U.S. Residential Solar Economic Outlook 2016-2020: Grid Parity, Rate Design and Net Metering Risk
Tuesday, March 8, 2016 at 11:24AM 
As installation costs continue to decline and retail electricity rates climb, residential solar economics have become increasingly attractive across the United States. 20 U.S. states are currently at grid parity, and 42 states are expected to reach that milestone by 2020 under business-as-usual conditions.
Residential solar reaches grid parity when the levelized cost of solar energy falls below gross electricity bill savings in the first year of a solar PV system’s life. While traditional grid parity analyses rely on average retail electricity rates to calculate customer savings, we used utility and state-specific rate design, system production and installation costs to more accurately gauge solar’s attractiveness.
States at Grid Parity in 2016
This slide-based report explores how rate design and net metering reform risk complicate the residential solar economic outlook in ways that can either strengthen or weaken the rooftop solar savings that can be attained by a customer. It details what might happen under several net metering reform scenarios, provides case studies, outlines key market drivers and includes in-depth forecasting out to 2020.
The premium version of this report also comes with the complete, underlying dataset in Excel.
Download a free brochure with a full table of contents and list of figures, as well as more in-depth information on the report's analysis.Download Brochure
Solar Financing Platform Wunder Raises $3.6 Million
Tuesday, March 8, 2016 at 11:16AM 
Wunder Capital, a provider of solar financing for medium-sized businesses, has raised $3.6 million in a new round of financing.
In all, the company has raised $4.7 million from Techstars Ventures, Fenway Summer Ventures, and FinTech Collective, alongside existing seed investors.
Wunder, a financial services company for the solar industry, graduated from Techstars in 2014.
The founders of Wunder don’t come from a traditional financial technology or renewable energy background. The three co-founders of the company cut their teeth in advertising and marketing technology companies on the East and West Coasts, according to co-founder and chief executive Bryan Birsic.
According to Birsic, Wunder is lending to an incredibly underserved portion of the solar generation market. While the amount of grid-scale solar generation has quadrupled and residential solar installations have doubled, the number of small-scale projects priced at roughly $500,000 have only grown by 25%.
These smaller installations represent a large chunk of commercial real-estate, and by unlocking the financing for these funds, installations by these companies could skyrocket, or so Wunder’s thinking goes.
Accredited investors can tap this market by investing in two Wunder Capital funds: an income fund and a bridge fund, where participating accredited investors can put up money for stakes in solar projects at annualized returns of somewhere between 6% and 11%.
The company sources its solar projects by working with the installers, developers and distributors who will be receiving the company’s money.
“Wunder’s platform represents a new era of alternative lender, the vertically-integrated lender. They address critical issues of customer acquisition, underwriting, and support with unique capabilities specific to the commercial solar industry. We could not be more pleased to add Wunder to our portfolio of alternative lenders and to bring Wunder direct access to our deep capital markets network,” said Brooks Gibbons of the Fintech Collective in a statement.
Science warns ‘loud and clear’ only short time left to do what needs doing to curb temperature rise
Tuesday, June 30, 2015 at 02:33PM 2015-06-30 01:43 PM
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New York City, NY, June 29 – During the General Assembly High-Level on Climate Change, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made the opening remarks on the need for bold climate action.
“The world’s two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases have announced ambitious climate actions and are showing leadership based on mutual respect and collaboration,” Ban Ki-moon said. “Other major economies in the G7 and G20 have announced their intention to act.”
Since 2009, the number of national climate laws and policies has nearly doubled, with three quarters of the world’s annual emissions now covered by national targets. The world’s three biggest economies—China, the European Union and the U.S.—have placed their bets on low-carbon, climate-resilient growth.
The price of renewable energy sources is falling dramatically, and in some places has reached price parity with fossil fuels. The world is now using more renewable electric power each year, according to Ki-moon.
Investors and insurers are starting to integrate climate risk into their decision-making. A growing number of CEOs [Chief Executive Officers], including a select few from the oil and gas sector, are revamping their energy systems, strengthening resilience and calling for a price on carbon, Ki-moon added.
Recently Pope Francis has spoken out demanding action and reminding us of the moral imperative to protect the vulnerable and care for our common home.
“As science is telling us loud and clear, we have only a few short years in which to do what is needed to have a reasonable chance of staying within the internationally agreed temperature rise threshold of 2°C,” Ki-moon said.
Ki-moon set up a plan of action highlighting the course he would like to see governments take. A U.N. agreement is to be set up to provide the private sector with the predictability and policy frameworks it needs to invest in clean energy and climate-resilient approaches. The agreement must be flexible so that it can incentivize and incorporate more ambitious, science- based nationally determined targets over time. The agreement must uphold the principle of equity, support the adaptation needs of developing countries, and demonstrate solidarity with the poorest and most vulnerable countries through a focused package of assistance.
A new agreement must have clear mechanisms for measuring, monitoring, and reporting progress in a transparent manner on a full range of actions. Ki-moon strongly urged developed countries to provide a politically credible trajectory for mobilizing $100 billion per year by 2020 to support developing countries in curbing emissions and strengthening their resilience.
“Let us always remember that climate change and sustainable development are two sides of the same coin,” Ki-moon said. “The two agendas are mutually reinforcing: progress on one benefits the other, from food security to health, from energy security to water and the full scope of human need and endeavor. Development cannot be sustainable if it does not address the challenge of climate change.”
“If we fail, we will condemn our children and grandchildren to a future of climate chaos. If we succeed, we can set the world on course for greater stability, better health and stronger economies that benefit all,” Ki-moon concluded.
