In this episode of the Clean Power Hour host Tim Montague sits down with Steve Schwerd of Schwerd Consulting to discuss the state of commercial, industrial, and small-scale utility solar and storage engineering. Steve shares his journey from electrical engineer to solar industry expert, highlighting the evolution of sustainable design and the growing viability of solar projects. The conversation delves into the current state of the C&I solar market, touching on challenges like third-party ow...
Aug 06, 2024•42 min
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague sits down with Ethan Winter and Austin Kinzer from American Farmland Trust (AFT) to explore the world of agrivoltaics. We discuss AFT's "Smart Solar" program, which aims to balance the acceleration of clean energy with the preservation of thriving farms. We explore the challenges and opportunities of dual-use solar projects, examining how agrivoltaics can provide additional revenue for farmers (and farming communities) while keeping land...
Aug 01, 2024•36 min
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, Tim Montague sits down with Scott Graybeal, CEO of Caelux, to explore the exciting world of perovskite solar technology. Graybeal reveals how his company is on the cusp of revolutionizing the solar industry with their innovative perovskite-based coatings for traditional solar panels. Graybeal dispels the myth that perovskite technology is still confined to laboratories, announcing that Caelux has already ramped up to 50 megawatts of production capacity in...
Jul 31, 2024•36 min
Agrivoltaics may be the biggest innovation in solar since the invention of the solar tracker. Today on the Clean Power Hour, we dive into the future of solar and farming with Lucy Bullock-Sieger, Vice President of Strategy at Lightstar Renewables. Discover how agrivoltaics is revolutionizing the solar industry and helping rural communities realize that solar and agriculture are compatible. Lucy leads strategy for current and new markets, policy, government affairs, and marketing at Lightstar. Sh...
Jul 25, 2024•34 min
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague sits down with Dane Simpson, Director of LECET (Laborers' and Employers' Cooperation and Education Trust), to explore the vital role of labor unions in constructing the gigawatts of solar needed for the energy transition. Dane elucidates how organizations like LECET and LIUNA (Laborers' International Union of North America) are fostering the growth of the solar industry in the Midwest. The conversation delves into the significance of pro...
Jul 23, 2024•38 min
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague interviews JR Howard, owner of Texas Solar Sheep, about the growing industry of solar grazing. JR shares his journey into solar grazing, which began three years ago when a friend recommended exploring this unique intersection of agriculture and renewable energy. From a small pilot project, JR's operation has rapidly expanded to manage over 5 gigawatts of solar farms with around 10,000 sheep. The conversation delves into the benefits of s...
Jul 18, 2024•17 min
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague sits down with Thomas Byrne, CEO and co-founder of Clean Capital, to discuss the evolving landscape of clean energy investment and development. Byrne shares insights from his journey in the industry, from his beginnings as a project finance lawyer to founding Clean Capital in 2016. The conversation delves into the challenges and opportunities presented by the ongoing energy transition. Byrne and Montague explore the unexpected surge in e...
Jul 16, 2024•39 min
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague sits down with Alexina Jackson, Vice President of Strategic Development at AES, to discuss the future of the electrical grid and the implementation of grid-enhancing technologies (GETs). Alexina shares her insights on the transformation of the grid from an analog system to a more digital, dynamic, and distributed network. She explains how this evolution is crucial for integrating renewable energy sources, improving grid reliability, and ...
Jul 09, 2024•50 min
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague welcomes Dr. Zhehan Yi, Utility and ESS Product Solutions Director at CPS America, for an in-depth exploration of cutting-edge utility-scale energy storage solutions. Dr. Yi shares his journey from electrical engineering to becoming a key player in the renewable energy sector, offering unique insights into the evolving landscape of energy storage technology. The conversation centers around CPS America's groundbreaking 5 megawatt-hour bat...
Jul 02, 2024•43 min
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, Tim Montague interviews Joe Marhamati, co-founder of Sunvoy, a customer relationship management and system monitoring platform for solar installers. Joe discusses his background working at the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office during the early days of utility-scale solar development in the U.S. He then started his own solar installation company, Ipsun Solar, and spun off Sunvoy to address issues around the customer experience pre/during/post ins...
Jun 25, 2024•47 min
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, Tim Montague interviews Dan French, the founder of the Solar Farm Summit, an event dedicated to promoting and advancing agrivoltaic solar (also known as dual-use solar or solar grazing). Dan shares his background, starting from his work as an attorney for BP Oil, then making his mark in brownfield solar development to his current focus on agrivoltaics and agrisolar. Dan French is Founder and Executive Producer of Brightfield Productions, which produces th...
Jun 18, 2024•24 min
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, Tim Montague talks with Hunter Johnson, Vice President of Alliant Insurance, about the crucial role of insurance in the solar industry and how climate change is impacting the way insurance companies assess and underwrite solar projects. The discussion covers various factors that solar installers, developers, and asset owners need to consider when insuring their projects, including geographic location, weather risks (hail, lightning, wildfires, floods), eq...
Jun 11, 2024•43 min
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague interviews Sebastian Heitmann, the co-founder of the venture capital firm Extantia. The discussion covered a wide range of topics related to the energy transition and decarbonization efforts. Sebastian shared his journey from the early days of investing in clean tech 1.0, which primarily focused on solar energy, to the realization that more innovation was needed to tackle the challenges of the energy transition. This led to the founding ...
Jun 04, 2024•53 min
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague interviews Kelly Warner, CEO of Lumin (or Lumin Smart), a company that produces smart electrical panels for load management and electrification. Kelly shares his extensive background in the energy industry, spanning roles in consulting and running technology companies focused on areas like wind power and virtual power plants. The discussion centers around Lumin's innovative smart panel technology, which enables flexible demand and load m...
May 28, 2024•40 min
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague brings together a panel of experts from CPS America and EnergeiaWorks to discuss proven tactics for talent acquisition and retention in the rapidly growing solar sector. The discussion kicks off with insightful introductions from the panelists, including John Drummond, senior applications engineer at CPS America, William Liuzza, the founder and CEO of EnergeiaWorks, Ryan Pasquali, a recruiting specialist at CPS America, and Matt Dolansky...
May 23, 2024•1 hr 4 min
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague is joined by Scott Tess, the Sustainability and Resilience Officer for the City of Urbana, Illinois. They discuss the 5.3 megawatt community solar project that was developed on the city’s closed municipal solid waste landfill in Urbana Illinois in Central Illinois (home of the University of Illinois). This episode holds a special place in Montague’s heart because the landfill was the very first solar project he walked back in 2016 when h...
May 21, 2024•44 min
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, Tim Montague interviews Adib Nasle, the co-founder and CEO of Xendee, a company that provides a software platform to design and optimize complex on-site energy systems. The discussion revolves around Xendee's unique approach to addressing the complexities and uncertainties associated with distributed energy systems. Nasle explains that the core problem they aimed to solve was the lack of a practical way to "test drive" on-site energy systems before commit...
May 14, 2024•46 min
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, Tim Montague hosts a special live webinar with Austin Carr, founder and president of Greenlink Energy Solutions, and Jim Keeling, a business attorney and partner at Hinshaw law, both based in Rockford, Illinois. They discuss the opportunities and challenges of behind-the-meter solar PV installations for churches and universities in Northern Illinois. Austin and Jim share insights from their recent successful solar projects at Our Savior Lutheran Church an...
May 09, 2024•1 hr 5 min
The hydrogen economy is all the rage, with billions in government funding and skyrocketing private investment. But should we buy into the hype? Energy and utility guru Peter Kelly-Detwiler joins Tim Montague to separate fact from fiction about the promises and perils of the hydrogen economy. They discuss the existing hydrogen economy, which is largely centered around industrial processes like refining and fertilizer production, and the potential for decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors like steel...
May 07, 2024•48 min
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague talks with Nate Owen, founder and CEO of Ampion, about the evolution and future of community solar. Key topics and takeaways include: - How community solar is moving beyond its roots in state-specific programs to more flexible models that can scale rapidly. Nate discusses "Community Solar 2.0" - applying the shared solar concept to larger projects over 5 MW with diverse corporate and institutional offtakers. - The huge pent-up demand fro...
Apr 30, 2024•49 min
Solar trackers have swept the utility-scale solar industry in recent years, with single-axis trackers now deployed on a staggering 94% of large-scale projects. While a few big names dominate the tracker market, one company - Nevados Solar - has carved out a distinct niche with its unique all-terrain tracking technology. In this episode, host Tim Montague chats with Nevados founder and CEO Yezin Taha about how their innovative segmented torque tube design is helping developers tackle more challen...
Apr 23, 2024•46 min
The solar industry has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past decade, with string inverters playing a pivotal role in this evolution. In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague sits down with John Drummond, the Senior Applications Engineer at CPS America, to explore the advancements in string inverter technology and how they are shaping the future of the solar industry. Drummond shares his extensive experience, tracing his career journey from the early days of renewa...
Apr 16, 2024•55 min
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague sits down with Aviv Shalgi, CEO and co-founder of Solar Simplified, to discuss the growing and important niche of community solar. Aviv shares his journey into entrepreneurship, starting in the advertising industry before finding his passion in the energy transition. He explains how Solar Simplified was founded in 2020 with the goal of helping people save money during the COVID-19 lockdowns, and how the team identified community solar as...
Apr 09, 2024•57 min
In this episode, Tim Montague sits down with Francois Byrne, CEO of Hybrid Power Solutions, to discuss the company's innovative approach to decarbonizing mobile power and construction. Francois shares his journey from working on hybrid race cars to developing cutting-edge battery and solar hybrid systems that eliminate the need for diesel generators. Hybrid Power Solutions offers a range of rugged, plug-and-play products that combine batteries, solar panels, and (optionally) diesel generators to...
Apr 02, 2024•43 min
In this episode of The Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague interviews Alex Nussey, co-founder and CEO of Wattch, a cutting-edge solar monitoring and asset management platform trusted by top installers, developers, and utilities. Nussey shares the origin story of Wattch, which began as a college project building IV curve testers for a solar car racing team. Nussey explains how Wattch differentiates itself as a data-first company by creating precise digital twins of solar assets to model their exp...
Mar 26, 2024•43 min
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague is joined by Brian Baxter, Director of Sales East at CPS America, to discuss the rapid evolution of the solar and storage industry. As string inverter technologies gain traction in the utility-scale segment, CPS America is at the forefront of this trend with their innovative three-phase string inverters and battery storage products. Brian shares his unique background, transitioning from engineering roles at GE to sales leadership at CPS ...
Mar 19, 2024•34 min
America's thousands of closed landfills represent a massive untapped opportunity to generate clean solar power. These unused brownfield sites, which are often seen as burdens on their local communities, have the potential to be transformed into renewable energy assets that provide a range of benefits. In this episode, Tim Montague explores the possibilities and challenges of developing solar farms on retired landfills with guest Annika Colston, founder and president of AC Power. Annika explains ...
Mar 12, 2024•46 min
In this expert panel webinar, Tim Montague hosts Monroe Jett, CEO and founder of Title Leader, and Mike Koehler, Director of Solar Development at Azimuth Renewables, to discuss how solar developers can accelerate project timelines and boost ROI by modernizing the often overlooked bottleneck of land title search and management. Key discussion points include: - How siloed, decentralized title workflows cost developers time and money at critical project junctures - The risks of relying on manual ti...
Mar 08, 2024•1 hr 3 min
The solar industry has come a long way since its early days of small off-grid systems. With utility-scale solar farms now measured in the 100s of megawatts, grid penetration rising fast, and batteries no longer a novelty but a necessity, there's a world of knowledge required to be successful in solar + BESS. To help make sense of the current solar and storage landscape, we're joined today on the Clean Power Hour by expert Ryan Mayfield, CEO of Mayfield Renewables. With over 20 years of experienc...
Mar 05, 2024•49 min
Solar PPAs are a popular way to finance commercial solar projects, but the process remains nebulous to many installers and developers. In this illuminating webinar, host Tim Montague gets candid insights from two solar financing experts - Marc Palmer of Conductor Solar and Nick Perugini of Solaris Energy. With decades of combined experience structuring, financing, and closing commercial solar PPAs between investors, developers, and host customers, they shed light on real-world best practices. Th...
Feb 28, 2024•1 hr 7 min
