The Energy Show

Copyright 2020 - The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon

Solar panels are long term assets - guaranteed by every manufacturer for at least 25 years. Lithium ion batteries are guaranteed by most manufacturers for at least 10 years. But there are no major solar panel manufacturers have been in business for 25 years, and no major battery manufacturers for 10 years.

So how can a homeowner, building owner or financing company assess the reliability of solar panels and batteries? The best way is to scientifically gather and assess reliability data for these components. To be objective, this reliability analysis must be done by an independent organization - not by manufacturers.

PV Evolution Labs is the leading independent lab for equipment testing. They assess the bankability of PV modules, inverters, storage, and other balance-of-system equipment. Joining us on this week’s Energy Show is Jenya Meydbray, CEO and co-founder of PV Evolution Labs.

Please Listen Up to this week’s Energy Show as Jenya talks about the founding of PV Evolution Labs and shares his insights on reliability of solar panels and batteries. Jenya and I also share our real-world reliability advice as manufacturers, contractors and technologies come and go over the years.

Copyright 2020 - The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon

There are over a million homes with rooftop solar in the U.S. – out of about 100 million detached single family homes. So we are looking at market penetration of about 1%. There is a lot of growth potential for solar, storage and maintenance work.

Once people have a solar power system the first question they ask is “how do I read my electric bill?” The second question they ask is “how often should I clean my solar panels?”

Now reading your electric bill – that’s another show altogether given how complicated the bills are. But on today’s show we’ll mathematically and practically answer this second question –how often should I clean my solar panels.

We will base our recommendation on daily and annual performance analysis of systems before and after cleaning and also provide advice on how – and especially how not -- to clean solar panels.

To start, you might be wondering how the solar panels get dirty. They get dirty basically by wind-blown dust. Just like your car or your windows, the dust accumulates on the surface and builds up over time. And, if you are in a dusty area like a farm or near dirt roads, the accumulation may be worse. Pollen accumulation is another factor which typically happens in the spring. Some people talk about cleaning up after the birds, but bird debris is usually not a problem unless your name is Hitchcock and you live in Bodega Bay.

What happens when panels get dirty the accumulated dirt absorbs or reflects the photons that hit the solar panels and output begins to decline. The amount of output decline varies based on location and amount of soiling. Interestingly enough, it also depends on where on the panel the soiling happens.

So if you are like most solar power system owners and you have been wondering how often should I clean my solar panels, please listen to this week’s Energy Show as we walk through the performance implications of dirty solar panels and the best method for cleaning your system.

Copyright 2020 - The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon

For the first time in 20 years California is experiencing rolling blackouts. Reports indicate that over 3 million residents were recently affected. Conditions that caused these blackouts will continue, and the situation will get worse during fire season when we can expect Public Safety Power Shutoffs.

In the olden days, blackouts were an opportunity to sit around by the fire and read by candlelight. Not any more. We rely on electricity to keep our food cold, to keep our lights on, to charge our cars and to keep our family connected to both school and work.

PG&E is not being candid about the real cause of these recent blackouts. Ostensibly, the rolling blackouts were caused when hot weather caused air conditioning demand to spike at the same time that several 500 MW natural gas power plants went offline, either due to scheduled maintenance or failure. But when I checked into the cause of several extended Silicon Valley outages, it became apparent that these outages were due to local transformer failures — not the one to two hour rolling blackouts that were announced.

The solution is almost universally recognized: more battery storage capacity charged by solar. I say “almost” because PG&E and other utilities are still recommending flashlights, candles and gas generators. Their logic is entirely based on their profit motive to install more of their own generating and storage capacity. PG&E and other utilities don’t want homeowners to install solar-charged battery backup systems — which are safe, reliable and affordable.

Please tune in to this week’s Energy Show for the gory details about this latest rash of blackouts — as well as what you can do to keep your lights on, your food cold and your family connected.

Copyright 2020, The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon

Copyright 2020 - The Energy Show, Barry CInnamon

Like every other industry, the Covid-19 impacts on the solar industry have been significant. Supply chains have been disrupted, customer demand has decreased as economies suffer, and then, customer demand has gone up as people realize they need their own reliable source of power. And, there is a big question mark on government policies towards clean energy –especially here in the U.S.

People in the global solar and storage industry want information to help them navigate these uncertain times and one of the best information sources in the solar industry is IHS Markit. IHS Markit is a leading provider of data analytics and expertise serving a number of industries including cleantech and renewables, oil and gas, automotive, financial and economics and my guest on this week’s Energy Show is Cormac Gilligan, Associate Director of Solar and Energy Storage at IHS Markit. Cormac is like a human crystal ball for the global solar industry and is widely regarded as a leading authority on the global PV inverter market. His analysis and commentary is regularly published by leading PV industry media and the global press.

Given Covid-19 impacts on the solar industry, we could all use some accurate forecasting, so please listen up to this week’s Energy Show.

Copyright 2020, The Energy Show - Barry Cinnamon

Solar and battery backup systems are the ideal antidote to the triple threat of high evening electric rates (over $0.50/kwh), frequent power failures (some of which are deliberate shut-offs), and our increasing dependence on electricity for the necessities of life (food, phones and fun).

Several established companies — including Tesla, LG-Chem, SolarEdge and Enphase — have developed excellent solar and storage systems for homeowners. These systems are great, but they must be designed properly so that they meet both the power (watts) and energy (kwh) needs of a home during an extended blackout.

Please listen to this week’s Energy Show as we talk about the evolution of battery storage technology, how solar and batteries work together, the technical limitations of storage systems, and the critical software and hardware components that factor into design considerations for battery backup systems that will reliably keep your lights on and your fridge cold.

Copyright 2020 - The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon

The solar industry is used to rapid changes, hence the moniker “The Solar Coaster.” But this year the changes are at their most extreme in my recollection: rapid adoption of battery storage, tariffs, blackouts, the coronavirus pandemic and a recession.

It takes a varied set of skills to run a successful solar business over the long term in such a dynamic environment. Not only does a company need the right mix of technology, marketing and strategy, but they also need a management team that is focused on long term success. Companies that are in for the quick buck, featuring n low prices and “free” solar deals, usually disappear just as quickly.

Over the past decade I’ve gotten to know some of the best locally-focused solar companies around the country. One of the companies that stands out is Renova Energy, based on the Coachella Valley in California.

Please listen up to this week’s Energy Show featuring Vincent Battaglia, CEO of Renova Energy. Vincent shares his perspectives on meeting customer's changing energy needs, the future of the solar industry, and his insights into the keys to long-term success in the solar and storage industry.

Copyright 2020 - The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon

Today’s solar technology is the most sustainable way of generating energy. Solar power is inexpensive on a kilowatt per hour basis, is low maintenance, has zero fuel requirements, generates no emissions, and is completely silent.

But even solar leaves a waste footprint, primarily because there is a lot of equipment that is manufactured and installed. Energy is consumed during component and equipment manufacturing, shipment and installation — whether on a utility-scale field, commercial flat roof or home. Waste is inevitably generated, especially packaging materials (I was kicked out of my first home office because we were recycling too much cardboard).

Perhaps the biggest waste footprint issues will arise when solar installations are de-commissioned at the end of their life. Aluminum and steel racking can be profitably recycled. However, as with many other consumer and industrial products (tires, electronics, etc.), there are significant costs associated with shipping and recycling solar panels. It is not an easy process to separate the aluminum, glass and silicon that are the primary components of solar panels.

This all comes back to the concept of sustainable solar development, and in the solar industry, sustainability is more than just a buzzword. We strive to walk the talk. As a result, most solar companies have solar panels on their roof, use EVs in their fleet and are compulsive about recycling.

Our guest on this week’s Energy Show is TJ Kanczuzewski, CEO of Inovateus Solar. Based in South Bend, Indiana, Inovateus is emphasizing corporate sustainability on all of their projects. Please listen up to this week’s Energy Show as TJ discusses how Inovateus Solar has established their sustainability plan, and how they are extending sustainable solar development for their projects and with business partners.

Copyright 2020 - The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon

With the upcoming wildfire season in California and Covid-19 stay-at-home requirements, many people are looking into ways to power their home when utility power goes out. Battery backup systems coupled with rooftop solar are an ideal solution to keeping the lights on during these blackouts. Although these battery backup systems are affordable, quiet and clean — there are limits to the amount of power they can provide.

We all have had experiences with the limited energy capacity of batteries — neither our phones nor EVs seem to run as long as we would like. Moreover, we know that battery-powered devices cannot provide as much power (sometimes referred to as in more technical terms as “oomph”) as devices that have cords plugged into the wall. These limitations are based on both the energy capacity in the battery (measured in kwh), as well as the power delivery capacity of the battery (measured in watts).

Large appliances in homes presents the biggest challenge to powering a whole house with battery power. Power requirements for a central AC, electric oven/stove, pool pumps or EV chargers can be over 5,000 watts each. If these appliances were to be powered by a battery backup system with a 10 kwh or 13.5 kwh battery, that battery would be discharged completely within a few hours — leaving no more energy for more essential items such as refrigerators, lighting and computers. Of course, a determined DIY homeowner could turn off the circuit breakers to these appliances when the power goes out. But this approach does not work if the blackout occurs at night or when no one is home.

To solve this problem, Span has developed a “smart” electrical panel that provides detailed control and monitoring over every single electric circuit in your house. Arch Rao, CEO of Span, is our guest on this week’s Energy Show. Prior to founding Span, Arch was head of products at Tesla Energy, working on their PowerWall, and previously he was at the Westly Group and Stanford University. Please join me as Arch explains how Span makes home energy connected and intuitive with a smart electrical panel.

Copyright 2020 - The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon

Everyone is looking forward to a return to some degree of normalcy as we recover from the corona virus pandemic. But it is very hard to make sense what a new normal would be with all the conflicting information from health, economic and policy experts — not to mention the almost diametrically opposed viewpoints expressed in various media outlets.

The reality is that the progression of the corona virus will dictate the pace at which we will return to normal. Unfortunately, there are just way too many variables — on a worldwide basis — to predict when the corona virus will be reduced to a manageable level, perhaps like the flu or common cold.

I’m not a medical or economic or political expert — but I do know a bit about energy, solar and storage. As a result of the corona virus, the solar + storage industry has been on an extreme version of the Solar Coaster. Like most businesses, almost all solar and battery companies were completely shut down for a few weeks in the March/April time frame.

Since energy systems are generally considered “essential infrastructure,” many companies were able to restart as long as they followed applicable social distancing protocols. Unfortunately, local building departments have been slow to resume their permitting and inspection activities. More troubling has been that utility processing of interconnections has been extremely slow; our local utility continues to find virtually every excuse to delay solar and storage installations and increase costs.

Fortunately, the supply chain for solar and storage equipment has been pretty good — so far. Most companies have not experienced any significant shortages of solar panels, inverters or batteries. But the increased need for home and business backup power — coupled with the upcoming wildfire season here in California — is increasing the demand for battery backup systems. As a result, the biggest “supply chain” limitation that most contractors are experiencing relates to the availability of experienced solar and battery installers.

So please listen up to this week’s Energy Show as we discuss the changes the solar industry has experienced during the corona virus pandemic, and our outlook on the future as we move toward the “new normal.”