SunCast

How did one of the solar industry’s true pioneers take everything he’s learned about solar in the last 20 years and make it Free and open-sourced to the world? Andrew Birch (Birchy), Co-Founder of the first company to pioneer delivering online solar designs(Sungevity), tells us what his research suggests is the answer to scaling solar by 30% per year through 2050 to address climate change. The 1st...

Coronavirus has drastically changed the global economy with impacts across every industry, including clean energy and solar development. We may have never seen an economic or public health crisis at this scale, but policy, solar and finance experts have reason to believe that renewable energy can weather this storm and continue to grow. Moreover, the industry can help create jobs and meet public p...

COVID-19 has touched every corner of our economy, and guess what? The solar project finance and acquisition space is not the exception. Jesse Grossman, CEO of Soltage, joined us here on SunCast to provide his insights on this concerning area. Jesse has directed over $600M into solar asset investment through Soltage, which currently owns and manages a solar portfolio of over 300 MWs across 14 state...

We’ve been extending into e-mobility and energy storage as you might have noticed in our recent episodes. Both elements serve the collective consciousness of how low-carbon future for the grid can be achieved, as well as mas penetration of renewables as a whole. Today, we have Giovanni Bertolino, Head of E-Mobility for U.S. and Canada at Enel X. We are going to tease out what’s happening in the ma...

From residential to large-scale utility projects, energy storage (predominantly in the form of batteries) is leap-frogging other applications for finally providing firm and transactive power to the grid from renewables. How are developers using storage as a force-multiplier and where can we expect to see further business model innovation? We had the pleasure to break this question down with Jacque...

Today’s episode is one of the keynotes of our SunCast Clean Energy Summit: the State of the Union of Clean Energy in the LATAM region. Learn about this market’s ecosystem, players, and dynamics from BloombergNEF's Head of Research in LATAM, James Ellis. He is based in São Paulo, and he oversees an analyst team focused on research material into the clean energy sector across the LATAM region. This...

Did you ever wonder how ideas like SunRun’s Brightbox Storage Program got their start? Today’s Intrapreneur and solar OG, Paul Dailey, has had a hand in that bright idea and more in his 2+ decade career on the solarcoaster. We dig into his journey to Director of Product Strategy at Outback, the twists and turns along the way, and the carefully curated and practical steps he took to craft his role...

What you’re about to hear was recorded LIVE during the pandemic, but also during the first-ever virtual solar conference hosted by our friends over at Midwest Solar Expo 2020. I was the moderator for a panel dedicated all about the innovations around operations and maintenance. This topic certainly demands more attention than what it’s getting within the clean energy industry, so we’re trying to g...

It’s truly an honor every time I get the chance on this show to highlight the work that folks are doing to bring light, electricity, hope and opportunity to those less fortunate. Today’s entrepreneur has traveled the world producing and acting in films, and she has learned what a privilege we have in developed countries to consider electric lights and running water a necessity, not a luxury. She a...

Today’s conversation is aimed to discuss the storage scenarios many of you face, which are Residential & Commercial spaces, and today’s Intrapreneur, Paul Dailey, has a decorated career in some of the most recognized and established solar companies in the business serving those 2 markets. It’s no wonder Outback Power recruited him to head Product and Market Strategy, and it was great to have a...

Today we are going to explore what it looks like to develop a Solar+ Storage project at scale. As we enter into the Solar+ Decade , storage is increasingly becoming an area of expertise for the industry’s leading EPCs and Development firms. Those of you familiar with Strata Solar won’t need an introduction to this North Carolina based EPC that has quietly dominated the Southeast markets for a deca...

This week, we have an in-depth look at the ins and outs of building a project that incorporates a massive battery component to the equation. Energy Storage is all the rage in California, and all over the renewable energy landscape in the world. There’s at least one missing element to the conversation to understand the how and why folks are able to monetize and deploy these battery systems: resourc...

Our guests rarely get very specific about the decision matrix of forming their business, and understanding the unique space they hold that makes their version of the widget the best in the world. Today’s entrepreneur, Dr. Nick Engerer, found his way to his current job, or rather created his current job, vis a vis academia. We dove into the mind of a brilliant thinker, biohacker and true process en...

Today’s guest, Marek Kubik, has been on the show before. Perhaps you caught him on episode 251 or in as a panelist in one of the sessions of our SunCast Clean Energy Summit . Wherever you have met him, you surely have been impressed by this young leader from the Fluence team. He leads Fluence’s UK & Ireland team, responsible for overseeing the origination, development and commercial negotiatio...

If you are new and didn’t yet check out this week’s Tactical Tuesday, I would highly recommend you just hit pause and take a look back at the episode from June 30th as it’ll help set the stage. If you’re already up to speed on Reactive & Real Power, then power on my friend. Today’s Entrepreneur is a returning guest, but not just from this week’s Tactical Tuesday . President of Apparent, Inc, J...

Welcome to another Tactical Tuesday, a short-form conversation with subject-matter experts designed to give you practical tools, tips and advice for building your solar business or career. This Thursday, you will have the chance to really get inside the business and career of one of our recent SunCast Clean Energy Summit guests, Jacqueline DeSouza, President of Apparent Inc. However, during that i...

If you missed it, this is Part 2 of our two-part conversation with Chuck Swoboda, former CEO of Cree, Inc. It was a phenomenal conversation about his history, and how he got to Cree, Inc. We will wrap up the conversation today, so I’d encourage you to press pause and listen to Part 1 (if you haven’t already). I’m glad that you’re finding his stories intriguing and you’re looking for more. Chuck di...

Today’s entrepreneur story is with someone with whom SunCast faithful listeners are already familiar. Chuck Swoboda has graced the podcast a couple of times: recently as both Tactical Tuesday guest and a keynote for the SunCast Clean Energy Summit in April. His legacy and impact at CREE, Inc. are legendary, and he’s put many of his fabled stories and lessons learned into his recently launched book...

Last week, I participated in the first-ever virtual e-conference in the solar industry: the Midwest Solar Expo. Thanks to a virtual platform called Virbela, everyone created their digital avatars, walked around the virtual campus, and attended diverse sessions and panels. Every morning, I had the SunCast Morning Show, presented by LG! What you are about to hear next are excerpts from those morning...

We’re taking a journey down intrapreneur lane with an inspirational figure and example of how to take a long-standing role in corporate life and create a company out of it. Patrick Lee is the President & CEO of PXiSE, and also the VP of Infrastructure and Technology at Sempra N.A. Infrastructure. Along the way, we also hear from his team about how they’re building a scalable solution to the Tr...

I rarely get into the realm of politics but today’s episode is a particularly important opportunity for us to take action. Today’s episode is focused on what’s happening right now in a petition to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) by a secretive group called the New England Ratepayers Association (NERA) aimed at stripping away your solar rights, namely, the Net Energy Metering regula...

If you are new to SunCast, thank you for joining us and I encourage you to check out the previous episodes with today’s guest, Erika Myers, where you can learn more about what’s happening in the fast & furious world of electric vehicles.  She was recently featured in a Tactical Tuesday, Episode 258 , discussing her research into EV Charging rate structures. I really enjoy getting insight...

We are pleased to release the second part of the Opening Session of our SunCast Clean Energy Summit, which started on April 22nd as a way to grow our community and skills, as well as celebrate #EarthDayTogether. Adam Browning leads Vote Solar's team of advocates, experts and staff working to bring solar to the mainstream across the U.S. Adam co-founded the organization in 2002 after he had so...

We are pleased to release the first part of the Opening Session of our SunCast Clean Energy Summit, which started on April 22nd as a way to grow our community and skills, as well as celebrate #EarthDayTogether. Andrew Birch is the Co-Founder of OpenSolar, a company that provides the world’s leading software platform for solar professionals: a complete digital tool kit to scale solar sales. Birchy...

Sheldon Kimber and I dig into his fortuitous route to join then very-much-a-startup Recurrent power in the mid 2000’s and his ride to the top of the solar energy charts helping make Recurrent one of the most respected (and valuable) solar businesses of the last decade. His sophomore startup, Intersect Power, is anything but sophomoric and is firing on all cylinders at the moment. What’s driving it...