SunCast

Happy New Year. I've got some exciting episodes and community planning coming, but in the meantime, I hope you enjoy this timeless story. Thanks again for setting aside  THIS  time in your day. Enjoy this New Years episode of SunCast. Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast...

Welcome to Episode 60 of SunCast! In today's episode of SunCast, I speak to Jigar Shah, an icon in the solar industry. From founding SunEdison to leading the Carbon War Room as its first CEO, Jigar has been innovating on business models in the energy and infrastructure arenas for more than 2 decades.   Currently, Jigar is the co-founder and President of specialty finance company, Generat...

Welcome to Episode 59 of SunCast! This is installment #2 in the Solar+Storage series. Today on SunCast, I get to interview one of the guys who's had a massive impact on my own personal career, Mike Grunow, the VP of Marketing at Vizn Energy Systems. Tune in today as we discuss: How to spec out a good MRD - Market Requirements Document The biggest misconception about Li-ion batteries Limitations of...

Welcome to Episode 58 of SunCast! Today on SunCast, we are digging into the inner workings of a company (Wunder Capital) many of you have probably begun to work with, and who has clearly done a great job of gaining traction since it's founding back in 2013.  For you entrepreneurs out there, I ask Bryan a ton of questions specifically about the who/what/how/when/why of starting and growing his...

Welcome to Episode 57 of SunCast, and episode #5 in the Solar Pioneers series. Today is the much-anticipated Part 2 of Episode 39 with Dan Shugar! As founder and CEO, Dan Shugar helped build NEXTracker into one of the fastest growing cleantech companies in the U.S. Dan was responsible for spinning NEXTracker out of Solaria Corp. where he also served as CEO, and then merging with FLEX almost 2 year...

Welcome to Episode 56 of SunCast. Today I talk to Dr. Travis Simpkins, based on a recommendation from one of our amazing listeners! Travis is the founder and CEO of muGrid Analytics. muGrid Analytics are the nerds of the renewable energy world. Analyzing potential or existing projects to help you make sound data driven decisions and get the most out of our renewable energy investments. T...

Welcome to Episode 55 of SunCast. Edmee Kelsey, CEO of 3MegaWatt, is an expert in Solar Asset Management. Today, she's here to help us better understand the world of Asset Management, and the underlying software that keeps it going.  Many of us don't really have a glimpse into this side of the plant, as we're focused on the upfront sales, marketing, and installation aspect, but with over 300G...

Welcome to Episode 54 of SunCast. Today we go deep with a friend of mine who's seen the ups and downs of this industry. He's been at the top & bottom of the food chain, successes & failures, and lots of lessons learned along the way. Some of you may know Chad Medcroft, as he was one of the key executive team members responsible for growing Zep from a niche California solar racking company...

Welcome to Tactical Tuesdays, a weekly short-form conversation with subject-matter experts to give you the edge in building your solar business and brand. And this week, we welcome Mika Nuotio of Empower Micro Systems. Nature of how power electronics sector works and implication for solar industry, inverters, etc. What changes in UL and NEC standards are driving inverter and module electronics arc...

Welcome to Episode 52 of SunCast. I'm so glad I'm eager to hear your thoughts on the first Tactical Tuesday. It's 20 minutes of marketing morsels with our friend Solar Fred. What topics do you want more of there, or who should be featured? Today on SunCast is Mr. TJ Kanczuzewski, CEO and chief innovator at Inovateus Solar. TJ is one of the most high-energy executives I know, and he leads a team of...

Welcome to Tactical Tuesdays, a weekly short-form conversation with subject-matter experts to give you the edge in building your solar business and brand. And first up, my friend Tor Valenza, AKA Solar Fred, is back to discuss Content Marketing. What is it? How can you integrate it into your marketing strategy? Where does Social Media add value, and even who are some of the thought leaders Tor rec...

I can scarcely believe it's already been 2 yrs since the launch of SunCast! Today, October 6th, is in fact the exact anniversary. It also marks the beginning of my 39th trip around the Sun, woot!  Launching on my birthday in 2015 was an easy way to never forget the anniversary of the show! There are 5 things I'll cover on today's episode: wow, 50 episodes, what does that mean? And an announce...

Episode 49 - the missing link(s) to solid growth This week's episode is one I REALLY enjoyed recording for 2 reasons. #1, it's mostly unscripted because of #2, it's after dinner with one of my favorite humans, Scott Mueller, and we aptly dubbed it the first Winecast, over a great bottle of Vino - It's officially WineCast #2 (see Episode 46 for WineCast #1) but let's not get into semantics! Today I...

Welcome to SunCast, and Episode 48! Today we'll be spending time with a friend who's no stranger to the media and spotlight surrounding solar, and who has been a major voice advocating for the solar industry's maturity both as a resource and as a marketing community vying for people's attention in a crowded space.  Tor Valenza, AKA, Solar Fred, is a strategy advisor and communications consult...

Welcome to Episode 46 of SunCast. I'm your host, Nico Johnson, and I'm so glad you're back with me again this week!  My friend, and fellow podcaster, Jeff Spies, has been in the solar industry for nearly exactly the same amount of time I have (that's 11 yrs and counting!) and I don't think Anybody has spent as much time as he has thinking about how to tell the story of the dawn of the Solar P...

Welcome to Episode 46 of SunCast. Today we will be spending time with my new friend, Pamela Cargill of Chaolysti Management Consulting.  Stay tuned for: Insights into how small companies prepare for growth in solar Solid tools Pam uses to coach her clients along that path What its like leaving corporate to run your own consulting business, from a woman's perspective And about a dozen other in...

Welcome to Episode 45 of SunCast. We're here to help you unlock your potential as a leader in the solar industry. The recent Solar Pioneers Series we have begun, and some upcoming series on Solar Storage, Understanding Solar Finance, and more are aimed at helping you unlock the potential stored in the wisdom of Other people's struggles, growth and success stories, so I hope you keep coming back fo...

Welcome to Episode 44 of SunCast, Solar Warrior! I'm so glad you are with me again this week! We're back with another edition of the Solar Pioneers Series, and today's guest hails from the East Coast of the US. I know what you are thinking - "Wait a minute, Nico, aren't all the solar pioneers from California?" Not all of them!  Back in the 70s and 80s, there were a number of companies in and...

Welcome to Episode 43 of SunCast, Solar Warrior! While I was recently in SF for the Intersolar N.America show, I was on the lookout for products that I thought were innovative.  Thanks to my friend Tor Valenza, aka Solar Fred, I was introduced to the guys from Smappee.  Smappee is WAY more than just a monitoring device, and I had the privilege to sit down with the founder, Stefen Grosjea...

Welcome to Episode 42 of SunCast, and episode 3 of our Solar Pioneers series. Today we're picking up on Part 2 of our Episode 40 with Cory Vaughan. If you missed the previous episode, please do take some time to go back and hear how it all started.  Cory has had the good fortune of being an early team member with a front row seat to several startups that have become industry-leading behemoths...

Welcome to Episode 41 of SunCast. Today we'll chat with a friend who has done some pioneering work in solar R&D and in setting the bar for Women in Solar. I had the privilege to work with Jing Tian when she first got to Trina Solar in 2014, and have been impressed from day One.  She was recently promoted as President of Trina's North America business unit. And I think that you'll understa...

Wow, Episode 40 of SunCast! And you're gonna love it. This is a long-ish intro, for a longer episode, so settle in for what I hope you'll agree is a fun and fact-filled episode. Today we're continuing what I have dubbed the Solar Pioneers series. I have chosen to use the term Pioneers primarily because the folks in this SunCast interview series have indeed been pioneers of business models and...

Welcome to Episode 39 of SunCast. We're going to continue our trip down memory lane this week, in what might be more like a Back-to-the-Future style episode for SunCast. Today I'm launching what I call the Solar Pioneers series, and I'm honored, and super excited, to have the first in this series be with none other than Mr. Solar, Shugar Magic, Mr. Dan Shugar, CEO of NEXTracker, and one of the mos...

Today we are going to take a trip down memory lane, to a time when names like Trina and Jinko Solar were yet unheard of in the solar industry, a time when the largest brands were BP, and Conergy, and countless other mainly western names you may or may not recognize.  When I joined Trina solar back in 2011, I became aware of a legendary figure who had been responsible for building the sales te...

Welcome to Episode 37 of SunCast. Bob Blenker is CEO of WRB Energy, an Independent Power Producer who is perhaps most well known in the solar space for the 28MW solar plant they built after winning the first Jamaica solar tender.   Bob has done development in just about all types of energy, and is one of the most knowledgeable people I know and trust when it comes to learning about how t...