Solar Power World podcasts

How do you stay on top of knowing your customers' needs? What are their biggest challenges and how can you help? Is talking to them on the job site enough? We spoke with Trent Mostaert, Vice President and general manager of solar at Mortenson Construction to find out how his company conducts a survey to learn more about the needs of its customers.

Asset management is a buzzword in today's solar industry. But what does it really mean and how does it relate to overall operations and maintenance? We spoke with Ken Kostok of O&M provider Alectris to find out. He shares his lessons learned from over 150 MW of solar installations. He also tells us about a special symposium taking place during Intersolar NA 2015 where you can learn more.

After 24 years in Minnesota solar, contractor Innovative Power Systems has some insight to share on how to survive in the solar market. We spoke with Eric Pasi, VP of business development to learn more.

We spoke with Ed Heacox and Casey Miller of Chint Power Systems to discuss the adoption of 3-phase string inverter architecture in North America, and what Chint offers in this space.

KACO new energy and Ampt have partnered to offer KACO’s blueplanet 50 TL3 inverter with an option to pair with Ampt’s string optimizers. This is in an effort to increase energy production and lower costs in commercial solar projects. We spoke with Mark Kanjorski of Ampt, and Bill Reaugh of KACO new energy to find out more.

Solar Power World editor Kelly Pickerel spoke with Jon Reese, CEO of Brightstar Solar, based in Marlborough, Massachusetts. The company has grown with the state's solar boom.

Intersolar North America will return to San Francisco for its eighth year July 14 to 16. We spoke with Markus Elsässer, CEO of Solar Promotion International, which helps organize the show, to learn more about what to expect and why to attend.

In this podcast, SolarRoofHook.com Executive Vice President Rick Gentry talks about the company, its products and why customers would choose SolarRoofHook.com over its competitors. SolarRoofHook.com is a division of Quickscrews International Corporation, offering a wide range of products for mounting solar panels onto residential roofs. The company can produce custom products in 60 days and are co...

Thomas Conroy, the new president of solar tracker manufacturer Array Technologies, has decades of experience in power generation. In this Solar Speaks podcast, Conroy discusses parallels between the solar and windpower industries. He also discusses technology coming soon from Array Technologies, including a new generation of its single-axis tracker.

As the solar industry goes through its growing pains there’s no shortage of ebb and flow to watch. Some businesses boom, while some lose their place in the market, and still others may stumble but come back stronger than ever. We spoke with Andrew de Pass, CEO of Conergy, about how the company has bounced back after its acquisition by Kawa in 2013, and what other solar professionals can learn from...

As the off-grid solar market grows, many solar professionals are considering offering services to this segment as a smart business move. But off-grid projects have different considerations that are important to note for a proper installation. To tell us more, we spoke with Sequoya Cross of off-grid supplier Backwoods Solar.

Site assessment is often discussed as an important step in planning any project, but what exactly do you need to look for? We spoke with Gwendalyn Bender of Vaisala to tell us more. She even touches on why developers of the notable Ivanpah solar project weren't as concerned as the media when the project didn't perform as hoped for its first summer. Listen to learn more.

We spoke with Jonathan Doochin, CEO of Soligent Distribution. Jonathan discussed what solar installers need to win, the evolution of residential solar financing and the emergency and proliferation of the solar loan, and where to look to reduce soft cost which can save you over 20% of the cost of selling and installing solar.

We spoke with Rick Gilbert, vice president of Florida-based solar installer Solar Source. Rick discusses his company, as well as the training and public awareness of solar it provides through the Solar Source Institute. He also shares his thoughts on Florida’s solar market and what it will take to push solar into the mainstream in the United States.

We spoke with Levent Gun, CEO of Ampt. Levent discussed a bit about Ampt and its role in the HDPV Alliance. With some of the biggest inverter, junction box and module makers in the industry, the alliance aims to advance industry adoption of lower cost, higher performance PV systems.

We talk to Paul Robusto, photovoltaic business development manager at Intertek, about the rapidly expanding concentrated PV technology, a subject he spoke on the recent Solar Power International Conference in Orlando.

We spoke with Michael Howe of Canadian solar integrator Eclipsall Energy Corporation. He discussed how the U.S. solar market varies from the Canadian market, as well as the importance of using quality raw materials in solar panels. He tells installers what to look for when talking to manufacturers about panel quality.

We spoke with Billy Parish, founder and president of Mosaic. The company has made recent headlines with its innovative approach to financing solar projects by allowing the public to invest in solar via an online marketplace.

Solar Power World editor Kelly Pickerel spoke with Brandon Cheshire, founder and director of production at SunHarvest Solar & Electrical, based in Phoenix, Arizona. The mostly residential solar installer is active in local and state governments to boost the profile of solar energy.

Remember vanadium from your high school science class? We spoke with Imergy President Tim Hennessey who told us how his company is using a lower-cost vanadium waste product to create batteries that can last longer and hold more power than many other options out there. Listen to learn more.

We spoke with Mark Kanjorski of Ampt to discuss why the solar industry is moving toward higher voltages (1500V and more), and various ways of achieving them, including with DC optimizers.

Testing is essential to helping verify functionality and performance of any component, especially inverters as the “brains of a solar system.” We spoke with Ray Hudson and Michael Mills-Price of DNV GL’s inverter testing segment to tell us more about how the organization's testing expands upon that of traditional national testing facilities.

Installations of power optimizers are reported to grow significantly through 2020. We’re here with Mike Rogerson of SolarEdge to give us some insight into these power electrics in 2015.

Yury Reznikov, vice president of product management at SunLink, a solar mounting system provider, discusses trends in the ground mount market, including key product differentiators and supply chain best practices.

Solar Power World editor Kelly Pickerel spoke with Jeff Petrini, energy manager, and Katie Van Dyke, sales and marketing manager, of A-C Solar based in Bakersfield, California. The commercial solar installer has been in the business for over a decade and shares its tips for success in SPW's Contractors Corner.