Many of us working in clean energy forget that access to clean power is still a privilege, not a right. Millions of Americans still don’t have the freedom to choose clean energy.  People all over the country want to fight climate change by choosing renewable energy sources for their homes and businesses. But, in monopolized electricity markets, consumers are forced  to purchase power from the only available utility (like Duke Energy here in my home state of NC). CleanChoice Energy is fighting to address this limitation. As you’ll hear from Zoë Gamble Hanes, President of CleanChoice ..read more

Imagine that your phone rings. The person on the other end tells you: “you won the project. Now, we need you to fly to Australia and build the largest battery backup project in the entire world.”  Powin, a Portland, Oregon-based battery energy storage developer, was up to the challenge.  Nico got a chance to sit down with then-President of Powin, Anthony Carroll, to discuss where the energy storage market is headed and how large-scale integrators like Powin are moving the needle.  Under Anthony’s leadership, Powin secured the nearly 2 GWh Waratah Super Battery project in Sydney ..read more

Chris Nelder challenges the status quo.  And his efforts have, for nearly a decade, centered on mobilizing an army of supporters to help us transition away from fossil fuels. As creator & host of the podcast The Energy Transition Show, Nelder aims to "influence the influencers" through carefully researched interviews with clean energy experts. I know that many many listeners of SunCast are also listeners of Chris’s show (and many have even told me you’re paid subscribers!) which has long-inspired me to watch and appreciate what Chris does. It took me YEARS to finally convince him to g ..read more

The IRA gave solar manufacturers a huge incentive to manufacture on U.S. soil. How does the 45x incentive work, and are we actually gonna see anybody other than Nextracker capitalize on it?! Companies like FTC Solar are taking full advantage of this huge manufacturing tax credit. Their Vice President of Sales, Eric Frazier, shares how they’re bringing higher-paying manufacturing jobs back to American communities and what it means for developers. He also shares his career lessons in mitigating project underperformance, navigating complex project sites, and empowering rural economic development ..read more

What if solar installers could easily integrate energy storage with any inverter on the market? LG Energy Storage Systems (ESS) makes that possible, and in an important and elegant way.  At the 2024 NABCEP Conference, Jim Brown, Senior National Sales Manager at LG ESS, highlighted  LG's new "Home 8" AC-coupled energy storage system, a game-changing product for solar installers. In today’s episode, Jim and Nico discuss AC vs. DC-coupled systems, homeowner misconceptions, and a new technology that will help homeowners maximize the their solar plus storage investment. . Expect to learn ..read more

We often take access to electricity, refrigeration, and running water for granted. In many parts of the world, these are luxuries.  In today’s episode, Andi Kleissner and Kurt Kuhlmann, Co-founders and Co-CEOs of Amped Innovation, discuss how they’re changing lives by installing high-performance off-grid solar systems and appliances across Asia and Africa. Nico visited with the pair in their CA headquarters; Seated on two of their high-efficiency solar freezers, they share insights from making solar products that empower impoverished families in the “developing world” to earn stable incom ..read more

New York set an ambitious goal for a zero-emission electricity sector by 2040. What will it take to get there?  Turns out, hydrogen may be a key component to New York's climate strategy, especially for difficult-to-electrify sectors. Haiyan Sun is the program manager and team leader for hydrogen and clean fuels at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).  With over a decade of experience in the power sector (much of which was in GE’s gas division), she has valuable insights to offer on hydrogen’s potential to fuel NY’s clean energy goals, so listen up ..read more

How do we solve yesterday’s interconnection problems with today’s technology?  Alexina Jackson, Vice President of Strategic Development at The AES Corporation, pulls back the curtain to show us how AES is using cutting-edge technology to integrate MORE renewable energy into the grid. Because we need to add new energy fast and our current grid isn’t up to the challenge, AES is inventing solutions as they go. Expect to learn: How AES’s new technology can push more power through existing wiring when the conditions are right Why more battery storage will add flexibility to the energy grid. A ..read more

As our Secretary of Energy says, deploy deploy deploy! It’s incredible to see how hard we’re pushing to modernize the grid, but, we also must maintain and ensure solar projects are delivering on every kilowatt hour that we promised. Today’s guest has been delivering on those promises for nearly two decades.  Josh Fraughton, a renewable energy veteran with nearly two decades of experience in the solar industry, has seen firsthand the increasing need for a stable supply chain for solar O&M. He founded his company, R7 Supply (Now part of RNWBL), to address this need and successfully exit ..read more

Increasing extreme weather events year over year are forcing all energy assets to reconsider asset protection and resilience. The solar industry has been wrongly accused of grid reliability issues in the face of these extreme events, but what does the data say from operating assets that have “weathered” the storms?  Lightsource BP’s Kevin Christy is working to prove solar energy's resilience (especially during challenging weather conditions) and address misconceptions about renewable energy in grid stability and performance. As Head of Innovation and Operational Excellence for Lightsource ..read more