Market Report: EV, Solar, and Generators

Article Courtesy of Mark Dennis, Director, Solar & EV Solutions

The following sheds a little light on the EV, Solar, and Generator market as we know it today.

EV Chargers

The White House announced new progress on the administration’s goal to accelerate and deploy electric vehicles and charging stations and enable a clean transportation future. In March, the United States passed the milestone of 100,000 public chargers (as recorded by the Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuel Data Center) and these new actions will accelerate deployment to make driving an electric vehicle convenient in every part of the country.

Most electric vehicle drivers will charge at home and work. One of the perks of driving an electric vehicle is never needing to go to the gas station. However, public charging infrastructure will provide a key opportunity for people who do not have access to off-street parking or who take longer trips. A robust, convenient, and affordable network of public chargers will increase the confidence of drivers that they will always have a charging option when they need it.

Over the last couple of months, we have had several entities call us for information on EV Chargers. We are excited to continue conversations with these businesses.

Solar

In 2015, Georgia's former Governor, Nathan Deal, signed into law consensus legislation that would make it easier and more affordable for homeowners, businesses, churches, schools, nonprofits, military facilities, and police and fire departments to install rooftop solar systems across the state. The Solar Power Free-Market Financing Act is considered an important victory for property rights supporters, as well as solar advocates.

“Kudos to Gov. Deal for recognizing the importance of solar energy to Georgia’s economy and to its future prosperity,” said Rhone Resch, president, and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). “This forward-looking new law will help to greatly expand the use of clean, reliable, and affordable solar energy across Georgia, and we applaud state legislators – especially the bill’s author, Rep. Mike Dudgeon – Georgia’s electric utilities, the Georgia Property Rights Council, the Georgia Solar Energy Association and many other groups for working together to benefit all Georgians. This landmark legislation will help to create new jobs across the state and stimulate economic activity while helping to lower costs for consumers and businesses. It will also help to ensure that Georgia continues to be one of the fastest-growing solar markets in the United States. Today, there are 161 megawatts (MW) of installed solar capacity in Georgia – enough to power nearly 20,000 homes.”

Resch said new solar installations are expected to quadruple next year in Georgia, according to the U.S. Solar Market Insight® Year in Review report, which was recently released by SEIA and GTM Research. The U.S. solar industry currently employs 174,000 Americans nationwide – more than tech giants Apple, Google, Facebook and Twitter combined – and pumps nearly $18 billion a year into the U.S. economy.

Recently, the House passed Community New Metering Bill to push renewable energy expansion.  According to ecoRI News, the bill would, “expand opportunities for community power sharing and provide greater access to residents with limited green electricity options.

The bill (H5327 Substitute A) would make 30 megawatts of electricity available, on top of 30 megawatts already allocated through a community net metering measure passed by the General Assembly in 2016.”

Generators

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the power industry globally. Various device manufacturing companies across regions had shut down their manufacturing facilities and services as countries practiced partial or full lockdown strategies to deal with the pandemic. The electricity demand has been reduced significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic as governments across the world were compelled to reduce business activities to minimize the threat of coronavirus. The decline in business activities has further negatively impacted generator sales in the short term. Bi-fuel generators offer advantages over both gas and diesel generators, thus, improving the reliability of standby power systems. An inverter generator is a recent technology that utilizes advanced electronic circuits and high-tech magnets. Several generator manufacturers are adopting generators to address the diesel engine emission standards and high operational costs. Thus, such an increase in demand for hybrid generators, bi-fuel, and inverters is expected to create an opportunity for the players in the generator sales market.

Visit our website at Gresco.com for more info on our EV, Solar, and Generator products and service offerings. Not sure where to start? We’re here to help! Contact your Gresco sales representative at 478-315-0850 and we’ll be happy to assist you with your project.

Sources:

• EV: U.S. Dept. of Energy

• Solar: GA DOT

• Solar: ecoRI news

• Generators: Markets and Markets