Contributors

Monday, January 6, 2014

2013 Solar Installations

Now is the time of year to reflect on past accomplishments and set goals for the new year.  Without further ado:

2013 solar installations by my company were nearly 26 MW, which is enough to power 5,200 homes.  This supports a pretty remarkable growth trajectory of solar installation success since Pristine Sun's inception in 2009 (see chart below).  Most of these installations were in California (for utility-scale solar power plants) and New York (for rooftop projects). Note that my company owns interests in all of these projects installed in 2013.

656% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate)

For 2014, a lot depends on the amount of permanent financing we can obtain and how quickly we get it lined up, as well as how quickly we realize a solution for our temporary security deposits required by utilities for interconnection costs.  By my best estimates, we'll start construction on 20-45 MW of utility-scale solar projects, a 20 MW wind project, and up to another 10-20 MW of commercial & industrial BTM (Behind The Meter) solar projects.

Note: solar power plants in California can now compete head to head with cheap shale natural gas and all other forms of energy generation (it has reached grid parity).  Solar on rooftops can compete with grid pricing in many regions of the country (especially those with utility time-of-day pricing, higher than average retail electric rates, and/or reasonably good solar insolation).