Suncast

I am honored to have you joining me yet again for another foray into the world of clean and solar-powered energy. Merry Christmas, and happy almost new year to all of you who are listening during the holiday season. Ryan Simpson is the head of marketing for Trina solar North America. He and I have been fellow sales and marketing colleagues and solar warriors in the hardware side of the PV industry now for going on two decades. I love hearing how he parlayed his experience working for McDonald's into a marketing role like Kyocera, for example, he's one of the funniest and savviest marketers I know in the industry. So I'm honored to finally get to share some of these stories. Ryan brings old school tactics for new school tech. With his decade-plus of experience in solar, Ryan has been instrumental in launching new and innovative products, developing and opening new markets and channels, introducing new marketing platforms, and creating technical documents to help companies achieve success. Today, Ryan drives

Merry Christmas to you. If you're tuning in today, it is Christmas Eve. Yes, we are still publishing because it's Thursday. I hope that you'll get a ton of value from today's story. We can keep this short and sweet because Benigno Villareal and his story speak for themselves. Many of you have likely never heard of Vive Energía unless you're doing business in Mexico. Over there, Benny and his partners have developed a massive portfolio and track record reputation across wind and solar. And I've long wanted to know how it all came together. Today, you get to listen in on that very discussion. Benny Villarreal heads “Vive Energia”, a Renewable Energy Company. He is credited for leading the teams responsible for the development, financing and ultimately the construction and commissioning of nearly 1 GigaWatt of Mexico´s currently installed Renewable Energy Generation capacity. For the last fifteen years, Dr. Villarreal has been intensely cooperating with the Mexican Government and diverse NGOs to obtain the basi

I'm honored that you're joining us for another fantastic foray into the world of solar energy. And I'm even more honored that you're tuning in this week. Merry Christmas to all of you listening. Some of you will identify with today's guests and the problems that he solves. If you've spent any time developing large or small solar projects, you know it can be an endless string of whack-a-mole in terms of organizing, checking off tasks, data rooms, diligence, checklists, Dropbox, Excel, Asana, Salesforce, the tools are disorganized, and the tasks disjointed. It's always baffled me why after 15 plus years, seems like we’re lacking a better way to organize and manage solar projects. Today’s guest, Philip Bruner, was frustrated as well. After Philip had struggled with the data disorganization of developing his own projects, he went on the search to find and then to create a tool that would solve it. And ENIAN was born. His journey to build software as a non-technical co-founder is one that I found insightful and

On Thanksgiving, you might have missed our excellent interview with Solar+ Storage entrepreneur and solar pioneer Arnold Leitner. Well in that episode, which I highly recommend you revisit clicking here, we glossed over a fun fact that his company YouSolar, Inc. is among the only 13% of companies that have launched a regulated crowdfunding campaign on a website called StartEngine and raised more than a million dollars, which helped to keep you solar alive during the pandemic, no less. Today we’re chatting again with Arnold to dig a bit deeper into exactly what this entailed and better understand how and what they accomplished. So if you'd like to hear how to get 500 customers and a million dollars in equity in 90 days through crowdfunding, using a verified platform and a tested strategy, well, you're in the right place. And also, if you're interested in your own crowdfunding campaign, well, you are in luck, because I've partnered with StartEngine to offer you $1,000 towards your campaign marketing. You can

As we head into the end of the year, it's often filled with a lot of stories a lot of time traditionally spent around the table around the cocktail, happy hours with our friends reminiscing and telling tall tales. I thought it'd be fun, as we have so many stories on the solar coaster to tell some tall tales, some true tales, and as such wanted to bring back an old friend. Perhaps you were one of those who's been with us from the beginning, then you'll recognize today's guest, Mr. TJ Kanczuzewski of Inovateus Solar, we're gonna dive into some of his war stories, battle-tested from the front lines. TJ has been with Inovateus since 2007. Driven by the Inovateus pledge to “Build A Brilliant Tomorrow,” he has been instrumental in developing a world-class solar team that has successfully deployed solar energy projects and products internationally. Currently, he is focused on expanding the companies efforts in the Mamoni Valley Preserve by inviting other investors and companies to join in the opportunity to come a

For those of you who are up on recent episodes, perhaps you’ll recognize today’s guest, Gregg Dixon of Voltus, Inc., recently featured in episode 316. Gregg gave us a fantastic insight into the world of Demand Response, and the way that through his company Voltus, Inc. and his deep experience with a company called EnerNOC, he has learned how the grid is necessarily evolving and integrating new Distributed Energy Resources (DER). There’s so much to unpack around DER that we didn’t have time to cover it entirely back in episode 316. Gregg and I go into what he referred to as The 4 Horsemen of Distributed Energy Resources. What are the 4 new ways that energy in DER format is being traded like an energy product that, in many ways, marks the end of an era, the changing of times for the electricity markets as we know it? We go into each individual one of these essential elements of Distributed Energy Resources: Energy Efficiency Demand Response Distributed Generation Energy Storage Remember you can always

If you didn’t meet today’s guest during our SunCast Weekly Roundup, Live at SPI video series, then you’re in luck because Fatima Ahmad is one of the most knowledgeable folks I know on how Congress gets informed on the climate crisis and how they can take action. Did you even know that there’s a House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis? Neither did I. And what’s more, they’ve compiled a VERY comprehensive document to help guide legislators and it’s a 547 page treasure trove of information! But you don’t have to go dig through it all yourself, no no, that’s why Fatima is here today. We’re going to give you the insider’s notes on the report: “SOLVING THE CLIMATE CRISIS: The Congressional Action Plan for a CleanEnergy Economy and a Healthy, Resilient, and Just America”. So don’t go anywhere! Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 320 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com. https://www.mysuncast.com/sun

Today’s entrepreneur is in rare company. I can’t recall that I’ve ever interviewed an entrepreneur who’s lost a Billion dollar contract. That story alone is worth tuning in today. But you’ll also learn how James Wagoner, and his Storage startup Joule Case, became the live events power provider for Live Nation, how he’s future-proofing consumer power needs thanks to a few failed startups and the tribulations of Covid. As Joule Case’s CEO, James builds teams, manages resources, and aligns to the long term vision. As a licensed professional engineer with years of developing technical projects and products, he comes from a technical background and understands the importance of people for any large technical project, product, or organization. Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 320 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com. https://www.mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/323 (Gain access to all the show notes & r

Today's entrepreneur is going to show us how to use artificial intelligence to streamline customer acquisition. Austin Rosenbaum is the Denver-based Founder of Demand IQ, an A.I. based technology platform that promises to turbocharge your solar marketing and sales efforts. I've really enjoyed getting to know Austin since I met him on a conference panel this past summer, and it's just so clear to me that this young entrepreneur is on point on the digital trends that matter to small and medium-sized solar businesses. If you have wondered how the trend towards A.I. and the sales process is going to make a difference in solar sales, this episode is for you. By the way, this episode could be worth five hundred dollars to you, so if you stick around to the very end. Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 310 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com. https://www.mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/321 (Gain access t

Today's entrepreneur is no stranger to not just business in the developing world, but also bridging the gap between business development, sales, and nonprofit fundraising and growth. It's an honor to be able to introduce Allison Archambault and the work of EarthSpark International on this Giving Tuesday. Allison developed not just her career, but the organization that she's been leading now for a decade, providing light, access to opportunities, and what she refers to as feminist electrification, to the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 310 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com. https://www.mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/319 (Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here) You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on Twitter, LinkedIn or email Thanks a ton to our podcast sponsors for continuing to help make this content FREE to You! P

As the title might suggest today, is Giving Tuesday. But what exactly is Giving Tuesday? You can check out more at the show notes down below where we get more insight into Giving Tuesday. We first introduced Giving Tuesday, to our audience here on SunCast a year ago with Kristina Skierka, which is still a worthwhile interview to give a listen to (listen to that interview clicking https://mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/201 (here)). Today, we're going to follow the Giving Tuesday tradition with an interview of my friend Allison Archambault, who runs Earth spark International, focused on electrifying the rural communities in Haiti, and incubating some of the most forward-thinking and innovative grid tech in the microgrid segment today. This short-form conversation will provide insights on what Earth spark is all about. And also to invite you to participate in Giving Tuesday as we do here at SunCast every year. Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, boo

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you faithful who listen on the day that episodes are produced. My dear friend Arnold Leitner, an entrepreneur and pioneer in his own right, founded a company called SkyFuel that, as I was kicking off my career way back in 2005, was already taken on investor dollars and cranking out a really novel product in the concentrating solar photovoltaic industry. For those of you who've been following along, CSP has been sidetracked lately by the ridiculously fast dropping costs of photovoltaics, and Arnold and I get into how, as a young entrepreneur in his late 20s, early 30s, he had to pivot his career away from the technology he had selected and raise money for towards what the inevitability of the industry was going to be. We talk about how he also has taken alternative strategies for fundraising. And I have so much respect for this entrepreneur and the way that he has learned to thrive and pivot, raise money and satisfy customers and investors alike in his 20 years in cleantech.

What you’re about to hear is a recorded version of an insightful debate we hosted at https://www.mysuncast.com/spi2020 (SPI, ESI & NORTH AMERICA SMART ENERGY WEEK 2020). Can energy management software alone replace batteries? This was an amazing roundtable discussion sparring back and forth between our good friends, John Powers over at Extensible Energy, Andrew Tanner at Yotta Energy, and also Jonás Villalba from Promise Energy, three practitioners both using, creating, and evangelizing energy management software and storage. If you’d like to watch the replay of this debate, make sure to subscribe to our Youtube channel so you don’t miss whenever we publish new podcast episodes, live interviews with cleantech pros, and more. Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 310 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com. https://www.mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/317 (Gain access to all the show notes & resources fro

Today's entrepreneur is no stranger to distributed energy, and high growth startups. Gregg Dixon has held executive marketing and sales roles in public companies in consulting, energy, petrochemical products, heck, even crayons. But nothing has captured and commanded his attention and focus, like saving customers money on their energy bills. We're going to dig into how he's helped literally thousands of businesses save money and how he's turning an entire industry on its head with smart tech and deep culture. After a decade of running one of the most successful public companies and demand response, Gregg has just raised 25 million dollars for his own startup called Voltus, Inc. Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 310 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com. https://www.mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/316 (Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here) You can connect with me, Ni

Mark Mrohs is a true solar pioneer and lifelong dedicated educator for our industry. If you missed Part 1 of this episode, I really encourage you to press pause here, and go back and listen to part 1. I think that it would be helpful to better understand Mark’s background and trajectory. Today, Mark and I go into a lot on his theory of learning, where he sees the world of virtual reality and whether or not we're ready for it. VR Headsets like Oculus and many other headset makers are changing the way we think about virtual reality. I hope that you'll have some takeaways from this episode, as I did around the trade gap in many industries and how we are working towards training the next generation, all the hundreds of thousands of people we need, both in the field and in the office, to help make sure that the electricity sector is converted to clean and renewable energy. Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 310 other founder s

We're going to jump into what I expect to be a very exciting and interesting conversation with Mark Mrohs, a true solar pioneer. A couple of things as his accreditations just to set the stage, Mark was Training Director for ARCO Solar Inc, Siemens Solar, AstroPower, SunPower, SunEdison, of course, he's an instructor for Solar Energy International, and he was a Technician at Spectrolab Inc. before that. He's also had some time now focused on virtual reality with a young company called Interplay Learning down in Austin. Mark has had such a fascinating life and it's all centered around training in the solar photovoltaic industry. It's been so long coming that I sat down with Mark for a long period of time, just catching up and having fun. We've broken this conversation down into Two Episodes. What got Mark into the industry? A deep dive into how he thinks about education and how the education of our industry is evolving. Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommenda

What you’re about to hear is a recorded keynote of Day 2 of our https://events.mysuncast.com (SunCast Career Summit). Clean Energy has led the job-creation efforts for the decade since the last recession. Hear from industry insiders, SEIA’s Abby Hopper, Lightsource BP’s Emilie Wangerman, GRID Alternatives’ Erika Symmonds, and Clean Energy for Biden’s Audrey Lee, Ph.D., on what roles are being hired for and where we might see the greatest momentum coming out of the current crisis. Get access to the video replay of this and other sessions from our SunCast Career Summit by clicking here. Use the code TRIBE20 for a 20% discount. Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 300 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com. https://www.mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/313 (Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here) You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on Twitter, LinkedIn or email Thanks a t

I have really enjoyed the conversations that I've been having with Miss Emilie Wangerman, the Vice President of Business Development for Lightsource BP. Emilie has over 8 years of experience in power markets and energy policy, on both the buy-and-sell side of solar, storage, and distributed energy resources (DERs), as well as experience with generation and electric system operations and utility rate design, which is complemented by her background in technology development and process engineering. We go deep into how Emily started at Lightsource how she has grown into an executive in the industry, and the intentional and not so intentional decisions that led her down that path. We also take a look at the way her experience at previous firms like PG&E and GE which have informed some of the decisions that she now gets to execute inside the marketplace. It's a wide-ranging conversation with someone I find particularly very interesting, and I hope you will too. Remember you can always find the resources and lear

We're so excited to be back with you for SPI, ESI & NORTH AMERICA SMART ENERGY WEEK 2020 in its new virtual format. This is the final edition of the SunCast Weekly Roundup, presented by LG Solar, where we decided to go LIVE and catch some of the big takeaways from the first-ever Virtual Solar Power International. In today’s episode, my Co-Host Joshua Porter from SolarCoaster and I held interesting conversations Inside the Green Room with cleantech leaders like Erika Myers from Smart Electric Power Alliance, Tara Lynn Gray from Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce, David Schlosberg from Enel X, and AJ Perkins from Instant ON as they share with us their final insights on the sessions from last week, their experience participating in this fully-virtual format of North America’s most popular cleantech tradeshow, and what to expect for next year. We had Brian Lynch, LG Electronic’s Director of Solar and Storage, and Julia Pyper, Host and Producer of Political Climate, starring yet again in our newest segment,

Today’s guest is Arch Rao, Founder & CEO of Span.IO, a technology company reinventing the electrical panel to enable the rapid adoption of renewable energy.  He is an engineer and entrepreneur with expertise in research, development and commercialization of energy technologies. We’re going to not only explore how Span is advancing the very technology that supports home energy devices, but also the background of this engineer and entrepreneur, and his expertise in storage systems and their integration to our energy world. Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 300 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com. https://www.mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/310 (Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here) You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on Twitter, LinkedIn or email Thanks a ton to our podcast sponsors for continuing to help make this content FREE to You! Please check them out and