SunCast
735 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 161 ratingsNico Johnson takes you into conversations with those at the forefront of Renewable Energy.
SunCast gives an inside look into what is happening in renewable energy. From conversations with the biggest Solar Panel manufacturers in the world to the small startups creating the future of renewable energy, such as carbon capture and battery technology breakthroughs.
SunCast is dedicated to providing the knowledge, research, tools and expert guidance you need to understand, grow and be ahead of the curve in the fastest-growing markets in the world.
Featuring over 600 conversations, Nico has interviewed people from Tesla, SolarCity, Trina Solar, Meyer Burger, Conergy, SunEdison, Energy Vault and even the US Government... to name a few. Covering topics such as Solar Power, Wind Energy, Batteries, Electric Vehicles, Carbon Capture, Finance, Hydrogen, and more.
You can watch SunCast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SunCastMedia
...or view the full archive of SunCast episodes here: https://mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes
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Episodes
462: Optimizing solar assets with intelligent cleaning, Catlin Mattheis, CEO of Fracsun
April 14, 2022 17:04 - 1 hour - 43.5 MBI said it when we released the episode with Cary Hayes back in January (Ep 438 btw) that the REC Solar “mafia” has deep roots. Today’s guest, Catlin Mattheis, is proof as he and his co-founders are one of the many “alumni organizations”, as we might call them, from that long heritage REC has given us in California. When you hear the origin story of his company, Fracsun, you’ll get a sense of appreciation for the level of attention to detail, forward-thinking and courage Catlin and his team ...
461: One 5-letter word underscores all project success, w/John Chaimanis, CEO Kendall Sustainable Infrastructure
April 12, 2022 09:00 - 15 minutes - 10.8 MBToday's guest, John Chaimanis, is CEO of Kendall Sustainable Infrastructure. John is a returning SunCast guest & you can hear his original executive profile back in episode 196 of SunCast when we discussed his approach to what we referred to then as “Value-added finance” for solar project development. John’s team and reputation have grown substantially in the sector since our chat back in 2019, so I was supremely grateful for some time with him face to face in Boston recently to see how 20...
460: Collaboration at scale, a “Slack for Solar”? Raptor Maps CEO, Nikhil Vadhavkar
April 07, 2022 13:11 - 58 minutes - 40.1 MBI’ve gotta give NASA credit. It turns out the space program has delivered many many more terrestrial benefits and innovations than might be assumed at first observation. There’ve been a few folks lately on the show who’s original pursuits & passions took them closer to the moon than the average person. Today’s guest is among that elite group, having spent time in deep research for NASA’s space-walking astronauts; his co-founder worked for SpaceX. You can say these guys are used to shooting...
459: TT: Jon Powers, President Clean Capital [Live from RE+Northeast]
April 05, 2022 08:57 - 15 minutes - 10.9 MBJon Powers, is a true [Solar]Warrior. From serving the US Army in Iraq, to becoming the first-ever Chief Sustainability Officer under the Obama administration, Jon has demonstrated passion & leadership in renewables. He was able to parlay that expertise into a strong brand and portfolio in the clean economy vis a vis his company, Clean Capital. Since I first interviewed him way back in Episode 181, Jon and team have grown to become one of the largest C&I developers & asset owners in the US ...
458: How’s Jigar Shah & team doing investing that $24 Billion in innovative energy technology? A 2022 update from the DOE Loan Programs Office
March 31, 2022 11:13 - 42 minutes - 29 MBA year ago, the industry was mildly shocked to learn that Jigar Shah, Industry Icon, Entrepreneur, Investor & Visionary would be joining the US Department of Energy to head the infamous Loan Program office(LPO). The LPO is notably responsible for the Title XVII program that invested in companies like Tesla, Ford, Nissan and a large number of solar energy companies/projects. A year on, I wanted to check-in with Jigar to learn how his first year went, where he’s seeing the trends for 2022 & b...
457: TT: How do I work with an Electric Co-op? Piper Wilder, CEO 60Hertz Energy
March 29, 2022 11:59 - 24 minutes - 17 MBPiper Wilder has been working with electric cooperatives for decades and has keen insight into how to partner with (and sell to) them compared with the functional process with the more traditional utility structure. How many electric cooperatives there are in the United States? What percentage of the total (of electric utilities) that represents? What differences exist between working with Cooperatives versus traditional Utilities? And how might you position yourself or identify how ...
456: How to integrate Social Equity into Renewable Energy Credits(REC), Dana Clare Redden, Founder of Solar Stewards
March 24, 2022 10:16 - 1 hour - 50 MBDana Clare Redden is the founder and CEO of Solar Stewards, a social enterprise connecting corporate social responsibility initiatives with schools and universities, affordable and senior housing, places of worship, and nonprofits in marginalized communities. Today, Dana and Nico discuss: What is energy burden? (And how might we best work towards alleviating it?) The challenges of entrepreneurship as a female founder Solar Stewards’ role in bringing solar solutions and accessibility to hist...
456: How to integrate Social Equity into Renewable Energy Credits(Social RECs), Dana Clare Redden, Founder of Solar Stewards
March 24, 2022 10:16 - 1 hour - 50 MBDana Clare Redden is the founder and CEO of Solar Stewards, a social enterprise connecting corporate social responsibility initiatives with schools and universities, affordable and senior housing, places of worship, and nonprofits in marginalized communities. Today, Dana and Nico discuss: What is energy burden? (And how might we best work towards alleviating it?) The challenges of entrepreneurship as a female founder Solar Stewards’ role in bringing solar solutions and accessibility t...
455: 10X Growth requires an amazing team, Tara Doyle, CCO of PVEL
March 22, 2022 09:51 - 31 minutes - 21.4 MBSuncast is a decidedly better show because of today’s guest. I mean that in all sincerity. In 2018, sitting with Tara Doyle over a beer at SF’s Thirsty Bear brewery, I was challenged to diversify the then very-white-very-male interview guest roster of the fledgling show (still under 100 episodes!!). That day I pledged to get SunCast to at least a 30% representation of female guests (the % of female to male team members in the industry at the time). And, to kick off Women’s History Month in ...
454: Making solar policy work, Meghan Nutting of Sunnova
March 17, 2022 12:45 - 1 hour - 64.4 MBMeghan Nutting's work speaks for itself; She has advocated for and contributed to numerous Solar policies and solutions over the past decade-plus. Additionally, she cut her teeth in public affairs, has worked as a Legislative Director for New York State Assembly member Linda Rosenthal, and as a Press Secretary for former U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe. She then served at SolarCity as the Director of Policy and Electricity Markets as the industry pulled out of the last recession way back in 2009...
453: Britta von Oesen on financing energy storage
March 15, 2022 10:00 - 21 minutes - 14.8 MBThis week’s tactical Tuesday features Britta von Oesen, longtime #Solar Warrior and Clean Energy maven who currently serves as Managing Director with CohnReznick Capital where she opened the W. Coast (SF) Office. She has over a decade of experience with everything from investment banking to tax equity and development in the environmental sector and she’s done BILLIONS of dollars in transactions. Not surprisingly, we recently revealed that her 2020 episode is one of our top listened-to episo...
452: NJ’s rooftop community solar market is dominated by one company, Solar Landscape, w/Shaun Keegan (CEO) & Kate Gold
March 10, 2022 12:03 - 59 minutes - 40.7 MBShaun Keegan co-founded Solar Landscape with a childhood friend in 2012, personally developing each side of the business from design and build to legal and policy. In 2020, his sister, Kate Gold joined the company to lead their community engagement & workforce development initiatives. Kate joins the interview today to provide some color into Shaun’s background and this truly family-run business. You can also check out her interview last year, episode 408, where we highlighted Kate as Solar...
451: Public Relations vs Public Affairs? Nadia Pabst (Antenna Group) can answer that! [Live from RE+Northeast]
March 08, 2022 10:00 - 15 minutes - 10.9 MBJust a few weeks ago (Feb 2022), I was live and in person at the RE+NorthEast Trade Show. I LOVE in person interviews!! Especially this one with Nadia Pabst, VP of the newly created Public Affairs Practice, a notable expansion of Antenna Group who is so well known for Marketing and PR. From storage to solar fleets to self driving vehicles, Nadia brings a surprising breadth of experience and subject matter expertise to the political acumen clients would expect from a Public Affairs expert....
450: Alchemy, love of people and the accidental executive with Mary Powell
March 03, 2022 11:00 - 57 minutes - 39.7 MBWe are kicking off Women’s History Month with Mary Powell, the Chief Executive Officer of Sunrun, the Nation’s leading home solar, battery storage, and energy services company. You may also recall that Mary served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Green Mountain Power Corporation (2008-2019), an electric services company that serves 75 percent of the State of Vermont’s residential and business customers. During her tenure, Mary delivered on an ambitious energy vision to provide...
450: SunRun CEO, Mary Powell, leading America's largest residential solar company
March 03, 2022 11:00 - 57 minutes - 39.8 MBWe are kicking off Women’s History Month with Mary Powell, the Chief Executive Officer of Sunrun, the Nation’s leading home solar, battery storage, and energy services company. You may also recall that Mary served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Green Mountain Power Corporation (2008-2019), an electric services company that serves 75 percent of the State of Vermont’s residential and business customers. During her tenure, Mary delivered on an ambitious energy vision to provide...
450: Sunrun CEO, Mary Powell, leading America's largest residential solar company
March 03, 2022 10:00 - 58 minutes - 39.8 MBWe are kicking off Women’s History Month with Mary Powell, the Chief Executive Officer of Sunrun, the Nation’s leading home solar, battery storage, and energy services company. You may also recall that Mary served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Green Mountain Power Corporation (2008-2019), an electric services company that serves 75 percent of the State of Vermont’s residential and business customers. During her tenure, Mary delivered on an ambitious energy vision to prov...
449: Inside Goldman Sachs & Shell Ventures $75M bet on GridPoint, with Peter Corsell (Chairman) & Melissa Blanken (CMO)
March 01, 2022 10:00 - 20 minutes - 13.8 MBIn this audio-exclusive, host Nico Johnson gets unique behind-the-scenes insight into the strategic investment by two industry giants, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Shell Ventures, into one of the more well-established building energy management platforms in climatetech - GridPoint. GridPoint today announced it has closed a $75 million strategic capital raise led by the Sustainable Investing Group within Goldman Sachs Asset Management (Goldman Sachs), with additional participation by...
448: Powered Up! with Michael Burz
February 24, 2022 09:45 - 1 hour - 81.6 MBWarning this is a 2-hour life course that you don't want to miss! Queue it up and set aside the time. You will be rewarded Ever meet someone and stand in awe of their genius? Well, have we got a show for you! This week’s episode features Michael Burz, CEO and Co-Founder of Enzinc, a green energy startup developing a revolutionary type of battery based on zinc. While most stories illustrate a slow and steady upward journey toward success, Michael’s story is one mind-blowing achievement after...
448: Zinc Batteries, Rocket Science, & Reinvention, with Michael Burz of Enzinc
February 24, 2022 08:45 - 1 hour - 81.7 MBWarning this is a 2-hour life course that you don't want to miss! Queue it up and set aside the time. You will be rewarded Ever meet someone and stand in awe of their genius? Well, have we got a show for you! This week’s episode features Michael Burz, CEO and Co-Founder of Enzinc, a green energy startup developing a revolutionary type of battery based on zinc. While most stories illustrate a slow and steady upward journey toward success, Michael’s story is one mind-blowing achievement...
447: How are you doing…Really? With Derick Lila, PV Buzz
February 22, 2022 08:45 - 30 minutes - 21.1 MBToday's Tactical Tuesday features Derick Lila, the founder of PV Buzz (a platform focused on the North American Solar industry.) Recently, he made an interesting post on LinkedIn about Black History month and its emphasis on "black awesomeness" while overlooking issues related to black wellness. The post was particularly notable as the theme of this year's Black History Month is centered around Black health and wellness. I commented as I am prone to do, and it struck a chord, so I asked D...
446: Undeniable proof that mentors matter, with Miles Braxton of Goldman Sachs RPG
February 17, 2022 08:45 - 1 hour - 54.7 MBMiles Braxton went to UVA specifically to study in the lab of Mool Gupta, the Father of Photonics. He should have been a prime candidate for the booming solar industry: a black engineer, young and ambitious, ready to put his boots on and earn his stripes. Then, he couldn’t find a job. Anywhere. He now leads Risk Management for the Goldman Sachs Renewable Power Group, and is Co-founder and Director of Strategic Partnerships at the BlackOak Collective. Not a bad turn turn in his luck, but as ...
445: Unleash the Power Within Experience with Alex Williams
February 15, 2022 08:45 - 16 minutes - 11 MBHappy Tuesday, Solar Warriors! If you've been keeping up with our podcast, then you'll remember Alex Williams, CEO of Solar Energy Partners, who appeared on the show at the beginning of this month. In that episode, we talked at length about his company and his success in mobilizing over 1000 people into high-performing solar sales. And while his success is undoubtedly inspiring, too often, we can fixate on trying to replicate results without sufficiently investigating the habits, mindse...
444: Local Energy Rules: Empowering Local Communities to Decide Their Energy Future
February 10, 2022 08:40 - 1 hour - 63.4 MBThis week we’re excited to welcome our guest, John Farrell, to Suncast. John Farrell is an author, a podcaster, co-director of the Institute of Self Reliance, and leads the Energy Democracy Initiative. He has also been featured in the New York Times and is widely known as a “guru of distributed energy.” On this week’s episode, we were able to get some deeper insights from him specifically focused around: 1.) The Institute of Self Reliance, their mission, and how that fits in to address ...
443: Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me - Solar Edition! (Live @Intersolar’22)
February 08, 2022 09:01 - 27 minutes - 19.1 MBMany will instantly recognize the popular NPR Quiz show “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me!” If you don’t, you really have missed one of the all-time-great NPR staples. Well, at Intersolar North America last month, Scott Nguyen, CEO of Bodhi Solar, and I hosted a very special version [Scott’s brainchild] of WWDTM - the Solar Edition! Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me is a very entertaining quiz show built off real life stories from current events; as you might suspect, the solar edition draws from real (a...
442: Hire, train & motivate 1000+ sales people, with Alex Williams, Solar Energy Partners
February 03, 2022 08:45 - 1 hour - 50 MBAlex Williams is a problem-solver. That, and he loves to recruit high-performing sales people. He loves watching people transform into what they think they can be. And through the pandemic he got his perfect chance. His company, Solar Energy Partners, hired and trained over 1000 sales people over the last 18 months, all focused on knocking residential homeowner’s doors and consulting them to “go solar”. And it appears they’re very good at it. Since Alex was a teen, he’s looked for disparit...
441: C&I Energy Storage: Live Intersolar’22 Innovation Stage w/Yotta Energy CEO, Omeed Badkoobeh
February 01, 2022 09:26 - 21 minutes - 14.4 MBCan Energy Storage unlock a “Solar-Plus-Storage-Powered Future” for the largely yet-to-be-disrupted Commercial and Industrial segment of solar? Today’s guest, Yotta Energy’s CEO, Omeed Badkoobeh, believes it can, and we get into the innovative storage technology they’ve created to address this behemoth and largely untapped market. Of the more than 22 GW of corporate renewable energy deals announced since 2008, more than 15 GW of these deals were announced since 2018, according to the Renew...
440: Tigo’s Chairman on storage as energy intelligence, Zvi Alon w/special guest Jing Tian
January 27, 2022 09:23 - 57 minutes - 39.1 MBHow did Zvi Alon become Chairman and CEO of one of the early MLPE pioneers, Tigo Energy? By believing in the strategy he mapped out and invested in! When the original founders lost hope in the plan, Zvi stepped in, and the rest is history. Hear today how one of the iconic power electronics companies birthed here in Silicon Valley stayed alive amidst the Asian manufacturer influx to the solar power electronics sector. And Tigo didn’t just stay alive, but managed to thrive, driving innovation...
439: 3 Keys to new market expansion (Including USA), w/Sergio Blanco of Partner Engineering
January 25, 2022 13:25 - 45 minutes - 31.5 MBI’ve been getting a LOT of inbound over the last year since President Joe Biden took office as investors and renewable energy developers the world over increasingly see the United States as a “great place to invest”. Sergio Blanco was my direct boss at Conergy, the last real “job” I held, at a time when I was trying to learn what it takes to develop and acquire pipeline in the then-booming Latin America solar market. We went through a LOT of projects, market consideration and strategy meeti...
438: From ski bum to Solar legend, REC Americas President - Cary Hayes
January 20, 2022 17:41 - 1 hour - 64.8 MBI first met Cary Hayes back when I was working at Trina Solar circa 2012. He was still at REC Solar, and we had an unforgettable dinner (and too many laughs) in Phoenix. I’ve always wanted him on the show, and am so glad to finally have the chance. Cary and I have a lot of fun in this interview because that’s the kind of human and leader Cary is…he exudes both fun and confidence while remaining one of the most fiercely competitive people I’ve had the pleasure to know. You’re going to love e...
437: Andrew Birch, Nem3.0, Save our Solar Jobs!, Live @Intersolar N.A.’22
January 18, 2022 13:55 - 19 minutes - 13.5 MBAndrew Birch, affectionately referred to by many as simply “Birchy”, joins Nico in this live interview [rebroadcast] from the Intersolar N. America expo hall floor from Thursday January 13, 2022. Birchy is the Godfather of online solar sales (you may remember him as the co-founder and CEO of Sungevity), and always has keen insight into what’s trending and what to consider within the fast-growing distributed solar arena. Birchy had just come from the CALSSA “Save our Solar Jobs Rally” in LA...
436: Greenpenny, banking that funds Clean Energy. Jason MacDuff, President
January 14, 2022 11:26 - 49 minutes - 34.2 MBJason MacDuff is President of greenpenny, a virtual carbon-neutral bank dedicated to financing a sustainable tomorrow. Money deposited in greenpenny is secure, earns interest, and is only used to finance renewable energy systems and carbon reducing efficiency projects - no fossil fuels. And greenpenny has been offering their residential and commercial solar loans in the midwest for longer than just about anyone. As Jason said, “It’s time for banks to offer green products and services tha...
435: American Clean Power, w/CEO Heather Zichal
January 11, 2022 14:45 - 25 minutes - 17.5 MBSome of you will recall, Nico was live-broadcasting from the CleanPower21 tradeshow in Salt Lake City back in December. While he was there, Nico got the chance to sit down with Heather Zichal, the CEO of the organization that runs the CleanPower show and that has been shaking things up in Washington for you and me in a good way all last year. The three areas covered in today’s episode are: 1. AWEA rebrand to ACP & 2022 Goals 2. Messaging to the solar industry specifically, from Heather ...
434: A comprehensive SaaS suite for utility-scale solar? Andrea Barber, CEO RatedPower
January 06, 2022 21:09 - 57 minutes - 39.5 MBYou probably assume that the Utility-scale solar market, having deployed hundreds of GW globally, has surely by now figured out the necessary software suite to manage projects. It’s hard to imagine how everybody would just keep building novel tools in silos like it’s still 1998 and Salesforce still doesn’t exist! Well today’s guest, Andrea Barber, founded RatedPower to solve the same challenges she noticed many of her colleagues were struggling with, including her former employer and thei...
433: Drones or manned aircraft for site data? Maybe both? Mark Culpepper, GM Solar, Drone Base
January 04, 2022 15:59 - 41 minutes - 28.9 MBMark Culpepper, who heads up global solar for Drone Base, is on a mission to simplify the process and amplify the importance of solar site data gathering with aerial methods. As the name might imply, Drone Base has built an entire business around aerial thermographic inspection. They’re on a role, hot off a $20M round of investment and acquisition of India-based Airprobe to add a sophisticated A.I. engine to their platform of global data analysis. And Mark is the guy who’s bringing them into...
432: Goal-setting, Regenerative Capitalism & Food Forests, with Jim Gale
December 31, 2021 00:17 - 53 minutes - 30.5 MBIf you have yet to set out your goals for 2022, then you’re absolutely in the right place. If you have, then maybe this anecdote will help support your courage to achieve them! As we wrap 2021, most of you overachievers have likely already mapped out your 2022. But for some of you, goal-setting (actually really writing it down) has not been a regular practice. Well, today’s guest credits his practice of goal-setting since age 19, I mean really committing it to writing, to becoming a 4-ti...
431: Legacy, Equity, & Solar for All, w/Geoff Greenfield of Third Sun Solar
December 24, 2021 01:09 - 1 hour - 66.8 MBMerry Christmas! As a special bonus for these longer days, I decided to NOT break out this 100 minute episode into 2x50min episodes bc I believe you don’t need to be tricked into listening when the content is good enough - just know that it’s long and you might need to pause and come back - or like listener Alex recently did you can just binge for 10 hours while you paint the house! (thanks for telling me your story, Alex! Stoked you’re loving SunCast.) I believe today’s guest’s journey i...
Green Hydrogen (Mini-series) Ep 5 - Decarbonizing the Steel Industry with Joachim Von Sheele Global Director of Commercialization at Linde
December 21, 2021 23:09 - 1 hour - 53.7 MBIn the final episode of Season One of our Green Hydrogen series, we’re looking at how Hydrogen might be useful to aid hard-to-abate industries such as Steel in achieving a zero-carbon future. Let’s get serious about carbon intensity for a minute: the steel industry produces approx 2.6 GIGATONS* of carbon emissions annually, that’s over 7% of total global emissions and it’s a product that is not optional in today’s world. If you’re having a hard time wrapping your head around that number,...
Green Hydrogen (Mini-series) Ep 4 - The Role of New Technologies with Raffi Garbedian, Co-founder of Electric Hydrogen (formerly CTO of First Solar)
December 20, 2021 23:06 - 1 hour - 51.3 MBIf you’ve been around the solar industry for long, you might recognize the name, Raffi Garabedian. If you don’t, however, it’s probably because you haven’t studied the rise of one of the largest solar manufacturing brands in the world, First Solar, or perhaps you didn’t sell against First Solar for years like Nico did in his past life! Raffi was the Chief Technology Officer at First Solar for the better part of the last decade, and recently retired to pursue “other interests”. When he came ...
428: System Repowering, Microgrids, and a New DC Optimizer contender, Hanan Fishman of Alencon Systems
December 16, 2021 22:51 - 1 hour - 44.8 MBIn the words of today’s guest, Hanan Fishman, “Planning a DC microgrid is no different than any other technical undertaking. You need to start with defining the problem you are trying to solve. In the realm of microgrids, several buzzwords often come to mind including resilience. But you’ll need to drill beyond just buzzwords and really understand the problem you want to solve, whether it is offsetting higher demand charges, creating greater resiliency from grid outages or something else al...
Green Hydrogen (Mini-series) Ep 3 - The Role of the Large Energy Companies in the Hydrogen Economy with Biraj Borkataria
December 15, 2021 23:34 - 55 minutes - 39 MBBiraj Borkataria is always looking at the details to determine how they affect the big picture. As an analyst for RBC, ranked #7 globally for his sector, he’s a respected voice in the discussion around Big Energy’s transition toward climate solutions. In this Part 3 of our Green Hydrogen series, Biraj and I aim to take stock of how Green Hydrogen is developing through the lens of major global energy players. What is tipping the scales? Who is working together now and what role does the go...
Green Hydrogen (Mini-series) Ep 2 - The Green Hydrogen Opportunity with Jason Goodhand, DNVs Global Energy Storage leader and Hydrogen Industry Veteran
December 14, 2021 23:00 - 55 minutes - 39 MBTwo decades ago, Jason Goodhand was working in Hydrogen. But he says it’s different now. “Whether it's renewable energy, or oil and gas, every sector is trying to ramp up to have enough people to work on hydrogen projects. And it's incredible how fast it came around this time.” How has the market developed? What’s changed over the last twenty years? Did he just say “electrolyzer”? We talk about the journey to scale the industry, the goals of a 100% renewable grid, and opportunities for h...
425: The Inevitability of Green Hydrogen with Sheldon Kimber, CEO Intersect Power
December 13, 2021 23:52 - 46 minutes - 32.9 MBIt’s time to bet on the future. Climate change is here, disasters are daily, and even financial systems are strained to breaking. In Episode One of our Green Hydrogen Mini-Series, Sheldon Kimber is thinking outside the grid and betting on dramatic change, with his eyes set on five inevitable technologies of the zero carbon future. What markets will be both profitable and scalable? Why is Green Hydrogen a giga-ton clean gas solution? And how does it even work? We talk about his vision of the ...
424: [Trailer] Green Hydrogen, a Mini-Series
December 11, 2021 01:25 - 2 minutes - 4.43 MBHydrogen, the most abundant element on earth, has been hailed for decades as a beacon of the coming clean energy revolution. So why has it still not arrived? And why is everybody all of a sudden talking about Green Hydrogen? In this mini-Series, in partnership with Intersect Power, we will help you filter hope from hype and reality from fiction to see where the true opportunities exist with Green Hydrogen. If you’ve been looking for one place to understand whether there really is a pathway...
423: What Solar can learn from the traditional power sector, Mitchell Samuelian, CEO Tonian Renewables
December 10, 2021 01:18 - 1 hour - 49.7 MBI’ve said it a lot from the pulpit of SunCast, but there really is a LOT that the Renewable energy sector can still learn from the traditional power sector. The fundamentals of how the power sector works can often feel like a lost art. Today’s guest, Mitchell Samuelian, recounts the many stories and examples where he helped fill those gaps in skills and knowledge from his early days in Renewables as the first O&M Hire at First Solar to his roles leading site maintenance & operations at NRG, ...
423: What Solar can learn from the traditional power sector, Mitchell Samuelian, CEO Tonian Renewables
December 10, 2021 00:18 - 1 hour - 49.4 MBI’ve said it a lot from the pulpit of SunCast, but there really is a LOT that the Renewable energy sector can still learn from the traditional power sector. The fundamentals of how the power sector works can often feel like a lost art. Today’s guest, Mitchell Samuelian, recounts the many stories and examples where he helped fill those gaps in skills and knowledge from his early days in Renewables as the first O&M Hire at First Solar to his roles leading site maintenance & operations at NRG,...
422: The Innovators’ Handbook for Navigating the Clean Energy Transition, with Bill Nussey
December 07, 2021 20:51 - 1 hour - 60.1 MBBill Nussey’s book comes out TODAY! Freeing Energy: How Innovators Are Using Local-Scale Solar and Batteries to Disrupt the Global Energy Industry from the Outside In is a handbook for navigating the clean energy transition. Last week, we released a 2+ hour in depth interview with Bill. Today, we’ve got a highlights reel, to help you get to know the author and share some key points from that longer episode. There is A LOT that we trimmed in this abridged episode, so if you want to get the FU...
421: Freeing Energy, Bill Nussey's education on the Clean Energy Transition
December 03, 2021 02:35 - 2 hours - 122 MBThe transition to clean energy is moving far too slowly. Trapped by a century of fossil fuel investments and politicians that struggle to plan beyond the next election, the “Big Grid” that powers our modern world is outdated and in dire need of an upgrade. Bill Nussey is on a mission to understand how this transition will benefit us all, especially with regard to what he refers to as “Local Energy”. In his brilliant forthcoming book, “Freeing Energy”, Nussey explores the history and future ...
420: Giving Tuesday - Can $20 Make a difference? It Can, GivePower!
November 30, 2021 20:02 - 45 minutes - 31.2 MBToday is Giving Tuesday, yes, yes it is a real thing, and each year we highlight the GivingTuesday campaign of one Nonprofit that we see doing world-changing things. This year we are thrilled to highlight GivePower, one of the most impactful nonprofits in both rural electrification and clean water. If you missed it, we had GivePower’s President, Michele Magee, on Episode #388 of SunCast and we were inspired, but we also didn’t dive deep enough into how their partnership programs work! This ...
419: A mission to give Everybody Solar, with Youness Scally
November 25, 2021 16:12 - 57 minutes - 39.1 MBToday’s Thanksgiving Episode features Youness Scally, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the non-profit, Everybody Solar. Over the past ten years, they’ve developed systems to aid other nonprofits and charitable organizations in installing their on solar projects, and he did it all as a side-project! Hear what it’s like to tackle the details of solar installation from the nonprofit perspective, how many “no’s” he got before he found a “yes”, how they get a job done now, the ups and do...
419: A mission to give Everybody Solar, with Youness Scally
November 25, 2021 12:12Today’s Thanksgiving Episode features Youness Scally, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the non-profit, Everybody Solar. Over the past ten years, they’ve developed systems to aid other nonprofits and charitable organizations in installing their on solar projects, and he did it all as a side-project! Hear what it’s like to tackle the details of solar installation from the nonprofit perspective, how many “no’s” he got before he found a “yes”, how they get a job done now, the ups and dow...