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 t...
Jul 21, 2020•24 min•Season 6Ep. 276
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 Stor...
Jul 16, 2020•59 min•Season 6Ep. 275
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? Wh...
Jul 14, 2020•21 min•Season 6Ep. 274
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 &...
Jul 09, 2020•1 hr 24 min•Season 6Ep. 273
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 abou...
Jul 07, 2020•28 min•Season 6Ep. 272
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 ...
Jul 02, 2020•59 min•Season 6Ep. 271
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...
Jun 30, 2020•10 min•Season 6Ep. 270
If you missed it, this is Part 2 of our two-part conversation with Chuck Swoboda, former CEO of Cree, Inc. It was a phenomenal conversation about his history, and how he got to Cree, Inc. We will wrap up the conversation today, so I’d encourage you to press pause and listen to Part 1 (if you haven’t already). I’m glad that you’re finding his stories intriguing and you’re looking for more. Chuck didn’t disappoint, so hold on to your hats as Chuck Swoboda and I take a fascinating look at his caree...
Jun 25, 2020•49 min•Season 6Ep. 269
Today’s entrepreneur story is with someone with whom SunCast faithful listeners are already familiar. Chuck Swoboda has graced the podcast a couple of times: recently as both Tactical Tuesday guest and a keynote for the SunCast Clean Energy Summit in April. His legacy and impact at CREE, Inc. are legendary, and he’s put many of his fabled stories and lessons learned into his recently launched book, The Innovator’s Spirit , and his fantastic podcast Innovator’s on Tap . But I was not satisfied wi...
Jun 25, 2020•46 min•Season 6Ep. 268
Last week, I participated in the first-ever virtual e-conference in the solar industry: the Midwest Solar Expo. Thanks to a virtual platform called Virbela, everyone created their digital avatars, walked around the virtual campus, and attended diverse sessions and panels. Every morning, I had the SunCast Morning Show, presented by LG! What you are about to hear next are excerpts from those morning shows. We started with a "what-to-expect" overview of the event, and then we talked about what's ha...
Jun 23, 2020•32 min•Season 6Ep. 267
We’re taking a journey down intrapreneur lane with an inspirational figure and example of how to take a long-standing role in corporate life and create a company out of it. Patrick Lee is the President & CEO of PXiSE, and also the VP of Infrastructure and Technology at Sempra N.A. Infrastructure. Along the way, we also hear from his team about how they’re building a scalable solution to the Transition from a 1-way centralized grid to a multi-dimensional (and directional) operating system, - ...
Jun 18, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Season 6Ep. 266
I rarely get into the realm of politics but today’s episode is a particularly important opportunity for us to take action. Today’s episode is focused on what’s happening right now in a petition to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) by a secretive group called the New England Ratepayers Association (NERA) aimed at stripping away your solar rights, namely, the Net Energy Metering regulations that have stood for nearly a decade as Federally approved rules. Have a listen as I speak with...
Jun 16, 2020•31 min•Season 6Ep. 265
If you are new to SunCast, thank you for joining us and I encourage you to check out the previous episodes with today’s guest, Erika Myers, where you can learn more about what’s happening in the fast & furious world of electric vehicles. She was recently featured in a Tactical Tuesday, Episode 258 , discussing her research into EV Charging rate structures. I really enjoy getting insight into how someone finds their way into clean energy, and it was a pleasant surprise to find someone from my...
Jun 11, 2020•52 min•Season 6Ep. 264
We are pleased to release the second part of the Opening Session of our SunCast Clean Energy Summit, which started on April 22nd as a way to grow our community and skills, as well as celebrate #EarthDayTogether. Adam Browning leads Vote Solar's team of advocates, experts and staff working to bring solar to the mainstream across the U.S. Adam co-founded the organization in 2002 after he had so much fun working on a successful local solar ballot initiative that he decided to pursue solar advocacy ...
Jun 09, 2020•36 min•Season 6Ep. 263
We are pleased to release the first part of the Opening Session of our SunCast Clean Energy Summit, which started on April 22nd as a way to grow our community and skills, as well as celebrate #EarthDayTogether. Andrew Birch is the Co-Founder of OpenSolar, a company that provides the world’s leading software platform for solar professionals: a complete digital tool kit to scale solar sales. Birchy had a meaningful impact on our industry, pioneering in remote sales before we had the technology we ...
Jun 09, 2020•35 min•Season 6Ep. 262
Sheldon Kimber and I dig into his fortuitous route to join then very-much-a-startup Recurrent power in the mid 2000’s and his ride to the top of the solar energy charts helping make Recurrent one of the most respected (and valuable) solar businesses of the last decade. His sophomore startup, Intersect Power, is anything but sophomoric and is firing on all cylinders at the moment. What’s driving it? Where does he go now? Stay tuned as we dig into his entrepreneurial journey. Gain access to all th...
Jun 04, 2020•1 hr 27 min•Season 6Ep. 261
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. Hopefully you tuned in to last Thursday’s episode with Karla Loeb . Psst - today's her birthday, so pop over to LinkedIn and show her some love! I highly encourage you to queue last week’s episode up next. Karla is a policy maven, staunch renewable energy supporter and all-around inspiring and butt-kicking ind...
Jun 02, 2020•40 min•Season 6Ep. 260
Karla Loeb is a veteran in clean energy policy and business development, specializing in greenfield projects, new market entry and regulatory and legislative affairs. As the Chief Policy & Development Officer for Sigora Solar, Karla is in charge of overseeing legislative, administrative and regulatory efforts at the local, state and national levels, as well as coordinating and managing strategic development partnerships. Today’s conversation covers a wide range of topics from Karla’s early d...
May 28, 2020•55 min•Season 6Ep. 259
Here at SunCast, we haven’t spent much time on Electric Vehicles but we got some great feedback from our audience earlier this year when we played the Podcast Lounge episode with SEPA’s resident expert, Erika Myers. We asked Erika to come back and give us some insight from a report she published between Solar Power International (September 2019) and now, all about EV Rate Structures that work. It’s a great primer on some of the underlying issues that prevent wider EV Adoption, and provides clear...
May 26, 2020•30 min•Season 6Ep. 258
Today’s entrepreneurs are both longtime solar warriors who have deep industry cred to show for it. Cedric Brehaut has been one of the most respected and published independent thought leaders on the subject of solar asset management for much of the time I’ve known him, so you can imagine my surprise when I found out in late 2018 that he had joined a startup company! Today, you’ll get to hear that inception story, and you’ll also be treated to the storytelling prowess of a National Retail Hall of ...
May 21, 2020•1 hr 17 min•Season 6Ep. 257
Paul Wormser has been in the renewable energy business since the 80s, and has a deep understanding of how the industry works, both nationally and internationally. As the Vice President for Clean Energy Associates, Paul serves as a rudder for many clients who are uncertain about the energy landscape. And as many of you know, the Trump administration recently issued an executive order that stands to impede the progress of the solar industry in the USA, especially related to power electronics produ...
May 19, 2020•35 min•Season 6Ep. 256
Today’s entrepreneur has quickly become one of the people I look to with admiration and anticipation. He seems to be always on the vanguard of what’s next in the clean economy dialogue. For 30 years, Mike Casey has focused on the design, staffing and strategies for winning communications programs. As Tigercomm’s founder, he counsels cleantech executives, investors and philanthropists on strategies for meeting their business objectives. Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this ...
May 14, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Season 6Ep. 255
A recent Press Release by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), claimed they had achieved a world-record 47.1% efficient solar cell! The interview you’re about to hear is with one of the NREL Sr. Scientists on the team that published the research, Myles Steiner. Myles and I go into detail about the achievement, applications, and timeline for when this kind of technology might see it’s way into commercial activities. Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode h...
May 12, 2020•27 min•Season 6Ep. 254
Today we hear from an entrepreneur who cut his teeth in product marketing for one of the most well-known brands in the world, and now he’s turned his sights toward helping fix the branding and visibility problems inherent in solar projects. Craig Merrigan and his company, Spotlight Solar, have created one of the most beautiful solar products you’ve ever seen. But don’t take my word for it, Nextera’s subsidiary Florida Power and Light have installed hundreds of them around that state to demonstra...
May 07, 2020•58 min•Season 6Ep. 253
Today's guest is Chuck Swoboda, and he is no stranger to the pressure and privilege of leadership. As the CEO and Chairman of Cree, Inc., the category-changing LED lighting brand that many of you are familiar with, he led the company from 6 million to over 1.6 billion in anual revenue, over 65 quarters of growth and industry-leading innovation. Chuck recently presented they Keynote addressed for our inaugural SunCast Clean Energy Summit, so what you are about to hear is the audio version of that...
May 05, 2020•41 min•Season 6Ep. 252
Today’s guest, Marek Kubik, is the Market Director at Fluence in the U.K. and Ireland, and he oversees a group working on origination, development, and commercial negotiation of energy storage. He is such an inspirational personality, hence being voted as Forbes 30 Under 30, and he is on a mission to bring storage and renewables penetration to the world. Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here Check out the first SunCast Clean Energy Summit Are there other techno...
Apr 30, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Season 6Ep. 251
John DiJulius III is a best-selling author and authority on world-class customer-experience. Organizations across America use his philosophies and systems for creating world-class service. He has worked with companies such as The Ritz-Carlton, Lexus, Starbucks, Nordstrom, and many more, to help them continue to raise the bar and set the standard in service that consistently exceeds customer expectations. John spoke about the main foundations of his book, the Relationship Economy, and the opportu...
Apr 28, 2020•41 min•Season 5Ep. 250
I'm honored that you're joining me and pouring into this fantastic world of clean energy. Today's entrepreneur, Scott Ringlein, is the Founder and Principal of the Energy Alliance Group of North America (EAG). Scott is also a Technical Advisor to the U.S. Department of Energy and conducts technical reviews of applications for technology innovation & commercialization. We go really deep into how Scott thinks about servicing his customers. Besides that, we will discuss some of the lessons lear...
Apr 23, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Season 5Ep. 249
Welcome back, Solar Warrior! We are getting geared up for a fantastic 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. So today’s Tactical Tuesday is all about Earth Day: its history and what we are working on together. It goes without saying that tomorrow we will kick off our first SunCast Clean Energy Summit to celebrate #EarthDayTogether! More information: www.suncastsummit.com Gain access to all the show notes & resources from this episode here Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines...
Apr 21, 2020•15 min•Season 5Ep. 248
Matt Bertram is the Co-Host of a decade-long podcast specifically focused on the Unknown Secrets of Internet Marketing (BestSEOPodcast.com) , with over 3.6 million downloads to their credit. He is also an Amazon best-selling author and the CEO at eWebResults (EWR), a digital marketing agency. Matt does a masterful job of unpacking what SEO really is. And he also dispels myths around the different verticals that affect the performance of your website (the things that are in your control vs what y...
Apr 16, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Season 5Ep. 247
