The Solar Energy Industries Association has let go of Executive Vice President and counsel Tom Kimbis and VP of Federal Affairs Christopher Mansour. Abigail Ross Hopper, SEIA’s president and CEO, told SolarWakeup that revisions to the organization’s strategic vision required a realignment of resources, although Mansour would be replaced.

“We have nothing but positive things to say about Tom and Christopher, and we wish them well in the future endeavors,” Hopper told SolarWakeup. “Their service to SEIA is well known, and we couldn’t have accomplished what we have without them.”

With the Section 201 solar trade case finished for now, SEIA is shifting priorities and resources to other issues, including state policy battles and regional transmission grid issues.

“I’m looking forward to the next great leadership experience in renewable energy. It’s been 18 years working in solar in renewables from Washiington, D.C. I am considering all the possibilities available and targeting an opportunity that allows me to use my creativity, leadership and stakeholder engagement expertise,” Tom Kimbis, who previously served as SEIA’s interim CEO, told Greentech Media. “It’s been an incredible ride at both Dept. of Energy and SEIA, one that’s prepared me step up to meet the next challenge.”

SEIA also just added PetersenDean to its board of directors.

Nick Stavropoulos has announced his retirement from the role of president and COO of PG&E at the end of September. He will also be leaving the board of directors. The board has not announced a succession plan.

Former NextLight/First Solar alums have set up shop as Candela Renewables. Candela is an independent developer of utility-scale solar and storage projects, bringing together some old-school expertise (by solar industry standards). Brian Kunz is at the helm as CEO, while co-founder Nik Novograd will serve as CFO. And in case you missed it eight years ago, here’s our coverage of First Solar’s NextLight acquisition.

Vic Shao, co-founder of Green Charge, which was acquired by Engie in 2016, has founded Amply Power, which is in the business of “autonomous power” and charging for autonomous vehicles, in particular, according to a trademark filing.

Mastercard has brought sustainability to the c-suite with Kristina Kloberdanz as its first chief sustainability officer. She joined Mastercard a year ago as VP of corporate sustainability and was at IBM previously. Mastercard has various sustainability initiatives but has not invested as much as some other financial firms in terms of renewables. For instance, Visa announced its commitment to 100 percent renewables across its global operations by the end of 2019 as part of the RE100 initiative.  

In the world of wind, AWEA has tapped Jennifer Jenkins to be director of its new distributed wind program. She has deep knowledge of this corner of the wind sector, as she was previously the executive director of the Distributed Wind Energy Association.

Global infrastructure investment firm Rubicon Infrastructure has brought on Tom Weirich as director of global marketing. He was previously director of marketing and business development at CohnReznick Capital. The company is expanding, with new offices coming across the globe and an expanding North American team.

And it wouldn’t be a jobs column these days without a Tesla executive move. Greg Callman, who was global director of business development for Tesla, is now global head of energy technology at Macquarie Capital.

Blockchain platform developer Energy Web Foundation has hired Hervé Touati as its first CEO. Touati was formerly leading the connected energy team at Shell and also served as managing director at the Rocky Mountain Institute. EWF has also hired Jesse Morris, former principal at RMI, as its CCO and Raffaella Piraino, previously CFO of MET International AG, as its CFO.

EPC Swinerton Renewable Energy has brought on Craig Horne to spearhead its energy storage business for utility and C&I. He was previously at Renewable Energy Systems and is chair of the Energy Storage Association.

Ross Comeaux has left Deutsche Bank as director of power and utilities investment to join NextEra as senior director of corporate development.

Vivint Solar has promoted Jeremy Sabin to vice president of human capital, according to Solar Industry magazine. The move comes after a former employee fired a lawsuit alleging racial harassment.

Investment firm G2VP, which focuses on the digitization of industries, has added Sharon Ji to its venture investor team. She was previously at TPG Capital.

Neil Morris will lead the Faraday Institution, a U.K. government-backed initiative to promote the domestic battery industry. Morris is a former BP executive. The Faraday Institution should not be confused with the Scottish startup Faraday Grid, which is developing technology to improve power quality and reduce losses on distribution networks.

Navigant Consulting has brought on slew of new senior hires in their energy practice, including Ed Batalla, Mark Henderson, Lon Huber and Maurits Ornstein.

Pay-as-you-go solar provider Azuri has hired Steve Haigh as VP of software and services as the off-grid solar company scales up in Africa.

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Please send clean energy jobs moves to tips@greentechmedia.

Welcome back to the second half of our two-part article about company energy policies when it comes to on-grid net-metering. Last time we talked about the real costs associated with connecting your solar panels to the grid; and how energy companies control what you earn back per watt-hour. And how it’s not always actually equally balanced with what you pay them for power. We also discussed how solar credit policy is changing in Nevada, — not for the benefit of private solar panel owners. Let’s pick up where we left off at Florida’s recent policy decisions on solar crediting.

Florida Dodges the Bullet

Around the same time, Florida was facing a utility-funded amendment that would give their energy companies similar freedom to penalize solar panel owners, paired with the juicy offer of allowing solar panel leasing in the state which had previously been prohibited. Fortunately, voters dodged that bullet and chose to support another amendment providing a tax credit for solar panel owners instead. This is good news; it’s also evidence that the utility companies are on the defensive. They aren’t going to stop looking for ways to get their monopoly back from independent solar panel users.

These two incidents together begin to form a pattern; it shows that solar supporters need to be on the lookout. Specifically, for more sneaky bills, amendments, and solar credit policy changes. These changes might significantly change the financial landscape to favor the energy companies; rather than incentivize or even fairly compensate renewable energy generation.

Solar Credit Policy and the Micro-Grid Alternative

Among the problems between energy companies and solar power, there is actually an interesting alternative for businesses and communities. Rather than relying on or even working with the public power grid, your business or community can build your own micro-grid and simply share your solar power through this method.

The micro-grid can still connect to the main grid for emergencies. But why not pool your renewable resources in a way that keeps all that solar wear and tear off the power company’s precious wires and still allows you to benefit from it. Combined with a few big batteries for rainy days, your power solution becomes more robust, versatile, sustainable, and affordable; rather than simply relying on the grid and sharing your solar bounty with the power company.

Lessons Learned

If you do live on the main grid with a few solar panels, it’s worth your while to keep an eye on local solar credit policy. The utility companies in most states have been cool so far. But at any moment, they might decide the costs are too high; they’d pay for an amendment or solar credit policy change which will turn the tables in their favor. It’s up to the solar community to prevent these changes; to keep the country moving forward to renewable energy solutions rather than backward into the fossil fuel monopoly.

Talk to your friends about local solar credit policy. If you live among many other solar owners, talk to your neighbors about building a micro-grid for the neighborhood. You can all share solar energy without inconveniencing your local power company. Make sure you are familiar with the laws, regulations, and taxes (or tax breaks) in your state before making a decision on where, when, and how to invest in solar panels. In many cases, a micro-grid will provide you with a more robust sustainable energy solution, especially when combined with a bank of batteries big enough to ride your business through a public-grid power outage.

There are many forms of energy efficiency, from turning off lights to installing solar panels and every business is deciding for themselves based on budget and opportunity how far to go. For more information about the right energy efficiency solutions for your business, contact us today!

The post Watch Out for Solar Credit Policy Changes that Favor Energy Companies (Part 2) appeared first on Energy Optimizers, USA.

Vivint Solar Inc., a full-service residential solar provider, has announced plans to expand the availability of its residential solar energy systems into Illinois.

Services will initially begin in the Greater Chicago area, marking the company’s first expansion into the Midwest region. Vivint Solar also plans to create over 100 jobs in the state within the year.

“With a supportive regulatory environment and broad enthusiasm toward clean energy, Illinois is a very promising market for rooftop solar,” says David Bywater, CEO of Vivint Solar. “In particular, we are thrilled to begin operations in Chicago, the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. where we did not yet have a presence. We believe this state has tremendous potential to become a strong clean energy hub, and we look forward to helping residents embrace solar energy and enjoy greater control over their electricity costs.”

Through Vivint Solar, residents will be able to purchase a system from the company outright, lease a system or finance the purchase with monthly payments through one of Vivint Solar’s partnership institutions (or through their preferred lender). Customers will also be eligible to apply for applicable utility-sponsored rebates and federal tax credits. Illinois residents who install solar energy systems can interconnect to the grid under traditional net metering, the company notes.

Vivint Solar currently operates in 22 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia.

Huntley Community School District 158 soon will have three of the largest solar panel installations at Illinois public schools.

The district is partnering with California-based Forefront Power to install solar panels with 5.6 megawatts of photovoltaic capacity across its campuses in Algonquin, Huntley and Lake in the Hills. The ground-mounted installations are expected to save the district $4.2 million over 20 years while offsetting 12.3 million pounds of carbon emissions, officials said.

“We have open land on all three of our campuses. We are able to put that to good use with these projects,” District 158 spokesman Dan Armstrong said.

Nationwide, K-12 schools and higher education institutions spend a combined $14 billion on utility costs annually, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

District 158 pays roughly 11 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity, and its yearly energy cost is more than $1 million.

Roughly 20 acres will be devoted to the solar arrays. Drawing power from the installations, officials anticipate between 10 percent and 30 percent in savings on energy costs.

The district has invested in a number of energy-efficient projects, including lighting retrofits and green designs for the Huntley High School addition and renovation project completed last year. It has resulted in annual savings of more than $667,000 on energy costs.

Seven of its buildings are certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR program. On average, ENERGY STAR-certified buildings use 35 percent less energy, cause 35 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and are less expensive to operate.

“On-site solar energy is a natural progression from our energy-efficiency projects and conservation efforts,” Superintendent Scott Rowe said. “Plus, we save money in the process.”

Officials selected Forefront Power through a competitive bidding process. Under a power purchasing agreement, District 158 won’t have to pay any upfront costs for solar grid installation.

The company will design, permit, finance, install and maintain the solar installations for the 20-year term. The project is estimated to cost about $8 million.

District 158 would then pay for the electricity generated by the system at a lower price than its existing utility rate, said David Ganske, Forefront Power director of marketing.

“We recover those costs through a per kilowatt-hour rate over the 20-year term,” Ganske said. “All operations and maintenance is included.”

Forefront would receive federal tax credits for the project and is eligible for Illinois’ Solar Renewable Energy Credits, which allows it to offer electricity at lower rates to schools.

The company has partnered with more than 80 school districts, colleges and universities nationwide, and it is working on a solar installation for Mooseheart Child City and School in Mooseheart — its only other project in Illinois.

The company also offers free solar energy curriculum to partner school districts, implemented once construction begins. Students can observe and analyze system production using a monitoring platform.

Lesson plans are based on Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. Teachers will be trained on the curriculum through a webinar.

The company must secure approvals from all three villages before construction can begin in spring 2019, Ganske said.

For more information and frequently asked questions about the project, visit district158.org/solar.