SunCast

#181: Jon Powers, CleanCapital Jon Powers , is a true warrior, and a veritable solar warrior. When Jon returned from serving the US Army in Iraq, he had a vision for how important clean energy is for our nation’s independence and charted a path to help the armed forces transition away from Fossil Fuels. Little did he know this would lead him to the White House the first-ever Chief Sustainability O...

#180: SEPA’s Julia Hamm Today we dig into SEPA’s state of the union moving beyond 2019, their 4 pathways framework for achieving a smarter & cleaner grid, Julia’s ardent perspective on Carbon-free vs 100% RE, and Hiring & keeping “A” Players Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here If you would like to check out the SPI Podcast lounge and nominate a guest or apply to pa...

#179: John Novak, CEO Scanifly John Novak, cut his teeth in the trenches doing design for well-known east-coast solar firms before he stepped out to start Scanifly, a drone-based solar site evaluation & design tool. Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here If you would like to check out the SPI Podcast lounge and nominate a guest or apply to participate, he...

#178:Etienne Lecompte Tactical Tuesday Today we chat with Etienne Lecompte, CEO of PowerHub and we learn the 3 practical ways you can reduce your carbon footprint. I also inquire about the recent #carbonoffsetchallenge Etienne issued to me on Twitter. Stay tuned. Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here If you would like to check out the SPI Podcast lounge and nominate...

#177: GRID Alternatives Mid-Atlantic Nicole started as GRID Alternatives Mid-Atlantic’s Executive Director in 2014, at a time when there was little precedent for low-income solar policies and programs across the region. Under Nicole’s leadership, GRID Alternatives Mid Atlantic has installed more than 2MW of solar on over 250 rooftops of low-income families.  Gain access to all the show notes & res...

#176: Kristen Graf of WRISE Kristen Graf is the Executive Director of the non-profit Women of Renewable Industries & Sustainable Energy, or WRISE as it’s better known. For a decade, she has championed, mentored and modeled the female executive rise in engineering and renewable energy business. She’s made hard choices along the way, but in the end, her work has helped more than 30 chapters and hund...

#175: Live SPI Podcast Lounge I'm thrilled to announce that we’ll be hosting the first-ever Podcast Lounge live from Solar Power International! Check out today’s episode for details and learn how YOU can be featured and involved! Calling all podcasters, apply today! Learn more about how you can be a featured guest or podcast host at the first-ever SPI Podcast Lounge, presented by SunCast Media by...

#174: Founder & CEO, Enact Systems Today’s entrepreneur is Deep Chakraborty, a seasoned solar veteran with experience bringing quality products to market. Some of you probably know Deep from his days launching and growing the Centrosolar brand in the US, but in today’s episode, you’ll learn how he applied product savvy from Detroit’s automotive industry to launch Enact Systems, a fast-growing soft...

#173: Chad Farrell, CEO, Encore Renewable Energy Chad Farrell is an entrepreneur who discovered solar as a way to marry his calling with his craft. He was originally involved in real-estate redevelopment in Vermont after college when he realized that solar is a perfect compliment for the brownfields, landfills and other ‘problem’ sites not suitable for traditional development. Now Encore Renewable...

#172: Jim Spano, Radiant REIT & Managing Partner of Spano Partner Holdings Jim Spano has been instrumental in the development of over 300 megawatts of solar generation primarily in the Northeast United States. He is the co-founder of Radiant REIT (one of the newest ventures for this serial Entrepreneur), founder and President of the New Jersey Solar Grid Supply Association (NJSGSA), Vice-President...

#171: The Powur Model In the last episode, we got the background and point of inspiration for how Jonathan decided to create Powur, but we ran out of time to get into the details of exactly how this innovative new sales empowerment platform works. Today we go into those details, and we also round out the discussion as per usual with Jonathan’s key advice to entrepreneurs and solar salespeople, his...

#170: Jonathan Budd, Powur’ up residential sales Jonathan explains how he has built Powur as a solar salesforce powerhouse quietly establishing legitimacy and a nationwide footprint.  Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here - Join the Tribe? Check out  Episode 86 , in which I explain how YOU can become a SunCast Tribe member and support the growth and stability of SunC...

#169: Guled Ahmed, Power Offgrid Did hear about that one company in Africa trading goats for solar? Join me today as I engage with Guled Ahmed of Power Offgrid, a fledgling solar company in Somalia that has done just that! This is surely one for the serial entrepreneurs out there, so don’t miss it! Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here - Join the Tribe? Check out  Ep...

#168: Bill Parsons, COO of ACORE Legislation is one of those things you need to keep an eye on, so today I thought I’d bring in a Washington insider who’s spent decades on the Hill. Bill Parsons is Chief Operating Officer of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) and sat down with me recently at the REFF Wall St conference to discuss the latest happenings in Washington and what you shoul...

#167: Disrupting the Smart Home market and enabling Solar and Energy Storage integration. Alex Bazhinov and his co-founder Kevin built Lumin to give the homeowner the ability to actually know what their home energy usage is. Tune-in to hear how Alex got the idea for Lumin, how he and Kevin met and formed the company, and just how they expect to disrupt the Smart Home market and enable more solar a...

#166: Jason Edens, Founder of the Rural Renewable Energy Alliance Jason Edens has been developing solar and renewable financing mechanisms for nearly 2 decades. His innovation and hard work in America’s heartland has earned the energy freedom of hundreds of families formerly dependent on energy assistance from the US Government. Today we hear his story and learn how the Rural Renewable Energy Alli...

#165: Smart Electric Power Alliance Julia Hamm has been leading SEPA for more than 15 yrs, and helped the Utility Photovoltaic Group in its transition to being the Smart Electric Power Alliance. Along the way, she helped birth Solar Power International and has supported dozens of Utilities in their transition to clean energy. Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here - J...

#164: Apex Clean Energy Mark Goodwin is the CEO of Apex Clean Energy. We go deep into the process and definitions underlying building a renewable energy development company. So, if you’ve ever wondered what it looks like from the inside of what has been referred to as the leading independent clean energy company in the nation, tune in! Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episod...

#163: Managing Director for YPF Ventures Today’s Entrepreneur is helping bridge the technology and financing gap between Silicon Valley and Latin America.  Tomas Ocampo and I first met when he was a Graduate Student at Stanford back in early 2016, and Today we’re announcing both the investment fund he’s created, as well as their first two investments - backed by one of Latin America’s largest util...

#162: Drift connects energy providers with buyers Greg Robinson and his team envision and have built a marketplace where the biggest companies in the world and individual consumers alike can buy true green power service at the best price possible.    Today you’ll discover how. Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here   Join the Tribe? Check out  Episode 86 , in which I...

#161: What exactly does a Chief Policy Officer do? Tune In as I sit down with Anne Hoskins live at Solar Power Puerto Rico to ask the question “what exactly does a Chief Policy Officer do, anyway?” Anne has a fascinating story, and she is leading Sunrun into unchartered waters by paving the way for their DER products, opening key new markets like Illinois and Puerto Rico, and much much more....

#160: Sunrun’s strategy for new markets and innovative storage initiatives. Chris Rauscher is one of the folks responsible for Sunrun’s strategy regarding new markets and innovative storage initiatives.  Perhaps you heard they won a DER auction in the Northeast earlier this year? Chris was involved. And you see that Sunrun is now leading the charge to help Puerto Rico achieve a 100% renewable stan...

#159: Founded Sun Light & Power in 1976 Today’s entrepreneur has been building an iconic solar business since before many of you were even born! Gary Gerber founded Sun Light & Power in 1976, and has built one of the most trusted brands in the California market. It was humbling and educational to finally sit down with Gary and chat about his 4 decades of experience. Gain access to all the show not...

#158: Jonathan Pinzon, Carlos Abad & Jamie Dowswell If you’re familiar at all with the Mexico market, then you’ll have heard of the Mexico International Renewable Energy Congress, now know universally as Mirec. Like many of you, I’ll be headed to Mexico City next week to participate in what is essentially the SPI of Mexico, so thought it a good time to tell you both about the conference and a bit...

#157: Virginia’s fastest-growing solar company Devin Welch is Chief Strategy & Development officer at Sun Tribe Solar a relatively young but extremely impressive bunch of corporate renegades taking the Virginia market by storm. I recently had the chance to visit them in their new expanded Charlottesville VA office and tried to capture the essence of the culture at the heart of this fast-paced mark...