BayWa r.e. Solar Systems

Every few weeks, a member of the BayWa r.e. team sits down with Chris Crowell of Solar Builder in our PowerForward! series partnership.

BayWa r.e. recently hosted top customers and solar industry experts at its Business Leadership Summit. Director of Marketing Summer Rain Ursomarso and VP of Sales Jason Liehr, joined Power Forward! to share takeaways from presentations, and what solar installers were saying on site.

We bring our industry expertise together to help solar installers build their businesses.

Product manager nerds by day, solar products podcast hosts by night – BayWa r.e. brings on leading industry experts to talk residential and commercial solar equipment, the latest solar news, and big ideas for our U.S. contractor community.

BayWa r.e. Solar Systems LLC supplies residential and commercial solar installers in the United States with quality solar + storage components, forecasting, business planning advice, and a community of experts. Visit www.solar-distribution.com to read our industry insights articles and stream our Solar Tech Talk and Solar Town Hall podcasts on YouTube and Spotify. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to stay connected. Ask us about our Split Pay financing program and use our industry-leading Webstore to save time, get gear shipped, and get jobs done! Part of the BayWa r.e. Global family of renewable energy companies.

The post PF! E15: Solar Business Leadership Summit 2024 Takeaways appeared first on BayWa r.e. Solar Systems.

Every few weeks, a member of the BayWa r.e. team sits down with Chris Crowell of Solar Builder in our PowerForward! series partnership.

The NABCEP CE conference is a great education and networking event for solar installers. On this edition of Power Forward! Solar Builder Editor Chris Crowell discusses the most important takeaways for solar installers from the 2024 edition of the NABCEP CE event with Jordyn Dollarhide, communications and media manager with BayWa r.e. We discuss:

0:50 – Vibe of the industry heading into the event

1:56 – This year’s theme: Scaling your solar business

2:40 – Saying no to bad business, and focusing more on quality customers

5:32 – Example of ‘bad’ business

7:47 – Standout comments from sessions and our conversations

10:21 – Products that stood out

12:05 – Final thoughts from NABCEP 2024

We bring our industry expertise together to help solar installers build their businesses.

Product manager nerds by day, solar products podcast hosts by night – BayWa r.e. brings on leading industry experts to talk residential and commercial solar equipment, the latest solar news, and big ideas for our U.S. contractor community.

BayWa r.e. Solar Systems LLC supplies residential and commercial solar installers in the United States with quality solar + storage components, forecasting, business planning advice, and a community of experts. Visit www.solar-distribution.com to read our industry insights articles and stream our Solar Tech Talk and Solar Town Hall podcasts on YouTube and Spotify. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to stay connected. Ask us about our Split Pay financing program and use our industry-leading Webstore to save time, get gear shipped, and get jobs done! Part of the BayWa r.e. Global family of renewable energy companies.

The post PF! E14 | Solar business takeaways from NABCEP 2024 CE appeared first on BayWa r.e. Solar Systems.

Every few weeks, a member of the BayWa r.e. team sits down with Chris Crowell of Solar Builder in our PowerForward! series partnership.

California solar installers experienced a disastrous 2023 as soon as the NEM 3 rate changes took effect. The California Solar and Storage Association reports about an 80 percent drop in rooftop solar projects since April 2023. To make matters worse, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) closed out 2023 by approving further changes that impact the payback on battery exports. The CPUC also ended the self-consumption of solar for most virtual net metering projects. Is there any way to Power Forward! in California? We discuss with David Dunlap, VP of Product Strategy for the US, with BayWa r.e.:

We bring our industry expertise together to help solar installers build their businesses.

Product manager nerds by day, solar products podcast hosts by night – BayWa r.e. brings on leading industry experts to talk residential and commercial solar equipment, the latest solar news, and big ideas for our U.S. contractor community.

BayWa r.e. Solar Systems LLC supplies residential and commercial solar installers in the United States with quality solar + storage components, forecasting, business planning advice, and a community of experts. Visit www.solar-distribution.com to read our industry insights articles and stream our Solar Tech Talk and Solar Town Hall podcasts on YouTube and Spotify. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to stay connected. Ask us about our Split Pay financing program and use our industry-leading Webstore to save time, get gear shipped, and get jobs done! Part of the BayWa r.e. Global family of renewable energy companies.

The post PF! E13: Surviving the NEM 3 California solar market appeared first on BayWa r.e. Solar Systems.

In this special podcast episode, BayWa r.e.’s VP of Product Strategy David Dunlap sits down with David Chang of Qcells and Tim Richmond of Chariot Energy to discuss the future of Qcells, growth in the United States and the navigation of deregulated utilities in the Texas market.

In this episode, you can expect to learn:

Senior Director, Head of Sales

Qcells

Sales Director

Chariot Energy

BayWa r.e. Solar Systems LLC supplies residential and commercial solar installers in the United States with quality solar + storage components, forecasting, business planning advice, and a community of experts. Visit www.solar-distribution.com to read our industry insights articles and stream our Solar Tech Talk and Solar Town Hall podcasts on YouTube and Spotify. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to stay connected. Ask us about our Split Pay financing program and use our industry-leading Webstore to save time, get gear shipped, and get jobs done! Part of the BayWa r.e. Global family of renewable energy companies.

The post Special Sponsored Podcast: How Qcells and Chariot Energy are Creating New Opportunities With Deregulated Utilities in the U.S. appeared first on BayWa r.e. Solar Systems.

Channel Strategy Development Manager

Qcells

Senior Product Manager for Q.HOME ESS Solution

Qcells

BayWa r.e. Solar Systems LLC supplies residential and commercial solar installers in the United States with quality solar + storage components, forecasting, business planning advice, and a community of experts. Visit www.solar-distribution.com to read our industry insights articles and stream our Solar Tech Talk and Solar Town Hall podcasts on YouTube and Spotify. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to stay connected. Ask us about our Split Pay financing program and use our industry-leading Webstore to save time, get gear shipped, and get jobs done! Part of the BayWa r.e. Global family of renewable energy companies.

The post Solar Tech Talk E21: How Qcells is Creating More Opportunity for All Markets with Energy Storage and Virtual Power Plants appeared first on BayWa r.e. Solar Systems.

Say the name “PanelClaw” and Jason’s ears perk up! As Aaron reminds us, Jason’s first assignment at BayWa r.e. was to run point on PanelClaw’s clawFR hardware platform and clawOS software offerings. Aaron and Jason explain how solar installers can benefit from the special consultation process that BayWa r.e. offers with PanelClaw.

“This is a new level of service that BayWa r.e. is offering,” Aaron tells us. For contractors looking to design around PanelClaw components, BayWa r.e. will provide support for the initial design phase to develop the project. This hands-on review process makes it easier for our team at BayWa r.e. to interface with PanelClaw, so that installers can get the right design for their job, and BayWa r.e. can source the components called for.

“I’ve gotten to work with a ton of our installers doing system designs, getting approved for construction documents — pretty much everything from the initial workflow, doing a couple layouts, all the way through stamping. So it’s been a fun ride, and I’m looking forward to working with more of our customers,” says Jason. “If you need assistance, ping myself or reach out to your BayWa r.e. sales rep, and we can get in touch that way as well!”

Vice President

PanelClaw

Here today to give us the latest updates on PanelClaw’s hardware and software offerings is their Vice President of National Sales, Paul Bitterolf. Naturally, Paul leads off with PanelClaw’s clear value proposition for solar contractors tackling commercial projects of any size.

“We are the market-share leader in mid to large-scale ballasted racking. We’ve been around since 2008, focused exclusively on mid to large-scale commercial and industrial applications. We do a lot of school districts, stores, distribution centers,” Paul tells our listeners. “And over the last year or so, since announcing our partnership with BayWa r.e., we’ve been able to expand our product line into the small to mid-sized market. If you’ve got contractors that are looking at non-residential applications for flat roofs, our product is a great fit for it.”

PanelClaw offers its clawFR platform through BayWa r.e. in two different tilt angles: a 10-degree single-tilt with three row-spacing options and a 10-degree dual-tilt. “What’s great about it is that it’s the same platform, so the same essential components can be used in either configuration,” Paul says. That means contractors versed on designing one project using single-tilt can easily translate that knowledge to another project more suited for the dual-tilt.

Besides the ample design options, fewer parts and faster build speed is the other big headline here. Contractors build the grid prior to hanging the modules, then the entire grid is assembled with clawFR’s single bolt-hardware kit all to the same torque setting — and modules are hung via PanelClaw’s patent-pending, tool-less attachment engineering.

“It’s a rail-based system that lends itself to efficient load-sharing within the system — which translates to fewer ballast blocks, fewer attachments than you need with a non-rail-based system,” Paul tells the team. “The whole grid goes together with one bolt, and the modules are hung without any tools or hardware.”

A big leap over this past year has been the continued development of clawOS — PanelClaw’s cloud-based structural design platform. Designed specifically for flat-roof PV projects, clawOS lets users create simple array layouts; upload layouts from AutoCAD or Helioscope; generate multiple racking design versions for budgeting purposes; examine structural requirements; and export bill of materials. The platform’s proprietary layout tool, fully automated racking design engine, and index of design inputs allows users to truly experiment with design optimization — with nearly limitless roof and sub-roof level platform load and point load limits.

And now that simplicity and versatility is available to any solar contractor sourcing through BayWa r.e. “Get in touch with your BayWa r.e. salesperson and we can get you registered,” Paul Bitterolf says, adding that with our new BayWa r.e.-PanelClaw support partnership, our own Jason Burnett would provide added training insights, sharing his own do’s and don’ts from his own onboarding with clawOS.

Opening up clawOS access is a huge step for a design tool inspired by PanelClaw’s own in-house technical expertise — but now available to empower anyone without AutoCAD experience or seasoned engineering knowledge. Paul jokes that clawOS helps answer that age-old design question: “Can you do this project without attachments? And if you need to have attachments, how many of them are there going to be? How heavy is this system going to be?”

Now there’s no more speculating, Paul says, with clawOS providing perfect and complete structural information on the front end of the project, along with support ticketing for users whenever design challenges arise, and continuous updates pushed to improve the design interface and technical presets. “If there’s a project that’s not going to work out… you can figure that out in the front end before you spend resources and resources only to come to that conclusion six months down the road.”

Understanding the spectrum of solar businesses out there, clawOS has been improved to serve those who geek out over design details and those who just want to solve the bottom line.

“Some people like to draw every single gas line and drain on the roof. Other people just want to push modules everywhere and start removing them,” Paul says. “There’s no right or wrong, but we’ve built some flexibility into the sequencing around the actual design itself.”

And for the power users out there, there is a “clawOS Pro” version, which is what PanelClaw’s in-house team uses. But for most contractors, working through clawOS is sufficient. Once the design is ready and a drawing approved for construction is required, a support ticket can be generated and PanelClaw’s expert staff can help validate the design and produce the drawing.

“There’s two different workflows as we move into the issue-for-permit stage of the project,” Paul explains. For the small to mid-sized applications, PanelClaw can generate approved-for-construction drawings, with a state-certification letter that contractors can bring to the structural engineer already certifying the building, who can then review all the inputs and calculations and stamp the plans themselves.

Alternatively, if the onsite structural engineer certifying the site roof is not comfortable stamping your racking plans, PanelClaw can take care of that process for you.

.

Although the clawFR platform is compatible with any off-the-shelf wire management kits out there, PanelClaw has since developed three proprietary wire management solutions that make installs even more of a breeze.

“For some of these really challenging situations, you might have very little clearance underneath the low side of the module but still want to stay above the deck, especially with the single-tilt systems when you’re running homeruns north-south,” says PanelClaw VP Paul Bitterolf, adding that clawFR wire-management solutions can serve just about any scenario within the footprint of the array.

Of course, flexibility only works when there is availability — and this is where the BayWa r.e.-PanelClaw partnership once again brings value to the contractor.

“Oftentimes, the racking is procured a month or two months before you’re mobilizing. You’ve been under construction for a couple weeks, and installers realize ‘wait a minute, we gotta wire this thing up — how in the heck are we going to do that?’” Paul says, setting up the scene. “So one of the nice add-ons with our relationship with BayWa r.e. is that the materials are on the BayWa r.e. warehouse shelf — with just a quick phone call or a jump on the BayWa r.e. Webstore, you’ll have the homerun solutions, brackets for mounting RSD units, and all sorts of solutions that are proprietary and integrated into clawFR — not a month out, but in a matter of days.”

It’s a match made on the flat rooftop — PanelClaw’s simple, configurable racking solutions, matched with our BayWa r.e. nationwide warehouse sites and coast-to-coast drop-ship reach.

There’s so much more to this podcast than the recap above. Watch or listen to the full episode to hear the full conversation — including these topic highlights:

BayWa r.e. Solar Systems LLC supplies residential and commercial solar installers in the United States with quality solar + storage components, forecasting, business planning advice, and a community of experts. Visit www.solar-distribution.com to read our industry insights articles and stream our Solar Tech Talk and Solar Town Hall podcasts on YouTube and Spotify. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to stay connected. Ask us about our Split Pay financing program and use our industry-leading Webstore to save time, get gear shipped, and get jobs done! Part of the BayWa r.e. Global family of renewable energy companies.

The post Solar Tech Talk E20: Designing Simplified for Flat Roof Racking with PanelClaw Hardware and Software appeared first on BayWa r.e. Solar Systems.

If you didn’t get to NABCEP’s Continuing Education conference in St. Charles, MO this year, you might have missed the best event yet to grace the solar industry. 2023 NABCEP was one for the books – more attendees, vendors, sessions, and fun than ever before and just enough time to take it all in.

In episode 19 of our Solar Tech Talk, Jason Burnett and Aaron Bingham, our Solar Tech Talk hosts, sit down with Shawn O’Brian, the President & CEO of NABCEP, to discuss their favorite takeaways from this year’s show.

This year, NABCEP launched their Learning Management System (LMS). The platform will host multiple digitally recorded trainings for virtual learning and accreditation. Look for many of the sessions from the conference recorded there.

As the Platinum Sponsor for the past 7 years, BayWa r.e. has not only been a huge supporter of NABCEP, but we also contributed 4 different sessions to this year’s conference. Our CEO, Jodi White, delivered the keynote address, and David Dunlap (VP of Product Strategy), Tiernay Marsh (Sales Manager, Key Accounts), Preston Booker (Head of Key Accounts), and Ricardo Queijo (Director of Sales Enablement & Operations) all hosted various sessions about building a healthy, resilient business throughout the conference.  Look for our sessions on NABCEP’s LMS system.

President & CEO

NABCEP

BayWa r.e. Solar Systems LLC supplies residential and commercial solar installers in the United States with quality solar + storage components, forecasting, business planning advice, and a community of experts. Visit www.solar-distribution.com to read our industry insights articles and stream our Solar Tech Talk and Solar Town Hall podcasts on YouTube and Spotify. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to stay connected. Ask us about our Split Pay financing program and use our industry-leading Webstore to save time, get gear shipped, and get jobs done! Part of the BayWa r.e. Global family of renewable energy companies.

The post Solar Tech Talk 19: NABCEP Recap: The Best Solar Event of the Year appeared first on BayWa r.e. Solar Systems.

Solar Tech Talk is back with another episode! In this installment, we’re talking storage again as we meet the fine folks at FranklinWH (Franklin Whole Home) — the newest manufacturing partner to join our BayWa r.e. line card!

Our co-hosts, Jason Burnett from our technical sales team, and longtime product manager, Aaron Bingham, remind us why home storage is an essential part of today’s residential solar package — especially since batteries nowadays are actually able to do what the average homeowner expects them to do. That is, provide safe, reliable, on-demand power when there is an outage, be it a weather emergency or a simple grid interruption, plus smart energy management in everyday situations. Other market forces are also driving the future for battery storage: the approaching critical mass of electric vehicle adoption and new net metering policies that really nudge homeowners to own their power.

Franklin Whole Home storage products are now on our BayWa r.e. warehouse shelves, and here to explain the company’s origins and the Franklin whole-home advantage is Justin Hopkins, National Sales Director for FranklinWH. Justin says “reduced compromise” was one of their design philosophies, thinking of ways for homeowners to put the grid in their back pocket, and truly own their power. The differentiator for FranklinWH is the power tech and electronics side, to create something both analog and smart to create a balanced storage-plus-energy management ecosystem.

Justin Hopkins

National Sales Director

Justin tells Aaron and Jason about the simplicity behind FranklinWH’s two products: the aGate energy manager and the aPower storage unit. “The aGate really is a smart controller,” according to Justin. “Whether it’s solar or generator, or in the future when we see more bi-directional car charging options.” Some highlights of the aGate and aPower pairing:

Jason asks Justin the key question: why is FranklinWH worth a look for solar installers?

“Across the board, what we’ve really tried to do is to create a paint-by-numbers solution for installers. Whether it’s having accessories that will allow the system to operate off-grid with PV-load side support, even though they have too much solar,” Justin says. “For the budget-minded customer, I really believe we’ve stacked everything up very incrementally, from the most basic of systems, to really advanced, complex systems… we’ve made it really easy to design this to meet customer’s needs.”

Other perks:

For anyone on the fence, Justin lists some of the details that installers have been keen to mention. For example, the waterproof (maybe even hurricane-proof?), error-proof aPower battery is quite heavy at 400 pounds — but while taking extra effort to move, it comes prefabricated so there is less onsite work, and you don’t have to build it onsite. (As the gang laughs: “It’s only heavy once!”) Justin also notes the installer certification program offered by FranklinWH is easy to sign up for, with a 9-module training roughly over 3-hours of time.

What else is on the roadmap for FranklinWH? “The industry is changing a lot for storage. Demand response is becoming part of the conversation more and more every day. Virtual power plants. Different programs from utilities where you can sell back the power or provide, essentially, infrastructure support to the grid during high-demand periods. There’s a lot of value in that,” Justin says. ”But, at Franklin we do not compete in the BPP space against our installers.”

Justin goes on to say that FranklinWH simply is providing the hardware. “I see installers — especially the high-volume installers — becoming aggregators over the next couple of years, and managing these assets.” Justin has this forecast: “The BPP has potential for these homeowners to maybe get some of these rebates in year one. But in year nine a new program comes out where, by discharging their battery to the grid, they get another benefit. We’re not competing for that capital against our [installer] partners. Rather, we’re supporting with hardware, and saying, ‘Go do this, this is your empire to build, not ours.”

There’s so much more to this podcast than the recap above. Watch or listen to the full episode to hear the full conversation.

STT Bonus: Did you miss Justin’s “dare” to industry partners for maxing out the aPower attachments? Go back to the 16:00 mark of our show to catch the laugh. Plus, jump to the 31:45 mark for FranklinWH’s promotion for certified installers, a buy-two-get-one aPower offer, now available through June.

BayWa r.e. Solar Systems LLC supplies residential and commercial solar installers in the United States with quality solar + storage components, forecasting, business planning advice, and a community of experts. Visit www.solar-distribution.com to read our industry insights articles and stream our Solar Tech Talk and Solar Town Hall podcasts on YouTube and Spotify. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to stay connected. Ask us about our Split Pay financing program and use our industry-leading Webstore to save time, get gear shipped, and get jobs done! Part of the BayWa r.e. Global family of renewable energy companies.

The post Solar Tech Talk E18: FranklinWH – Prefab Simplicity Reaps Resi Storage Wins appeared first on BayWa r.e. Solar Systems.

2023 is going to be a year to remember in the solar industry. After a small break in episodes, we kick off the new year with Solar Tech Talk 17 – can you believe we have been doing STTs over a year and a half, now?

We start off this show by welcoming a new co-host, Jason Burnett from our technical sales team. He and Aaron Bingham dive into the weeds with Ashley Martin-Gollis of Enphase, to share how updates to the IQ8 microinverter help solar installers maintain code compliance. Then, David Dunlap, BayWa r.e.’s VP of Strategy, gives a run down of the 3 most important policy pieces for the industry and what solar installers should we looking for.

For everything there is a season. As our 2022 co-host Tiernay Marsh takes on more leadership roles within BayWa r.e., she hands her Solar Tech Talk mic to Jason Burnett. Jason, a veteran solar installer, and solar technology aficionado, joins our show after multiple years in the field and on the BayWa r.e. team. He co-hosts alongside our Tech Talk leader, Aaron Bingham, to bring listeners more educational solar content in 2023.

But don’t worry, Tiernay will join us intermittently throughout the show to share her growing expertise in all things solar sales and forecasting.

Jason Burnett

Technical Sales Support

BayWa r.e. Solar Systems

We are joined this episode by one of our most influential solar manufacturing partners, Enphase. Ashley Martin-Gollis, their Director of Product Marketing, dives into the latest developments at Enphase and their IQ8 microinverters.

IQ8 – Transitioning from the IQ7: (4:04)

The IQ8 microinverter, the industry’s first grid-forming microinverter with split-phase power conversion capabilities, is now the standard for Enphase as installers shift away from the IQ7. Ashley details how the IQ8 can form a microgrid and offer sunlight backup. She also shares a look down the road at a new three-phase version of the commercial IQ8 and higher amperage versions to pair with higher power modules.

Ashley Martin-Gollis

Director of Product Marketing

Enphase

Next Steps in EV Charging: (6:20)

Thanks to their acquisition of ClipperCreek last year, Enphase is now a leader in the EV charging market. Enphase recently announced they are developing a bi-directional EV charger that would allow vehicle to home and green charging to enable a homeowner’s car to charge from the green electrons they generate from their solar systems. Stay tuned for updates from Enphase on this in the near future.

Aaron, Jason, and Ashley also speak to:

Tune into the episode at 6:20 to hear their conversation.

Innovations & Improvements: (9:41)

Enphase’s team has been busy. Over the past year, they have implemented A LOT of system-wide improvements to the IQ8. Here are a few that Ashley cataloged for us:

click image to expand

The national grid interconnection standard, IEEE 1547-2018 was published in several years ago, but adoption is just starting in many states. Most Enphase products are compliant with the standard, but here is what you need to know:

Attention California Installers:

IEEE 1547-2018 will be adopted in California on April 1. NEM 3.0 goes into effect on April 15. When submitting your interconnection applications between these two days, make sure to use compliant SKUs to grandfather your projects into NEM 2.0.

Listen to the episode at 15:18 for more info.

Ashley also walks through the Enphase communication product SKUs that comply with this standard. Listen in to the podcast at 16:39 to get more details.

Our conversation with Ashely is rounded out with a great case study from a homeowner that used his Enphase system to power through an 8-day grid outage in a snowstorm. Tune into the podcast to hear Bruce’s story and get deeper insights on the items mentioned above.

click image to expand

For the second half of the show, Jason and Aaron sit down with David Dunlap, BayWa r.e’s Vice President of Product Strategy, to delve into 2023 policy and what it means for solar installers. A brief recap is below but watch or listen to the full episode for more details.

IEEE 1547-2018: (30:12)

The IEEE Standard for Interconnection and Interoperability of DERs is an important one for solar installers. As each state and AHJ (authority having jurisdiction) adopts this new standard at different times, solar component manufacturers are prioritizing their distribution of compliant products to support the timelines of these adoptions in each region. Make sure the products you choose have the correct compliance standards for your region!

David Dunlap

Vp of Product Strategy

BayWa r.e. Solar Systems

Inflation Reduction Act: (32:27)

Several points in the IRA are key for solar installers to follow:

This is Important!

Check out the podcast at 35:35 for a thorough explanation of the two parts of domestic content in the IRA and how it could affect your project finance.

Other Domestic Content benefits are for low income, community, or tribal land installs and are included in the section 48d commercial section of the policy, but do not apply to homeowners –We are still waiting on further guidance from the US Department of Treasury to fully understand how those will be applied, but it will make a difference for your financial modeling in your projects.

NEM3.0 – California Net Metering Changes: (42:31)

A big change to solar net metering in California goes into effect on April 14, 2023. This is a big deal for many installers in the state as the economics of a residential solar systems changes rather dramatically.

The difference? Designing a homeowner’s system to overproduced so they get retail rates on excess energy will no longer be advantageous. The balance of production and consumption will now be even more important so sizing a system to the needs of the home and the customer’s rate structure will have to be more strategic.

There are some advantages, though, if a system is optimized to export power at high rate periods and avoid exporting at low rate periods. That’s where storage comes in and a key focus on understanding your Time of Use cases for export structuring.

Tune in to the podcast at 44:53 to hear David’s explanation of this process.

There’s so much more to this podcast than the recap above. Watch or listen to the full episode to hear the full conversation.

BayWa r.e. Solar Systems LLC supplies residential and commercial solar installers in the United States with quality solar + storage components, forecasting, business planning advice, and a community of experts. Visit www.solar-distribution.com to read our industry insights articles and stream our Solar Tech Talk and Solar Town Hall podcasts on YouTube and Spotify. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to stay connected. Ask us about our Split Pay financing program and use our industry-leading Webstore to save time, get gear shipped, and get jobs done! Part of the BayWa r.e. Global family of renewable energy companies.

The post Solar Tech Talk E17: Solar Policy to Watch and Valuable Updates on Enphase IQ8 appeared first on BayWa r.e. Solar Systems.

As we round out the last Solar Tech Talk of 2022, Aaron Bingham and Tiernay Marsh, two of BayWa r.e.’s resident solar experts, look at the impacts of legislation and technology on the solar market. First, they bring us all up to speed on the California net metering decision set to go public mid-December. Then, they sit down with solar modules supply experts from JA Solar to discuss the next steps in wafer technology and the current availability of panels.

Aaron and Tiernay start off the episode with a review of big actions on net metering coming down the line for California. The new NEM 3.0 legislation is expected to pass mid-December and will be a big damper on the residential solar market. This is such an important conversation for all solar installers to be watching.

Help Support Solar in the Golden State – Get involved with California Solar and Storage Association now: https://calssa.org/nemaction.

Learn more about NEM 3:

Thomas Nielson, Director of Sales, JA Solar

Tosho Galitev, Senior Manager Engineering, JA Solar

In the main highlight of the episode, Tiernay and Aaron are joined by experts from JA Solar, an international solar module manufacturer that partners closely with BayWa r.e. to bring top-tier products to solar installers. Recently, JA started offering residential solar modules and the group dives into what this means for the market, installers, and homeowners.

Check out the discussion in the recording for a deep dive into:

Tiernay began her solar career in 2010 and has since worked in various specialties throughout the industry. Her work at a solar installation company doing grassroots marketing and her time at a start-up originating utility-scale projects has helped Tiernay develop a broad understanding of the industry. After several roles in sales at BayWa r.e. Solar Distribution, Tiernay now leads the Key Accounts team to help customers identify patterns in their businesses and evolve their processes for success.

Tiernay holds an MBA and a Bachelor’s in International/Global Studies from the University of Arizona, where she also served as an adjunct professor of business communications. When she isn’t digging into data to find efficiency opportunities for our customers, Tiernay can be found hiking or climbing in the Sonoran Desert with her partner and pups.

BayWa r.e. Solar Systems LLC supplies residential and commercial solar installers in the United States with quality solar + storage components, forecasting, business planning advice, and a community of experts. Visit www.solar-distribution.com to read our industry insights articles and stream our Solar Tech Talk and Solar Town Hall podcasts on YouTube and Spotify. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to stay connected. Ask us about our Split Pay financing program and use our industry-leading Webstore to save time, get gear shipped, and get jobs done! Part of the BayWa r.e. Global family of renewable energy companies.

The post Solar Tech Talk E16: Solar Module Efficiency & Supply with JA Solar appeared first on BayWa r.e. Solar Systems.