea of a carbon tax which is a well known proposed solution to deal with industrial emissions. However, especially in the current political climate, taxes on fossil fuel use is a nonstarter. America is currently on the opposite page as the rest of the civilized world.

So where do we find hope in such a dire situation?

A significant part of the answer can be found with solar power, of course. What’s unfortunate is that just about every major and minor online and offline news organization has failed to even mention solar power. In all fairness, the articles written are primarily about the problem, not proposed solutions.

So how can we find such hope and optimism about the role that solar power can play? It’s simple, really. This world is operated by capitalistic forces. Governments, corporations, and individuals will all choose the least expensive option when making a purchase decision, all things being equal. We have arrived at a time when solar power is now the cheapest source of energy. A carbon tax may still offer a helpful nudge for stubborn utilities, but it won’t be long before they and everyone else simply can’t deny the significantly lower prices associated with solar.

Of course, the next major challenge for power utilities is incorporating sufficient energy storage applications since solar panels only provide power during the day. However, Tesla is showing real world examples with recent battery pack deployments that utility-level energy storage is doable and scalable. Not only is solar, by itself, price competitive, but solar plus storage is becoming economically viable as well.

The work that has been done to produce this latest climate change report should absolutely be lauded, as it has been. Now we need all of these major news publications to do their part in spreading awareness of the solutions to this problem.

The false narrative that making these changes happen will be extremely expensive needs to change. The opposite is true. Doing the right thing is actually cheaper now. A massive transition to renewable energy, along with the electrification of transportion, will take us a long way in solving this problem.

We should all be hopeful and optimistic in realizing that the solutions to this problem fall easily within our current capitalist framework.

It will not take much longer before solar power is adopted in staggering numbers. Fossil fuel alternatives will no longer make sense.

Much has been written recently about potential solar cell technology breakthroughs. Here’s the big picture – it won’t matter that much.

How can this be so? Aren’t we all waiting for a major solar breakthrough to be able to make a much quicker transition to a solar-powered world?

Before we look into why it doesn’t matter much, let’s at least consider a recent solar cell story for some background information.

In a recent article from ScienceDaily.com, it is mentioned that the mineral Perovskite has the potential to add much value to the solar panel manufacturing industry. Scientists from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University have shown that this material has promise to offer similar qualities to that of crystalline silicon.

For a material to qualify as a good source for solar panel production, it must meet the requirements of the “golden triangle”; The sunlight conversion rate must be high, it must be cheap to produce, and it must last a long time. So far, the team has shown that Perovskite can meet these requirements, at least on smaller sample sizes. The next and possibly final challenge, is to be able to reproduce the material in larger size samples and at the same time retaining the same qualities needed for commercial production.

Lab tests do not show that Perovskite can provide a better sunlight conversion percentage than the current standard of 20 percent, so its main advantage lies in its cheaper costs. How much cheaper? Well, that’s not mentioned in the article and may not be known quite yet. However, it won’t matter much. Let’s look into this now.

As discussed in the cost of solar page, the price of solar panels is only about one fourth of the total cost of going solar. On a per watt basis, many solar panels cost about 75 cents per watt. The total cost to get solar installed on a home in many parts of the United States is still about $3 per watt.

A good question then is – how cheaply can solar panels be produced? At 75 cents per watt, they are already fairly cheap and do not represent a large part of the overall solar installation cost. Let’s assume that new improvements to solar cell technology being worked on by many scientists are ultimately taken to market and they are able to cut the costs of producing solar cells almost in half. Let’s say they shaved 30 cents per watt off the costs.

The following example would be typical of the new costs savings should this new material be taken to market.

Average old price for going solar – 5 kilowatt system at $3 per watt is $15,000 before incentives.

Average new price for going solar – 5 kilowatt system at $2.70 per watt is $13,500 before incentives.

So as we can see, this new solar cell breakthrough would allow for a savings of about $1,500 on average.

Will this enable a massive number of homeowners to now be able to go solar? Obviously, no. The bottom line is that solar power is already cost effective. It’s actually cheaper than conventional electricity all across America.

To be clear, the point of this post is not to discount the important work scientists around the world are doing on advancements in solar cell technology. Instead, there needs to be more focus and awareness on how the solar industry has already matured. No further advancements are needed for mass adoption. The time to go solar is now!

Pueblo, Colorado is the latest in a growing list of cities that have promised to go 100% renewable in the coming years.

According to a recent article from CleanTechnica.com, the small Colorado town of about 100,000 people promises to get all of its electricity from renewable sources by 2035. The town was once known for its steel production. It’s now a home for a growing number of wind and solar companies.

The town is fortunate to have a city council member, Larry Atencio, who is a big proponent of developing renewable energy projects. A primary motivation for him is to help the residents of Pueblo avoid their ever-increasing electricity costs. “My thinking was – they are having a hard time with their electricity bills. Their energy costs are sky high. We have the highest electricity costs in Colorado here in Pueblo. How do we relieve some of the pressure financially on low to moderate income people?” – Atencio. The resolution to get completely off of fossil fuels by 2035 was passed with a 6 to 1 approval vote in early 2017.

A primary reason for the city’s high electricity costs are connected to costs associated with the development of a natural gas plant 8 years ago. This Black Hills Energy gas plant has caused residents’ electricity bills to go up 70%.

The good news is that the actions of Black Hills Energy is actually the exception to the rule. The utility that provides electricity to Colorado’s largest metropolitan area, Xcel Energy, has been aggressively making the switch to renewables.

Atencio is also a proponent of “Community Choice Programs.” This is a type of aggregate program that has local governments choosing sources of power that takes into account pollution, economic benefit, and cost concerns on behalf of its residents.

The councilman is also aware of the powerful combination of solar plus storage. “Rooftop solar has to be considered, and storage is also coming down the pike. It’s going to be possible for an individual homeowner to get off the grid completely.”

Another great quote that really encapsulates the changing energy landscape is from Atencio as well – “The flood is coming. Renewable energy is here and its going to get bigger and better all the time. I don’t think there’s any power company out there that’s going to be able to fight the tide.”

It’s no surprise to be reporting on yet another city choosing to go “all-in” with renewable energy. Government officials and homeowners alike are crunching the numbers and coming to the same conclusions, solar power is the smart economic and ecological choice.

Despite the recent regressive actions of the Trump Administration, the solar power industry has and will continue to thrive.

For progressives and environmentalists, the beginning of Trump’s presidential term and the ensuing 18 months have involved one piece of bad news after another. There is one very significant silver lining, however, which is the fact that market forces are stronger than Trump’s.

Trump may gain a few voters for promoting his support for coal power plants, but it will prove to be a futile effort. According to Inside Climate News, half of the nation was powered by coal in 2003, now it’s only 30 percent and declining. For example, the Tennessee Valley Authority utility once operated a total of 59 coal fired plants, of which more than half are now closed and the rest are being considered for retirement.

On the other hand, the U.S. solar industry continues to grow despite the decisions made in the White House. In fact, according to a recent post by The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the industry added 2.5 gigawatts of solar PV by the end of the first quarter, a 13 percent increase from 2017. This trend will continue as the prices for solar power decrease a bit more, making investments in fossil fuels seem like a gradually worse idea.

Trump’s solar panel tariffs are ultimately having a minor and short-lived effect on the industry. Prices for panels are falling, the tariffs are reduced over the next 4 years, and some solar companies are planning to build U.S. based manufacturing plants. In addition to those ideas, the residential solar industry is even less affected because the price of solar panels represents a relatively small part of the overall solar installation cost.

Solar may not presently represent a large portion of our nation’s total energy production, but market forces will guarantee that it will dominate one day soon. In fact, the pricing for solar already makes it a winner. The missing piece of the puzzle, energy storage, will reach market maturity as well real soon. It won’t be long before we have competitively prices solar plus storage solutions that can be implemented at every scale.

No matter what Trump or anyone else says, the coal industry is not coming back. Any legitimate energy industry analyst will tell you the same. The sooner our nation embraces renewables, the sooner our environment and economy will not only thrive, but become much more resilient.