The Energy Show Barry Cinnamon

I read an avalanche of media criticism when Elon Musk fired his entire SuperCharger team a few weeks ago. In spite of all the whining, it was a good business decision for Tesla.

Here’s why: expanding and running a fast charging network is a lousy business.

Installation costs are high, permitting and construction delays are extensive, and revenues from charging cannot overcome the high electricity costs charged by utilities. According to a McKinsey and Company study in October of 2023, most EV fast charging sites are swimming in red ink, losing $45,000 a year at every 4 port charging station. A back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that a typical Starbucks in California would have to sell 56,000 extra cups of coffee every year just to break even on EV charging. That’s a lotta Joe.

In spite of complaints about high gasoline prices, gasoline is a worldwide commodity with reasonable substitutes. Prices are set by the free market. But prices for electricity supplied to charging stations are set by utilities who have a monopoly on electricity sales. It's illegal for anyone other than a utility to resell electricity, so utilities can charge whatever they want. To make matters worse, Public Utility Commissions in many states let utilities run wild with sky-high electric rates and record profits.

I’m a big EV fan, but the lack of EV charging infrastructure coupled with the extraordinarily high costs of charging will stifle the industry’s growth. California’s goal of selling only zero emissions vehicles by 2035 is a pipe dream. In order to hit that goal we need to quickly change the monopoly utility business model so that EV charging makes sense.

But there's another faster and cheaper option: solar-powered EV charging. Solar charging is easy to do for homes — the average driver in California needs just 7 more solar panels to meet their annual driving needs. Taking it one step further, we should couple EV chargers with commercial solar installations. Think about it: shouldn’t we charge our cars during the day, when it's sunny, from inexpensive rooftop solar, at work, where the cars are parked? Instead of waiting to charge our cars at public stations which get expensive power from utility solar farms 500 miles away?

Tesla’s Supercharger network challenges are just the tip of the iceberg. For more about costs and practical solutions to EV charging, please tune in to the full SuperCharger podcast at www.energyshow.biz

10 years in the solar and storage industry qualifies most industry veterans as a solar old timer. But there is one person who stands out as a beacon of leadership, longevity and success. Ed Murray has been heating water molecules (solar thermal), converting photons to electrons (solar PV) and saving customers money since 1978.

That’s 322 dog years!

Ed Murray, CEO of Aztec Solar in Sacramento, knows solar thermal, PV and storage technology like the back of his hand. He’s managed to run his successful solar business in spite of the “solar coaster” craziness.

But what impresses me the most about Ed is his industry leadership. Ed has been on the Board of Directors of the California Solar and Storage Association for 40 years, has been serving as its president since 2016, has been on the Board of the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners for 14 years, and served on the Board of the Solar Energy Industries Association for 14 years.

For a detailed dive into what it takes to be successful in the solar and storage industry for the long term, you don’t want to miss this episode of the Energy Show at www.energyshow.biz

It’s not a flippant comment or a classic jazz solo — but an existential question about the devastating trend our civilization is on due to climate change.

The history of Earth Day shows how the worldwide environmental movement has evolved from concerns about in-your-face air and water pollution … to a focus on the invisible hazard of rising CO2 emissions.

To a large degree we’ve cleaned up the worst of the visible air pollution, contaminated water, and toxic wastes hiding under a few feet of topsoil. In the first few decades of Earth Day, consumers, companies and governments were all pulling in the same direction to right these environmental wrongs.

But something insidious happened due to the profits that can be reaped by polluting the Earth. Economists call it a Negative Externality (the imposition of a cost to one group of people as an indirect effect of the actions of another group of people). To fossil fuel companies, the negative externality they cause by producing oil and gas — which when burned pollutes the Earth with CO2 — is just a side effect to their record profits. For decades fossil fuel companies have been fighting and concealing this unprofitable truth.

There is hope amidst this grim reality. The history of Earth Day shows how public opinion can indeed change this trajectory — especially as the effects of CO2 pollution impact all of us with flooded shores, burning homes and unlivable cities. For insights into our progress amidst this grim reality, please Listen Up to this week’s Energy Show.

Welcome back to Part 2 of our interview with Scott Sullivan, my friend and one of the best networked executives in the industry. Earthquake excitement has diminished in the New Jersey area, but seismic changes in solar continue around the country.

In Part 1 we discussed what happens in the solar and storage industry — really every industry — when company profits decline. It’s a tough adjustment to make, and many companies have not yet recovered from this high interest rate environment.


Nevertheless, the majority of companies have figured out the formula, and the topics that Scott and I discussed are summarized below:

* What are the characteristics of a great solar and storage contractor?
* What should potential customers look for in a contractor?
* Have you seen any changes with the solar panels offered by contractors?
* Have you seen any changes with the inverters and batteries offered by contractors?
* Is solar financing recovering yet from high interest rates?
* Are Virtual Power Plants (VPP) and Vehicle To Grid (V2G) technologies getting much traction?
* And last but not least, what do you do for fun?

If you missed any of Part 1 or Part 2 of our podcasts with Scott Sullivan, please visit ENERGYSHOW.BIZ and listen to the full podcasts.

Seismic changes in the solar and storage industry? Who would have thought that our friends in New Jersey would relate so viscerally? Their recent 4.8 magnitude quake in early April literally extended this metaphor across the country.

Metaphors aside, the solar and storage industry is changing faster now than I have ever seen:

* Electric rates are soaring, along with utility profits
* Solar equipment costs — panels, inverters, batteries — are declining
* UL-3741 standards for rapid shutdown throw a monkey wrench into rooftop safety standards
* Demand for electricity to power our EVs and heat pumps is increasing
* AI is recently on the scene as the newest electricity demand wildcard
* Continued high interest rates are suppressing solar and storage financing
* Utilities have wised-up to rooftop solar and storage threats to their profits
* Hostile utility policies and relatively high interest rates squeeze installer margins, forcing many unprofitable solar companies out of business
* Some companies have cracked the code for long-time success — how do they do it?

For cross country insights into the impact of these changes, our guest on this week’s podcast is Scott Sullivan. I’ve known Scott for over 20 years. Not only is he the best networked person in the industry, but his depth of solar sales and marketing knowledge is a treasure for people trying to figure out what’s next.

Scott and I had so many topics we decided to split the podcast into two episodes. So please listen to Part One of Scott’s podcast for his observations and advice for these metaphorical seismic changes in the solar industry.

March isn't just about shamrocks and leprechauns; it's also Women's History Month, highlighting the incredible contributions of women in various fields. But have you ever wondered about their role in the energy transition? In general, women are just as involved as men — not just in solar, but also in batteries, hydrogen, policy-making, electrification, and manufacturing. However, there's a glaring gap in representation when it comes to the construction side of energy systems.

But not at Luminalt Solar under the leadership of Jeanine Cotter, their President and CEO. Luminalt is the leading solar and battery contractor in San Francisco. One would think that it would be easy to be a solar and storage contractor in a liberal city such as San Francisco. Until you try to find a space to park your van. Or navigate the city’s convoluted permitting issues. Or just try to find a place for a battery and inverter near the electric meter.

In our candid conversion, Jeanine and I discuss her journey as she built a successful solar company in one of the most densely populated cities in the country. Unlike most contractors, she didn’t start with a construction background; instead, she is a licensed California attorney. Take it from me: knowing how to navigate the regulations, policies and laws that apply to the clean energy industry is one of the most critical skills that a solar and storage company must have.

But it's not all business; we delve into the personal side too. How did Jeanine get into solar? How does she champion diversity, equity, and inclusion within Luminalt and the clean energy industry in general? And perhaps most intriguingly, how does she suggest women navigate the traditionally male-dominated construction industry?

Please listen to the full podcast for Jeanine’s insights into achieving success in the solar and storage industry and be sure to visit The Energy Show at www.energyshow.biz for access to all Energy Show episodes.