Author Archives: Chris Williams

About Chris Williams

Chris Williams is the Chief Marketing Officer at HeatSpring. He's a clean energy jack-of-all trades. He has installed over 300kW of solar PV systems, tens of residential and commercial solar hot water systems and 50 tons of geothermal equipment. Chris is an IGSPHA Certified Geothermal Installer and is a NABCEP Certified Solar Installer. He went to Babson College and founded Green Light Distrikt , and consults with small renewable energy companies on marketing, sales and design.

Large Installers and Financiers DOMINATE the MASS Residential Solar Market, with 76% and 74% Market Share Respectively, and Other Interesting Data

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Chris Williams

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center has made data on the number of project funded through the Commonwealth solar grant available public. Find the on MA CEC’s website or download it here in excel format.

The data is very detailed and tells an interesting story that can be use for industry analysis, competitor analysis and for market research for those companies still looking to enter the residential PV game. My advice to any company that is looking to enter the residential solar PV industry should look at this data to determine which companies are growing the quickest, in which cities and what their costs are.

A few notes about the quality of the data

  • It’s based on state grants delivery by the Commonwealth Solar program so in 2012, this is only for residential projects.
  • Every residential project may still not be listed in the data becasue there is likely some projects completed that did not receive MA CEC funds.
  • Installed costs, size, etc are also self-reported by the installers and the MA CEC takes the data at face value. It’s unlike installers would lie, it’s just important to note.
  • In 2010 and 2011, it included both commercial and residential programs but not utility and MW projects that were completed
  • Massachusetts switched to a SREC based incentive program in 2011.
  • The data from 2012 is ONLY up to 03/23/12

I spent some time going through the data trying to answer a few basic questions and here are some of the highlights

Here are the question I looked into:

  • How many active installers were there in 2010, 2011, and 2012?
  • What were the average installed costs in 2011, in 2012?
  • What was the cheapest system in 2010, 2011, and 2012?
  • What percentage of systems were financed in 2010, 2011, and 2012?
  • What is average installed costs of a financed system vs cash system in 2011? In 2012?
  • What was the value of all residential projects installed in 2010 worth? In 2011? In 2012?
  • What percentage of the market is dominated by large installers (those that do more hen 25 systems per year) in 2010? In 2011? Who are the largest installers and who is growing the fastest?

Lastly, I discuss what other questions could be answer from the data, and the story this tells for existing solar companies or companies looking to enter the Massachusetts market.
Let’s get into the details :)

1. How many installers were active in 2010, 2011, in 2012?

2010: 92

2011: 99

2012: 45 (only in the first 3 months)

2. What were the average installed costs in 2011, in 2012?

2011 : $5.65/watt

2012: $5.05/watt

A use mean average and not median. A $.60 reduction in the installed cost of residential projects is a reduction is 10%. Not bad, but this is actually below industry averages across the US for the 2010/2011 period.

Continue reading →

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Finance 101 for Solar PV Pros

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Chris Williams

In order to sell solar PV projects, especially commercial projects, you need to understand finance. Understanding finance will allow you to calculate and communicate the financial benefit of the system to your client.

This is the followup to the Finance 101 for Renewable Energy Pros that I wrote weeks ago. In that post I did walkthroughs and provided examples of all the financing terms you will need to know: IRR, NPV, Discount Rates, Nominal Cash Flows, and how the terms of your financial analysis will impact the returns.

In this article I’m going to discuss how finance applies to residential and light commercial solar PV.  I’ll discuss how to plug solar-specific installed costs, incentives, etc into a financial model so that you can properly understand the returns of a specific project and then communicate those returns to a client.

The post is a basic 101 walkthrough of solar PV financing, but some of these topics get complex quickly and are dependent upon specific customers, utilities and geographic areas.  I’ll try to keep it basic, but provide further reading, and note where and why subjects get more completed so you can do your own research.

Also, I’m going to use Massachusetts-specific numbers because it’s the market I understand best.  I will note if you should look into different elements depending on where you live. For example, you may have time-of-use electric pricing in your area and you may not have SRECs, like we have in Massachusetts.

Here is the outline of what I’m going to discuss:

1. Government Rebates

  • The difference between one-time and production based incentives
  • The value of tax credits vs rebates vs depreciation
  • Step by step how to calculate MACRS for commercial clients

2. Installed Costs: Gross and Net

  • Where to find good industry averages for installed costs
  • How to find gross and then net installed costs for a project

3. Operations and Maintenance Costs

  • Understand the variables that drive operations and maintenance costs
  • How to calculate O+M costs based on a percentage of installed costs or by dollar amount of kW installed per year

4. Value of a Solar kWh based on Customer Type

  • The value of a solar kWh is worth EXACTLY the cost of the power it is replacing
  • Understanding how a residential client can be billed; flat rate, time of year, time of day, or time of year AND time of day and how that impacts the value of a solar kWh.
  • Demand charges VS usage rates in commercial clients and how that impacts the value of a solar kWh.

5. Putting it all together with a few sample customers. 

  • Lastly, we’ll run through a few examples of different residential and commercial clients and determine the financial viability of the projects based on their IRRs and NPV, given a discount rate.
  • What is the impact of commercial clients demand charges on the value of a solar project
  • How does needing to change a residential service change impact the financial returns.

Download the Finance 101 for Solar PV Pros Excel File

Download the excel file used in the article for fun, or professional use. Feel to play with it and manipulate it as you wish.
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Free MEETUP: How to Make Money in Renewable Energy LIVE in Boston 05/25

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Chris Williams

You can sign up for the free meetup on May 25th here.

 

 

The meetup is for 4 specific groups

  1. Companies that are or want to be selling energy services to property owners and learn best practices for creating a rockstar sales machines.
  2. Companies that are developing new B2B products for renewable energy EPC contractors and need to get specific customer feedback, first sales, and access to distribution.
  3. Companies that need to build cleantech prototypes for investors or beta customers.
  4. Companies that feel their future is in selling their services to the federal government.

Here is who will be at the seminar and what they will be discussing.

Chris Williams – That’s me! I’ll be discussing EPC best practices for creating new business, establishing a referral business and making sure projects are profitable. The materials will be based from best practice research completed at HeatSpring. I’ll also be discussing what EPC contractors are looking for in terms of new products and service to help them with their business for companies who want to sell directly to EPCs. This will be useful for companies looking to build products or services and sell directly to EPC contractors.

Ethan Labowitz – Ethan is the founder of the Boston Institute for Clean Energy Prototyping. He’s held workshops in the past and specializes in getting products built fast and much cheaper then private shops. If you need to build an actual physical product, Ethan is your man.

Ben Dunway - Ben is a former Air Force acquisition officer, and he has worked in the defense industry for ten years. Ben now runs Six Three Marketing and teaches a course on selling clean energy to the government. He knows exactly how the Defense Department works and what cleantech companies need to do to be successful in the industry.

You can register here through HeatSpring for the event on May 25th. 

Background and Demand for the Event

6 Months ago, I created a free HeatSpring course called “How to Make Money in the Renewable Energy Industry”. It’s been a huge success with over 400 attendees.

The basics of the course were 1) technology overview 2) industry dynamics and 3) where the opportunities are.

The training was made for two main groups 1) career changers looking to quickly understand the new market and who want to jumpstart their learning and 2) new and existing contracting companies looking to expand into renewable energy but that need help learning the skills they needed, certifications, licenses, and typical installed costs and profits for solar and geothermal projects.

The reason I’ve decided to do a live seminar is that the level of interaction and ability to answer more specific questions in detail is difficult. Also, a lot of the advice is very nuanced and depends on the situation of the specific person and company, which again is not suited for online material well.

Here’s what’s expected from attendees

We do not want attendee that are going to sit and listen the whole time. We want you to tell us about your business and product in details, and ask good questions so we can help you. We need questions to be  asked, products to be displayed. The reason I chose the other instructors along with myself is that a lot of these areas overlap.

  • We want a lot of questions to be asked
  • We want to hear about the projects or products you’ve already created
  • We want to help you make introductions and establish relationships with other participants and people in the industry that can help grow your company.

Here is specifically we all of us (me, Ethan and Ben) want to share with you. 

  1. A technology overview. How solar PV, solar thermal and geothermal systems work. What is the basic design and installation concepts
  2. The skills a company needs to design and install these projects.
  3. Typical installed costs for these projects in New England and where you can buy equipment.
  4. The profile of the best customers for these services and best practices for profitable sales machines.
  5. Where is the opportunity for new products, tools and services for EPC contractors. What will EPC contractors PAY FOR that will help them with their business
  6. The most common mistakes companies make when prototyping cleantech products
  7. Best practices for prototyping
  8. The most common mistakes companies make when selling products to the federal  government
  9. Why the federal government is the LARGEST customer in the US for renewable energy services
  10. What a company needs to do to successfully and profitable sell to the government
  11. An overview of the govt’ RFP process

You can sign up for the free meetup on May 25th here. 

This article was originally published on The Green Light Distrikt

Posted in Geothermal Heat Pumps, Solar Photovoltaics, Solar Thermal | Leave a comment

21 Million Dollars Available in $30k Matching Grants in Mass For Training and Hiring

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Chris Williams

When I presented at ACCA New England, I ran into Michael Corcoran who runs the Massachusetts Workforce training fund and I was stunned to hear that they have $21 million in training funds they’re itching to distribute to companies.

Here’s a few points that stuck out to me about the program.

  • Money can be used for training new skills and credentials but NOT for mandatory training, think OSHA and trade license training.
  • Companies can get paid to hire and train unemployed workers and veterans
  • The training can be used for any industry, including renewable energy (solar, geothermal, etc) as long as you’re showing how you want to grow your business into that industry.
  • Training grants up to $30k in matching funds for companies that need to retrain workers to gain a new skills. For example, HVAC and Drilling contractos wanting to get into geothermal. An electrical shop, roofing company or plumbing shop that wants to get into solar.

For more information on the program. Go to: www.mass.gov/wtfp

If you’re interested in applying for some of these grants to get your business into the renewable energy industry, fill out this short form and we can help you.

MA Workforce Training Grants

Give you contact information below and we'll reach out to you

 More Info Program Description

The Workforce Training Fund Program awards grants to Massachusetts businesses and organizations to train their current and newly hired workers. The purpose of the fund is to provide businesses with the resources to upgrade the skills of its workers and to improve the companies’ ability to be more competitive in a global economy. Since it’s inception in 1998, the Workforce Training Fund Program has awarded $199 million dollars to over 4000 Massachusetts businesses to train over 250,000 workers. The program is funded by Massachusetts business through a surcharge on Unemployment Insurance.

There are five (5) Workforce Training Fund grant programs available:

  1. The General Program Training Grant awards grants of up to $250,000 for customized training of the company’s choosing to train their current or newly hired workers. The maximum grant period is 2 years.
  2. The General Program Consortium Grant awards grants of up to $250,000 to assist multiple companies with similar training needs to implement a customized training program as a collective group. The maximum grant period is 2 years.
  3. The General Program Technical Assistance Grant awards grants of up to $25,000 to assist companies with similar training needs to asses worker skill gaps and to develop a training plan that address those skill gaps. The maximum grant period is 6 months.
  4. The Express Grant Program is for small businesses (companies of 50 or fewer employees.) Grants of up to $30,000 are awarded to companies for sending workers to pre-approved training courses. Grant awards are used to reimburse companies at 50% the cost of the training upon completion of training. Maximum grant period is 24 months.
  5. The Hiring Incentive Training Grant awards grants of up to $30,000 for companies to hire and train Massachusetts residents who have been unemployed 6 months or longer, or who are veterans. Companies are awarded $2000 per each new hire.

Here are other key pieces of information to know about the program.
The fiscal year 2012 operating budget for the Workforce Training Fund is $21 million.

All monies collected via the Unemployment Insurance surcharge are deposited in a newly established trust fund for the exclusive use of the Workforce Training Fund Program.

All Massachusetts companies that pay Unemployment Insurance and also pay the Workforce

Training Fund surcharge are eligible to apply for Workforce Training Fund grants.

Continue reading →

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Part 2: How to Design PV – A Walkthrough of How to Size a Solar Array and Estimate Power Production

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Chris Williams

This is the 2nd article in a series about how to design solar PV projects. We started with solar 101, the basics. If you’re brand new or need to brush up on the basics, please read it first. It discusses electrical theory, key solar terms needed to design any system and the relationship between irradiance, temperature, amperage and voltage among other things.

This section is dedicated to sizing an array based on customer needs and site characteristics – it also discusses estimating power production. The main focus is residential applications, but I’ll also highlight slight differences in commercial projects.

The goal of the article is to provide a basic process for you to understand how to size an array and provide you with further resources you’ll need to continue your learning. There will be some overlap in this discussion with more advanced topics, like string and conductor sizing that will be covered in future articles, and how the design will impact the financial returns of a system, which will be discussed in a future article on Solar PV financing. If you need to read on up renewable energy finance, you can start with Finance 101 for Renewable Energy Professionals.

First, let me outline what we’ll talk about, then I will go into each part with more detail and depth.

Below is the process for designing a solar PV array.

In the field, most of the power production estimating is done with software. However, I’d argue that it’s still important to understand the theory behind power production estimates and the variables that impact power production so you can make sure to gather the correct information when performing a site visit.

1. Customer Constraints. What about a specific customer will impact the size of an array? The most common restraints are:

  • Energy Usage
  • Client Budget

2. Site Constraints.  What about the client site will limit array size? These are the most common details about a site you need to gather and we’ll discuss how these variables impact the size of an array:

  • Local Shading
  • Horizontal Shading
  • Available Roof Space and Roof Characteristics (dimensions, tilt, azimuth)
  • Module Size and Racking Considerations

3. Determining Irradiation. In order to compute power production, you need to understand how much energy is hitting your specific area.

  • Measured in kWh/M2/day or Sun hours per day

4. Estimating power production based on irradiation, customer constraints, and site characteristics.

  • Sun hours per day adjust for site characteristics
  • Power production estimates based on solar resource and the amount of modules you can fit on the roof.

1. Customer Contraints. 

A. Energy Usage

A possible constraint on the size of a solar project is the client’s energy usage. Because of how net-metering programs are set up, typically it does not make sense to produce more then 100% of a client’s annual energy usage. However, because most property owners use so much power, and the power density of solar PV is so low, it’s rare to have an array that can produce 100% of the power with solar power. It’s typical that the solar fraction of a project (total power used / power supplied by solar) is less then 30%.

Commercial Considerations

For a commercial client you will need to understand their demand charges and usage charges. In order to understand if the solar array will reduce their demand charges you need to understand the load profile of the building and when exactly their demand is the highest to see if solar will shave that demand. For example, do they have the highest amount of demand in the summer or winter? What time of day, early morning, afternoon, evening?

We will not go into depth on demand charges for this post. However, WE WILL discuss the impact of different electric rates, demand and usage charges in the solar PV financing article because it’s critical to understand the value of the power that a solar project produces. Right now, we’re just concerned with pure design.

If you need to learn more about what demand charges are, I’ve found these are good resources:

What you need to collect about energy usage:

  • Yearly average kWh used by the client
  • Cost of power
  • The value of a kWh of solar is directly related to the cost of the power it offsets. On a site visit make sure to get a few months of electric bills.

Example

Let’s assume a customer uses lives in Houston, TX and uses 550 kWh of AC power on average per month and wants a solar system that will produce 100% of the power they use in a year. How large would you need to design the system? You need to reverse engineer the problem, here’s how:

  1. 550 kWh/month / 30 days per month = 18.33 kWh per day
  2. Calculate and Adjust Irradiation based on site characteristics. According to PV Watts, Houston gets an average of 4.79 sun hours per day. For now, let’s assume the roof is directly south and at 30 degrees (the latitude of Houston) so it can harvest 100% of the 4.79 sun hours per day. See section 4 for how we adjust irradiation based on a roofs characteristics
  3. 18.33 kWh per day / 4.79 adjusted sun hours per day in Houston = 3.83 kW AC needed in production. Now we need to convert to DC
  4. 3.83 kW AC / 80% (to make up for the inefficiency of converting to DC to AC. 80% is a rule of thumb. You will read more about this in the next part of this series when we talk about string and conductor selection, inverter selection and derating) =  4.78kW DC

If the customer wanted to produce 100% of their power from solar energy in Houston and they had a perfect roof, they would need a 4.78kW DC system.

We’ll discuss what happens if there roof is not perfect below.

B. Customer Budget

One of the most common client constraints is budget for the system, if they are purchasing with cash. If they are leasing the system, this will not be so much of an issue. Learn more about solar leases, prepaid leases and how to sell a solar lease here.

If your installed cost is $5.00/watt, a 4.78 kW system will cost you $23,900. If the customers budgets is only $15,000, you could only install a 3 kW DC system.

Things to remember:

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How to Decrease Geothermal Drilling Costs by 50%, Seriously

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Chris Williams

I’m always in the search for great technologies or business innovations that are making renewable energy more badass, and by badass, I mean profitable. Whether it’s AC modules, faster solar racking, or PV modules that don’t require racking or grounding, huge projects that are pushing an industry to the next level, cheaper ways of pumping water. However, if you notice from the above list, I’d argue the majority of innovation is happening in the solar PV industry with the occasions solar thermal or geothermal innovation.

The reason for this is simple, solar thermal and geothermal are close to mature technologies, while the solar PV industry is still in it’s infancy. The installed cost of geothermal is being driven down by local competition and rising energy costs, but there is some technology innovation still helping to drive costs down.

Kelix is a great example of the type of technology innovation the geothermal industry needs. The Kelix GHE transfers heat more efficiently than a typical HPDE U bend pipe used in a vertical closed loop system.  It does this by reducing the borehole resistance, which means you can reduce loop lengths by up to 50%.

Last week, I spoke with Matt Schaefer, their VP of Sales and Marketing about the Kelix system and what our industry needs to start doing to take over the world.

Here’s what stuck out to me from our conversation. 

  • The Kelix system can deliver 1 to 1.5 tons of heating/cooling capacity per 100 feet of bore. This is up to twice as much as normal polypipe.
  • If your drilling costs are above $10 per foot you should consider the Kelix system because it could be cheaper to install.
  • The technology is great in space constrained environments because you need less bore feet. In residential applications, it’s common to drill for a 3 to 4 ton unit in one 300ft borehole, and even more in deeper wells.
  • The pressure drop per foot in the Kelix system is actually LOWER than with utubes, even though the Kelix system has much greater turbulence.   This means it often requires less mechanical pumping force for the fluid.
  • Geothermal doesn’t make sense for every building.   From a sales perspective, we need to become much more specific about who our customers are and the messaging that we’re delivering to them.
  • We should spend more time working on increasing the demand for geothermal from consumers, rather than assuming that if we educate the design community that they will spec in geothermal. Here’s how I took this message: we need to take control of our own destiny.

Watch the whole interview here

Continue reading →

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How to Design a Solar PV System 101: The Basic Terms

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Chris Williams

We’ve created tutorials on solar thermal design 101 and geothermal design, but we haven’t paid the same attention to solar PV yet.

This is the first in a series of posts we’ll publish on the basics of designing and installing residential solar PV systems. The goal of the series will be to get the basics covered. If you’re an experienced installer, none of this information will be new to you. If you’re brand new to solar, it will be helpful. But keep in mind, we’ll be skimming the surface. Please leave any and all questions in the comments section and I’ll address them.

Here is what the series of posts will be cover:

  1. Basic Terms. This is today’s post
  2. Sizing the array based on the customer needs and the site
  3. Selecting the inverter, string sizing, and sizing conductors
  4. Roof mounting and structural
  5. Micro-inverters vs central
  6. Special tools needed for new installers

We’re going to begin with the basic terms. This is very important for design because you need to understand the concepts before you start applying real numbers to a design. It will also help with sales because it will help you explain some basic terms to curious customers.

Power

Power is an AMOUNT of energy. It’s the measurement of energy, measured in kilowatts (kW). Power is measured in an instant. Most of the sizing done in solar PV design; conductors, inverters, fuses, the size of the solar rates is based on how much power will be passing through a specific component of the system. Because power is measured in an instant, it can vary widely over time and from minute to minute.

Power (watts) = current (Amps) X voltage (volts)

Energy

Energy is the is the actual work done by power. It is measure in kilowatt-hours (kWh). Consumers pay for kWh. It’s a measure of power over time.

Power (kW) X Time (hours) = Energy (kWh)

Current

Electricity is the flow of negatively charged electrons. The current is the amount of negatively charged electrons in a specific part of a circuit.

Many people find it useful to use a water analogy when discussing electrical terms. In the water example, it’s useful to think of a dam with a pipe at the bottom that water can flow out of.  The amount of water that can pass through a slice of the pipe, in other words the area of the cross section of the pipe, is analogous to electric current.

Voltage

Voltage is a measure of the ‘force’ or ‘pressure’ of the electric current in a circuit. It’s measured in volts.  Electrons of the same material WANT to be homogeneous, i.e. they want to be evenly spread out. Thus, if one area has less electrons then another, the electrons will move in an attempt to equalize. This flow is what created a voltage potential and causes electrons to move.

To use the water example with a dam. If the size of the pipe at the bottom of a dam is a measure of current, the height of the dam is a measure of voltage. The higher the water is one on side of the dam versus the other, the more pressure there is.

Resistance

Electrical Resistance is the resistance of the flow of electricity through a conductor. It does not reduce the current flow of electrons (how many electrons there are in the circuit) but it does reduce the voltage (how fast they’re going, remember the dam example). It is measured in ohms.

Voltage Drop (volts) = Current (amps) X Resistance (ohms)

Continue reading →

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What is the Difference Between a Solar Lease and Cash Customer?

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Chris Williams

This is the last interview in the 5 part series we did with BrightGrid Renewable Energy Finance on residential solar leases and it’s one of the best. We focused most of the interview on specifics of what solar sales and marketing professionals need to do to increase revenue.

Sign up for the full free course here: How to Use Solar Leases to Grow Your Business

The premise of the interviews and the free course is simple. Solar leases are becoming  a standard in the solar industry so we wanted to provide detailed information about how they work and how solar companies can use them best.

I spoke with Bret O’Neal, who is a channel manager at BrightGrid. Bret works with all of BrightGrid’s installers on selling residential solar leases. Bret has great insight and pragmatic advice for contractors on how to best sell a lease, what new solar contractors need to focus on, and the difference between cash and lease customers.

Watch the full interview here: 


We spoke for 18 minutes, and here is what we talked about:

Question: What are the top 3 characteristics that make lease customers different from cash customers?

  • 1 – The largest is that lease customers are the majority of the market and that cash customers are a small percentage of the market.
  • 2 – The next difference is that the lease customer is more motivated by simplicity and convenience. A cash customer is more focused on the specifics about the technology and their financial return.
  • 3 – Finally, the lease customers are primarily driven by money and not the environment.

Q: When you’re dealing with managing the sales team, what would you say is really important for a residential installer to understand about the difference between lease and cash sales? How does the difference impact their day-to-day operations?

  • Selling cash projects is a different sales process all together
  • The details of the cash sales will be more on the specifics, both in technology and finance.
  • Selling a lease requires a sales person to really dumb it down and keep it simple and stupid. Going into details will only complicate the sale.
  • All the lease customer wants to know is how much it will save them every month and what will their obligations will be.
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Detailed 2012 SREC Market Update: NJ, MA, PA, CT, IL, DC, MD

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Chris Williams

7 Months ago we did an SREC 101 Episode for HeatSpring TV. The goal of the first interview was simple: to provide basic information on what SRECs are, the state of the current market, and what installers should know about SRECs to sell projects to their clients.

We’ve decided to provide a regular update with SRECTrade on the status and the development of the SREC markets. We’ll discuss policy updates, events that are impacting the supply and demand of existing markets, and expectations for upcoming markets. For example, last week Maryland changed their RPS requirements.

SRECs are extremely important in specific markets because they impact a contractor’s or developer’s ability to sell projects. However, they are changing rapidly and sometimes it’s difficult to get clear answers.

For this update, I spoke with Steven Eisenberg who is the VP of Business Development with SRECTrade. He manages the relationships between all the buyers of SRECs and the sellers of projects that are larger then 250kW. Because he is at the intersection of clients that are buying and those that are selling SRECs, he has great insights into the dynamics of the SREC market.

(Please note: The interview was filmed on Friday, March 30th and some SREC policies have changed since filming)

Here is the full agenda of what we talked about: 

Question: What is happening in each market regarding legislation that will impact SREC prices, supply and demand, in the next couple months?

  • NJ: Coming from 2011 and prior periods there was an under-supply leading to high prices and this lead to a huge build up and now the market is oversupplied. The market has hit a point that through February 2012, 689MW of capacity can is eligible for SRECS .40MW was installed in February 2012.
  • There is huge oversupply. NJ state only needs 370MW operational throughout the 2012 compliance year to supply the needed SRECs required by the RPS. The requirement for 2013 and 2014 is LESS THAN what has been installed through February 2012.
  • There have been a variety of different policy groups looking to increase the RPS requirements to take up some of that supply, but it is uncertain this will happen in the near term.
  • In our March NJ spot auction, SRECs were traded at $145 per MWh and traded at $135 per MWh in the April auciton. Other transactions have since traded below the $135 level.
  • Without any legislative change, NJ will be oversupplied for the next few compliance periods.

Question: In some ways, is this news good for the NJ industry? It will drive out unprofitable solar EPC companies?

  • Answer: Surely the most competitive financiers, developers, EPC contractors, and customers with high energy costs will be in the best position.
  • The decline in equipment cost is also really helping.
  • Projects now need to be really competitive to pencil out.
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Forget Small Potatoes, We need to Introduce Geo to 1,000,000 Homes

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Chris Williams

This map of geothermal installations and testimonials on geothermalgenius.org. It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. It’s certainly the first time I’ve seen something like this for the geothermal industry and it’s something we need to be doing more of. Why? It adds VISIBILITY to a technology that is otherwise hidden.

I wanted to speak with the folks that created this map so I reached out. Josh Kresge followed up with me and said they started the site with an epiphany that most in the geothermal industry tend to have, which was “this technology is so amazing, why doesn’t everyone have it”

They quickly realized that the main issues in the industry is customer awareness so their solution was creative marketing to bring awareness and introduce geothermal to the masses. Their goal is to make geothermal simple, and to show the public the technology works, and it’s not a science experiment.

Full Agenda

Question: Whats the quick pitch for geothermal genius.org?

  • Answer:
  • We don’t claim to be the genius on geothermal, but the concept is that geothermal itself is genius.
  • We’re a public awareness group and we’re working on introducing 1,000,000 people to geothermal every year and doing that through creative marketing
  • We’re able to take a small marketing budget and reach a large number of people
  • We see our main objective is to increase public awareness.

Q: It’s interesting you note that public awareness if a major issue because I’m beginning to feel like this IS the issue and that technical competence is not holding us back anymore. Also, I like your 1 million mark because it gets the industry to start thinking larger. We know it’s an amazing technology, why are we still going after small potatoes? From your work, what do you think is the main thing the industry needs to do to start selling huge projects and getting our messaging correct?

  • Answer:
  • The industry as a whole has not been able to come together and unite around the public awareness issue.
  • Everyone is doing their own marketing in their own local areas
  • I gave a talk at IGSHPA and compared geothermal to the milk industry with the “got milk” campaign where the milk industry created a consortium to make the campaign happen. The message was milk vs the rest of the drinks.
  • I see the geothermal industry facing the same issue. It is geothermal VS the rest of the heating and cooling methods.
  • Right now, the issue is being attached by geothermal brand vs geothermal brand.
  • We’re less then 1% market share, we don’t need to be competing against each other but instead simply introducing geothermal and the concept to everyone.
  • We have been able to reach 1 million people, with no market budget so it’s possible.
  • There should be a united effort and this will make a larger impact.
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