1. SOLAR TECHNOLOGY
OVERVIEW OF THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
BY NANDITA BHOTIKA

2. HIGH INTEREST - NEW UTILITY SCALE SOLAR ENERGY
 In 2015, US Congress extended the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) at the current 30% rate
through 2019. Expected to boost continued investments in solar and wind projects by
almost 50%
 Costs for solar technology continue to fall, especially PV panels - making large scale solar
projects increasingly viable
 Growing consolidation across project developer landscape, creating synergies for scale and
operation
 Aggressive procurement of centralized solar by utilities and even corporate entities to meet
renewables adoption standards

3. FUTURE CHALLENGES
 Shrinking opportunity for siting of wind/solar farms - windy regions for wind farms, almost
maxed out; vast sun rich desert land close to demand and transmission lines highly
contended. Where is the next goldmine?
 Growing competition in the market for utility scale power sale agreements, with price wars
on the horizon. Will declining solar plant costs keep pace with price- point competition?
 Over concentration of large scale solar/wind projects in the southwest and mid-west leaving
many high-pollution regions in the east, deficient in renewable energy options. Will there be
long-term regional imbalance?
 Anti-wind/solar farm lobbying from environmental groups growing, concerns abound for
preserving natural wild habitats. What is a win-win plan?

4. NEW OPPORTUNITIES
 Exploring other sun rich regions -Texas, Utah, Colorado for growth. State governments
providing attractive tax credits for solar power development
 Investment in renewable energy storage systems, new transmission lines
• General Electric will be providing Con Edison with a 8 MWh energy storage system, for a site in
Central Valley, California. System will use Lithium-ion batteries
• Growing need for building new transmission networks to carry renewable energy from distant
solar/wind farms to markets with high demand
 Diversification of energy portfolio to include other renewables – solar, wind, biomass, geo
thermal
 Increasing viability of farmland & industrial sites for smaller solar farms, shifting
dependency away from in-demand desert land of the southwest

5. EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES IN NEW REGIONS - TEXAS
 West Texas has vast, flat, open land – cheap and
easily available, with abundant direct sunshine
 Texas currently has 193 MW of large-scale solar
arrays, enough to power just 40,000 Texas homes
 ERCOT(the power grid operator for most of Texas),
expects 10,000 MW to 12,500 MW of solar-
generating capacity to be installed by 2029 in the
state
 Solar farm costs falling rapidly in the region
 Texas recently completed construction of $6.9 billion
worth of new transmission lines, connecting many of
Texas’s large cities
CON EDISON DEV. ALREADY IN THE GAME
Source: ConEdison Development presentation, 2016

6. COMPETITOR OVERVIEW - UTILITY SCALE SOLAR DEVELOPERS
NextEra- Energy Resources
 Fifth largest solar developer
in US
 Diverse energy based asset
portfolio-Wind (59%), solar
(5%), nuclear(13%) and
fossil (23%)
 1,385 MW of solar power
capacity by end 2016
 Growing investment in new
regions and opportunities
Exelon Power
 Seventh largest solar developer in
US
 3,200 MW of hydroelectric,
landfill gas, wind and solar (~300
MW) capacity
 Owns and operates largest urban
solar installation- Exelon City
Solar of 10MW capacity
 Developed the Antelope Solar
Ranch One in southern California,
with 234 MW capacity (one of the
largest solar farms in the world)
Con Edison Development
 Sixth largest solar farm
developer in US
 595 MW of operating solar
capacity
 Expansion into new regions–
Purchased the 132 MW Texas
Solar 7 farm in 2015, world’s
second largest dual-axis tracker
system
 Disciplined growth of portfolio,
strong pipeline of future
projects