Solar Surprise: Three great companies speak at MeetUp

Solar Surprise: Three great companies speak at MeetUp

Jan 26, 2019

So often people are surprised what high-impact clean tech companies we have in the region and last night (Jan. 24) it happened again.  Three great companies that few ever heard of addressed a packed crowd at our MeetUp held at Valley Vision in Oak Park. Leigh Zanone showed how 8minute Energy Renewables in El Dorado Hills was one of the larger solar developers in the state.  Particularly of interest was how they were ahead of the pack in understanding how quickly solar panel prices would drop. They bid the lowest prices anyone had heard of, but yet were very profitable as actual panel prices fell faster than expected.  One of their latest projects in Nevada won with a bid under $25/MWh. They now have over 10 GW of projects under development and 1100 MW in operation, and are making storage an added feature of their projects. They have been growing rapidly as they focus more and more on projects elsewhere than California.  

Becca Russell of Grid Alternatives, a nonprofit organization, explained their program of targeting low income homes for installation of solar paid entirely from fundraising and grants. From a modest start in North Natomas in 2004, they now reach across the country with an office in Colorado opened five years ago and beyond with projects in Nepal, Mexico and Nicaragua.  They not only install systems, but also train a workforce of local installers and manage teams of volunteers. They have programs for native American tribes. And clean mobility is a new area for them, helping people get access to electric vehicles and charging equipment through partnerships with others. Their next move, Becca said, was into multi-family structures. The focus to date has been on owner-occupied single family homes.

Scott Barrington of Trimark Associates in Folsom wrapped up the night explaining now they are the world’s leading independent provider of metering and plant status data on solar PV generation and now are expanding to provide that service for all forms of generation and storage worldwide, including microgrids.  Over 70% of all power in California is now metered through Trimark equipment.  Their main innovation is a Remote Intelligence Gateway (RIG) that is certified to provide real time data to the market and to schedulers like Cal ISO.  Now they have expanded far beyond data acquisition to add control and system management functions.

Surprised?  The audience certainly was.  Frankly, so were we. And that’s exactly what we want to happen.  The discussion was very lively and it was hard to get people to leave at the end.  So many connections were made.

Here’s a final surprise.  We recorded the event. If you want to see what happened, check our website.  It’s all there. It should convince you that you are missing a big opportunity to learn about our clean tech cluster through these MeetUps.  Plan to come in the future.

Our next MeetUp will be February 28 at the Sac State Alumni Center off College Town Drive.  It will occur in conjunction with the expo of faculty research from the College of Engineering and Computer Science, and the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.  Lots of exhibits to see in addition to our usual discussions. Come nerd-out with us.

Thomas Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gary Simon is the Chair of CleanStarts Board. A seasoned energy executive and entrepreneur with 45 years of experience in business, government, and non-profits.

CleanStart Predictions for 2019

CleanStart Predictions for 2019

Jan 4, 2019

Here are ten fearless predictions for the coming year.  We will revisit these at the end of the year to see how we did.  If you have some insights or questions, let us know at Info@cleanstart.org and we will include those in a future newsletter.

  1. Electric Vehicle registrations in Sacramento County will exceed 7,000 in total.   Through August 2018, the cumulative number for the county was 5,303, with 1,109 added to date in 2018.  In the ten-county CleanStart region, the cumulative number was 13,791 with 2,714 added in 2018 through August.  For that region, the total may exceed 18,000 by the end of 2019. For all of California, the cumulative number to date is 270,459. Of those, 4,569 were fuel cell vehicles, by the way.    Through August, 43,207 electric vehicles were added statewide in 2018, about 5,000 per month. For perspective, the total number of cars registered in California is about 14.5 million.
  2. Tesla will barely reach annual cash flow breakeven; production will exceed 300,000 vehicles for the year.  Telsa produced over 180,000 vehicles in the 12 months ending 9/30.  Over the same period it was still negative $600 million on cash flow and lost $2 billion in net income.  The third-quarter positive net income is encouraging, but may not be a trend. With 300,000 vehicles delivered, Tesla should be able to climb out of the hole it is in.  It still has $2.5 billion in cash reserves. For perspective, globally Porsche produced 246,000 cars in 2017 and Volvo 571,000. Worldwide car production is a whopping 73.5 million.
  3. High Speed Rail funding will be dramatically reduced, freeing money for other carbon reduction projects.  State law requires 25% of the proceeds from the auction of carbon allowances go to the High Speed Rail project.  The last quarterly auction in November 2018 raised $813 million, sending $203 million to High Speed Rail. The project likely will be less popular with Gov. Newsom given its escalating price tag and waning public support.  The legislature could quickly eliminate or reduce the 25% allocation.
  4. Prices for a ton of carbon emission reduction will rise, but not break $20.  The price in the cap-and-trade auctions had been steady at $12-13 for 2015 and 2016, but has now risen above $15.  The increased demand for carbon-free electricity as a result of SB 100, and the extension of the cap and trade program for an additional ten years to 2030 has been adding pressure on prices.  However, progress in finding greater supplies of emission reduction projects will moderate any upward price pressure.
  5. The installed cost of solar PV will rise modestly, slowing the trend of the last five years.  The tariffs on imported PV panels from China are affecting the market price here, even while panel prices in China continue to fall.  Installed costs for systems under 10 kW fell from $5.46/kW in 2015 to $4.58/kW in 2018 so far, according to www.californiadgstats.ca.gov. Panel prices are now only a minor part of the total installed cost, so downward trends in other costs may continue.  But increased inflation and interest costs may be a factor. The net result will be a 2019 cost of $4.60-4.70/kW.
  6. A major investment in incubator space will be made in the region.  It will include equipment for making and testing prototypes.  Momentum has been gathering for some time.
  7. A new cleantech company will move here.  The shift of companies from the Bay Area to here to take advantage of lower costs and an easier lifestyle has been happening slowly.  In 2018, Highlands Power, a manufacturer of high-efficiency electric motors for EVs, moved its HQ here from the Bay Area. Propel Fuels did the same in 2015, returning after leaving this region for the Bay Area earlier.  We expect the trend to continue.
  8. Expanding number of startup storage companies.  This is a hot area globally and there a number of creative geniuses in the region we expect will launch new companies in this sector.
  9. Two local clean tech companies will receive over $25 million each in new investments.  Investment proposals are floating around now and there are good indications of imminent success.
  10. Three companies will be sold or merged.  The exit process has been slow in the region.  Our expectations are modest.

 

Thomas Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gary Simon is the Chair of CleanStarts Board. A seasoned energy executive and entrepreneur with 45 years of experience in business, government, and non-profits.

Profile: Box Power

Profile: Box Power

Nov 8, 2018

UPDATE: Box Power CEO, Anglos Campus named to Forbes 30 under 30 list! 

What started as a project at Princeton University, in response to the Port au Prince Earthquake in Haiti has evolved into an emerging business with the goal of bringing clean, affordable energy to energy consumers worldwide. BoxPower was established in 2016 by Angelo Campus, a Princeton University undergraduate. By taking advantage of lowering solar panel prices and advancements in battery technology, BoxPower has developed a business model that allows  them to cost effectively bring resilient and off-grid, clean energy solutions to rural sites. BoxPower’s systems are rapidly deployable solar generators shipped in and structured around 20ft shipping containers. The container allows it to be transported efficiently nearly anywhere in the world by truck, train, or ship. The systems that BoxPower provides include options for batteries, back-up combustion  generators and linked containers for a multi box microgrid solution that can be used as a temporary or a permanent energy solution.

BoxPower is currently penetrating the market of disaster preparedness, rural utilities like Alaska, and off-grid homesteads with plans for international deployments in the next year. With a modular system that is capable of withstanding 180 Mph winds, extreme weather, and includes multiple generation sources, BoxPower is able to offer 100% reliability and rapid installation in less than a day. BoxPower’s products also come with a smart energy management system that will integrate deployable load scheduling and predictive energy storage based on future meteorological conditions, maximizing energy output and storage. With such a total packaged energy alternative, BoxPower can provide an energy solution for areas where diesel generators are the expensive status quo.  

We where excited to hear from Anderson Barkow, VP of Finance, at our September Cleantech Meetup on Solar. He also represented BoxPower as a Finalist at the 2018 Innovation Awards.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CleanStart has a new face supporting the region’s Entrepreneurs.  Renonedo Williams is a CSU Sacramento Mechanical Engineering Student who is the newest intern at CleanStart.   He is entering his final semester at Sac State and is looking forward to connecting with as many clean tech startups as possible and understanding each of their value propositions, to connect his enthusiasm of building things to his goal of being his own boss. Renonedo has a background in design and material selection

Clean Tech Solar Meetup

Clean Tech Solar Meetup

Sep 24, 2018

Last Thursday night at the Clean tech meetup, Cleanstart filled The Workshop with people excited to hear about solar companies in the region.  The Workshop is a new co-working space and incubator in the McKinley Park area, in a former manufacturing building.  Owner, Terry Daffin, did a great job on the conversion. It is beautiful space. Aaron Nitzkin of Solar Roof Dynamics and Anderson Barkow of Box Power talked about their respective companies journey after networking.

Solar Roof Dynamics, is in a very competitive space of residential solar.  They have a unique approach to the market which they want to take nationwide.  They support roofers in in expanding their business to include Solar. Since Roofers know the most about roofs and often already have deep networks in communities Solar Roof Dynamics shows them how they can increase their sales and save their customers money. At the same time, working with roofing companies can cut the customer acquisition cost for solar dramatically. Aaron is pretty confident that roofers will become a dominant channel to market for selling solar installations. Aaron also shared his personal experience in riding the “Solar Roller Coaster” (or the “Solar-Coaster” as he put it) of the constant changing landscape from government incentives, utility rules, and PV supply shocks. A much harder business than most realize.

 

Anderson talked about BoxPower’s containerized solar PV-powered micro grid.  They have a microgrid that comes in a shipping container that can be delivered anywhere.  The containers that have 22kw of solar PV and 80 kwh of lead-acid battery storage are put in remote areas away from the grid or in disaster areas where the grid power is off for an extended period.  They now have their microgrids in Puerto Rico supporting villages after Hurricane Maria and in remote Alaskan towns that have historically relied on diesel generators for their microgrids.

It was a great event, look for our event next month, where we will discuss EV Charging.

Thomas Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Thomas is the Executive Director of CleanStart. Thomas has a strong background in supporting small businesses, leadership, financial management and is proficient in working with nonprofits. He has a BS in Finance and a BA in Economics from California State University, Chico. Thomas has a passion for sustainability and a commitment to supporting non-profits in the region.

Sponsors

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Solar Roof Dynamics

Solar Roof Dynamics

Feb 13, 2018

What is the most important characteristic of a successful venture? Many believe it is the team’s fit. Being able to work together to build a successful business is key, and Solar Roof Dynamics (SRD) is building a team to handle the roller coaster of solar. Home solar is an industry that has had many ups and downs but is here to stay. We were a few minutes early at our first visit and several employees put aside their tasks and offered to help us while we were waiting. Even Willow, SRD’s office mascot dog, stopped her daily activities to greet us with a wagging tail.

In a conversation with Aaron Nitzkin, CEO and Founder at Solar Roof Dynamics, we enjoyed hearing the stories about his entrepreneurial journey and how he started the company from an idea phase. During his decade of professional experience companies including Dow Chemical and Petersen Dean, Aaron discovered an opportunity in the solar roofing space and jumped at the chance to found Solar Roof Dynamics in Davis, California in 2013.

By utilizing the company’s strong experience in the space, SRD has built a Signature Dealer Network to provide top-notch solar solutions to professional roofing contractors. The company’s unique approach to solar roofing significantly eases customers’ concerns on work quality while helping contractors to improve their profits; SRD begins with training roofing contractors in solar installation, and then matching up customers with contractors after ensuring a high-level of confidence in the roofers. Today, SRD has expanded to a team of twelve and has established strong business relationships with global first-class OEMs such as LG Solar and GAF.  

The Future

Aaron knows the solar path has always been a bumpy road leaving the business sensitive to government policies and cost-benefit imbalance. However, the recent advancement of battery storage has improved solar reliability while enabling consumers to save more on energy expenses.

Less than 12 hours after our conversation, the Trump administration announced a 30% tariff on solar panels and cells imported to the U.S in an effort to create jobs and bolster the industry domestically. The Solar Energy Industries Association followed with a comment that the tariffs would cause 23,000 installers, engineers and project managers to lose their jobs as billions of dollars in planned investment evaporates.

The impact of the solar tariff remains unclear. Check out Aaron article in the Davis Enterprise.   A long-term trend toward increased consumer awareness of environmental benefits of solar will continue, but the new economics will change the attractiveness of solar installations in the short term.  Aaron and others will have to face this new bump in the road and be as creative as ever.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Qidong is a CleanStart Associate who follows new technologies that can connect with his passion for sustainability, education and economic empowerment. Helping CleanStart and clean tech startups in the Sacramento Region, he is looking to help positively impact the world. He recently graduated from UC San Diego and has a B.S. in Managerial Economics. His multicultural background helps companies approach problems from new perspective.in the region.