Episode 576: Shannon Miller left Tesla to build a new category of generator!

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Shannon Miller is a remarkable woman. She has a bachelor's, master's and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and was recognized in 2012 by the MIT Technology Review as one of the "35 Innovators Under 35." Last year, she earned recognition for advancing women's leadership in clean energy as one of only nine annual DOE awardees for the C3E initiative.

She considers herself a pragmatic optimist — a dreamer with the vision, education and scientific knowledge to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon electric grid. And in today's Tactical Tuesday, you'll learn more about the person behind the success as we explore Shannon's background, motivations, and core values.

Shannon is the chief executive officer and co-founder of Mainspring Energy — a Menlo Park company that believes the long-sought clean, efficient, affordable, and resilient grid is within reach. Mainspring is developing a new linear generator that converts multiple fuel types to electricity.

We share greater detail about the innovative generator in Episode 533. But we wanted to revisit that conversation to highlight some of Shannon's traits and motivations to give a sense of how she got where she is today.

"If you keep your mind open to sometimes wacky ideas, you can often find a path you didn't think was viable before," Shannon said.

She describes her parents and brother as "amazing, wonderful, supportive people that I won the lottery with" and refers to her grandfather, who started a company after fighting in WWII, as one of her early heroes. 

She switched her college major from chemistry to engineering after taking a thermodynamics course on the advice of her freshman-year residence assistant. "It was just so mind-blowing because I learned how everything around me worked — refrigerators, car engines, and the basics of the world. It was fascinating and something I wanted to continue," she recalled.

Christopher Edwards, professor of mechanical engineering, emeritus at Stanford, taught the course. He became Shannon's Ph.D. advisor and later pulled her back to the idea she had researched as the basis for her company.

"Words do not capture the gratitude I feel for what he's given me," she said. "He instilled a passion for energy, a passion for learning and a deep, deep respect for first principles thinking, and has inspired so many folks in the energy field. He's one of my heroes and mentors, and I know many others feel the same way."

A former National Science Foundation Fellow, Shannon received funding from the Global Climate Energy Project to advance her research at Stanford. She collaborated with Mainspring Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Matt Svrcek to design and develop the early prototype that was the foundation for Mainspring's linear generator technology.

Join me to hear how Shannon seized opportunities and grew personally and professionally to build amazing success.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Shannon Miller on LinkedIn

Follow Mainspring Energy on LinkedIn and check out its website.

NOTEWORTHY QUOTEs:

Pragmatic Optimism

Proactive Collaboration

Excellence Without Ego

  • And then the third one is excellence without ego. And so this is really around trying to always be improving, always be striving for excellence and to have the sort of humility to get the feedback to know that you can always be doing better. 

Advice for job seekers: 

as you're choosing companies, you're focused on in climate look also for things like core values, and interview [them] for that when you're interviewing at a company, and hopefully you can find a place where you find that match. 

Advice from an investor:

tackle the highest risk and the hardest problems first, because, you know, what you don't want to do is, I mean, there's money at stake, but there's also your life at stake and time, like you said at the beginning is your most important and the only non renewable asset and so you don't want to waste a bunch of time doing the easy things and then find out that you've had a roadblock that stops that makes the business a non starter and so they always recommend it, you know, and push really hard to say what's the hardest highest risk thing in the company. Make sure you do that first and tackle that first before anything else.

Thanks again to this week's sponsor, helping keep the podcast FREE to you!

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.

Episode 575: How One Entrepreneur Is Reinventing Energy Choice With Modern Technology, Tanya Barham of Community Energy Labs

We'd love if you'd leave us a 5 ⭐ rating & review and it's never been easier: www.ratethispodcast.com/suncast

Tanya Barham has a simple way of explaining the mission of Community Energy Labs, the Portland, Oregon-based company she founded and heads.

"We're like the QuickBooks of building technology. We support something more complex than someone doing their taxes but at a far lower expense than a business that uses SAP or a big mainframe computer," she said.

Tanya wants to make smart energy management and decarbonization accessible and affordable for community building owners.

In today's insightful and wonderful conversation, we explore the built environment  — specifically around the issues of how we control it and how it controls us. 

As the US Environmental Protection Agency acknowledges, the built environment touches all aspects of our lives. It encompasses the buildings we live in, the distribution systems that provide us with water and electricity, and the roads, bridges, and transportation systems we use to get from place to place. These human-made or modified structures provide people with living, working, and recreational spaces — and creating all these spaces and systems requires enormous quantities of materials.

Tanya is an innovator, entrepreneur and self-described utility nerd, skilled in the execution of all aspects of technical service, product development, operations and commercialization from ideation through funding and growth while integrating systems and people. She has 20 years of experience developing programs and software to improve the built environment.

In the early 2000s, when solar photovoltaic (PV) was still considered a largely fringe technology, she started a first-of-its-kind solar program called Solar 4R Schools for a Portland, Oregon-based foundation. More recently, she's focused on helping building managers use predictive controls to manage their carbon footprint in places like schools. 

Did you know 40% of greenhouse gas comes from the built environment, and 70% is from the electric grid? Even so, most (87%) commercial buildings need more controls to manage the complex solutions and software now available. 

Until recently, Tanya said smaller businesses, schools and local governments could get by with limited controls. "But now, there are penalties for non-compliance with building performance. As costs and complexities increase, they need solutions."

Tanya said energy is the second highest cost for larger nonprofits. And in the United States, k through 12 schools spend more on energy than on computers and textbooks combined.

Community Energy Labs' commercial building control solutions monitor, learn and adjust building energy use to meet business goals. Tanya described the company's internet of things (IoT) driven Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform as "predictive and adaptive — a tireless virtual engineer controlling your building's setpoints, schedules, air quality, comfort and energy use."

Tanya shares fascinating stories about business building, her hard-knock upbringing, and the commonalities between choirs and companies in today's podcast. She grew up poor, she recalled, in a family with limited resources and minimal access to higher education. "But my relatives were smart, curious and energetic, and neurotic in ways that helped me," she said. 

Once she started school, many caring adults recognized her potential "and invested a lot. Teachers and counselors constantly plugged me into resources and promoted me to leadership development programs. And then, when I went to college, I became a nanny for a Swedish family full of entrepreneurs," she said.

Tanya explains how the challenges of her youth prepared her for the effort and risks inherent in entrepreneurship. 

Anyone building a business, climate tech or otherwise, will enjoy the lessons we unpack here today. And yes, we also talk about things like solar, proptech — property technology — and even touch on the artificial intelligence convergences driving climate tech investment.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Tanya Barham on LinkedIn and her website.

Follow Community Energy Labs on LinkedIn and check out its website.

NOTEWORTHY QUOTEs:

“I truly believe to lead the clean energy revolution, we need more people asking questions. We need more people curious about how and why things work and be willing to change it and try something incredibly new and different.”
— Tanya Barham

Thanks again to this week's sponsor, helping keep the podcast FREE to you!

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.

Episode 574: 5 Ways to Get the Most From Your Solar Tracker System

We'd love if you'd leave us a 5 ⭐ rating & review and it's never been easier: www.ratethispodcast.com/suncast

Solar veteran Dell Jones started working with trackers before most folks entered the solar industry. 

"The first project I got involved with was at Florida Power & Light, which installed a tracking system at its general office in Miami in the early 80s. This tracking system was huge and bulky — a big noisy thing, about eight feet tall, four to five feet wide, three feet deep, somewhere around 150 decibels," he recalled.

Times have changed. Today there are smaller, quieter bespoke solutions designed with consideration of the architecture, environment, and site geology. But to get the most from your investment, Dell said you should evaluate five significant factors. It starts at the foundation level and extends through your asset's terrain, surface area, mechanical assembly and risk-adjusted security.

Dell is the key account manager for TrinaPro, the all-in-one smart solar utility solution offered by Changzhou, China-based Trina Solar. Since 1997, Trina has pioneered sustainable solar energy solutions, including solar modules, tracker systems, and inverters.

On today's Tactical Tuesday, Dell explains how to maximize profits when installing or specifying tracker systems for utility-scale or large distributed-generation solar projects. We dive into a checklist of five ways to improve profitability by integrating trackers into your large-scale project development process.

Dell has some 40 years of experience in the solar industry and deep knowledge of trackers from his work as a product manager at TerraSmart and other industry-leading companies. More than 80% of today's utility-scale projects are tracker-based, and Dell has been at the forefront during the product's rise to dominance.

Trina's business footprint extends to more than 100 countries and regions, including regional headquarters in San Jose, California, Tokyo and Singapore; sales offices in Madrid, Mexico, Milan, Sydney, Chile, and Dubai; and manufacturing facilities in Thailand and Vietnam. And those who’ve followed my career will recall that I actually worked for Trina once-upon-a-time!

Join us for some insightful conversation — and up your solar game by downloading Trina's whitepaper to see how your decisions impact the LCOE of your project. In our discussion today, I highlighted some of the things I learned from the whitepaper and even recommend specific pages you might find useful!

Learn more by downloading it here.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Dell Jones on LinkedIn

Follow Trina Solar on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and check out its website.

NOTEWORTHY QUOTEs:

“What’s really unique about trackers and ground mount as opposed to rooftop installations, you know, they have to deal with the building and the wind and all that. But really, you know, a lot of people don’t really understand that every tracker project is a bespoke design based on a lot of conditions, environmental conditions, and civil conditions, soil, soil type rocks, wind, snow, those are all things that govern the final design of a tracker.”
— Dell Jones

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.

Episode 573: This savvy energy startup measures the carbon on the grid. Wenbo Shi, CEO Singularity Energy

We'd love if you'd leave us a 5 ⭐ rating & review and it's never been easier: www.ratethispodcast.com/suncast

2022 was a momentous year for Wenbo Shi, the founder and CEO of Singularity Energy. 

His three-year-old startup — a Software-as-a-Service platform that reports on carbon emissions for the electricity grid — grew from three people in two cities to a team of nine on both coasts. He hired two engineers, three data scientists, a product lead, a marketing & PR advisor, and board members — including MIT graduates and industry veterans. 

Singularity also closed its $4.5 million seed round led by Spero Ventures and Energy Impact Partners and received a $1 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant from the National Science Foundation. 

Wenbo said the industry is making great progress towards a clean energy future. However, many big questions remain unanswered. The good news, he stressed, is that Singularity is better positioned today than ever before to solve many of these challenges.

.Wenbo honed his interest in solar and decarbonization during an intensive academic journey stretching from undergraduate studies at Xi'an Jiaotong University in Xi'an to a Ph.D. from UCLA and post-doctoral work at Harvard. 

At Harvard, he researched smart grid technology and management and published more than 20 peer-reviewed papers, which received more than 1,000 citations.

Two of those papers ranked among the most popular articles ever published in IEEE, the world's largest technical professional organization.In addition to running his company, Wenbo is also an associate editor for the Technical Committee on Carbon Neutrality at IEEE.

Wenbo embarked on an entrepreneurial path after completing his Harvard fellowship. Somerville, Massachusetts-based Singularity uses advanced machine learning to help grid operators quantify their carbon footprints. It analyzes and predicts carbon emissions changes and the impacts of decarbonization measures so customers can time their energy use and trim their carbon footprints.

Initially, he planned to commercialize some of the energy management research he did while working on his Ph.D. But he changed Singularity's mission when he realized people who care about the environment care about lowering their carbon emissions. 

"People generally have some understanding going electric is beneficial for the environment because it will reduce emissions. But how do you quantify it? How do you understand the emission impact of decisions?" Webo asked.

In today's podcast, Wenbo explains how Singularity evolved to solve this carbon data problem and how leveraging that data to inform better decisions is the most direct path to decarbonization. This insightful episode is full of memorable takeaways that will act as connective tissue for problems you're solving.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Wenbo Shi on LinkedIn.

Follow Singularity Energy on LinkedIn, GitHub and Twitter and check out its website.

NOTEWORTHY QUOTEs:

“So those are the two types of people that you need in startup, basically, the people who can sell and then people who can build”
— Wenbo Shi

Thanks again to this week's sponsor, helping keep the podcast FREE to you!

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.

Episode 572: Green Is The New Gold: Why Investing In Climate Tech Helps The Planet

We'd love if you'd leave us a 5 ⭐ rating & review and it's never been easier: www.ratethispodcast.com/suncast

Kyle Cherrick "builds and invests in new things in climate tech and sustainability." It's a good summation of a 15-year career focused on startups, from early-stage through the venture-funded (growth) stage and beyond, and industry leaders like First Solar, SunEdison, and Chint Power Systems.

Kyle is an entrepreneur and a climate investing aficionado, and lately he’s gained attention as lead investor for Climate Avengers, a venture capital community of more than 400 angel investors that he started in 2021 as a side project. 

Kyle’s day job, and life’s work is as vice president of business development at Electrum and its affiliated company, Solar.com. He joined Los Angeles-based Electrum (formerly PickMySolar) in 2016 after it acquired his company, Solar Merchant.

Electrum is a managed, online bidding platform homeowners can use to find competitive offers on solar, battery storage, and electrification products, and Solar.com is an online marketplace that helps homeowners find, select and contract certified solar installers. After analysis through a proprietary algorithm, registrants can choose a bid, e-sign a contract directly with the installer and explore financing options.

In today's Tactical Tuesday, I'm sharing a conversation with Kyle who joined our exclusive Discord community, REsource Labs, for its first-ever Office Hours.  The discussion centered around climate investing, and we had several community members participate in the call to provide color, questions, commentary, and counterpoints.

Office Hours is a great place to ask questions and get answers. Kyle takes questions and shares insights on the latest trends and topics in climate investing and clean tech.

Kyle learned from experience many founders are "banging their heads against the wall talking to generalist investors who didn't understand or believe in the climate tech market. Climate Avengers is here to support those founders."

He thinks the world needs to create more climate angels and grow investment in the climate space, especially in early-stage startups. 

It's why Climate Avengers launched its first fund in 2021 and added a rolling fund last year, which enables it to back the most promising climate startups more quickly. The rolling fund writes checks in the $10,000 to $50,000 range and makes three to five investments a quarter.

"We know the climate clock is ticking and that good businesses out there need more capital to grow faster, hire more, and fund more pilots. They need to reach across that chasm to reach full viability, so I began researching and building out my own fund," he explained. 

He's running the funds concurrently with his work at Electrum, which he said he enjoys. "I love it, but I also have a huge passion for angel investing in this space and know we need more capital," he added.

Kyle talks about many subjects in today's podcast, including carbon offsets. "The whole globe is becoming aware that we have to reduce carbon and understand the value of a carbon reduction offset. The value of those carbon offsets will increase significantly over time, to the point that it becomes like an asset one would invest in, which is a weird concept to consider. But it's good for the economy. 

Kyle graduated in 2008 from the University of Arizona with a degree in marketing and entrepreneurship and earned an MBA in 2016 from Babson College. 

There's much to hear in today's conversation, and I invite you to join us. Kyle is a repeat guest, and you can learn more from him in Suncast Episodes 95 and 96.

RESOURCES:

Invest with Climate Avengers

Connect with Kyle Cherrick on LinkedIn and Twitter

And, Join our community to participate in more live conversations like this one!

NOTEWORTHY QUOTEs:

“The general thesis is, the whole globe is becoming aware that we have to reduce carbon, and we have to understand the value of a carbon reduction, or offset, and so the value of those carbon offsets is going to increase significantly over time, to the point that it actually becomes like an asset that one would invest in.”
— Kyle Cherrick

Thanks again to this week's sponsor, helping keep the podcast FREE to you!

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.

Episode 571: 3 Problems Causing Solar to Stumble and How to Solve Them, Michael Orshan of PVHardware

We'd love if you'd leave us a 5 ⭐ rating & review and it's never been easier: www.ratethispodcast.com/suncast

Michael Orshan has one absolute about decisions. "You have to make one because you need to keep the ideas moving. Standing still is the worst thing," he explained.

That conviction has served him well through a career that rode the wave of digital telecom and internet development before morphing into solar and clean energy roles.

Michael has helped implement more than 10 gigawatts of solar worldwide during the past 15 years. As VP of US Sales for Valencia, Spain-based solar tracker vendor PVH and a board member of Breeze, a startup using existing oil and gas pipelines for electricity generation with compressed air pipeline systems (CAPS), he has broad industry knowledge.

In today's podcast, you'll hear his perspective on how manufacturers and utility-scale developers have evolved to address market needs, their current challenges, and their options for moving forward to overcome three critical issues in clean tech.

"We need to solve intermittency. What happens when the sun is down and the wind doesn't blow? We need to solve transmission. How do you move all energy from remote sites to the people and manufacturing plants that need to use it? And — one that never gets talked about enough — how do you retire these assets? It's a huge financial issue," he said.

Michael graduated from Ohio State University in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in computer science and accounting. He used his expertise to consult, extract data and grow applications built on the nascent internet for companies, including NCR, AT&T, Verizon and VCTI. 

In 2003, he was named director of the Office of Science and Technology at the New Mexico Economic Development Department, where he pioneered some early solar laws and projects. He left in 2006 to focus on solar trackers — support structures that allow solar panels to follow the sun's path and absorb more solar radiation for increased efficiency. 

He is now an executive with PVH, a provider of trackers, structures and control solutions for utility-scale PV solar plants globally and the world's third-largest solar tracker supplier, and a board member of Breeze.

At Breeze, he's steering the company to lead in long-duration energy storage. Breeze is one of the companies represented on McKinsey Long Duration Energy Storage Council.

Breeze aims to repurpose idle oil and gas pipelines to generate green energy, which is more cost-effective than tearing them down and rebuilding them.

Bill got involved with the company after meeting the head of technology for Sandia National Laboratories. "He said, 'I know you're in solar, and I'm part of a group of scientists. It's not a formal organization, but it includes the smartest people in the world. We've looked at the wind and solar, and while we need them, we don't think they'll move fast enough to save the world," he said. "What we think is going to work is compressed air."

Breeze transports green energy from remote locations and generates electricity closer to the point of consumption, reducing the need for a massive national transmission build-out. Instead, developers can build new power plants to support the pipelines that store, transport and generate electricity and increase their output by 25 percent using direct current (DC) compressors and avoiding the conversion to alternating current (AC). 

It's an intriguing concept that you'll want to learn more about as a way to decarbonize the grid. Join us for today's show.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Michael Orshan on Lin

Follow PVH on LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook and check out its website.

Follow Breeze Inc. on LinkedIn and check out its website.

NOTEWORTHY QUOTEs:

“The biggest use of power, electricity is cooling. And when we release, we’re releasing minus 100, maybe more or less, “C”, our air is pretty cold. So we can just, take that air and blow it on chillers, and create ice, instant ice. And then you could cool data centers, offices.”
— Michael Orshan

Thanks again to this week's sponsor, helping keep the podcast FREE to you!

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.

Episode 570: Breaking Barriers in Solar Development: Miles Braxton and the BlackOak Collective

We'd love if you'd leave us a 5 ⭐ rating & review and it's never been easier: www.ratethispodcast.com/suncast

Miles Q. Braxton said he learned the merits of "patience with urgency" while working in solar sales, where there was often a delay between prospecting and closing. 

He likely applied the lessons learned to another critical aspect of his life — promoting sustainable job opportunities for members of the Black community.

Miles is a co-founder of BlackOak Collective, a community of Black professionals and advocates across environmental fields in the Washington, DC, area. 

Patience may be a virtue, but Miles understands the necessity (and urgency) to provide the organization's members with the connections they need for career advancement. The community is for professionals, students, culture workers, organizers, and all Black people interested in creating the environmental future Black communities deserve.

Miles leads strategic partnership and student engagement efforts for BlackOak Collective. He's also co-founder of a stealth startup in the climate and energy tech area and director of risk management at Summit Ridge Energy, a leading owner-operator of U.S.-based community solar assets. 

When I last interviewed him, he worked for Goldman Sachs Renewable Power Group's solar energy assets, coordinating risk management (insurance and environmental health and safety). He left that role in mid-2022 to take the position at Summit Ridge.

In today's Tactical Tuesday podcast, I'm sharing a snippet from that conversation that includes some notable thoughts about a Black man's journey to success in sustainability.

Miles went to the University of Virginia specifically to study electrical and computer engineering under Mool Gupta, a pioneer in photonics — the science of light. With the support of his parents — two lawyers and a third who attended medical school — and strong mentors, he was a prime candidate for a career in the booming solar industry when he graduated from UVA with a degree in environmental science in 2018.

But he found it hard to get a job. Once employed, he often found himself the only non-white person in the room. He formed BlackOak Collective to make launching a career in the environmental area a little easier for the next person of color. 

It's not a career path that's talked about or well understood in the Black community, Miles said. 

So he started sharing his journey with students at various colleges, explaining how persistence, patience and vision for a sustainability career paid off. The collective took off when he partnered with a former UVA classmate, Kiera Givens. By partnering with organizations to promote job opportunities and build a network of Black professionals, they've expanded information and resources to build homes for many Black environmental communities. 

Join us today to learn how Miles grew his career and created BlackOak to facilitate mutual support, collaboration, resource sharing, job opportunities  and mentorship for Black people pursuing critical work across various environmental fields.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Miles Q. Braxton on LinkedIn

Follow BlackOak Collective on LinkedIn and check out its website.

Follow Summit Ridge Energy on LinkedIn and check out its website.

Thanks again to this week's sponsor, helping keep the podcast FREE to you!

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.

Episode 569: The best way to do proper carbon footprint accounting? Alex Stuart, Standard Carbon

We'd love if you'd leave us a 5 ⭐ rating & review and it's never been easier: www.ratethispodcast.com/suncast

Entrepreneur Alex Stuart's interest in renewable energy likely flows from the same personality trait that's enticed him to start multiple businesses, sometimes consecutively. 

"It all starts from innate curiosity. I'm a very curious person by nature, and so I'm constantly exploring ideas and opportunities," he explained.

Alex is the president of Carbon Block, which he co-founded in 2018, and Standard Carbon, which he launched three years later. 

An expert in greenhouse gas assurance, small-scale renewable energy and the carbon markets, his companies synergistically support his beliefs in transparent, accurate climate data. 

They're the latest projects for the busy Canadian, who founded two renewable energy companies and installed wind turbines for the U.S. government earlier in his career. 

Carbon Block and Standard Carbon are both based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Carbon Block is an environmental technology firm aiming to tackle climate change through carbon offsets. It uses proprietary hardware backed by blockchain to verify greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions and convert them into carbon offsets. 

Standard Carbon offers GHG-related consulting services to clients in renewable energy, agriculture, manufacturing, and transportation sectors.

Alex launched Standard Carbon because he views carbon accounting as an exciting opportunity. 

Alex thinks climate data directly affects a company's financial position — and not managing your risk exposure to rising carbon prices will cost it. As he explains, understanding your carbon debt from all operations and your supply chain is imperative for clients, shareholders, and investors and enables companies to avoid greenwashing and misspending.

Standard Carbon is the first GHG verifier in Canada accredited by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) to ISO 14065:2020 and ISO 17029: 2019 and is the sixth in Canada accredited to ISO 14065:2013. This accreditation enables Standard Carbon to issue GHG validation and verification statements, a crucial part of creating carbon offsets. The accreditation is recognized internationally and allows the company to participate in the carbon markets.

In today's podcast, Alex discusses his companies, career and the latest offering from Standard Carbon, SCOP3 software. Alex says it's "the one climate tool for every financial need" because it helps companies of all sizes manage every part of their environmental data. 

Alex said SCOP3 addresses the needs of accountants, who have struggled to evaluate environmental information and translate it into financial details. During a meeting with representatives of a leading US-based accounting organization, Alex floated the idea of specialized software.

"I casually asked, 'If we build software that translates environmental science information into financial language, would that be helpful for members of your profession?' And they responded, 'Absolutely.'

"That was the aha moment, where we pivoted to building what we're now calling climate accounting software. It's an evolution beyond carbon accounting because it is a much more holistic approach to the problem," he explained.

Alex said he often imagines himself in the future, where he can "see things and know, 'clearly, this is the way it should be' and then come back and go, 'Why isn't it that way?' 

"That's been my approach to entrepreneurialism and how my career has taken me to where I am today."

It's a fascinating conversation. Join us.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Alex Stuart on LinkedIn

Follow Carbon Block on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok and check out its website. 

Follow Standard Carbon on LinkedIn and Twitter and check out its website.

NOTEWORTHY QUOTEs:

“A lot of this stuff that we have now is obvious, when you’ve got it in your hands. But the point of going from zero to one, on that point, can be very challenging.”
— Alex Stuart

Thanks again to this week's sponsor, helping keep the podcast FREE to you!

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.

Episode 568: Cary Hayes' big leap from Smith Barney to Solar

We'd love if you'd leave us a 5 ⭐ rating & review and it's never been easier: www.ratethispodcast.com/suncast

One day Cary Hayes was enjoying himself on the Colorado slopes, where he skied some 100 days a year — and two weeks later, he was heading to a highrise in his native Chicago for a financial consulting job at what was then Solomon Smith Barney.

To paraphrase David Byrne, he likely asked himself, "Well, how did I get here?" 

The answer is as memorable as his ultimate decision to help green the planet and ascend to one of the solar industry's top leaders.

Cary's spent the past six years leading REC Americas, the California-based North American division of REC Group, a leading European brand for solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. 

A solar industry veteran with nearly two decades of sales and business development experience, he exudes fun and confidence while remaining among the most fiercely competitive people I know. Moreover, he has excellent practical advice to share in today's Tactical Tuesday.

I've known Cary since 2012, when I worked at Trina Solar. He's a strong leader and a really nice guy — a former Colorado ski bum who kicked off his career when he essentially decided it was time to grow up.

Cary prioritized skiing in Crested Butte during his 20s. "I wouldn't trade it for anything. And then, around 1999-2000 — at the peak of the .com boom, the market peak and all that fun stuff — I was like, 'Well, I better go figure out how to get a real job,'" he recalled.

He returned to Chicago, where he decided to put his bachelor of history degree from Colorado State University against "a lot of smart people who went to places like Colgate and Cornell." He aces multiple interviews before landing a spot with the final decision maker.

"She's like, 'I'm looking at your resume, and I've got to be honest with you. I don't see anything on here. What the hell have you been doing for the last seven or eight years?"

"I just had nothing to lose, so I looked at her and said, 'I'm just going to be honest.'"

He was — and got the job.

Today I'm resharing a snippet of an interview with Cary from 2022 (the first of last year, in fact!). It highlights the importance of navigating your own route, even when it veers through an off-the-beaten-path ski town.

You'll hear how he overcame that less-than-linear resume to land a consulting job at what's now Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and why he walked away from it to explore the budding solar industry.

"I was looking at all these guys in their 50s and 60s, and they're making seven figures and doing really well," he recalled. But he's dubious about following their lead. "I want to do something different."

Cary ended up being part of the team that brought Norway-based REC Group to the US market in 2008, helping to fuel its global growth. In 2014, he left REC Solar (now owned by Duke Energy) to work as a vice president at Pristine Sun and Clean Focus before accepting a top role at REC Americas. For several years, he sat on the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) board.

 It all worked out.

Remember, every decision you make — wherever you've been — prepares you for what comes next. Decide today to listen to this podcast. It's worth your time.

RESOURCES:

Find Cary Hayes on LinkedIn.

Follow REC Group on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and check out its website.

Full Episode 438

Thanks again to this week's sponsor, helping keep the podcast FREE to you!

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.

Episode 567: Jordan Energy: Creating More Food for Less with Solar

We'd love if you'd leave us a 5 ⭐ rating & review and it's never been easier: www.ratethispodcast.com/suncast

Bill Jordan's uncles began farming the Imperial Valley of Southern California after returning from World War II. Today Bill's company is installing solar on the next-generation facilities of those family farms, marrying his passions for solar, agribusiness and giving back to empower progress through sustainable energy.

Bill capitalized on decades of experience in renewable energy, building materials and sustainable agriculture markets to create the Troy, New York-based solar development company that bears his name. Since he founded Jordan Energy in 2009, it's grown into a leader in solar photovoltaics (PV) system design, installation, and operations.

Also known as Jordan Energy and Food Enterprises, the company supports many client partners from the farm community, including Dairy Farmers of America. It's a natural fit for a man with the deep agricultural roots of family farms and, before them, a produce shop in Philadelphia.

"Eighty percent of our business is with farmers and food companies because they trust us and know us. We know how to speak to farmers and genuinely care for their family farm businesses," Bill said.

Jordan Energy demonstrates its belief in sustainable energy by sharing 10% of its profits with the Let’s Share the Sun Foundation, which provides solar power to underdeveloped communities worldwide. 

In today's podcast, Bill explains the seemingly disparate connection between energy and food and why his metrics for success focus heavily on trust, responsibility and doing the right things.

"The biggest challenge is gaining market share in responsible ways that help lower energy costs and make the world better, safer and more inhabitable  — economically and environmentally," he said.

He said he's often asked to explain the name Jordan Energy and Food Enterprises, noting that it is common for people to question how the two are related.

But he says the two issues have been "intimately connected" throughout his life. He studied hunger at the University of Notre Dame and earned an advanced degree in agriculture and resource economics at Cornell University. The latter program required analysis of challenges like food insecurity, poverty, and the need for more food during climate change and a growing global population.

He worked with small family farmers in Chile and as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Agriculture in New York State. Solar took root when he combined what he knew about roofing — his father-in-law was a former president of GAF, North America's largest roofing manufacturer — with his commitment to sustainability.

"I came to conclude solar would have the most market share and that farmers stood to benefit by diversifying their farm operations to include solar. So that's the crux of the nexus between food and energy for me," he said.

There's much more in today's conversation, including how Let's Share the Sun is partnering with Wood Mackenzie to promote independent and resilient energy in places that need it most. Please join us.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Bill Jordan on LinkedIn.

Follow Jordan Energy on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and check out its website.

Follow Jordan Energy’s nonprofit, Let’s Share the Sun Foundation, on Instagram and check out its website.

NOTEWORTHY QUOTEs:

“I always make the comparison to IBM before Bill Gates and Steve Jobs created the personal computers we’re communicating through right now. Those mainframes were a lot less powerful than these laptops were talking through and IBM probably thought that they were going to be the dominant force in computing maybe for a long timeline. But innovation happened with the personal computer so IBM still exists, they just had to change a lot. And similarly, I think the utilities are going through a lot of change that is hard for some people that have done some things the same way for decades.”
— Bill Jordan

Thanks again to this week's sponsor, helping keep the podcast FREE to you!

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.

Episode 566: Expert Advice For A Winning 2023 Solar Strategy, with EDPR and Woodmac

We'd love if you'd leave us a 5 ⭐ rating & review and it's never been easier: www.ratethispodcast.com/suncast

Industry analysts are optimistic the US solar market will rebound in 2023 despite lingering supply chain and policy issues, with the robust residential segment leading the way.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will incentivize growth as supply chain challenges lessen, setting the stage for a reversal from the anemic performance by the commercial, utility-scale and community solar segments in 2022. 

Those are the predictions from Gustavo Gomes Monteiro and Michelle Davis, who share their insights on the state of the global and domestic distributed generation markets and forecast what we can expect throughout 2023 in today's Tactical Tuesday podcast.

Gustavo is the CEO of EDP Renewables North America Distributed Generation (EDPR NA DG), a part of EDP Renewables, the world's fourth-largest renewable energy producer. His unit focuses on Fortune 100 commercial and industrial (C&I) customers, community solar and the municipal, university, school, and hospital (MUSH) sectors, providing a full suite of services, including design, financing, construction, and operation and maintenance.

With in-depth market knowledge, technical and transactional experience, and a global perspective, he explains everything from how multinational corporations integrate renewables, including solar and storage, to critical trends in distributed generation. 

"The energy industry at the moment," Gustavo said, "is engaged in an immense transformation towards a better future."

Michelle is a principal analyst for US Distributed Solar at Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables. As lead author of Wood Mackenzie's quarterly US Solar Market Insights Report, she brings an insider's understanding of the challenges and opportunities. She unpacks what the US market can expect in coming quarters and highlights significant issues.

The most critical growth factor is the pipeline of projects delayed in 2022. "2023 should be a recovery year," she explained, noting that long-awaited equipment deliveries will enable the completion of many projects, especially in the commercial segment.

Commercial solar encompasses distributed solar projects with commercial, industrial, agricultural, school, government or nonprofit offtakers, including remotely net-metered projects. 

Wood Mackenzie forecasts a 21% average annual growth across all solar segments through 2027, with the full impacts of the IRA coming to fruition next year. It attributes the five years of growth to favorable conditions from the IRA and state policy initiatives in community solar markets. 

Gustavo said EDPR NA DG is strategically navigating market uncertainties to guide its clients through the energy transition while creating jobs and advancing excellence in environmental stewardship. "We're empowering our communities to use greener and more sustainable energy for the future," he said. “EDPR is changing tomorrow now.”

There's much more practical information and actionable advice in today's Tactical Tuesday. Join us today to learn more about where the US solar market stands now — and where it might end up tomorrow.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Gustavo Gomes Monteiro on LinkedIn

Connect Michelle Davis with on LinkedIn

Follow EDPR NA Distributed Generation on LinkedIn and check out its website. 

Follow Wood Mckenzie on LinkedIn and check out its website.

NOTEWORTHY QUOTEs:

“The constraints are everywhere, the demand is putting a lot of pressure on the supply chain. Everything that is happening in Europe is putting a lot of pressure on the supply chains. And the US is not immune to that. Because if there’s more pressure on another market, we will need to make sure that we’re really partnering and really working with the vendors that we elected as the preferential ones.”
— Gustavo Gomes Monteiro
“We had the passage of the inflation Reduction Act, which was, of course, a massive boon to the industry. In our forecasts last quarter, we forecast that the benefit of the IRA for just the next five years was going to be an increase of 40% in solar installations, so a real market catalyst.”
— Michelle Davis

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.

Episode 565: How to make solar investments inFinite, with Kevin Conroy, CEO Finite

We'd love if you'd leave us a 5 ⭐ rating & review and it's never been easier: www.ratethispodcast.com/suncast

If timing is everything, Kevin Conroy got off to a rough start. He said he launched his investment company, Finite, and its first fund at "terrible" times.

Keven founded Finite in 2019 to give individuals access to sustainable institutional quality investment opportunities. As 2022 dawned, the company opened its Solar Finance Fund to investors with the ticker SOLRX. The minimum initial investment is just $500.

2022 was the worst year for fixed income and elements of fixed income ever. And yet, Kevin said he capitalized on "good opportunities."

"You can be fresh and not so entrenched when things are going a little sideways," he said. "We needed a strong team to go into traditional institutional-type fund pitches. We needed extensive experience because people care about how many years you've spent managing money and how much you've managed."

He even made the most of the pandemic and the work-from-home boom it spawned, hiring the best people no matter where they lived rather than limiting hiring to areas near the company's Los Angeles headquarters.

He's now advancing his goal of streamlining investments in sustainable assets — making it as simple as buying stock in Robinhood.

Kevin describes Finite as the first platform to mobilize investor capital seamlessly into sustainable assets through publicly listed funds, adding that it "transparently invests in tangible assets delivering quantifiable impact and access to all investors." 

In today's podcast, he explains how his interest in sustainable finance led him to create a company that allows everyday folks to invest in genuinely impactful projects. It's a meaningful conversation as we speed towards decarbonizing our economy and grid. It helps us understand the deployment of capital to sustainable assets and the significance of giving a broader swath of humanity access to these opportunities.

Finite enables everyday folks to participate directly in financing distributed solar and storage assets. Kevin serves as president and co-portfolio manager for SOLRX, handling sourcing and capital investment.

Kevin began his career at JP Morgan's investment bank, specializing in corporate restructuring and managing an extensive equity portfolio. He nurtured his interest in sustainable finance through an early position at Dividend Finance, a trailblazer in the residential solar financing industry.

You'll hear today how this St. Louis, Missouri native who wanted to be a professional baseball player as a kid refocused his interest in the game of summer to supporting the brighter future of solar investment.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Kevin Conroy on LinkedIn and Twitter

Follow Finite on LinkedIn and check out its website.

NOTEWORTHY QUOTEs:

“What I get excited about is, I think with the IRA passing, you do have a market that’s going to open up, I think it’s going to open up in 2023 with kind of municipal, smaller municipal governments, nonprofits who really can benefit and traditionally have not been able to afford it or capture most of the benefit.”
— Kevin Conroy

Thanks again to this week's sponsor, helping keep the podcast FREE to you!

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.

Episode 564: Can Steel Make Solar Panels Even Better - And Help 'Save The World'? with Gregg Patterson of Origami Solar

We'd love if you'd leave us a 5 ⭐ rating & review and it's never been easier: www.ratethispodcast.com/suncast

Origami Solar gained attention in late 2022 by earning a grand prize in the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) American-Made Solar Prize competition. The $500,000 award aims to advance the company's patent-pending steel frame for solar modules to lower costs, reduce carbon emissions, and improve performance and value.

Today we take a closer look at how the company plans to reverse the solar industry's reliance on aluminum through the lens of CEO Gregg Patterson, a former Hewlett Packard executive who ran multiple global businesses before jumping into renewables in 2006.

Gregg said he made the career transition because he realized his grandchildren would "never talk about how good a printer I made."

"But if I got into renewables — and I looked at renewables and identified solar as the best play in terms of long-term upside — I could help save the planet," he recalled. "That became my drive."

He spent five years as CEO at PV Powered Inc., a manufacturer of grid-tied photovoltaic (PV) inverters, before leading the company through a 2010 acquisition by Advanced Energy Industries, a producer of power and control technologies. In 2013, he joined Demand Energy Networks as CEO and President — a role he held through the company's acquisition by Enel Green Power North America. 

Gregg left Enel in 2019 to work independently but returned to corporate life at the behest of a long-time friend, Origami Solar co-founder Eric Hafter. Eric and his co-founder had an idea to create solar panels from steel rather than aluminum. And while Gregg concedes that it's "not the sexiest thing alive," he felt it carried significant value.

Steel frames are less expensive, reduce production-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and facilitate domestic ramp-up of module production. As Gregg sees it, those factors are crucial elements in making solar as green as possible.

"Solar will be 50% to 70% of the power portfolio by 2050. That means insanely huge growth. And you cannot flow that much growth effectively and predictably when you have supply chains crossing massive oceans to make it happen," he said, describing global supply chains as "inherently fragile" and full of bottlenecks.

Gregg received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington, and was awarded a Hewlett Packard Fellowship to attend Stanford University, where he received his Masters in Engineering.

Join us to learn more about Gregg's career, the lessons he's learned along the way and the role he expects Origami Solar to play over the coming years.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Gregg Patterson on LinkedIn

Follow Origami Solar on LinkedIn and check out its website.

NOTEWORTHY QUOTEs:

“The small company can’t get to be a big company without the operational procedural. So it’s not like it’s bad and good. It’s how do you balance those so that the big company gets more agile and innovative, and the small company gets more procedural and efficient. ”
— Gregg Patterson

Thanks again to this week's sponsor, helping keep the podcast FREE to you!

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.

Episode 563: The Most Loved Soundbites From Suncast's Amazing 2022 Podcasts

We'd love if you'd leave us a 5 ⭐ rating & review and it's never been easier: www.ratethispodcast.com/suncast

In a year full of notable conversations, it's always challenging to pare down to highlights. But some 2022 Suncast podcasts resonated more than others with our listeners, so we'll use that as our guide.

These are among our most downloaded and talked about conversations from a stellar collection. It was a year full of learning and notable contributions from rocket scientists, industry icons, and some of our favorite content partnerships.

If these nuggets inspire you, I hope you'll queue up the full episodes with these featured guests:

  1. Sergio Blanco is renewable project finance director at Partner Engineering & Science, Inc., an engineering, environmental and energy consulting and design firm. In Episode 439 — 3 Keys To New Market Expansion — Sergio shares how he helps clients enter new markets and deal with the challenges, especially in the US market.

  2. Michael Burz is CEO, president and co-founder of Enzinc, a green energy startup developing a battery based on zinc. In Episode 448 — Zinc Batteries, Rocket Science and Reinvention — Michael and I discussed finding the right partner and product.

  3. Jeff Cramer is CEO, president and co-founder of the Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA). In Episode 485 — The Role Of Policy In Community Solar — Jeff and I explore the history of community solar and discuss the state and federal policies supporting this sector's growth. 

  4. David Kenny is CEO and co-founder of Omnidian, which provides comprehensive protection plans for commercial, industrial and residential solar energy investments. In Episode 507 — This Is The Way To Scale Customer Experience — Dave presents compelling data that underscores the need for more robust, customer-centric experiences in the solar industry and explains how to leverage data and the Internet of Things (IoT) to deliver the best experiences at scale. 

  5. Mary Powell is CEO and a board member at Sunrun, the nation's leading residential solar, storage, and energy services company. In Episode 450 — Leading America's Largest Residential Solar Company — Mary discusses challenges and opportunities in a male-dominated industry. 

These are among our most downloaded and talked about conversations of the year, so I hope you listen to today's show and then dig even deeper into our discussions with these exciting guests.

RESOURCES:

  1. Connect with Sergio Blanco on LinkedIn and hear him in Suncast Episode 439.

  2. Connect with Michael Burz on LinkedIn and hear him in Suncast Episode 448.

  3. Connect with Jeff Cramer on LinkedIn and hear him in Suncast Episode 485.

  4. Connect with David Kenny on LinkedIn and hear him in Suncast Episode 507.

  5. Connect with Mary Powell on LinkedIn and hear her in Suncast Episode 450.

  1. Follow Partner Engineering & Science, Inc. on LinkedIn and check out its website.

  2. Follow Enzinc on LinkedIn and check out Its website.

  3. Follow Coalition for Community Solar Access on LinkedIn and check out its website. 

  4. Follow Omnidian on LinkedIn and check out its website. 

  5. Follow Sunrun on LinkedIn and check out its website.

Thanks again to this week's sponsor, helping keep the podcast FREE to you!

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.

Episode 562: Would-Be Astronaut Now Bets on the Sun, with Marquis Matthews of Energy Support Services

We'd love if you'd leave us a 5 ⭐ rating & review and it's never been easier: www.ratethispodcast.com/suncast

Marquis Matthews participated in the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) — a federal program sponsored by the U.S. Armed Forces in high schools — as a pathway to a college education. In retrospect, he said the experience gave him a focused path to success spanning military service, work in the oil and gas industry, underwater welding and diving, and a passion for solar technologies.

Marquis understands the challenges of dramatic career transitions and shares his experiences in today's podcast. 

In 2014, the U.S. Navy veteran refocused from the depths of the sea to the center of the solar system. After years of diving and underwater welding, he left marine life to follow the sun. He indulged an entrepreneurial itch in 2017, then reinvented himself three years later for another chance to work as an employee for Energy Support Services.

Annapolis, Maryland-based Energy Support Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of New Energy Equity, handles operations and maintenance (O&M)  and asset management for commercial and industrial (C&I) projects across the U.S. Founded in 2014,  ESS currently has more than 170 megawatts under contract for 30 entities in 15 states.

Marquis credits his experience in the military and oil and gas industry for igniting his interest in solar, ultimately leading him to leverage his aquanaut skills to address the energy crisis. 

How it unfolded is fascinating. In 2008, Marquis worked for a subsea engineering and applied technology company in Morgan City, Louisiana. Morgan City is home to the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival, held to honor the impact of the oil and seafood businesses on this area in the Atchafalaya River's massive delta.

"Everyone is aware of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and the damages they caused in the Gulf of Mexico and surrounding cities and states," he said. "I was out there for that. The hurricanes created a lot of work for us, putting oil rigs back together."

Everything went well for nearly five years. Then the oil drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, operating in the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, exploded and sank. It resulted in the death of 11 workers and the largest oil spill in the history of marine oil drilling operations. 

He said it was a terrifying incident that forced him to acknowledge the vast potential environmental risks of undersea drilling. It's what led me to the industry I am in now, renewable energy," he said.

Marquis returned to his hometown of Baltimore, working as an inland diver in lakes and rivers rather than in the ocean while he charted his next course. By 2014, he worked as an installer for Vivint Solar, which Sunrun acquired in 2020. 

Marquis continued diving while nurturing his solar interests, working at several companies, including Sunrun, before launching his own business, PV-Perfect, in 2018. The company offers solar panel cleaning and solar installations. It's still operating, but Marquis stepped away to focus on Energy Support Services.

"We're expanding to so many more markets. We're in New York, and New York is about to explode. We're in Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan and trying to get into other markets," he said.

It's all been an exciting journey for a man who had childhood dreams of becoming an astronaut, and you'll hear all about it in today's podcast.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Marquis Matthews on LinkedIn 

Follow Energy Support Services on LinkedIn and check out its website.

NOTEWORTHY QUOTEs:

“I became a tradesman. That’s what I’m telling people they should do, work with your hands, work with your brain, use your heart. Don’t let statistics tell you that this is it for you. You write your destiny every single day, it’s not something that’s set in stone. If you believe in fate, then that’s what you’re going to be left with. And to me fate is nothing but a closed gate.”
— Marquis Matthews

Thanks again to this week's sponsor, helping keep the podcast FREE to you!

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.

Episode 561: 2022 Special Year-end Cleantech Podcaster's Roundtable Roundup

We'd love if you'd leave us a 5 ⭐ rating & review and it's never been easier: www.ratethispodcast.com/suncast

Each quarter, Tigercomm & SunCast Media convene the brightest stars in cleantech podcasting to discuss what they have been observing vis-a-vis their podcast and industry research. This is the 7th such gathering, and it proved an eventful hour of insights, differing opinions and more than a few laughs. Join hosts Mike Casey & Nico Johnson, along with a lineup of all-star podcasters from across the cleantech spectrum for the Year-end Holiday Special!

Our expert panel of cleantech podcasters shared thoughts on what to expect in the clean energy industry in 2023, and what they've been learning from their own guest interviews and research. Whether you're a professional in the field or just passionate about sustainability, this is  our quarterly recap that we know you won’t want to miss (even though, technically, you did miss it!).

From obstacles constraining the potential of the Inflation Reduction Act, to how investments should be directed to meet pollution reduction targets, and even how to counter anti-renewables propaganda, we cover the gamut in this Final Year-End Roundup. We were thankful to even be joined by recent SunCast Podcast guest, industry CEO, and yes, a podcast host himself, John Belizaire for his debut on the Cleantech Podcasters roundtable!

RESOURCES:

Connect with Nico Johnson on LinkedIn

Connect with Mike Casey on LinkedIn

Connect with Josh Porter on LinkedIn

Connect with Tim Montague on LinkedIn

Connect with Julia Pyper on LinkedIn

Connect with John Belizaire on LinkedIn

Thanks again to this week's sponsor, helping keep the podcast FREE to you!

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.

Episode 560: How Long Duration Energy Storage Ensures a Better Electric Grid, with Hugh McDermott, ESS Inc.

We'd love if you'd leave us a 5 ⭐ rating & review and it's never been easier: www.ratethispodcast.com/suncast

Achieving net zero energy emissions by 2050 will require meeting electricity demand with low-carbon generation in the face of increasing demand for electrifying buildings, vehicles, and industrial processes. But there are challenges ahead, said energy sector executive Hugh McDermott.

Hugh is the senior vice president for business development and sales for ESS Inc., a provider of long-duration energy storage (LDES) solutions for commercial and industrial (C&I), utility, microgrid, and off-grid applications. In today's podcast, he explains the critical issue impeding our quest for a clean, green future.

Hugh said we'll only decarbonize the grid by mid-century if we have adequate energy storage "in some shape or form."

"We can build and have all kinds of generating technologies that can be carbon-free, but we can't go through the night without energy storage," he said.

He suggests LDES — defined by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as a system that can store energy for more than 10 hours —is the lynchpin for solving intermittency issues with renewable energy production. 

ESS, founded in 2011, aims to accelerate global decarbonization by providing safe, sustainable LDES that can power clean, renewable energy anytime and anywhere it's needed. LDES supports reliable and resilient electric grids even when the sun goes down and the wind grows still, he said.

Frost & Sullivan, a New York-based consulting firm, recognized ESS. with the 2021 North American Technology Innovation Leadership Award for pioneering the design, development, and manufacturing of environmentally friendly LDES. ESS technology uses iron, salt and water to deliver environmentally safe solutions that provide up to 12 hours of flexible energy capacity for commercial and utility-scale energy storage applications.

Unlike conventional lithium-ion or Li-ion batteries, ESS's iron flow battery offers minimal capacity fade or degradation over an operating life of more than 20 years. Notably, the battery is substantially recyclable and uses safe, earth-abundant materials that do not negatively impact the environment during sourcing or production.

"The technology we developed is called a flow battery because we push liquid electrolytes through the battery modules to either charge or discharge that module, depending on the mode of operation. Then the liquid exits the battery, and it goes through a tank or some other process," Hugh said.

ESS pushes iron saturated in salt water through the battery, which Hugh said is "built like a sandwich." Each sandwich layer has a carbon plate, and iron is released as the liquid passes over the carbon plate during the charge cycle.

"We're just building up the thickness of pure iron, literally food-grade iron. And when we want to discharge the battery, we reverse the polarity. So as fast as you can flick a switch — we're not changing the flow or anything, just the polarity — the iron wants to dissolve back into the saltwater. 

"We're creating iron, creating rust, creating iron, creating rust, creating iron, and reversing that process. That's the basic lay description." 

What makes this unique is ESS has figured out a way to make the process theoretically reversible for more than 10,000 cycles with no loss of performance. "So that makes it a very long-life battery," Hugh added.

The U.S. Department of Energy has invested heavily in flow batteries, multiple startups have commercialized flow battery technology, and notable industry titans like Lockheed Martin and Japan's Sumitomo Electric Industries want to bring the technology to market. 

ESS approaches the concept from a different chemistry and a different approach. Hugh said the ESS battery's longer duration, long life and "workhorse nature" set it apart, along with the fact it is a water-based battery. "Nobody's worried about it catching fire or blowing up. And it's one of the easiest batteries to get permitted," he said.

Hugh has a long history in the energy industry and shares many good insights today. Before joining ESS, he was a VP for Silver Spring Networks, where he led the company's market-building presence and partnership development for Smart Grid and Smart City business across the Asia-Pacific region. Before that, he was global head of business development at Better Place, leveraging networked electric vehicle charging infrastructure to provide dynamic load management and energy storage services to utilities, grid operators and energy traders.

He said doing business the right way is essential to success.

"Your credibility, your integrity, how you conduct yourself are the things you should most jealously guard in any industry. The longer you stay in the industry, the smaller the crowd becomes. You know everybody and everybody eventually knows everybody else. If you're a good guy, karma pays. You don't know when but it just pays. That's been my experience, and it's advice I give regularly."

RESOURCES:

Connect with Hugh Mcdermott on LinkedIn 

Follow ESS on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and check out its website.

NOTEWORTHY QUOTEs:

“To put it in perspective. 100,000 vehicles is a 350 megawatt power plant. And so 100,000 vehicles that you could throttle up or down the meaning how fast you charge them, they’re not taking energy out of them yet, looks like I’ve got a 350 megawatt gas fired power plant that I can throttle up or down on the grid with zero emissions.”
— Hugh McDermott

Thanks again to this week's sponsor, helping keep the podcast FREE to you!

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.

Episode 559: The Best Roof Has Skylights and Solar Panels, with Grant Grable of Sunoptics

We'd love if you'd leave us a 5 ⭐ rating & review and it's never been easier: www.ratethispodcast.com/suncast

Ask Grant Grable about the 3-30-300 rule, and he'll share some helpful insight about ways businesses can optimize their building operation costs. 

Much of it focuses on passive solar such as daylighting — the use of windows and skylights to bring sunlight into classrooms, offices, retail and warehousing applications.

What percentage increase in productivity would you say would need to be achieved by all the individuals in a building in order to pay for ALL The energy used by that building? 

5%? 20%? 

Would you believe it if I told you only 1%?  Yes, a mere 1% increase in productivity.

Curious about how the math works?

Well, in a recent conversation with Grant, we dig into how Daylighting can actually bring just as much ROI to your business as the other way we capture the sun!

Grant Grable is the Vice President of Operations and Business Development for Sunoptics, and a true daylighting OG. He helped bring SunOptics to market, and was instrumental in helping Sunoptics become the leader in prismatic skylights and daylighting. 

It should be noted that since we recorded with Grant, AES Industries actually acquired Sunoptics from Acuity Brands. But in this episode, Grant refers to Acuity Brands as the parent company. 

Grant maintains that active solar power, which is about energy generation, and passive solar, which leads to reduced consumption, can co-exist in commercial and industrial (C&I) businesses. 

The key is to combine skylights and solar arrays instead of looking at them as an either/or proposition. He said that using both benefits the building owner or operator in multiple ways.

So how does that affect the 3-30-300 rule?

The 3-30-300 rule means C&I buildings, on average, spend about $3 per square foot for energy use, $30 per square foot for their rent or mortgage and approximately $300 per square foot for the human capital or the people that inhabit that building.

NEMA, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, found facility managers typically focus on the 3 and 30 portion — utilities and rent — as the areas where they can make the most substantial impact. However, when engaging in conversations with executives, NEMA said it's vital to highlight energy efficiency measures that improve how employees work and affect the 300.

"Businesses that focus on productivity-based energy efficiency measures have a unique competitive advantage," Grant said. Daylighting has the potential to provide significant cost savings, he added.

Grant is a LEED — Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — Accredited Professional with extensive experience in the green building industry and optimizing how buildings work. I hope you'll join us for today's podcast if you want to learn more about energy efficiency and building envelope management.

Grant deeply understands how integrated skylight solutions can aid productivity, noting that they provide the ultimate human-performance, net-zero lighting with all-day exposure to sunlight. 

Grant is a superstar in daylighting and has experience with passive solar lighting, high-performance ambient daylighting and high-efficiency prismatic skylights for efficient energy solutions.

"We only need a small percentage of that roof to daylight a space properly for as many hours per day as your primary illumination source," he said. It's a great thing that enhances productivity while enabling the building owner to turn off the lights for seven to 10 hours daily.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Grant Grable on LinkedIn.

Follow Sunoptics on LinkedIn and check out its website.

NOTEWORTHY QUOTEs:

“And there’s so many reports that are out there in publication that really kind of show that if you take a student, and you place them in a daylit space versus a non daylit space, on average, they can be as much as 20% better in math, 26% better in reading, have less absenteeism.”
— Grant Grable

Thanks again to this week's sponsor, helping keep the podcast FREE to you!

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.

Episode 558: Podcast Guesting Is Still The Best Kept Marketing Secret, with Josh Porter and Nico Johnson

We'd love if you'd leave us a 5 ⭐ rating & review and it's never been easier: www.ratethispodcast.com/suncast

Josh Porter and Nico Johnson, both veterans of the solar industry and long-time podcasters, discuss the evolution of the medium and its popularity. They both started their own podcasts at a time when podcasting was still in its infancy, and emphasize how the medium fosters genuinely authentic conversations and storytelling. In this live discussion, Josh & NIco talk about their experiences with starting and growing their own businesses (on the back of podcasts). One of the elements they both experience via their show is the importance of understanding the nuance of the interview process and how a podcast episode can really help companies & founders “find” and tell their story in unique ways.

Of course, one of their favorite topics is helping folks realize the use of podcasts as a marketing tool to refine and distribute sales messages.  Having both been in sales and business development, they emphasized the importance of identifying common questions and challenges that customers face and using podcasts as an opportunity to address and clarify those issues, in particular for capturing answers for those “top of funnel” kinds of routine questions. One important element that both see as increasingly important is that of repurposing long-form podcast content into shorter pieces for social media and other channels. Using the data and feedback from this microcontent can help to identify what resonates with listeners and to create more targeted follow-on content. Of course, for many guests (and hosts alike!), the true value of a podcast guest experience is in building relationships and connections while leveraging the “stage” of a particular show as a way to showcase expertise and establish (or reinforce) credibility as subject-matter or industry experts.

Lastly, the veteran podcasters discussed their preferred equipment and tools for podcasting, including microphones, audio mixers, and other recording devices that help to both simplify and improve the overall process and quality of the product. Producing high-quality audio and the benefits of using professional-grade equipment is a topic both have spent collectively thousands of hours researching, and today’s episode gives you a glimpse into some of their top recommendations for clients and would-be future podcasters. From gear lists to proper etiquette as guests and hosts, Josh & Nico really dive deep enough on the topic that anyone interested in jumping into the podcast universe beyond simply downloading episodes can easily learn and apply something from this episode.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Josh Porter on LinkedIn

Connect with Nico Johnson on LinkedIn

Thanks again to this week's sponsor, helping keep the podcast FREE to you!

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.

Episode 557: Why Mohammed Abdalla's 'Good Faith Energy' Promises a Greener Future

We'd love if you'd leave us a 5 ⭐ rating & review and it's never been easier: www.ratethispodcast.com/suncast

Mohammed Abdalla envisions a future where embedded solar cells power the world. "We'll see solar cells in everything — from transportation and housing to building materials and agriculture for food and water," he said.

It's a bold prediction from an entrepreneur who transitioned to renewables after a disappointing early career experience as an employee at a leading oil and gas producer. But Mohammed doesn't shy from thinking about the impossible, and his strategy serves him well.

As the founder and CEO of Good Faith Energy near Dallas, he's transformed the eight-year-old company into one of Texas's fastest-growing residential solar installers. The company is the leading national installer for the SPAN smart electrical panel and the Tesla Solar Roof, a fully integrated solar and energy storage system.

By facilitating the development of solar projects and providing energy education, he and his team are making an impact in the quest for a greener future. 

Mohammed's father died when he was nine, leaving his mother to rear five children. The middle child, he used his childhood challenges to cultivate the grit, determination and fire he needed to start his own business. 

"Losing my dad was very transformational in my life. And it made me who I am," he explained. “It definitely influenced my thinking about the world and how important it was for me to give back.”

Although he was entrepreneurial in high school and college, he concedes he lost his way by the time he earned his bachelor's degree in energy management from the University of Tulsa. Rather than set out on his own, he took a job in the fossil fuels industry. 

He was fired within two years for breaking company rules and possibly asking the wrong questions. "I don't follow policies very well," he recalled.

After unsuccessfully trying to reenter the same industry, he traveled the world searching for his next path. "I was lost," he said. 

With his belongings in two backpacks, he wandered throughout South America, Europe, Africa and Asia for a year. One day, on a train in Germany, he saw countless rooftops covered in solar panels. The promise of the sun drew him to renewables and, in 2014, the launch of Good Faith Energy.

He credits his older sister — "his rock" — for believing in him and giving him the loan he needed to start the company.

"I think communication is key. I've been able to communicate with people and understand their concerns, their objections, their goals and what actions we need to take," he said.

Join us to learn how Mohammed capitalized on setbacks and failures to build a nationally recognized leader in distributed solar and storage and solar roofing. He considers his company "a movement and a lifestyle, a family and community." It's a profoundly personal and interesting story you'll enjoy hearing as much as I did.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Mohammed Abdalla on LinkedIn

Follow Good Faith Energy on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and check out its website.

NOTEWORTHY QUOTEs:

“I think when I stopped hiding from my past, I really embraced who I was, and kind of stepped into the shoes, and the purpose that I have to fulfill here on Earth.”
— Mohammed Abdalla

Thanks again to this week's sponsor, helping keep the podcast FREE to you!

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.