Suncast

Welcome to another SunCast episode with a clean energy thought leader you should definitely know better. Every now and then I have the opportunity to host guests who have as equal or greater a platform as we do in presence in the public from a thought leadership and content creation perspective. Today, Peter Kelly-Detwiler from NorthBridge Energy Partners, LLC is joining us on the show. He has become well known for his advocacy and education around helping others understand not only how the clean energy industry works, but where it's going. He's a communicator focused on the rapid pace of transformation to a sustainable economy. You may have read some of his more than 350 articles on Forbes.com, or surely you have enjoyed his informative and educational (and often very witty and fun to watch) videos on LinkedIn or YouTube. Today, we're going to dive into the mind of a fellow creator. Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 280

Do you know if your marketing strategy is working? The coronavirus (COVID-19) has disrupted the way in which we work and engage as a society. Cities, states, and countries are shutting down, slowing the economy. During times of crisis, it’s important to adapt your marketing strategies to ensure your business continues to bring in revenue and thrives post pandemic. Join us for a candid conversation with Katie Ullmann, Senior Director at Antenna Group, Lennie Moreno, Founder & CEO of Sofdesk, and Mike Hilverda, Director of Customer Success at SalesRabbit, as we discuss best practices for: Generating revenue when you can’t meet face to face. Engaging online with potential new customers. Staying relevant and in touch with current customers. Strengthening your brand during a crisis. Employing technologies and processes to track leads with your team in a remote environment. Today’s episode is a recap of one of our Live webinars back in April. Remember you can always find the resources and

Today’s entrepreneur is a longtime internet friend and member of the SunCast Tribe, Eric Pasi. Better known for his role as Chief Development Officer at Impact Power Solutions, one of the well-known EPC and Energy Development companies in the MN and broader Midwest markets. He was instrumental in the Community Solar Gardens initiative at the company and foresaw the community solar boom in the region. Since becoming Chief Development Officer in 2016, he’s helped IPS grow revenues by more than tenfold. He is also author of the upcoming book: Clean Wave, A Guide to Success in the Green Recovery, which guides readers through the past, present, and future of cleantech while offering actionable solutions for jobseekers. Speaking of job seekers, Eric is a featured speaker at our forthcoming SunCast Career Summit in just 2 weeks time! Read more here: events.mysuncast.com Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 280 other founder storie

After big oil & gas companies like Chevron laid off up to 15% of their staff amid Coronavirus context, the downsizing of the fossil fuel industry has become obvious, and it opened a window for many qualified professionals to transition into the clean energy space, but how do we get there? Join me with Catherine McLean and Reneé Bourgeois as we cover some of the best techniques and approaches you can take to transfer your skills into the clean energy sector by identifying your right "role". Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 280 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com. https://www.mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/286 (Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here) You can connect with the 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 let me know what you think!

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 barrier - permitting. The 2nd barrier - adding 10M people to the industry in the next 10 years.  The question is - How could you possibly scale with these structural barriers? The solution is a complete end-to-end software solution that wraps CRM, proposals and financing together, but it’s not just software. Birchy's software is bringing in service providers to exhibit products and essentially pulls everything into a single place. They make that bundle white-labeled to installers as well as accessible and online and completely free. That’s Open Solar, but there’s so much more to Birchy’s story. So queue it

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 policy goals once we return to a new normal. How can we navigate current challenges, and what can we expect from the future of solar financing and development? To answer those questions, we hosted a marvelous panel with New York State Senator, Kevin Parker, Member and Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Telecommunications; PPL Director – Solar Development, Brian Fratus; Entersolar Business Development Director, Suparna Kadam; ROTH Capital Managing Director, Philip Shen, and RadiantREIT co-founder, Jim Spano. Today’s episode is a recap of one of our Live webinars back in May. Remember you can always find the res

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 states. The main points of our conversation were how the solar industry has changed since the start of the 2020 pandemic, what small and medium-size solar developers can do to best position their assets for sale in the post-COVID economy, and Jesse’s takeaways from the 2007-2009 recession that can help solar developers today. Today’s episode is a recap of one of our Live webinars back in June. Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 280 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com. https://www.mysuncast.com/suncast-episo

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 market from their mobility-business representative. He’s focused on growing the Residential and Commercial smart charging business, and he’s been serving Enel X and others in the utility sector for a long time. Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 280 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com. https://www.mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/282 (Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here) You can connect with the host, Nico Johnson, on Twitter, LinkedIn or email Thanks a ton to our podcast s

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 Jacqueline DeRosa, Vice President Battery Energy Storage Systems of Ameresco, Omeed Badkoobeh, Co-Founder & CEO of Yotta Energy, Marek Kubik, Market Director of Fluence in the UK, and Zach Ward, Head of North America Division of Sungrow USA Corporation. This was the final session of Day 2 of our SunCast Clean Energy Summit back in April 2020. Check out this and more sessions over at www.suncastsummit.com Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 270 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com. https://www.mysuncast.com/sunc

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 was a great session to those who needed (and need) to make critical decisions around how to grow their companies, how the market moves, and how to stay ahead of it. This was one of the sessions of Day 3 of our SunCast Clean Energy Summit back in May 2020. Check out this and more sessions over at www.suncastsummit.com Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 270 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com. https://www.mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/281 (Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode he

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 in this booming market. Committed listeners will recall that we had Paul on last week for a Tactical Tuesday on Storage Trends, so if you missed that one, I hope you’ll bookmark it for later as well. Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 270 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com. https://www.mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/279 (Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here) You can connect with the host, Nico Johnson, on Twitter, LinkedIn or email Thanks a ton to our podcast sponsors f

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 give it more exposure. Thanks to our friends at Midwest Solar Expo 2020, as well as the fantastic individuals who participated in this panel: Etienne Lecompte, Founder & CEO of PowerHub Eric Peterman, CEO of GRNE Solar Reegan Moen, Business Development Manager of SOLV. It was such an interesting conversation, so stay tuned to hear all of their contributions to this panel. Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 270 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com. https://www.mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/278 (Gain ac

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 also has seen first hand how introducing the simplest of light can eradicate darkness in many different ways, and elevate equity, in particular among females, in powerful ways in a community. That’s why Nicole Watson founded Econic Earth Foundation. She’s taking light into dark places from India to Kenya and bringing good news to you and me... and she's just getting started.  I encourage you to set aside some time as you hear her story and ponder what you also can do with the freedom and luxuries you’ve been afforded to care for those less fortunate. You may not start a foundation, or even a movement, but you can be

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 fellow podcaster on the show as Paul originated the AEE podcast nearly a decade ago! We are going to dig into Paul’s predictions for Storage based on an article he penned for GTM back in February. We covered system costs, storage trends, safety standards, AC v DC Coupling and more. Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 270 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com. https://www.mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/276 (Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here) You can connect with the host, Ni

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 decade. One of our LATAM Market Solar Warriors, Josh Rogol, joined Strata Solar to run their Energy Storage division. Today, he along with his colleagues Will Mitchell and Garrett Lehman, are going to help us understand the development of a truly remarkable achievement from this company: the 400 MWh Battery Energy Storage System recently approved for construction in Ventura, California. Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 270 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com. Gain access to all the show notes & resources f

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: resource adequacy. Consequently, we are diving into the following questions: What is resource adequacy? Why does it matter? Who is involved in the discussion? We’ll answer these questions and more with Will Mitchell, Director of Origination for the Western U.S. of Strata Solar, a massive EPC from North Carolina with over a decade of success developing, constructing and commissioning more than 150 utility-scale projects Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 270 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com. Gain access

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 engineer who’s not satisfied with the status quo. His company, SolCast,  provides solar irradiance & power forecasting data to some of the largest IPPs and Utilities in the world. How and why did he decide to dedicate that last decade of this his life to this? Why did he end up in Australia of all places to work it out? Tune in to find out. Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 270 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com. Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here You can connect wi

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 negotiation of energy storage tech sales. Today’s conversation will cover what’s generationally different about storage and how Fluence shows up in the market. Fluence’s new 6th generation technology stack combining factory-built hardware, advanced software and data-driven intelligence. It has made a splash in the market, arguably as the answer to Tesla’s Megapack. They did all of these in stealth mode, but we are going to bring it to light now. Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 270 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.co

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, Jacqueline Desouza was also one of the featured speakers during our Suncast Clean Energy Summit back in April alongside Jon Bonano and James Pagonis all about going from Innovation to Implementation. Today, Jacqueline and I explore how Apparent is taking on the task of making clean renewable energy look more like a spinning generator, at least as far as the Grid can tell, and why electric vehicles are ultimately the right testing ground for their technology. With a mix of hardware and software, she and her team are making the complexity of Real and Reactive Power more, well, Apparent. Remember you can always find the r

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 interview, we will get into quite some complex topics. In order to follow along, Jacqueline and I sat down to explain some things that will be helpful for you on Thursday, namely, the relationship between reactive and real power. Remember you can always find the resources and learn more about today’s guest, recommendations, book links and more than 260 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com. Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here You can connect with the host, Nico Johnson, on Twitter, LinkedIn or email Thanks a ton to our podcast sponsors for continuing to help