Solar projects getting canceled? Clean tech CEOs burned out doing their own PR? Amanda Foley has seen it all. As the CEO of Kiterocket, Amanda leads one of clean energy’s most influential PR firms, helping clients go from misunderstood to market-ready. Recorded live at CleanPower 2025, this conversation dives into why even great technology companies struggle with messaging—and what to do about it. From overcoming community opposition to engineers writing their own press releases (spoiler: don’t)...
Jul 03, 2025•1 hr 17 min•Season 16Ep. 831
The AI boom isn’t just reshaping tech—it’s redefining the energy grid. As data center demand skyrockets, clean energy providers are scrambling to keep up with unprecedented power needs, speed requirements, and reliability expectations. In this special live panel, hosted by Jessica Fishman of Kiterocket , we hear directly from leaders at Equinix, Clayco, QTS , and MGM Transformer —key players shaping the future of power-hungry infrastructure. From fuel cells as primary power sources to grid-formi...
Jul 01, 2025•54 min•Season 16Ep. 830
What would you do after taking your company public and becoming a billionaire? If you’re Dean Solon , you start over—with even bigger ambitions. The outspoken founder of Shoals Technologies is back with his new venture, Create Energy , and a mission to tear down the solar industry’s bloated, outdated playbook—and rebuild it from the ground up with speed, precision, and American grit. In this unfiltered live keynote from Midwest Solar Expo , Dean reveals: The real story behind Shoals’ rise to a b...
Jun 26, 2025•45 min•Season 16Ep. 829
How do you bridge the gap between fast-moving renewables and slow-moving utilities? Brian Nelson has spent the last two decades doing exactly that—from building house-sized transformers to now leading ABB’s renewables segment. At ACP 2025, he sat down with Nico to pull back the curtain on how utilities think, why they’re cautious, and what it really takes to bring innovation to the grid. In this episode, you’ll hear why Brian believes in the future of smart substations, 2,000-volt switches, and ...
Jun 24, 2025•29 min•Season 16Ep. 828
Can one of the world’s biggest tech companies actually go carbon-free, not just today, but retroactively, all the way back to 1975? In this powerhouse keynote from Intersolar 2025, Hanna Grene, leader of Microsoft’s Global Energy and Resources team, lays out a bold vision for this tech giant’s energy future. She makes one thing clear: Microsoft isn’t here to play catch-up. They’re partnering with the clean energy industry to lead. From ditching diesel in data centers to using AI to optimize disp...
Jun 21, 2025•24 min•Season 16Ep. 827
What if the biggest threat to your solar business wasn’t competition—but compliance? Rebekah Hren has spent over 20 years helping the solar industry avoid costly mistakes and dangerous shortcuts - by writing the very codes and standards that govern it. From fieldwork and training at SEI to consulting for AirBnB and now co-founding Solar Tech Collective, Rebekah has seen it all—and helped shape how we do solar safely and at scale. In this episode, Nico dives deep with Rebekah to uncover the untol...
Jun 19, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Season 16Ep. 826
Inflation, interest rates, tariffs—most markets flinch. But according to Josh Goldberg, commercial solar doesn’t blink. In this Tactical Tuesday, Josh pulls back the curtain on how Sunstone Credit is adapting—and thriving—by making it easier than ever to finance clean energy upgrades for America’s businesses. You’ll hear why commercial solar might be more resilient than resi, how to decode confusing lease structures, and why every building owner should be thinking like a telecom landlord. Plus: ...
Jun 17, 2025•22 min•Season 16Ep. 825
“AI is the greatest threat to your business ever.” That’s how Sheldon Kimber opens this episode—and it only gets bolder from there. Live from the Kiterocket Lounge during ACP CleanPower 2025, Sheldon returns to SunCast to unpack the real story behind energy-hungry data centers, the rise of hybrid power solutions, and why clean energy is no longer about purity—it’s about pragmatism. As CEO of Intersect Power, Sheldon’s built one of the most forward-thinking development firms in the sector. He sha...
Jun 12, 2025•45 min•Season 16Ep. 824
Forget what you thought you knew about data centers. Ryan Abbott of Clayco (a major datacenter design/build firm) joins Nico to explain how today’s hyperscale data centers are flipping traditional construction and energy planning on their heads. With AI workloads multiplying and compute demand skyrocketing, the real constraint isn't land—it’s power . And not just any power. Reliable, sustainable, redundant power systems that can handle 24/7 cooling, compute, and connectivity. In this conversatio...
Jun 10, 2025•30 min•Season 16Ep. 823
What makes someone actually care about solar? It’s not the data. It’s the story. On this special “SundayCast”, Nico sits down with the Reverend himself—Aaron Nichols (okay, not officially a Reverend, but the story behind that title is worth tuning in for). Aaron has made waves as a marketing & advocacy specialist at Exact Solar, helping the company thrive in a time when many others in solar are shrinking. His secret? Telling stories that spark action. From a school greenhouse in Philly to a ...
Jun 08, 2025•22 min•Season 16Ep. 822
What if a renewable energy power plant could achieve capacity factors above 70% ? Wouldn’t that make it, finally, FIRM baseload power, dispatchable and “reliable” for the grid? Can ai help? What else is required? The simple answer is hybridization, but a long-time industry pioneer is here to tell us more. Martin Hermann has spent the last 2 decades pioneering the future of utility-scale solar. From founding 8minutenergy, one of the first to bring Utility-scale solar parks to the US, to launching...
Jun 05, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 16Ep. 821
“Even the most unsinkable ship can sink.” That’s Trevor Noah reflecting on the fragility of democracy, and he’s not just here to make you laugh—he’s here to challenge how you think . At CLEANPOWER 2025, Trevor delivers a brilliant, unscripted dialogue with Jason Grumet, the Chief Executive Officer of American Clean Power, unpacking how stories shape our national psyche—and what that means for the clean energy movement. This episode is full of surprises. From philosophical riffs on the social pow...
Jun 03, 2025•54 min•Season 16Ep. 820
What if the biggest opportunity in solar has been hiding in plain sight? Josh Goldberg is no stranger to solar. He’s a multi-exit founder who helped shape residential solar finance—and now he’s back to tackle the “messy middle” of commercial solar. After stepping away from the industry, Josh returned with a mission: to unlock the underfinanced, overlooked world of small-to-mid-sized commercial solar. In this episode, Josh shares how Sunstone Credit is solving a billion-dollar bottleneck —by givi...
May 29, 2025•1 hr 34 min•Season 16Ep. 819
Winter is coming If you're a solar or battery developer, especially in utility-scale or C&I, you're likely feeling it already: capital has tightened, exits have dried up, and project timelines are stretching longer than ever. Sound familiar? Rob Sternthal, co-founder of XIP and a two-decade veteran of clean energy finance, joins Nico to deliver a tactical wake-up call. This isn’t just another “market update”—it’s a field guide for navigating what could be the most turbulent season the indust...
May 27, 2025•30 min•Season 16Ep. 818
What if your rooftop solar could do more than just power your fridge? Karl Andersen believes it can—and should—power the future of AI. Karl unpacks the grid’s biggest vulnerabilities, why data centers lack critical power infrastructure, and how we can turn solar-powered homes into the building blocks of a decentralized compute network. Lektra’s tech fuses distributed energy with cloud computing—think “Raspberry Pi meets Tesla Powerwall meets AI.” The result? A game-changing business model where ...
May 23, 2025•43 min•Season 16Ep. 817
If you think batteries are just for backup, think again. The post-NEM 3.0 world has flipped residential solar economics—and companies like TeraHive are leading a storage revolution that’s all about ROI, not just resilience. Ram Bhat , Head of Product at TeraHive, explores how software-first thinking and DC-coupled architecture are transforming what’s possible in home energy systems. Ram brings deep expertise from Enphase, fuel cells, and flywheels into a conversation that’s equal parts technical...
May 20, 2025•20 min•Season 16Ep. 816
What if your truck could power your house—and save you hundreds a month on electricity? Could your EV be a secret energy arbitrage opportunity? Barry Cinnamon, a true solar pioneer, shows that it’s possible right now with Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) systems. Listen in as Barry breaks down why V2H is finally ready for prime time—and why the utility-centric V2X model is failing to deliver real value for homeowners. Barry's message is clear: customers want control, not complexity. And with a 240V inverte...
May 17, 2025•21 min•Season 16Ep. 815
Why haven’t more homeowners installed batteries—despite growing outages and rising rates? I tend to agree with Vinnie Campo, co-founder and CEO of Haven Energy, who believes the answer lies in who owns the asset . But beyond who owns the asset (and assuming, then, that it should not be the homeowner?), is there a way to deliver a truly zero-cost, fully managed battery system that benefits both homeowners and the grid? In this episode, Vinnie shares how Haven is flipping the script on residential...
May 15, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 16Ep. 814
The biggest threat to scaling community solar isn’t cost. It’s interconnection. Live from the PowerUp Stage at RE+ Northeast, Samantha Weaver of the Coalition for Community Solar Access dives into why so many promising clean energy projects never make it past the planning phase. Spoiler: it’s not because the technology isn’t ready—it’s because the system isn’t. With jaw-dropping examples (a 100-project backlog that would take 50 years to process?!), Samantha breaks down how sluggish utility revi...
May 13, 2025•31 min•Season 16Ep. 813
You can buy solar panels in many places around the world for around 10 cents-a-watt— so why are Americans still paying an average of about $3.70 for every watt installed? In this candid and fiery live episode, Nico Johnson sits down with long-time clean energy champions Andrew Birch and Kerim Baran to unpack what’s really slowing down solar deployment in the U.S. The verdict? Bureaucracy, bad trade policy, and a lack of open-market access are dragging us down. From SolarApp to tariffs to balcony...
May 08, 2025•41 min•Season 16Ep. 812
What if the utility bill you barely understand holds the key to stabilizing the grid, accelerating electrification, and saving you money? Rachel Bryant has spent nearly 20 years navigating the complex world of energy regulation—as both an engineer and a lawyer. Now at GridX, she’s helping utilities across the country translate convoluted tariff structures into clear, actionable decisions for customers. The result? Better engagement, smarter energy use, and a grid that can flex with our electrify...
May 06, 2025•18 min•Season 16Ep. 811
Texas: where oil and gas once reigned supreme—and now, renewables are rewriting the rules. In this special live episode recorded at Intersolar & Energy Storage North America 2025, Doug Lewin and Nico Johnson flip the script. Doug takes the mic to interview Nico about his biggest takeaways from the show, and the two dive deep into what’s fueling Texas' meteoric rise in solar, storage, and energy expansion. Expect a candid, behind-the-scenes conversation about why Texas has become the unexpect...
May 01, 2025•41 min•Season 16Ep. 810
“Don’t pitch slap me.” That’s the line Spenser Meeks uses to describe the all-too-common trap most any professional falls into when presenting information (Usually via presentation decks) — jumping straight into specs and data before earning your audience’s attention. In a lively convo, Spenser and Nico break down why 60% of all conference speaking sessions (yes, your conference panels) are rated “meh”… and how better storytelling could fix that. If you’re tired of your message falling flat or s...
Apr 29, 2025•36 min•Season 16Ep. 809
The FinTech Reboot Solar Has Been Waiting For What happens when local banks finally start playing ball in solar lending? Ravi Mikkelsen is here to tell us. In this “Where Are They Now” episode, we reconnect with Ravi Mikkelsen, the co-founder and CEO of Atmos Financial, who first joined SunCast in 2021. Since then, the solar financing world has been flipped on its head—rising interest rates, shifting policies, and a return to leases have left installers and homeowners alike with questions and he...
Apr 24, 2025•40 min•Season 16Ep. 808
“Virtual power plant” might be trending—but Eversource’s Tilak Subrahmanian says it misses the mark. In this RE+ Northeast PowerUp Live stage interview, Nico sits down with Tilak for a refreshingly candid utility perspective on how distributed energy resources (DERs) are being integrated, managed, and monetized at scale. Spoiler: it's not just about demand response anymore. From managing EV charging loads to influencing ISO capacity calculations, Tilak breaks down how Eversource is designing a d...
Apr 22, 2025•32 min•Season 16Ep. 807
What’s blocking our climate tech breakthroughs? It’s not the tech. It’s the process . Ben Downing has seen the system from both sides—first as a Massachusetts state senator, then as VP at Nexamp scaling solar across the country. Now, as Chief Growth Officer at The Engine , MIT’s accelerator for “tough tech,” he’s helping commercialize game-changing innovations that can decarbonize the toughest sectors—steel, cement, transmission, and beyond. But it’s not just about the science. It’s about fixing...
Apr 17, 2025•22 min•Season 16Ep. 806
The U.S. grid is facing its biggest stress test since WWII. The answer? Batteries. Joan White, Director of Storage & Interconnection Policy at SEIA, joins Nico on the PowerUp Live stage at RE+ Northeast to unpack the audacious 700 GWh storage deployment target laid out in SEIA’s latest white paper. That’s a 50% increase over the “business as usual” trajectory—and Joan believes it’s not just possible, but necessary. As AI data centers, EV adoption, and manufacturing supercharge national energ...
Apr 15, 2025•25 min•Season 16Ep. 805
When Maria Robinson took the helm at the Grid Deployment Office within the US Department of Energy (US DOE), she stepped into one of the most pivotal (and difficult) roles in the clean energy transition. Now that she’s no longer a government employee, Maria reveals what really happens inside DOE decision-making rooms, why the grid is far more fragile than most realize, and how her new role as CEO of IREC is helping shift the power back to the people. From wildfire response to data center load gr...
Apr 10, 2025•22 min•Season 16Ep. 804
Residential solar may still be a long way from recovery —but the commercial and industrial (C&I) solar market is heating up. In this power-packed episode recorded live at RE+ Northeast, Nico sits down with John Carroll of SolarEdge to explore why the commercial market could be the biggest growth driver in clean energy this year. From training installers to navigating the evolving incentive quagmire, John unpacks the forces reshaping the C&I landscape in 2025.. 📜 The IRA’s surprising rip...
Apr 08, 2025•27 min•Season 16Ep. 803
Microgrids are essential to the clean energy future—but they’re still too complex, slow, and unbankable. That’s the problem Adib Naslé set out to solve. With Xendee, he’s built a platform that makes distributed energy systems faster to plan, easier to finance, and smarter to operate. Nico digs into how Adib and his team turned 20 years of national lab research into a commercial product now used by governments, fleet operators, developers and data centers. If you want to understand where AI, micr...
Apr 04, 2025•1 hr 18 min•Season 16Ep. 802
