The utility-scale solar business model has been dependent on government mandates that, in essence, force Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) on the world. ESG promotes tight control of corporate Environmental sustainability (greenness), Social justice (DEI), and Governance practices (not just corporate financial accountability and transparency, but how well the Environmental and Social corporate aspects are governed). ESG first emerged in 2004 as a joint initiative of financial institutions at the invitation of the United Nations (Here’s Your Sign!). Following a number of lawsuits from states and corporations, ESG has become a more voluntary corporate endeavor. However, a key fact to remember is that almost all solar companies adhere strictly to the ESG model as will be shown in this article.
As we have seen recently, EV mandates were an abject failure even before the government mandates were removed. This boondoggle was an attempt to force consumers to purchase EVs by government fiat and automobile companies bought into this decree as though the consumer had no choice. But they did have a choice, and flatly rejected EVs leaving most of them sitting on car lots. This eventually cost automotive companies tens of billions of dollars. Ford’s abandonment of EV production at “Blue Oval City,” which has now been renamed the “Ford Truck Center,” is a good example of betting on a government mandate that is not embraced by the consumer. Now, with governmental financial support from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) being eliminated or phased out as part by the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), and the elimination of the Carbon Rule by the EPA, solar companies must depend on consumer demand and private sources of financing for business success. While Renewable Energy Certificates, and similar concepts like TVA’s Green Invest, will continue to provide additional ESG based revenue to solar companies, government incentives have been all-but eliminated. The utility-scale solar business model is now much more difficult to make financially attractive because the installation of solar infrastructure is extremely expensive.
The Solar Companies
There are three predominant companies that either already have utility-scale solar projects in Fayette County, or plan to develop such projects. These are Silicon Ranch, Invenergy, and Emeren. Each has a different implementation model, but all three are successful companies having completed many such projects.
Silicon Ranch
Silicon Ranch is a Nashville Tennessee company founded in 2011. To understand how and why this company is connected to the Green New Deal, we need to understand who stared Silicon Ranch and who is running that company. The companies founding chairman is none other than Philip Bredesen. Yes the Democrat, Phil Bredesen, who was formerly governor of Tennessee. So, in typical progressive fashion, Bredesen founded a company based on the principle of leveraging taxpayer resources for corporate profit. The current CEO, Reagan Farr, was with Biden at the White House when they announced the Biden the Inflation Reduction Act with it’s Green Initiatives.
Bredesen as also a co-founder of Clearloop, a company that promotes green energy. Let’s take a look at Clearloops mission:
Clearloop is here to accelerate the greening of the grid in partnership with companies of all sizes by investing in American communities where the greatest economic and environmental benefits can be achieved.
So, to state the facts clearly; Silicon Ranch is a progressive company, founded by Democrats, looking to install a sea of glass on invaluable and irreplaceable farmland such as that found in conservative Republican Fayette County! This is a typical progressive, self-sustaining business model. They generate a company, Silicon Ranch, to exploit taxpayer funding to install utility-scale solar, then create another company, Clearloop, to promote the mission of the first.
It is important to note that while other utility-scale solar companies are committed to ESG sustainability, DEI, and governance axioms, there is no record of ESG compliance at Silicon Ranch. Further, Silicon Ranch has recently expanded it’s funding from private sources by a significant amount thus reducing it’s dependence on taxpayer funding. While all of the utility-scale solar companies are ALL-IN on the Green New Deal, Silicon Ranch uses a more Eco-friendly Agrivoltaics model with US manufactured solar panels as well as array mounts, and they do not appear heavily invested in ESG as other solar companies.
Silicon Ranch Model
Silicon Ranch typically buys the land they plan to use for their utility-scale solar infrastructure. This provides them with the advantage of avoiding a large bond for removal of the infrastructure and production end-of-life. Companies who lease land for utility-scale solar must provide a bond to insure there are funds for decommissioning to protect the land owners from whom they leased the land. However, if the solar company purchases the land, they become their own guarantor for decommissioning so no bond is required. See TCA 66-9-207(c).
Their utility-scale solar uses the “Agrivoltaics” model where the array mounts are taller and the arrays track the sun from east to west. These taller mounts along with the thin film solar panels allow more sunlight to reach the ground. In Agrivoltaics, grass or other plants are cultivated under the solar arrays. Silicon Ranch, conveniently, has a traveling flock of sheep they bring in to utility-scale sites for Agrivoltaics photo ops.
First Solar manufactures these thin film panels are CdTe (Cadmium Telluride) panels. Cadmium is a transition metal which is usually produced as a byproduct of smelting zinc. Telluride (Te²) is an anion of Tellurium. Tellurium is usually produced as a byproduct of smelting copper. They use a zinc Oxide conductor layer with a CdSeTe absorber layer, a TnTe (Tin Telluride) back contact layer, and a Molybedum Oxide conductor layer. These panels are manufactured using vapor & sputter deposition and laser etching, which greatly reduces the carbon footprint for producing the panels. The panels are 19.8% efficient which isn’t quite as efficient as the c-Si (crystalline Silicon arrays), but they have much lower degradation over time, improved low light performance, and a long life span. These solar arrays are manufactured in the United States and the carbon footprint for manufacturing the panels is low.
Invenergy
Invenergy is a Chicago Illinois based company founded in 2001. This company was involved in green energy long before the Green NewDeal (GND) was introduced in 2019. The company is involved with projects like the Grain Belt Express which is focused on energy transmission projects, primarily for wind energy. Invenergy also seeks to benefit from the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETCs) to facilitate new renewable energy projects.
Invenergy appears to be somewhat neutral with regard to political position. However, Michael Polsky, founder and CEO of Invenergy, met on multiple occasions with John Podesta at the White House leading up to the Inflation Reduction Act under the Biden administration. Here is a statement from Michael Polsky from the Invenergy Impact 2022 Newsletter:
As the passage of the IRA [Inflation Reduction Act] reflects America’s commitment to decarbonize, we at Invenergy recognize our own role in reducing carbon emissions and supporting our mission of “Innovators building a sustainable world.” That’s why we’re proud to make a commitment to achieving Net Zero by 2050, across our entire portfolio. To monitor progress toward this goal, a newly formed internal committee will lead annual Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) data collection efforts, inclusive of a greenhouse gas emissions inventory. To underscore the significance of this commitment, our Net Zero and ESG goals have been fully integrated into our overarching company goals as a key guiding principle, and we look forward to sharing our continued progress in the years to come. In 2023 Invenergy implemented an ESG committee to monitor not only progress toward NetZero, but social and governance issues as well. The 2023 site can be viewed here.
Translation – Invenergy is ALL-IN on the Green New Deal and are moving toward full ESG compliance. This means everything Invenergy does is invested in the implementation of the axioms of ESG, even though ESG is now voluntary and the GND is now, for the most part, defunct.
Invenergy Model
Invenergy uses the lease model, where the land is leased from a land owner and they are required to fund a decommissioning bond as per TCA 66-9-207(c).
For utility-scale solar implementations, Invenergy uses ground mount silicon solar arrays. These arrays use crystalline-Silicon (c-SI) solar cell technology. Mono-crystalline silicon solar cells are made using standard semiconductor manufacturing techniques. In essence, the silicon in sand is upgraded to polysilicon metal using a process that includes hydrochloric acid and hydrogen. The polysilicon metal is then melted and doped with boron which creates a positive charge. As the metal cools it forms a monocrystalline structure that is cut into wafers and heated while adding a layer of phosphorous which is negatively charged. With the boron doped silicon being positive (p-type) material and the phosphorous being negative (n-type) material in proximity to one another creates a p-n junction. The negative side contains freely moving electrons and the positive side contains freely moving electron holes. The silicon is then treated with an anti-glare coating and the p-n junction on the silicon wafer is able to convert light into electrons. While there are a number of other methodologies to create semiconductors using various etching and doping techniques with various semiconductor materials, this is the basic method for manufacturing solar cells that are used in traditional silicon based solar arrays.
Invenergy also pushes Battery Energy Storage Systems in conjunction with or as stand-alone systems.
Something worth mentioning is the carbon footprint of c-Si solar panels manufactured in China, which is massive. The remediation of the carbon footprint for Chinese manufactured arrays is measured in years, most often close to a decade.
Emeren
Emeren is a Norwalk Connecticut company founded in 2005. Emeren is very committed to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) which is part and parcel with the Green New Deal. While the party preference is not obvious, their business model centers around the Green New deal. Emeren’s commitment to ESG was clearly stated in their 2023 ESG report. At the time of this report, the CEO was Yumin Liu, formerly of Enron. Since that time, Emeren was taken private in a by-out by Shurya Vitra Ltd. and Mr. Liu stepped down as CEO. Ke Chen is now the CEO of Emeren. Mr. Chen has been on the ESG committee since 2019. Here is the preface from the Emeren 2023 ESG report:
NORWALK, Conn., Dec. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Emeren Group Ltd (“Emeren” or the “Company”) (www.emeren.com) (NYSE: SOL), a leading global solar project developer, owner, and operator, today announced the release of its 2023 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report. The report highlights the company’s achievements in advancing sustainability, fostering inclusivity, and maintaining robust governance, underpinned by a systematic and transparent approach aligned with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards.
The Global Reporting Initiative is a nonprofit organization that sets global ESG standards. Companies that participate report their ESG progress each year to the GRI. The fact that Emeren has an ESG working committee and reports to GRI is a clear indication of how closely tied the company is to the Green New Deal.
Emeren Model
Emeren has a different model than Silicon Ranch and Invenergy. The company develops utility-scale solar projects then sells them to other companies who will manage the facility. Emeren generally purchases land for these utility-scale solar facilities and they use traditional c-Si solar panel arrays on ground mounts. They also push for installation of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) along with the utility-scale-solar. The manufacturing process for the silicon based solar panels is described in detail in the Invenergy Model section above.
Conclusion
All of the companies covered here are closely tied to the Green New Deal and are committed to renewable energy. I should note that there are other solar companies that would like to build projects in Fayette County and all of them have similar ties to the Green New Deal. Many of these companies are heavily invested in ESG, which promotes corporate NetZero goals, DEI goals, and business management practices.
In Part 4, I’ll cover how utility-scale solar impacts grid management, the “Duck Curve” created by utility-scale solar, and I’ll expose the real problem utility-scale solar solves. In addition, I’ll talk about what Fayette County gets out utility-scale solar deals.
Leave a Reply