This year was a successful year for solar advocates in the culmination of a multi-year effort to expand and protect Net Metering.  Washington’s Net Metering law now requires utilities to accept grid-tied net metered solar pv systems up to 4% of the 1996 peak load, which means there is an 8-fold increase relative to the former 0.5% threshold.

Every utility in which we operate had exceeded this threshold so now everyone has certainty as to what the utilities must do now.  This law preserves the rights of individuals to invest in their own solar equipment, and receive fair compensation for the electricity they provide to the utility.  Even though all utilities in whose territory we operate but one had continued to provide retail net metering even above the state required threshold, we now have certainty and stability.

Also of note, the annual true up date has been changed from April 30 to March 31, which should protect several of our customers that begin to generate monthly credits as early as April.  As it becomes more common for our clients to produce 100% of their own energy over the course of the year, that is a small change which will be helpful.

14 KW SunPower on a Keyport Residence, March 2019

by Andy Cochrane | May 2, 2019

SunPower has been our favorite PV manufacturer for years.  They offer the highest efficiency, highest quality, leading technology, cleanest manufacturing process, and the best warranty in the industry.  Now they are offering a $1000 donation to the Sierra Club and a $1000 rebate for Homeowners on new projects.

At Power Trip Energy, we will handle the design and installation of your project, and we handle all of the paperwork for your net metering interconnection with the utility, and this rebate program.  Ask us for details when you schedule your site evaluation.

While the federal government debates the Green New Deal, and our state considers a 100% Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard, you can take action now in your own home to make your own clean electricity.  When people lead, the leaders follow.

14 KW SunPower AC Modules, Keyport, WA, March 2019

by Andy Cochrane | Mar 21, 2019

It is important to update our state’s Net Metering law, originally passed in 1998, to reflect the current state of the market and protect homeowners’ investments in their home.  The new bill would raise the cap from 0.5% to 4% and provide a path for continued investment.  SB is sponsored by Sen Palumbo, and recently passed the Senate, now for consideration by the house.

We sent a letter to Sen. Van de Wege thanking him for his vote.

Subject: Thank you for supporting the Solar Fairness Act (Senate Bill 5223)
Body:
Dear Sen Van de Wege,

I appreciate your yes vote on the Solar Fairness Act to pass it out of the Senate last week.

As you know, our clients are counting on the state’s protection for the fair value of their solar electricity.  That protection and guarantee of reliable fair compensation from utilities give us the ability to give the needed peace of mind to our clients while they are considering this investment in clean energy for their home and our community.

Please consider me your resource whenever I can be of any assistance to your office in matters relating to solar energy.

Best regards,

Andy Cochrane

by Andy Cochrane | Mar 11, 2019

This year in Olympia is a “short session” for our part-time legislature.  Solar Washington has published a summary of the various energy-related bills, several of which have the potential to make significant progressive steps for our state.  I encourage you to take a look and see which of these bills might excite you to contact your representatives.  https://www.solarwa.org/washington_solar_legislation

SSB (Senate Substitute Bill) 5223 is the bill that affects homeowners considering grid-tied solar PV systems most directly by increasing the threshold of the net metered capacity required of utilities from 0.5% to 4% of the 1996 peak load.  We have exceeded the current threshold in every utility district on the Olympic Peninsula, and we have seen one regressive utility mired in some backsliding that has a negative impact on our clients.  This bill would incur no costs to the state or utilities and would remove the potential for impediments which discourage individuals from investing in clean energy for their homes and communities.

I encourage you to read and support this improvement to our state’s net metering, which will bring our thresholds into the 21st century.

11.7 KW SunPower array – Sequim – December 2018

by Andy Cochrane | Feb 6, 2019

Get a free Dewalt lithium yard tool of your choice or EV charging equipment when you order a solar array in the month of February.

If you are like me, you love being in your yard.  Most of our clients spend a fair amount of time and energy to create beauty, perhaps grow some tasty food, and generally work to make their yards into nice outdoor spaces in which to spend time.  At my place, it takes a whole lot of work to maintain that space, which I mostly enjoy, but it involves the use of some tools I don’t love.  When you are outdoors you may hear a neighbor running a gasoline mower, a weed whacking string trimmer, or perhaps a landscape service running a leaf blower or hedge trimmer. 

Even the use of a relatively clean four stroke engine results in the burning of gasoline and the resulting noise and pollution.  At my home, I recently added a couple of lithium battery-powered electric yard tools. Some of the ones I looked at a couple of years ago seemed expensive and underpowered, but this year, one tool in particular changed my mind and has set me on the path of electric mowing and trimming.

A friend bought a DeWalt electric lithium chainsaw.  I laughed to myself at first, but my mind quickly changed when he dropped a couple of trees in his woodlot.  It seemed every bit as powerful as my Stihl two stroke chainsaw. True, the battery only lasted enough to cut a couple of trees, so it will not be replacing gas-powered chainsaws for professional lumberjacks anytime soon, but it seems fine for a homeowner that may use a chainsaw for maintenance and clean up or cutting a couple of trees at a time.

That motivated me to try out the new lithium electric DeWalt string trimmer and I was very impressed.  I can run it for over an hour on a single charge, and that is plenty of time weed whacking at once for me at my place.  Shortly after that we got a Ryobi mower and a DeWalt hedge trimmer for heavier brush cutting. These tools all work very well and fulfill my goals of keeping my yard maintained while not burning gas.

In the past, we have run specials wherein we include the installation of Electric Vehicle charging equipment at no cost with a new solar array.  Getting an electric vehicle is probably the biggest change you can make concurrent with installing solar to decrease your carbon emissions.  This summer, we are now going to run a special to encourage you to switch to a cleaner way of maintaining your yard.

When you order a solar pv array 4 KW or larger in the month of July, we will throw in your choice of DeWalt electric lithium mower, or a package including one DeWalt string trimmer and one hedge cutter.  

If you order a larger system of 12 KW or more in the month of July, we will give the choice of either all three of those yard tools, or a Clipper Creek LCS-25 Electric Vehicle charging station (including installation.)

This offer expires July 31st.

Of course our main goal is to install solar on your home, but we also want to do everything we can to make sure we use that clean power for all we can.  While there are complications and disagreements regarding the science and politics of climate change, in general we feel there are indisputable benefits to this goal:

Electrify everything, and make sure that electricity is carbon free.

To learn more, please give us a call or come on one of our upcoming solar home tours.

A – DeWalt lithium cordless 13” String Trimmer and 22” Hedge Trimmer Package (# DCST920B820P1)

B – DeWalt lithium cordless mower (# DCMW220P2)

C – Clipper Creek LCS-25 Level II EV Charging Station

by Andy Cochrane | Jan 23, 2019

We have the opportunity to address the impacts of carbon pollution in a positive and innovative way by passing Initiative 1631 this election.  By putting a fee on carbon, initially $15 per metric ton of carbon pollution, then reinvesting that money in clean energy, this program uses economic tweaks to make inefficient and dirty practices more expensive and give clean technology and practices an advantage.  

The funds that are collected through the carbon fees from the largest polluters are designated for clean energy projects and habitat restoration on state lands.  These will gradually have positive impacts to decrease and mitigate our state’s contribution to climate change, while providing positive economic stimulation and creating new clean energy jobs.

The program will encourage a decrease in carbon pollution, but it does not dictate steps for polluters to decrease their emissions.  Washington will see innovation in clean energy technologies, leveraging our existing entrepreneurial culture and high tech work force.  This is good for everybody in the state, except the petroleum industry and a few other major polluters.   

Perhaps that is why the 12 largest contributors to the No on 1631 campaign are out of state petroleum companies that have donated over $21 million to defeat this initiative – including Phillips 66, BP, Chevron, Valero, and Koch Industries.

1631 specifically requires that 35 percent of the fees collected will go back to low-income communities to help decrease energy costs.  All investments will overseen by a public board made up of community leaders and experts in science, business, and health, so that energy companies and special interests aren’t making decisions about our future.

I feel no doubt that more carbon pricing is coming to the US in the near term.  Europe’s Emissions Trading System was the first and remains the largest Cap and Trade program in the world, now over 12 years in existence.  Mandatory programs in the US currently include California’s Cap and Trade program in existence for 5 years, and the mandatory market-based Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which includes 9 Northeastern states. 

Initiative 1631 is a much simpler and more directly effective measure, and I hope we can seize this opportunity here in Washington. 

The economics of carbon are coming one way or another in our near future – we can either lead, follow, or get run over by more innovative states.  I choose to lead, and Initiative 1631 is the tool we need right now.

yeson1631.org

References:

California Cap and Trade – https://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/capandtrade/capandtrade.htm

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative – https://www.rggi.org/

Public Disclosure Commission showing campaign contributions – https://www.pdc.wa.gov/browse/campaign-explorer/committee?filer_id=NO1631%20507&election_year=2018

by Andy Cochrane | Oct 15, 2018

The Clallam PUD board of commissioners has taken the step of publicly opposing Initiative 1631, citing increased operating costs and higher gasoline prices as reasons for opposition.  Clallam County PUD officials say the carbon fee initiative would increase the district’s annual fuel and shipping costs by $20,000 in 2020 and by $51,000 by 2035.  Clallam PUD’s revenue is about $75 million per year, so the initial $20,000 projected increase in 2020 amounts to approximately 0.027% of the PUD’s revenue.

The PUD Commissioner Simpson also reportedly was concerned about negative impacts to the PUD from a wider adoption of electric vehicles.  “There’s impact on any utility of upgrading their system to accommodate the charging of batteries for electric cars,” Simpson said.

We suggest the PUD Commissioners look at the migration from gasoline to electricity as major transportation fuel as an opportunity to increase PUD revenues and decrease money leaving the community through gasoline expenditures.  No gasoline or diesel is created in Clallam County, whereas there are over 750 roof top solar arrays producing clean electricity.  Expansions in electrical generation will result in positive local economic activity and prevent money leaving the community for polluting fossil fuels.  The increased revenues can be re-invested in our public electrical infrastructure.  The PUD’s job is to help navigate to a more advantageous position in a cleaner future, not to oppose any change due to fear of increased costs without a vision of the benefits of capturing more of the energy economy locally.

We see many benefits of cutting out petroleum and carbon based industries, while capturing those revenues locally and building a cleaner future.  This is the reason we stand with hundreds of businesses, tribes, unions, and faith-based organizations in favor of 1631.  Learn more about this initiative here http://yeson1631.org

Why is Clallam PUD siding with the petroleum industry in opposition to a carbon fee?  Could they better represent their ratepayers by focusing on the most beneficial way to move forward toward a cleaner future?

peninsuladailynews.com/politics/clallam-pud-opposes-carbon-fee-initiative/

8 KW of SunPower, Port Angeles, 2017

by Andy Cochrane | Oct 3, 2018

SunPower, a California based company that makes their PV cells in the Philippines, has been subject to the same solar tarriffs as the rest of the industry, despite arguing that they were materially different from the cheap commodity imports, protection from which was the point of the tarriffs.  SunPower has been paying $2 million per week in tarriffs, which they say could have been better spent on research and development here in the US.

Today they received notice that the tariffs would not be applied to their “inter-digitated back contact” (IBC) Maxeon cells, which are in the most efficient solar modules on the market.

There are two other big recent news item from SunPower:

They have announced a 5 year strategic partnership with Enphase, the worlds largest micro-inverter manufacturer.  SunPower had been manufacturing their own micro-inverters since their purchase of SolarBridge several years ago, and have sold that facility to Enphase, who will use it to expand their own production capabilities.  The Enphase micro-inverters will be incorporated into SunPower’s AC modules for products we receive beginning in the fourth quarter of this year.

Secondly, SunPower’s purchase of SolarWorld Americas is closing soon, and in this, SunPower has purchased the largest North American manufacturing location and will produce their own product as well as the SolarWorld modules for the German parent company.

As the solar market matures, we see complexity and consolidations, and we are very happy to see SunPower taking the steps it needs to remain a global leader in solar manufacturing.  We have been SunPower dealers since 2008, and we appreciate their highest efficiency, strongest warranty, and stable market position.  They now comprise nearly 100% of our installations.

https://solarindustrymag.com/sunpower-announces-solar-tariff-exemption/.

11.4 kw in Port Townsend, working around some tree and chimney shading with SunPower modules.

by Andy Cochrane | Sep 18, 2018

Solar is Sexy, Financing Is Not Sexy

Unless you are in the business of helping people put a solar array on their homes, you might not think much about some of the other things that have to line up for these projects to make sense.  The technology itself is fairly straightforward, but some other significant factors that support these projects are:

• Utility policy and the state laws that allow or prevent obstruction of solar installation
• Natl. Electric Code that supports solar photovoltaic (PV) equipment and provides guidance for safe installations
• Federal tax policy recognizing the value of clean energy
• State laws preventing HOA’s from interfering with the installation of solar
• Sensible loan packages in the case someone needs outside financing

Here in Washington State, we are blessed with a confluence of these factors that all come together making the installation of solar PV relatively attractive for our clients.  At this moment I would especially like to give appreciation to two local credit unions for putting together some very low interest energy efficiency financing programs, and the WA State Dept of Commerce, which has implemented a program enabling these loans in partnership with the credit unions.

Until a few years ago, we did not have any attractive credit options to recommend for our clients.  The only option our state’s solar industry had was consumer credit along the lines of how you might finance an appliance, perhaps from GE Capital, and those loans were not anything we would ever recommend to our clients.  Within the last couple of years however, we now have some excellent low interest rate, long term financing designed specifically for these projects and some of the other incentives they receive.

Both Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union and Generations Credit Union have received high reviews from our clients that have used these loans.  The rates are low and the terms are variable to work with your needs.  The key is that each of these loans is supported through a loan guarantee from WA Dept of Commerce, and each is structured to work specifically with other available incentives in order to maximize the economic benefits of the solar electricity being made on your roof.

At this point, nearly 1/3 of our customers are using financing from one of these two credit unions.  Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union has let us know they are writing solar loans for solar at the pace of of $2 Million per month.  That is a lot of solar here in Washington State, and that is a big turn on.

So for some of us solar geeks, financing actually can be sexy.  Links to each credit union’s program is below. 

https://www.psccu.org/Borrow/Energy-Smart-Loans.aspx

https://www.generationscreditunion.com/solar-cash-flow-loan.htm

by Andy Cochrane | Jun 7, 2018