– Industry Notes

September 30, 2024

Has the Decision by China’s State Grid Company to Cut the Avg. Price it Pays for Solar Power to ~0.15 Yuan/kWh, from ~0.39 Yuan/kWh in 2023, Put Global Solar Demand at Risk? What’s up w/ U.S./Europe Solar Demand?

By Gordon L. Johnson II

On Sep. 23rd, China’s National Energy Administration (“NEA”) Released Data on Chinese Solar Installs Through Aug. 2024. In what follows, we provide an update on the state of the world’s most important solar market, China….

September 26, 2024

GLJ Solar Weekly – What Does Yesterday’s US Energy Information Administration (“EIA”) Solar Installation Update Mean for the US Solar Market in 2024E, How is US Solar Demand Trending in Aug./Sep., & Did SMA Solar Really Say That?

By Gordon L. Johnson II

Price Tracker. Applying a modified approach, we detail PV pricing data by substrate (Ex. 2-3), segmented by Chinese and global prices, tracked each Wednesday by EnergyTrend, PVInsights, and PVInfolink, respectively. This week, price changes in China…

September 18, 2024

GLJ Solar Weekly – California Solar Initiative “Data Dump” for 2Q24 & Jul. ’24 + U.S. Energy Information Administration (“EIA”) YTD Installs/Prices + Is Lower-Margin Battery Demand Displacing Demand for Inverters Due to NEM 3.0?

By Gordon L. Johnson II

Price Tracker. Applying a modified approach, we detail PV pricing data by substrate, segmented by Chinese and global prices, tracked each Wednesday by EnergyTrend, PVInsights, and PVInfolink, respectively. Last week, price changes in China for mono-grade…

August 29, 2024

GLJ Solar Weekly – May ’24 California Solar Initiative “Data Dump” + Takeaways from “Fireside Chat” w/ Large US Solar Parts Distributor, & Is California About to Hit NEM 1.0 & 2.0 Customers w/ Retroactive Net Metering Cuts?

By Gordon L. Johnson II

Price Tracker. Applying a modified approach, we detail PV pricing data by substrate (Ex. 14-15), segmented by Chinese and global prices, tracked each Wednesday by EnergyTrend, PVInsights, and PVInfolink, respectively. This week, price changes in China…

August 1, 2024

2Q24 Review: Sunnova’s Very Existence Appears to be a Byproduct of its Willingness to (More) Aggressively Inflate the Value of Its Systems in Order to Collect U.S. Tax Credits (This is Not a Real/Sustainable Biz Model)

By Gordon L. Johnson II

Sunnova is in Big Trouble, No Matter What its “Fictional” Non-GAAP Adj.-EBITDA Says (a number so devoid of actual expenses, it more closely resembles revenue – i.e., in 2Q24, Sunnova’s non-GAAP adj.-EBITDA came in at…

July 30, 2024

GLJ Macro Weekly: J. Yellen Surprises the Market with Yesterday’s 3:00pm EST “Relatively” Hawkish Borrowing Estimates Publication; the Real Fireworks, However, Start at 8:30am EST Tomorrow w/ the Official QRA Details

By Gordon L. Johnson II

Janet Yellen is Always Good For the U.S. Stock Market… Right… Right? In the analysis the follows, we provide our take on Janet Yellen’s announcement around the U.S. Treasury’s estimates for privately-held net marketable borrowing for…

July 12, 2024

GLJ Solar Weekly – U.S. Module Prices Collapsed this Week; &, Are the 2H24E Solar Bulls Missing a “Big Trouble in Little Europe” Set-Up Into Q2 Earnings?

By Gordon L. Johnson II

Price Tracker. Applying a modified approach, we detail PV pricing data by substrate (Ex. 3-4), segmented by Chinese and global prices, tracked each Wednesday by EnergyTrend, PVInsights, and PVInfolink, respectively. This week, price changes in China…

July 3, 2024

GLJ Solar Weekly – April ’24 California Solar Initiative “Data Dump” + Update on European Solar Markets (i.e., Germany + Italy + U.K. + Spain + Netherlands + France)

By Gordon L. Johnson II

Price Tracker. Applying a modified approach, we detail PV pricing data by substrate (Ex. 23-24), segmented by Chinese and global prices, tracked each Wednesday by EnergyTrend, PVInsights, and PVInfolink, respectively. Last week, price changes in China…

May 31, 2024

What Do Our Checks Suggest Around: (a) the Idea Solar Demand Will Benefit from a Surge in “AI” Powered Demand, (b) the Idea that China’s Xi Jinping will Force Chinese Solar Capacity Offline, & (c) the Idea that Section 45X Solar Production Tax Credits (“PTCs”) are Safe in a Trump Administration?

By Gordon L. Johnson II

Solar Stocks have Staged a Sharp Rally Over the Past Several Weeks… Mainly… on: (1) Two Wall Street-Manufactured Hype Stories, as well as (2) an Assumption, Mainly by FSLR Bulls, that the Production Tax Credits…

May 30, 2024

GLJ Solar Weekly – Despite Recent Calls that “AI” Will Drive Sig. Solar Demand, Looking at the Mar. ’24 California Solar Initiative “Data Dump”, Solar Demand in the Real World Continues to Be Lackluster

By Gordon L. Johnson II

Price Tracker. Applying a modified approach, we detail PV pricing data by substrate (Ex.16-17), segmented by Chinese and global prices, tracked each Wednesday by EnergyTrend, PVInsights, and PVInfolink, respectively. This week, price changes in China for…

April 30, 2024

GLJ Macro Weekly: We Were Surprised by How “Hawkish” J. Yellen’s Funding/Needs Quarterly Refunding Announcement (“QRA”) was, Yesterday, into the Nov. Election, but The Devil is in the (yet to be released) Details

By Gordon L. Johnson II

Yesterday, at 3:00pm EST., the US Treasury Released its Estimates for its Borrowing Needs in 2Q24E and 3Q24E. As seen here (link), yesterday at 3:00pm EST, the US Treasury provided its funding/needs forecasts around: (a)…

April 26, 2024

GLJ Solar Weekly – Does the Feb. ’24 California Solar Initiative “Data Dump” + Our Recent Fireside Chat w/ the Largest Solar Distributor in the US = Spell Big(ger) Problems for the MLPE Inverter Vendors?

By Gordon L. Johnson II

Price Tracker. Applying a modified approach, we detail PV pricing data by substrate (Ex.13-14), segmented by Chinese and global prices, tracked each Wednesday by EnergyTrend, PVInsights, and PVInfolink, respectively. This week, price changes in China for…

April 11, 2024

GLJ Solar Weekly – Does the Jan. ’24 California Solar Initiative “Data Dump” Suggest Things are About to go from Bad to Worse for SEDG/ENPH? And, Update on German/U.K./Italian Solar Installs YTD

By Gordon L. Johnson II

Price Tracker. Applying a modified approach, we detail PV pricing data by substrate (Ex. 1-2), segmented by Chinese and global prices, tracked each Wednesday by EnergyTrend, PVInsights, and PVInfolink, respectively. This week, price changes in China…

March 4, 2024

GLJ Solar Weekly – Does our Recent Fire Side Chat w/ the Largest Distributors of Solar Products in N. America & Our One-on-One Conversation w/ a Large On-the-Ground Chinese Solar Investor Suggest “Light at the End of the Tunnel” for Solar Bulls?

By Gordon L. Johnson II

February 20, 2024

GLJ Macro Weekly: Is the Fed “Sleepwalking” us into a 10x Worse Recession in 2024 by Using the Wrong Neutral Rate & Ignoring UST Yields (which the bond market takes its cues from) in Favor of its Fed Funds Rate (which few use to price debt – i.e., banks pay 5bps for deposits)?

By Gordon L. Johnson II

Is the Fed Using the Wrong Neutral Rate, Suggesting they are Sleepwalking the US Economy into a Much “Nastier” Recession than if they Weren’t Constantly Pushing Imminent Rate Cuts as a Certainty? Based on the…