-
1. 10 Questions for SolarCity's CEO
-
2. Masdar, Virgin Fund Buy-Out of Petroleum Waste Recycling Co
-
3. Biofuels Have Bumped Up Food Prices 75%?!
-
4. Earth2Tech Week In Review
-
5. The Daily Sprout
-
6. Here's a New Climate Change Culprit: Flat-Screen TVs
10 Questions for SolarCity's CEO
Katie Fehrenbacher - Startups
1). San Francisco just passed one of the most aggressive municipal solar project in the U.S. How will SolarCity capitalize on this project?
SolarCity has been working with Mayor Gavin Newsom's Office of Economic and Workforce Development on getting this incentive passed since Day 1, so we are thrilled to see the city realize its goal of making solar power affordable for San Francisco residents. We've committed to opening a training academy in the Hunter's Point neighborhood to help create green jobs in the city, and we're on track to open this summer. The incentives vary by neighborhood and income level, but the most aggressive incentives can allow us to offer our lease program to San Francisco residents for as little as $24 per month.
2). The solar installation business seems to be based more on traditional business tools, like marketing and efficient business processes, than many other technology companies in Silicon Valley. How does SolarCity differentiate itself from other installers?
SolarCity's founding mission was to make solar a more realistic option for everyone by making it as affordable and easy to use as electricity from the utility company. Technology actually plays a bigger role in our business than may appear on the surface. My brother/co-founder and I founded and ran a technology company for 10 years prior to starting SolarCity, and we leverage a number of proprietary technologies to create efficiencies that we feel are unique in the solar industry.
Beyond technology, we believe our SolarLease program — which eliminates solar's upfront cost and can allow residents to start saving money from the moment their solar system is connected — is the most affordable way to adopt solar power, period. SolarCity's primary differentiation, though, is as the only company that is truly a single source for financing, design, installation and support. I think that attribute, more than any other, has allowed us to become the no. 1 residential installer in California, with more recorded installs and reservations in the California Solar Initiative (CSI) database than any other company.
3). Is SolarCity able to make a profit off the plan that features the zero-down-payment plus a monthly fee that’s lower than standard energy bills? And if so, what are the margins of that payment plan?
Yes. We leverage volume purchasing from multiple suppliers, and we’ve created a number of efficiencies in the sales and installation process that allow us to install zero-down systems profitably. We're still private and have the luxury of not discussing our margins. But I will say that while SolarLease is an incredible deal for our customers, it's still a very sound business for us as well.
4). Has SolarCity been looking into (or already using?) thin-film solar technology? If so what technologies and companies are most interesting to SolarCity?
Thin film is a very interesting and promising technology. Thin film's efficiency is not at a place today where we think it makes sense yet for our residential or smaller commercial installations. Thin film is a great technology for utility-scale installations, where available space is not an issue. We're not a manufacturer, which allows us to be technology agnostic. Photovoltaic still makes the most sense for us today, but we're continuing to explore new technologies all the time.
5). What percentage of SolarCity’s business is residential vs. commercial and government installations? Do you expect this to change over the coming years?
We've been the market-share leader in residential in California since the beginning of 2007. Commercial and government have picked up dramatically, and we have the largest commercial installation in San Jose at eBay, and we're wrapping up the largest privately owned commercial installation in San Francisco, which we'll unveil later this summer. We don't break down the percentages, but we're experiencing healthy growth in all three areas.
6). SolarCity has raised over $30 million; does the company need to raise any more? And if so, what stages of fund raising are you in?
We’re well capitalized, and right now we’re focused on meeting the demand for SolarLease and expanding to support new geographies.
7). Will SolarCity change its business model if the ITC is not renewed by the end of the year?
We expect the ITC to be renewed—more than 75 percent of the population and the Congress support extending it in some way. However, we do have a strategy in place in the event it is not. It would be very bad for the industry in general, but we would still have a viable business model.
8). A few companies are starting to offer PPAs for residential solar. Does SolarCity already or plan to offer this financing model?
SolarCity does offer PPAs and you can expect to see more from us on this topic. Fundamentally, the lease and the PPA are different ways to accomplish similar goals for the customer. The problem with the other residential PPAs offered today is that they still require the customer to pay 40 percent or more of the upfront cost of the system, which can range anywhere from $5,000 to $30,000 or more depending on system size. We designed SolarLease to deliver an immediate, positive return on the customer's investment. The larger upfront cost of today's PPAs means that the positive return on the investment in solar doesn't come for many years down the road.
9). How successful has your community program been? How many group installations has the company done?
We're proud to have invented the community program, and it has been tremendously successful for us. We've done roughly 1,000 installations based on those programs. I think the best indication of the model's success is how many other solar companies have adopted it, and that's great for the consumer and great for the industry.
10). The company just moved into Arizona. Will we see SolarCity getting aggressive in other states this year? Are there international plans in the works?
You can expect to see further expansion from us this year, but we're more focused on maintaining a consistent, quality customer experience as we grow. We employ all our own installers, designers and customer care staff, and all of our employees have an ownership stake in the company. We were No. 1 in California in our first full year of operation, and we expect to be No. 1 in Arizona by the end of the year. Expansion is part of our plan, but it's more important to continue to deliver the quality of experience we're known for today. That will serve us best in the long run.
Masdar, Virgin Fund Buy-Out of Petroleum Waste Recycling Co
Katie Fehrenbacher - Big Green
DuraTherm collects, cleans and recycles waste-stream petroleum byproducts like oil-contaminated soil, used catalysts and oil-covered drill cuttings. The company says its recycling services are far more eco-friendly than the traditional method: incinerating that waste and sending it to a landfill. The company can treat the waste at its plant or use mobile recycling units that can be installed closer to refineries.
Masdar and Virgin’s investment can help scale up the mobile units as well as improve the central facility. Along with the buy-out, the company also says it has a new CEO, Kevin Trant, previously EVP of the Services and Products Group of Siemens Water Technologies.
Biofuels Have Bumped Up Food Prices 75%?!
Katie Fehrenbacher - Energy
The biofuel industry couldn’t catch a break, even over the three-day summer weekend. The BBQ-chatter fodder? An article in the Guardian citing a “leaked” World Bank report that says biofuels have driven up the price of food by 75 percent. That’s an absolutely massive number compared to figures found by previous reports, many of which were in the single digits.
Its particularly drastic when compared to the U.S. government’s figures. The U.S. President’s Council of Economic Advisors has said only 3 percent of the increase in world food prices can be attributed to corn ethanol. USDA Chief Economist Joe Glauber cited those statistics in a speech in May and added, “I think it’s fair to say the increase in biofuel production has had some effect, but again, what I’d consider a relatively small effect and one that in looking at it it’s important to take into account a lot of other things that are going on outside of the biofuel sector.”
The Guardian article cites sources that say they believe the World Bank report, which was completed in April, “has not been published to avoid embarrassing President George Bush.”
But it’s not just Bush. Other respected research firms have also cited similarly low numbers. In May, research firm New Energy Finance said biofuels are "far from the dominant" factor in rising food prices, and contributed an 8.1 percent increase in global average grain prices. (Although, the research did say sugarcane-based ethanol was found to have added a 70 percent increase in sugarcane prices in Brazil.) Cleantech investor Vinod Khosla, has, unsurprisingly, been a vocal critic of researchers and the media that he says have over-attributed the rise in food prices to biofuels (read his rebuttal to a WSJ editorial here).
So, what could be so different about the World Bank’s research, which the Guardian calls “the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally-respected economist at global financial body”? We haven’t read the World Bank report, but the article says the report looked at three factors — grain diverted from food to fuel, land diverted to biofuel production and financial speculation in grains — and says previous reports with lower numbers haven’t considered all these factors.
We’re not sure of all the details, but it’s definitely something to think about. And we’re sure the G8 will be busy mulling this during its meetings this week.
Earth2Tech Week In Review
Katie Fehrenbacher - Misc
Tesla to Build the "Model S" Electric Sedan Back in California: Tesla named its “WhiteStar” electric sedan “Model S” and is planning to manufacture the car back in Cali near its headquarters.
Where's the Solar Stock Rally?: Wading into the solar sector is like dating a manic-depressive. Day-to-day events matter less than the prevailing, protean mood. And these days the mood among solar investors is dark, indeed.
Thin-Film Solar to Grab 28 Percent Solar Market by 2012: Lux Research says thin-film solar technology will make up 28 percent of the solar market by 2012, but because there’s over 100 companies betting on the tech, Lux says there will be a lot of losers.
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly of $7 Gas: Back when gas was $2 a gallon, we didn't sweat it. At $3 a gallon, we started to grouse. At $4, we can all agree, it hurts. So imagine what it would be like at $7 a gallon, or three and a half times the price at the beginning of last year. CIBC World Markets has the low-down.
5 Questions for Altairnano's New CEO Terry Copeland: Battery-maker Altairnano’s new CEO, Terry Copeland, answers these 5 questions shortly after he takes the helm.
The Daily Sprout
Katie Fehrenbacher - Misc
Miasole Raising $200M, $1.2B Valuation?: VentureWire reports that the thin film solar company is looking to raise between $200 and $220 million, at a valuation of $1.2 billion. That’s a little more than half of what Nanosolar was reported to be valued at. — VentureWire via VentureBeat.
Hawaii Says New Homes Must Have Solar Water Heaters: A bill mandating solar water heaters for new homes starting in 2010 was signed into law by Republican Governor Linda Lingle this week — EcoGeek.
Solar Rebates For All!: Like the rebate program that San Francisco just enacted, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a bill that would offer rebates for half of the cost of solar installation. — TreeHugger.
Massachusetts Hearts Cleantech: Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed a bill into law which calls for millions of investment in cleantech and more cleanpower from utilities — Greentech Media.
Texas Governor’s Ethanol Waiver Request, Follows Handout From Poultry Biz: From the Houston Chronicle, “Gov. Rick Perry’s request for a waiver of federal corn-based ethanol production mandates was prompted by a March meeting he had with East Texas poultry producer Lonnie “Bo” Pilgrim, who six days later gave $100,000 to the Republican Governors Association chaired by Perry.” Poultry producers fear ethanol production is driving up the price of corn as a poultry feedstock — Houston Chronicle.
Here's a New Climate Change Culprit: Flat-Screen TVs
Katie Fehrenbacher - Energy
While the opposition to building new coal plants continues to grow, perhaps we should also add a lesser-known villain to the climate change culprit list: flat-screen TVs. Research is being conducted by Professor Michael Prather on a greenhouse gas called nitrogen trifluoride that’s used to make flat-screen televisions, The Guardian notes this week. And the gas could have a worse effect on global warming than some of the world’s largest coal plants.
Prather and his colleague write in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, that the gas has:
“…a potential greenhouse impact larger than that of the industrialised nations’ emissions of PFCs or SF6, or even that of the world’s largest coal-fired power plants” via The Guardian.
Damn, I knew I had a good excuse for watching movies on my laptop. Prather estimates that production of the gas has grown to 4,000 tons per year and is expected to double by next year.
While not much research has been done on nitrogen trifluoride, Prather says the problem with the gas is that it is 17,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
That’s not the only thing wrong with some flat-screen TVs. The New York Times called the plasma TV the “SUV of the living room” last October because it chugs so much power. Well, the average flat-screen TV is pretty expensive, almost $1,000 — or as CNN puts it this morning, the extra money a household spent on higher gas prices in the past year. A few good excuses to forgo the purchase.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment