pvMB 1/29/19: FPL exceeds 1 GW of solar, Enphase loan payoff removes leins, Quest builds a 955kW carport PV system and more…

Enphase pays off $39.5 million loan – Enphase has fully paid off the $39.5 million loan and the accrued $6.3 million in interest expense and fees from the loan the company took from BlackRock in 2018. This removes all liens placed on Enphase’s assets. Source: Enphase

Sunrun investors seek $2.5M settlement for stock-drop suit – “Investors in a proposed class action against solar company Sunrun Inc. claiming it downplayed the number of customers who canceled their contracts to keep its stock from tanking asked a California federal judge Thursday to approve a proposed $2.5 million settlement of the case… The investors filed the initial complaint in May 2017, followed by two amended complaints, all of which were thrown out, with leave to amend, for inadequately stating their claims… Sunrun was accused of fudging the cancellation numbers in the time leading up to its initial public offering in 2015 and afterward. Investors alleged Sunrun’s stock nosedived when the cancellation numbers came to light.” Source: Law 360

A Florida first: FPL’s solar generation surpasses 1GW – During the early afternoon of Friday, Jan. 25, Florida Power and Light’s (FPL) universal solar portfolio reached a new record level of generation: 1 GW. This number is the collective generation figure of FPL’s 14 solar plants in the state. Additionally, FPL enerated 10 times more solar energy in 2018 than the company did in just 2016. This announcement comes less than a month after FPL unveiled its “30-by-30” plan to install 30 million more solar panels across Florida by 2030, which will lead to an additional 11 GW of generation. Source: Florida Power & Light Company

Hearing to repeal Maine’s anti-solar “Gross Metering” rule set for today – Maine legislators have announced that a meeting will be held today, January 29, to decide the fate of the state’s “gross metering” rule. The fee was established under the administration of former Governor Paul LePage to stifle the penetration of renewables within the state. Dylan Voorhees, Climate & Clean Energy Project Director at the Natural Resources Council of Maine described the issue with gross metering, saying: “The gross metering provision created a fee on energy produced and used within a home, akin to grocery stores charging people who reduce their produce purchases by growing their own tomatoes.” Source: Natural Resources Council of Maine – Summary of LD91

Executive moves at EQ Research – “EQ Research… announced today that Miriam Makhyoun has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. Ms. Makhyoun has nearly a decade of utility and energy industry experience, most recently as Power Supply Contracts Manager at MCE, California’s first Community Choice Aggregation Program.” Makhyoun has also worked in portfolio management for Pacific Gas & Electric, research for members of Smart Electric Power Alliance and published energy industry reports for the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association. Source: EQ Research

Quest Renewables completes a 955kW carport solar system – In collaboration with Hannah Solar, Quest Renewables has completed the largest solar carport known to pv magazine. The projects clocks in with a capacity of just under 1 MW at 955 kW and was built for AVX Corporation in Fountain Inn, South Carolina. The project was completed in just 28 days and contains 2,730 bifacial modules from Trina Solar. AVX Corporation will use the power generated by the system to offset the energy use at their manufacturing facility. Source: Quest Renewables

IREC releases 2019 Clean States Honor Roll – “After a colossal year of energy policy activity across the states, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) calls out some favorite 2018 success stories in its 2019 Clean Energy States Honor Roll, announced today.” The Honor Roll is broken into four categories with New Jersey winning “Most Growth Potential,” Michigan winning “Emerging Clean Energy Leader,” Nevada winning “Most Charged for Storage” and South Carolina winning “Most Improved Transparency.” Source: Interstate Renewable Energy Council

Leadership changes at EnSync – EnSync announced yesterday that Bradley Hansen resigned as CEO and as a member of the company’s board. In the interim, Sandeep Gupta will serve as CEO , Chief Restructuring Officer and in the vacant board seat. “Mr. Gupta is a principal and founder of Novo Advisors… Prior to founding Novo Advisors Mr. Gupta was a Managing Director in FTI Consulting’s Corporate Finance practice based in Chicago.” Source: EnSync

Sunnova’s SunSafe residential solar+storage debuts in NY – New York has become the 10th region where Sunnova is offering its SunSafe solar energy generation and home battery storage service. “In case of a utility power outage, thanks to its smart technology, Sunnova SunSafe automatically detects when to switch from solar energy to stored energy, and unlike solar-only systems, Sunnova SunSafe will continue producing and storing back-up energy when the electric grid goes down.” The service also comes with a 25-year warranty. Sunnova is already offering the service in Massachusetts, Maryland, Texas, Hawaii, Arizona, California, Puerto Rico, Guam and Saipan. Source: Sunnova

Colorado proposed 50-150 MW project paused for PPA – Like a spinner in the weeds, a potentially big-to-massive solar project in Montezuma County, Colorado has been snagged up. The interruption is due to all but one of the three pending off-takers dropping out and the lone remaining company, EDF Renewables, having not agreed to a power purchase agreement yet. However, there is still potential for the project to move forward. Source: The Journal

And finally, some good news to end the morning brief: In 2017, wind and solar saved Texas ratepayers $855.9 million, which is almost 6x the Dallas Cowboys’ payroll, though maybe not for long if Jerry Jones is a pvMB reader.

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