🔅 IronOak Energy's "Two-Bullet Tuesday" :: Solar affordable in 40 states | BMW's EV innovation

Two-Bullet Tuesday:
Finance | Clean Energy | Productivity | Tips | Trivia
November 29, 2016

Here's your weekly 4-minute digest of bullets on finance, clean energy, productivity, and curious facts to entertain the kids in your life.

In addition, you might have interested in article I recently published for the Real Assets newsletter for Preqin, the world's largest provide of market intelligence about alternative assets for 40,000 investment professionals in 90 countries.

It's called The Mainstreaming of Renewable Energy Infrastructure Investing - Risks, Returns and Emerging Sectors

Have a great week.

Chris Wedding, PhD
CEO, IronOak Energy

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Investment Advisory
Strategy Consulting

SOLAR

"Community Solar" Potential:
Affordable in 40 states

Rooftop solar is impossible for about 50% of US households due to shading, lack of a roof (e.g., apartments), or weird HOA rules that say solar is ugly. [Have they ever seen a coal-fired power plant, or strip mine operation?] With community solar — larger ground-mounted projects built more cheaply and shared by many — this National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) report shows solar power can make financial sense today in 35-48 states, with zero state or local incentives.

Solar M&A:
North Carolina in the hot seat

Before the holidays, our friends at Cypress Creek Renewables (founded 2014) acquired FLS Energy (founded 2006). Both have roots in North Carolina via their headquarters, core solar development activity, or their founders being from NC. We've had the pleasure of working with the leaders of both, and we wish them all the best on their path to world domination.

ENERGY STORAGE | ELECTRIC VEHICLES

EVs as energy storage in CA:
The duck (curve) needs a smaller belly

With California's national leadership in solar comes challenges. Utility Dive says it well, "solar penetrations as low as 20% could require curtailment of 30% of the state’s solar generation, potentially eliminating its cost-effectiveness and putting California’s 50% renewables mandate out of reach." Luckily, the state's target of 1.5 million EVs by 2025 could help ameliorate their 10 GW of three-hour fast ramping needs. But serious policy and technology innovations are prerequisites.

BMW & EV batteries:
New way for car owners to make money

Next year BMW is creating a "Digital Charging Service" (DCS) for its EV portfolio to facilitate integration into electricity grids and on-site power generation. Revenue generated from the grid will be shared with car owners. This is similar to Nissan's partnership with Enel to accomplish similar goals. Perhaps a sign of the future — car manufacturers as power suppliers..saviors of the electricity generation sector. (Note: 50% of all electricity demand growth in CA by 2025 is expected to come from EVs.)

PRODUCTIVITY | TIPS | TRIVIA

Failure is the rule:
Not the exception

As often as failure is praised in entrepreneurship, it's still damn hard when it's you. If you're in that valley of death right now, let these quotes like these be shouted within your brain morning and night: "If you don’t fail at least 90 percent of the time, you’re not aiming high enough." (Alan Kay) "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." (Winston Churchill)

Senate inefficiencies:
Similarities to the game Scrabble

According to BuzzFeed, "At the start of a game of Scrabble, you have roughly a 1/20,000 chance of picking the word senator out of the bag." Strange coincidence: These are roughly the same odds as anything positive coming out of the Senate for the next four years. [Snicker, snicker]

ABOUT US — IRONOAK ENERGY

IronOak Energy | Catalysts for Clean Energy Investment

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Team:
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