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PV project planning: The upside of ‘end-to-end’
focus: Interview |
Jamie Evans, Panasonic Eco Solutions
Panasonic Eco Solutions aligned with Macerich to develop a multi-property retail real estate solar power program totaling 10 MW of clean energy – enough power for approximately 10,000 homes. Consisting of 12 shopping centers, Inland Center Mall is one of the largest systems in the Macerich portfolio at more than 1 MW and the second-largest rooftop array with 4,676 solar PV panels.
commercial and industrial distributed generation projects as well as small utility projects. We’re not really active in residential solar, nor or we doing the massive utility-scale projects. We believe we offer an efficient and a simplified model when talking to our development partners, customers, whether they are corporate, municipalities, school districts, non-profit organizations, utility project managers and investors.
REF: Do you consider that strategy a competitive advantage?
PV project planning: The upside of ‘end-to-end’
D
URING THE recent SPI 2014 conference and exhibition in Las Vegas, Renewable Energy Focus magazine caught up with Jamie Evans, managing director and head of US EcoSolutions for Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Company. A division of Panasonic Corporation of North America, Panasonic Eco Solutions is a leading green innovation company providing customized, integrated renewable energy solutions for customers in both the public and private sectors. Following are excerpts of that interview: REF: Are you having a good show? Jamie Evans: Yes! It’s been a very busy, productive week for us as we continue to educate the market on the types of projects and partnerships that make sense for Panasonic. This year, probably more so than past years, there seems to be more project-oriented discussions, more tactical, nearterm opportunities that people are discussing. Project managers are looking for partners, investors are looking to deploy capital, etc. Generally speaking, the mood at the show has been very positive compared to prior years, where many of the discussions were more strategic and less certain.
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November/December 2014 | Renewable Energy Focus
REF: In your conversations with potential clients, what are some of the strengths that you hope to convey? Evans: Our model at Panasonic is what we call and “end-to-end solution,” whereby we participate in various projects (see sidebar on page 25) from origination and development all the way through engineering, construction management, integration, construction financing, permanent financing (through our platform at Coronal), as well as then the longterm service and maintenance for the duration of the asset life. We focus primarily on the “middle” market:
Evans: We like to think so. We try to offer that part of the market a very simple, end-to-end model where the energy asset is essentially fully engineered, implemented, maintained and backed by Panasonic, an $80 billion global electronics company. In this business Panasonic is not driven by any product mandate; globally we have 900W of module manufacturing capability, but in our Solutions business here in the US we have no obligation or mandate to use those products. This way we can focus more on optimizing the engineering, system design and financial structure around that.
REF: You mentioned the ‘Coronal’ platform. Can you elaborate? Evans: Sure. The Coronal platform is a ‘captive’ financing vehicle for Panasonic Eco Solutions. They arrange the financial structures and permit financing for assets and buildings maintained by Panasonic. Historically, each development phase suffered from misaligned interests which increased costs and hindered project success. In partnership with the alternative energy experts at Coronal Group, Panasonic brings the whole solar project under one roof with a streamlined end-to-end solution in the commercial, industrial, municipal and small utility markets. The Panasonic/Coronal model delivers a simple, comprehensive solution ensuring attractive and reliable benefits. This adds another element of efficiency and reliability in terms of our ability to execute on the projects.
REF: Where are you focusing your efforts? Evans: Most of our business over
About: Reginald Tucker is the US editor of Renewable Energy Focus magazine.
Interview
the past few years has been in the US, but we are also expanding into Canada as well as select parts of the Latin American market. We are also broadening our technical capabilities beyond the core solar business and looking at more storage solutions and battery applications. We’re starting to integrate some of those products as well as the engineering expertise and capability into our solar solutions.
REF: Is that primarily in response to consumer demand, or is it the natural evolution of the model? Evans: I would say it’s a bit of both, actually. There’s a lot of focus, attention and dialogue in the market right now on integrating storage with solar, EV charging capability, grid stability at larger scale. There are a lot of pilot projects out there, although it’s happening more at the residential level. But we think there’s a big opportunity the commercial, industrial and small utility markets. We’ve seen interest in demand from various customer segments, and it changes both the technical and economic proposition. Given our battery expertise, globally in manufacturing in R&D and engineering, it’s a natural extension/evolution of our current platform.
Panasonic PV project portfolio Panasonic Eco Solutions and its renewable energy project partner Coronal have completed a variety of noteworthy solar PV installations around the world. While the projects vary in size and scope, the common denominator is they all follow the tried-and-true “end-to-end” approach to facilitating solar projects from inception through engineering, implementation, financing and long-term service. The benefits of this approach, according to Panasonic, include: • Reduced transaction costs through the use of a single end-to-end provider • Elimination of the need to secure multiple sources for project financing • No upfront capital cost • Long-term operation and maintenance services Following are snapshots of some of those projects: City of Farmersville Location: Farmersville, California Scale: 4.5MW Scope: Ground-mounted system is capable of generating enough electricity to power 1,200 averagesized homes.
REF: Does this platform work better in some markets vs. others, i.e., internationally? Evans: There’s a wide range of elements to consider and evaluate — including the broader energy business — when looking to expand into other geographies. These range from: utility regulations, contracts, legal structures, transmission distribution issues, tax structures, solar resources, the various types of incentives and other programs, whether you’re competing directly with the grid, etc. But most of those areas [of interest] are located in markets where Panasonic has an existing presence, corporate relationships or resources — perhaps not in our Eco business, but other industrial products.
REF: Beyond Canada and Latin America, what are some other regions you are targeting? Evans: In the US and internationally, we continue to look at regions
University of Colorado Boulder Location: Boulder, Colorado Scale: 500kW Scope: The sprawling campus
that could become more attractive from a development standpoint — whether that’s an area where new incentive programs are coming online or regions that are seeing decreasing capital costs. Our Eco Solutions business is a very large in Japan, especially when you consider our range of products.
entails a ground-mounted system at Research Park, which provides clean energy to the LASP and CASA lab facilities and buildings across campus. According to Panasonic, the array is capable of generating 774,690 kWh per year, which is the equivalent to the annual electricity usage of 68 American homes. Sonoma Raceway Location: Sonoma, California Scale: 353 kW Scope: 1,652 solar panel arrays were installed at strategic locations across the roof of the stands. Panasonic reports that the arrays offset up to 41% of the racetrack’s electrical load. E-470 Public Highway Location: Authority, Colorado Scale: 707 kW Scope: Distributed across 22 separate Authority facilities, this 707kW project was financed using a 20-PPA. Electricity generation for the first full year of service is projected at 1,013,500 kWh. Breckenridge City Location: Breckenridge, Colorado Scale: 650kW Scope: The project, which consists of seven separate solar arrays, was financed using a 20-year PPA with the town. Electricity generation for the first full year of serviced is projected at 622,000 kWh. Jefferson County Public School System Location: Jefferson County, Colorado Scale: 165kW Scope: Recognized by the White House for its innovative public-private partnership, the 4.2MW solar array has been implemented at 30 schools.
That business is active in many parts of the world, but mostly in a more traditional product distribution/product sale model. We’re looking at some of those markets where we have an existing Eco presence and trying to do an evaluation that’s similar to what we’re doing, say, in Latin America.
November/December 2014 | Renewable Energy Focus
25
Jamie Evans, Panasonic Eco Solutions
Panasonic Eco Solutions aligned with Macerich to develop a multi-property retail real estate solar power program totaling 10 MW of clean energy – enough power for approximately 10,000 homes. Consisting of 12 shopping centers, Inland Center Mall is one of the largest systems in the Macerich portfolio at more than 1 MW and the second-largest rooftop array with 4,676 solar PV panels.
commercial and industrial distributed generation projects as well as small utility projects. We’re not really active in residential solar, nor or we doing the massive utility-scale projects. We believe we offer an efficient and a simplified model when talking to our development partners, customers, whether they are corporate, municipalities, school districts, non-profit organizations, utility project managers and investors.
REF: Do you consider that strategy a competitive advantage?
PV project planning: The upside of ‘end-to-end’
D
URING THE recent SPI 2014 conference and exhibition in Las Vegas, Renewable Energy Focus magazine caught up with Jamie Evans, managing director and head of US EcoSolutions for Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Company. A division of Panasonic Corporation of North America, Panasonic Eco Solutions is a leading green innovation company providing customized, integrated renewable energy solutions for customers in both the public and private sectors. Following are excerpts of that interview: REF: Are you having a good show? Jamie Evans: Yes! It’s been a very busy, productive week for us as we continue to educate the market on the types of projects and partnerships that make sense for Panasonic. This year, probably more so than past years, there seems to be more project-oriented discussions, more tactical, nearterm opportunities that people are discussing. Project managers are looking for partners, investors are looking to deploy capital, etc. Generally speaking, the mood at the show has been very positive compared to prior years, where many of the discussions were more strategic and less certain.
24
November/December 2014 | Renewable Energy Focus
REF: In your conversations with potential clients, what are some of the strengths that you hope to convey? Evans: Our model at Panasonic is what we call and “end-to-end solution,” whereby we participate in various projects (see sidebar on page 25) from origination and development all the way through engineering, construction management, integration, construction financing, permanent financing (through our platform at Coronal), as well as then the longterm service and maintenance for the duration of the asset life. We focus primarily on the “middle” market:
Evans: We like to think so. We try to offer that part of the market a very simple, end-to-end model where the energy asset is essentially fully engineered, implemented, maintained and backed by Panasonic, an $80 billion global electronics company. In this business Panasonic is not driven by any product mandate; globally we have 900W of module manufacturing capability, but in our Solutions business here in the US we have no obligation or mandate to use those products. This way we can focus more on optimizing the engineering, system design and financial structure around that.
REF: You mentioned the ‘Coronal’ platform. Can you elaborate? Evans: Sure. The Coronal platform is a ‘captive’ financing vehicle for Panasonic Eco Solutions. They arrange the financial structures and permit financing for assets and buildings maintained by Panasonic. Historically, each development phase suffered from misaligned interests which increased costs and hindered project success. In partnership with the alternative energy experts at Coronal Group, Panasonic brings the whole solar project under one roof with a streamlined end-to-end solution in the commercial, industrial, municipal and small utility markets. The Panasonic/Coronal model delivers a simple, comprehensive solution ensuring attractive and reliable benefits. This adds another element of efficiency and reliability in terms of our ability to execute on the projects.
REF: Where are you focusing your efforts? Evans: Most of our business over
About: Reginald Tucker is the US editor of Renewable Energy Focus magazine.
Interview
the past few years has been in the US, but we are also expanding into Canada as well as select parts of the Latin American market. We are also broadening our technical capabilities beyond the core solar business and looking at more storage solutions and battery applications. We’re starting to integrate some of those products as well as the engineering expertise and capability into our solar solutions.
REF: Is that primarily in response to consumer demand, or is it the natural evolution of the model? Evans: I would say it’s a bit of both, actually. There’s a lot of focus, attention and dialogue in the market right now on integrating storage with solar, EV charging capability, grid stability at larger scale. There are a lot of pilot projects out there, although it’s happening more at the residential level. But we think there’s a big opportunity the commercial, industrial and small utility markets. We’ve seen interest in demand from various customer segments, and it changes both the technical and economic proposition. Given our battery expertise, globally in manufacturing in R&D and engineering, it’s a natural extension/evolution of our current platform.
Panasonic PV project portfolio Panasonic Eco Solutions and its renewable energy project partner Coronal have completed a variety of noteworthy solar PV installations around the world. While the projects vary in size and scope, the common denominator is they all follow the tried-and-true “end-to-end” approach to facilitating solar projects from inception through engineering, implementation, financing and long-term service. The benefits of this approach, according to Panasonic, include: • Reduced transaction costs through the use of a single end-to-end provider • Elimination of the need to secure multiple sources for project financing • No upfront capital cost • Long-term operation and maintenance services Following are snapshots of some of those projects: City of Farmersville Location: Farmersville, California Scale: 4.5MW Scope: Ground-mounted system is capable of generating enough electricity to power 1,200 averagesized homes.
REF: Does this platform work better in some markets vs. others, i.e., internationally? Evans: There’s a wide range of elements to consider and evaluate — including the broader energy business — when looking to expand into other geographies. These range from: utility regulations, contracts, legal structures, transmission distribution issues, tax structures, solar resources, the various types of incentives and other programs, whether you’re competing directly with the grid, etc. But most of those areas [of interest] are located in markets where Panasonic has an existing presence, corporate relationships or resources — perhaps not in our Eco business, but other industrial products.
REF: Beyond Canada and Latin America, what are some other regions you are targeting? Evans: In the US and internationally, we continue to look at regions
University of Colorado Boulder Location: Boulder, Colorado Scale: 500kW Scope: The sprawling campus
that could become more attractive from a development standpoint — whether that’s an area where new incentive programs are coming online or regions that are seeing decreasing capital costs. Our Eco Solutions business is a very large in Japan, especially when you consider our range of products.
entails a ground-mounted system at Research Park, which provides clean energy to the LASP and CASA lab facilities and buildings across campus. According to Panasonic, the array is capable of generating 774,690 kWh per year, which is the equivalent to the annual electricity usage of 68 American homes. Sonoma Raceway Location: Sonoma, California Scale: 353 kW Scope: 1,652 solar panel arrays were installed at strategic locations across the roof of the stands. Panasonic reports that the arrays offset up to 41% of the racetrack’s electrical load. E-470 Public Highway Location: Authority, Colorado Scale: 707 kW Scope: Distributed across 22 separate Authority facilities, this 707kW project was financed using a 20-PPA. Electricity generation for the first full year of service is projected at 1,013,500 kWh. Breckenridge City Location: Breckenridge, Colorado Scale: 650kW Scope: The project, which consists of seven separate solar arrays, was financed using a 20-year PPA with the town. Electricity generation for the first full year of serviced is projected at 622,000 kWh. Jefferson County Public School System Location: Jefferson County, Colorado Scale: 165kW Scope: Recognized by the White House for its innovative public-private partnership, the 4.2MW solar array has been implemented at 30 schools.
That business is active in many parts of the world, but mostly in a more traditional product distribution/product sale model. We’re looking at some of those markets where we have an existing Eco presence and trying to do an evaluation that’s similar to what we’re doing, say, in Latin America.
November/December 2014 | Renewable Energy Focus
25