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Adrienne Pierce traces her interest in solar technologies to an eighth-grade science fair "many decades ago."
"I was flipping through my dad's Popular Mechanics magazines, pulling out articles of interest. And what captured my attention were some of the early reports on solar energy and eutectic salts for thermal transition," she said.
"I built an independent energy house out of paper mache and cardboard, with cellophane tape for the windows and embedded it on a hill covered with green shag carpet."
Today she remains committed to environmental sustainability and economic development. "We learn early on to clean up our messes, and why that doesn't extend beyond our bedrooms has always been a mystery to me," she said.
As CEO of New Sun Road, a Richmond, California-based for-profit public benefit company (PBC), Adrienne aims to make a global impact for productive purposes. Her company is developing data-driven Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that could accelerate renewable energy deployment and access for remote communities.
"We're dealing with the consequences of our messes and the messes of the generations before us," she added.
PBCs require corporate officers and directors to consider the triple bottom line of profit, people, and planet when making business decisions.
Companies can organize as a PBC in the District of Columbia and 16 states, including California. Under their corporate charters, they pledge to produce public benefits and follow ethical principles of sustainability and development.
Adrienne joined the Peace Corps after earning a chemical engineering degree from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.
"I love to travel, have an intense curiosity and thought I'd offer my services to change the world," she explained. Ultimately, she said she experienced more internal than external change while teaching science in Gabon, Africa.
"When you see people living closer to the earth, with fewer things, you realize how much we have and how we don't appreciate all of that," she said.
She earned an MBA on returning to the United States and kicked off her career near Boston with a job at a startup with an environmental technology product. "They were recycling hazardous waste using a molten metal bath, which was incredibly ambitious and a bit expensive," she said.
Since then, she's gained extensive experience in technical product marketing, organizational development and building partnerships in environmental and semiconductor industries. While working at SunEdison in 2015 and 2016, she co-led a 20-person development team on a $7 million project to revitalize end-to-end data platform managing 1800+ renewable sites globally.
She spent nearly four years at IronRidge, a designer and manufacturer of solar panel mounting systems, and two at YellowTin, which aims to accelerate clean energy adoption, before joining New Sun Road in 2021.
"As a benefit company, New Sun Road aligns with my goals to progress energy access, grow internet connectivity and foster opportunities in underserved, rural communities. To do all this, in a leadership position building a strong organization that delivers the triple bottom line — I am humbled and thrilled," she said.
In today's podcast, Adrienne details how New Sun Road uses microgrids to advance worldwide solar deployments. Its Stellar MicroGrid OS is technology agnostic, resilient in harsh conditions and cost-effective for rural off-grid applications.
"New Sun Road is the intersectionality of technology, international impact, customer solution delivery, and a clean energy environment. For me, it is the perfect storm of many things I've done. I've been doing it for a year, and it's incredibly satisfying," she said.
Join us to learn more about New Sun Road's vision and mission and how it aligns with Adrienne's skills and experience. She's a real climate champion, a solar warrior. I have been privileged to get to know her and am excited to share her insights.
NOTEWORTHY QUOTEs:
“We have deep partnerships, and we grow based on the adjacency of those partnerships, we become core to people’s business operations. And so there’s a deep sense of trust and alignment in what we’re doing with them.”
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SUNGROW focuses on integrated energy storage system solutions, including PCS, lithium-ion batteries and energy management system. Pleae visit https://www.mysuncast.com/sungrow
ABOUT THE HOST OF SUNCAST:
Nico Johnson is the creator and host of SunCast, consistently rated a top solar podcast in the clean energy sector. The content of the show is geared towards listeners looking for insights on where the markets are headed, how to position themselves or their companies, and what today's market leaders do to stay ahead of the pack.
Nico is an Investor, Executive Coach, and 16-year veteran of the solar industry, having led development in the US and Latin America for global companies like Trina Solar and Conergy.
You can connect with Nico Johnson on Twitter, LinkedIn or email.
If you’ve been second-guessing your work decisions or maybe trying to reconsider how you "fit" in the renewable energy industry -> grab 20 minutes on Nico's calendar and discuss whether having him as Your personal coach might be the right next step.