Ann Gaglioti joined us at SPI 2019. Ann is the CEO of Groundwork. To date, GroundWork has directly contributed to the successful financing and installation of over 16GW of solar power in North America, and counting! Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here You can connect w/host, 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 thin...
Jan 14, 2020•22 min•Season 5Ep. 216
How does online lead gen help installers grow their business? It’s been the topic of many webinars, but if you’re like me you still have so many questions! So, I invited some friends in the lead gen arena to share their insights with SunCast listeners, and I was blown away by the value of what they shared. This was one of the most talked-about and attended sessions at the Podcast Lounge during SPI. Residential solar sales and lead gen experts Ruben Ugarte (Active Prospect), Scott Mueller (Solar ...
Jan 10, 2020•40 min•Season 5Ep. 215
Today’s entrepreneur is Doctor of Engineering Candidate, Solar Energy Specialist, and 2-time Author Michael Ginsberg. Michael has spent his career helping Embassies and government agencies implement solar and efficiency programs worldwide, and has recently distilled his learning, lessons and case studies into a pair of books on the topics of Solar Implementation, Operations and Maintenance. It’s a rare skill to be a practitioner with the ability to teach and train, and I thoroughly enjoyed an ea...
Jan 09, 2020•34 min•Season 5Ep. 214
Today’s interview happened between two greats in our industry: Tor “Solar Fred” Valenza, Founder & CMO of UnThink Solar., and Barry Cinnamons, CEO of Cinnamon Energy Systems. This conversation was a dive into the life and times as it were for Mr. Barry Cinnamon, one of the folks that we consider an icon and pillar in the industry, having pioneered many ways in which the industry moves forward. As some of you may know, Barry has his own radio show and he has interviewed Tor before. Now is the...
Jan 07, 2020•25 min•Season 5Ep. 213
Today we are interviewing Jim Spano, Co-Founder of RadiantREIT. We discuss their new program that offers liquidity effectively to developers that would otherwise be cash strapped to be able to expand their portfolio, hence eliminating capital constraints for C&I developers as the episode title suggests. Thanks to our podcast sponsors for continuing to help make this content free to You! IF you have stuck Commercial Solar projects, you really should consider how they can help: Extensible Ener...
Jan 07, 2020•24 min•Season 5Ep. 212
211 - Dean Solon & Ben Macias, Founder History of Shoals Technologies Dean Solon founded Shoals Technologies more than two decades ago, and it is one of the most well-known fast-growing and highly profitable businesses that I know of in our industry. But do you know the inception story? We are also joined in the first half by his prodigy and VP of Sales, Ben Macias. The relationship has been full of struggles but also full of wild success, incredible growth, and love Remember you can always ...
Jan 02, 2020•51 min•Season 5Ep. 211
210: Lloyd Levine - Is CA still a bellwether for other States' Renewables policy? Today's episode is about California, the policies therein, and whether or not California is still serving as a bellwether for things to come for states and the different ways they can apply policy. Joining us in this conversation is Mr. Lloyd Levine, president of Filament Strategies. He is a former member of the California State Legislature, recently appointed as Senior Policy Fellow in UC Riverside School of Publi...
Dec 26, 2019•55 min•Season 5Ep. 210
209: SPI'2019 Podcaster Roundtable: Jon Powers, Barry Cinnamon and Nico discuss using Podcasts as a marketing channel This Flashback Friday is with my good friend Jon Powers, whose podcast, Experts Only, is also required listening If you are into the solar and finance of our business, as well as the respectable Mr. Barry Cinnamon, one of the entrepreneurs I admire most in our business. He's got a long track record not just as a solar entrepreneur, but also as a broadcaster with his show the Ener...
Dec 20, 2019•25 min•Season 5Ep. 209
208: SPI'2019 Community Solar Roundtable This is one of the few Community Solar sessions that we've hosted here on SunCast. In fact, one of today's guests is a returning guest: Mr. David Amster-Olszewski of SunShare, and he graced the SunCast pages as it were back in January of 2019. He's joined by another alumnus, Mr. Jake Rozmaryn of Antenna Group, and a longtime friend and someone I've wanted to get onto the show Mr. MJ Shiao of Arcadia power. I've wanted to interview MJ since his Green Tech ...
Dec 19, 2019•52 min•Season 5Ep. 208
207: 2020 Megatrends Report w/Brian Sifton Brian Sifton is the Sustainability Program Manager for Black & Veatch, one of the most respected engineering consulting firms in the power & infrastructure sector. And he’s also one of the authors of the new Megatrends report that B&V is releasing today Dec 17th. B&V surveyed hundreds of customers from Water, Infrastructure, Power and other industries and the report triangulates convergence in these Megatrends. Today we highlight for you...
Dec 17, 2019•26 min•Season 5Ep. 207
206: Unlocking Financing for Unrated Organizations I had the honor of sitting down with the Chief Operating Officer of Energetic Insurance, Jeff McAulay, and the Executive Vice President of Energy and Infrastructure Group of Live Oak Bank, Jordan Blanchard, to discuss a recurrent barrier in the Commercial & Industrial solar industry: unrated small organizations. If you love this episode, let me know on Twitter , LinkedIn or email ! And Let Adam know too! Twitter I hope you’ll take advantage ...
Dec 13, 2019•21 min•Season 5Ep. 206
205: Adam Browning of Vote Solar Today’s Entrepreneur knows all about the power of voting with your feet! Since 2002, Vote Solar has been working to make solar affordable and accessible to more Americans, supporting the policies and programs needed to repower our grid with clean energy. Adam Browning and Vote Solar have served a critical role in the rollout of successful state solar policies nationwide. When Adam sat down with me at the Podcast Lounge in Salt Lake City this past September, I wan...
Dec 12, 2019•56 min•Season 5Ep. 205
204: How Storage is Disrupting Caribbean Thermal Generation Models I'd love to hear your thoughts on SunCast! Take our survey here: https://www.mysuncast.com/survey Tim Effio is responsible for Latam & Caribbean markets for the global energy storage market leader, Fluence. We discuss the role of storage in the evolution of the Caribbean energy markets, and we go down the rabbit hole of Utility grid services, solar plus storage and even business development concepts that just might help your ...
Dec 10, 2019•56 min•Season 5Ep. 204
203: Marketing Agency Roundtable I'd love to hear your thoughts on SunCast! Take our survey here: https://www.mysuncast.com/survey Flashback Friday is my way of giving you a glimpse back at something we did recently that I think you should have a listen to. Today's episode is from our SPI Podcast Lounge where we had a Marketing Agency Roundtable. You can connect w/host, Nico Johnson, on Twitter , LinkedIn or email Thanks a ton to our podcast sponsors for continuing to help make this content FREE...
Dec 06, 2019•37 min•Season 5Ep. 203
202: Mikhail Gofman of Green Think Energy I'd love to hear your thoughts on SunCast! Take our survey here: https://www.mysuncast.com/survey Today’s entrepreneur is a young gun but is no stranger to hustle and has proven his grit and worth in the startup world. Mikhail Gofman started Green Think Energy, a solar design firm, from his graduate school dorm room while pursuing a Masters in Mechanical Engineering. Today his company is doing thousands of designs per month and these savvy Millenials are...
Dec 05, 2019•43 min•Season 5Ep. 202
#201: Kristina Skierka, Founder of Power For All Today I’m doing my first ever episode dedicated to Giving Tuesday , a fitting way to kick off Season 5 of SunCast! Today’s Entrepreneur, Kristina Skierka has been a catalyst since early childhood, and today is dedicated to inspiring and empowering entrepreneurs, governments and nonprofits globally to lift others out of energy poverty. She started Power For All in 2015 with a bold mission: delivering access to energy for the 85 percent of the 1.1 b...
Dec 03, 2019•52 min•Season 5Ep. 201
#200: SPI, American-Made Solar Prize Winners Episode number 200 of SunCast! I hope you’re having a restful day as many of you here in the US are enjoying a holiday, and likely still feeling stuffed and grateful from yesterday's Thanksgiving celebration. The last 4 years have really flown by, but so have the last 100 episodes! We have done our 2nd 100 episodes in 1/3rd the time it took for the first 100, and I tell you the feedback is amazing. I love hearing from you all, and am so grateful for t...
Nov 29, 2019•42 min•Season 4Ep. 200
#199: SunCast Live w/Aurora Co-Founder Today’s entrepreneur is Sam Adeyemo, Co-founder and COO of Aurora Solar. I’m sure many of you have heard of Aurora, as their flagship design software has been used to design over 2 Million solar projects since they launched in 2013! And believe me, they are just getting started. This interview introduces a lot of never-before-asked-on-SunCast questions and a lot of things that even Sam admits he hasn’t really talked about in public before. But today’s episo...
Nov 28, 2019•1 hr 11 min•Season 4Ep. 199
#198: Karin Berardo Tactical Tuesday I got great feedback on episode 183 back in September with my friend and returning guest Karin Berardo where we touched on the topic of ESG. It’s clear that ESG is a hot topic these days, and it’s also clear that it’s not one that’s well understood. So, Karin is back to give us a primer on the subject to which she’s now dedicating most of her time. Today we discuss the increasingly important role sustainable and socially responsible investing is commanding fo...
Nov 26, 2019•19 min•Season 4Ep. 198
Hey there solar warriors, I know many of you have been waiting for us to release the episodes recorded LIVE at the Podcast Lounge SPI 2019. We're kicking things off with this dynamic duo, by no means strangers to the renewables industry: Julia Hamm and Abigail Hopper. Together, they run two of the most prominent organizations providing advocacy for the solar and smart-power industries. Julia is the President and CEO of the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA). And, Abby is the President and CEO ...
Nov 23, 2019•23 min•Season 4Ep. 197
#196: John Chaimanis, Kendall Sustainable Infrastructure Today’s entrepreneur, John Chaimanis, is co-founder and Managing Director of Kendall Sustainable Infrastructure. And our discussion swings from what to consider in a career change, to Lessons learned from working in a predominantly coal-fired portfolio. John found a way to merge his Distrust of the stock market, love of real assets, and passion for doing good while doing well and carved out a slice of the market he’s dubbed “value-added fi...
Nov 14, 2019•1 hr•Season 4Ep. 196
#195: Robert Styler, SunCrew Today’s entrepreneur happens to be one of the best salesmen in our business, or maybe any business. Jigar Shah has said of Robert Styler that he’s an expert in bringing multi-level marketing to solar. In fact, his current company, SunCrew, was launched from a phone call with Jigar Shah. Robert and I dig deep into the pains of failure, the hardships he’s endured being what he called “The stuttering networker” and how he overcame the impediment. Today we also discuss h...
Nov 07, 2019•52 min•Season 4Ep. 195
#194: Dave Buemi, Energy Materials Corporation Today’s Entrepreneur has enjoyed a broad 22-year history in the solar PV, clean energy innovation, climate change activism and climate resiliency consulting sectors. Rarely do I meet executives with such passion and wide-ranging interests as Dave Buemi. Our mutual love of kitesurfing and energy issues created a fun and inviting atmosphere to discuss topics as wide ranging as the economic viability of the Perovskite technology he’s currently commerci...
Oct 31, 2019•49 min•Season 4Ep. 194
#193: Ed Heacox, CPS Energy Today’s entrepreneur has been a power electronics executive for 3 decades. From his early days at GE till today, Ed Heacox has established credibility as a power executive. And since moving into the solar power industry with AE mid 2000’s, he’s been at the helm of not one but two inverter companies that have taken #1 market share in their respective segments. I’ve been an admirer of Ed and his business partner, Casey, for years and have long-awaited the opportunity to...
Oct 24, 2019•58 min•Season 4Ep. 193
#192: Sishir Garemella, Sunvest Capital Sishir is the founder of Sunvest Capital, S unvest brings years of deep solar intelligence combined with expertise in financing to make solar possible by inspiring trust in good quality equipment, providing easy affordable EMIs and monitoring performance across the life of your solar loan. Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here - Join the Tribe? Check out Episode 86 , in which I explain how YOU can become a SunCast Tribe m...
Oct 17, 2019•46 min•Season 4Ep. 192
The clean energy landscape has changed dramatically in the 10 years since Laura Taylor founded Silverline Communications. During that year, newly elected President Barack Obama announced the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to bring the country back from the brink of recession. The ARRA included billions of federal dollars to fund clean energy research and development, as well as a substantial investment in businesses to drive job growth and economic expansion. Since then, the clean...
Oct 14, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Season 4Ep. 191
#190: Antenna Group VP & Forbes 30 Under 30 Jake Rozmaryn has been a starter, an influencer, a leader, and a true industry advocate for more than a decade, belying his youth and making him one of the most connected people in cleantech, let alone solar. If you’ve been longing for more founder stories, especially from the young ones in our business, then stay tuned! Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here - Remember you can always find me on Twitter , LinkedIn ...
Oct 10, 2019•48 min•Season 4Ep. 190
#189: Mark Baker of Water Mission Mark Baker is the Program Director for Disaster Response at Water Mission. Today you’ll hear the story of how Water Mission has been helping build solar-pumping systems to provide critical water infrastructure in times of need around the world. Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here - Join the Tribe? Check out Episode 86 , in which I explain how YOU can become a SunCast Tribe member and support the growth and stability of SunCas...
Oct 03, 2019•42 min•Season 4Ep. 189
#188: Largest Solar Plants in the Caribbean Angella is the founder of Soleco and Rekamniar Frontier Ventures (“Rekamniar”). Rekamniar co-developed one of the largest solar plants in the Caribbean and the largest in Jamaica (51 MWp). Prior to this, Angella worked at Goldman Sachs in the Merchant Banking division (Principal Investment Area) in London and New York. Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here - Join the Tribe? Check out Episode 86 , in which I explain ho...
Oct 01, 2019•38 min•Season 4Ep. 188
187 - SPI/NASEW, 26th September Go to www.podcastlounge.live to learn more and watch all the action as it is happening.
Sep 27, 2019•37 min•Season 4Ep. 187
