Suncast

Residential Solar finance is a hot hot market, and few companies have stormed the proverbial castle and taken a leadership position so decisively as Sunlight Financial. On the surface, it looks like a rather traditional "this banker left his banking job for another banking job" kind of story. But as you'll hear in today's interview with Sunlight's CEO, Matt Potere, it's anything but "traditional". Son of a gas station owner, Matt says "I grew up in the Hamptons like many did, but now quite in the same way they did". In truth, while the hedge fund manager's families were headed to vacation, it was Matt and his family who filled their cars on their way. Those years of entrepreneurial insight gleaned helping with the family business helped create the leader Matt has become. And in today's interview, you'll learn a lot more about a man who has overcome tremendous odds to lead one of the most successful solar finance institutions to come along in a decade.Matt serves as Sunlight’s CEO and is a member of

Despite their widespread use in the renewable energy industry, using an 8760 to project financial performance can lead to significant errors in revenue models. In particular, revenue models that pair an 8760 with historical prices miss the impact of hourly renewable energy generation on hourly power prices. Because wind and solar plants are relatively inexpensive sources of generation, there tends to be a negative correlation between generation and power price in markets with high renewable penetration.Not quite sure what all that means?Well, we've gotcha covered on today's Tactical Tuesday.Join Nico as he learns more about a recent study completed by Dr Jennifer Newman, VP of Atmospheric Science research at REsurety that aims to equip you to better understand yield and performance metrics of renewable energy plants.If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to his contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/.Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor

Today's guest is Amy Simpkins, CEO of Mu Grid.  We talk about her life as a clean energy consultant, her history in astronautics and her new podcast, Power Flow.  Growing up in a culture of theater, music and performance, Amy has deep love for words and a connection to story.  But she spent years taming the right brain and training the left as an engineer, studying aeronautics and astronautics at MIT, interning with NASA and working for the Space Systems Division of Lockhead Martin.  Amy still has a pending application to be an astronaut.But in the meantime, she has stepped away from building systems for space shuttles and has turned her focus to Resilient Microgrids.  After all, what is a spacecraft, but a microgrid in the sky?  Together with her husband, electrical engineer Dr. Travis Simpkins (see episode 56), they have formed a consulting company dedicated to helping establish grid-tied microsystems that can withstand grid failure.  Governments, schools, groce

Welcome, #SolarWarrior, to another Tactical Tuesday, a short-form conversation with subject-matter experts designed to give you practical tools, tips, and advice for building your solar business or career. Ten years ago, if you called on a solar company to give you a rooftop solar system proposal, one of your installer’s first steps was to come to your house, climb up on your roof, and take a bunch of measurements and pictures to evaluate the project. This process is now starting to change, however, with the rise of new technology...Drones.From the opening games of the Olympics to search & rescue, Drones are finally inspiring and aiding humanity in wasy we only dreamed of when I began in the solar industry.According to Ryan Tong, director of marketing at DJI,“Roof inspection [for solar project evaluations] hasn’t changed significantly over the past decade. Introducing safe and accurate drone-based 3-D models to replace survey wheels and measuring tapes is a step forward for the industry.”Drones in solar h

Today, Nico shares his 400th conversation with clean energy experts on Suncast. Each episode investigates a small piece of the big puzzle by asking CEO's, founders, entrepreneurs and thought-leaders to share their story and answer questions like "how did you get here?" and "where are you going?" One by one, these intimate conversations help unite a tribe of energy professionals from all sectors, walks of life and stages in their careers, recognizing that we have so far to go and many, many more people to integrate into the #CleanEnergyRevolution.Episode 400 brings back past guest and close friend of the podcast, Mike Silvestrini of Energea (Episode 085). Since his last appearance, Mike & Co. have created a clean energy investment platform empowering anyone to own renewable energy projects with above-average returns, for as little as $100. Let's face it; We need over $1 Trillion a year moving toward climate action to the damage climate change is already having. Mike and his co-founder, Chris Sat

This is Part Two of our two-part series with Reagan Farr, CEO of Silicon Ranch, a pioneer of solar development in the Southeastern US. If you missed part 1, it's probably useful to queue that one up first, as it sets the tone for this episode. And, this one is a longer episode, as we get into the details of how Reagan and his cofounders Matt Kisber and former Governor Phil Bredesen, put the business together and grew it over the last 10 yrs to become one of the largest and most respected Independent Power Producers in the industry. Along the way, we learn how they raised the capital, where they directed their efforts, philosophy on types of projects and development they seek to foster, and ultimately how they decided to sell the business to global energy giant, Shell.If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to his contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/.Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!SunCast is proudly sup

This is Part One of a two-part series with Reagan Farr, CEO of Silicon Ranch, a pioneer of solar development in the Southeastern US. We talk about his childhood in Baton Rouge, where "curiosity ruled the day" in a home of educators, law school, and 8 years as a commissioner with the Governor of Tennessee. Reagan was there when the state decided to attract clean energy companies both for headquarters and production in TN, tweaking the tax code to encourage entrepreneurship and the light bulb moment when policymakers realized that tax credits would quickly lower the production cost of solar and ultimately customer & industry operating costs through clean renewable power.Hear the whole story here, and visit the blog for show notes and links mentioned in the interview.If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to his contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/.Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!SunCast is proudly su

Solar Power International was officially cancelled last Friday.

What does it look to disrupt an industry? What does it take to make a career of it? And as Jim Collins suggested, WHO do you need to get on the bus?In Today's episode Nico gets into these details with Solar pioneers Daniel Flanigan and Charles Pimentel as we navigate their clean energy career paths through Offgrid solar, Hydrogen (Plug Power), Solar modules & Development (Canadian Solar, Solar Frontier), Installation & Construction (Zep Solar, Solar City, Tesla, Depcom) & more! Along the way, we discover how & why they have come together for a second time to upend a well-established sector of the market (Utility-scale solar deployment) through innovation, timing and ultimately building a great team - this time, with Erthos.The discussion focuses on changing the way we all think about developing, designing, constructing, and operating utility scale solar plants. The $19B solar tracker market is but a slice over the overall market, but Erthos is taking on some of the industry titans

Whit Fulton knows a thing or two about solving problems. Today, I interview this introverted inventor & talk about his journey to deliver a brilliantly simple yet innovative energy solution to the world: a smart meter collar adapter. After seven years as the CEO of ConnectDER, his team is delivering a technology that dramatically simplifies the way residential solar and EV chargers are connected to the grid. But of course, I always want to know how he got there. What are the real challenges of being a hardware start-up company? How do you keep your team together while growing quickly? And what was life like BEFORE CEO status (where he worked at places like GridPoint & ICF). I hope you enjoy all the details of our intimate conversation, from growing up in Vermont, wandering around Thailand, diving into Excel data at ICF and an excellent explanation of the challenges of residential solar installations.   Listen to our conversation right here, on Suncast. If you want to connect with today's guest,

Today's Tactical Tuesday is the latest installment of our GREAT SOLAR DEBATE series, featuring two industry experts - Brian Potts, Partner at Perkins Coie and Karl Rábago, Principal at Rábago Energy. Brian and Karl debate the value of Net Energy Metering (NEM) in the residential market. Should it change to encourage more investment? Or should it remain a high value for residential solar? Join hosts Nico Johnson and Tor Valenza in this lively debate and see who won at https://mysuncast.com/suncast-episodesYou'll find more resources and learn about SunCast's guest(s), recommendations, book links, and more than 650 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com.You can learn more about partnering with SunCast here: https://mysuncast.com/sponsorsYou can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeoLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalusSubscribe to Valence, our weekly Linkedin Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytellin

Unless you were under a rock last week, you prob noticed that two Solar industry SAAS titans have joined forces. Aurora Solar, hot off the heels of raising a giant $250M Round of funding, announced their first acquisition from that war chest - none other than Folsom Labs - makers of pioneering commercial solar design tool many of you use: Helioscope! Listen as Nico chats with our special guests - Paul Gibbs and Paul Grana, the co-founders of Folsom Labs. We get their ‘Hot Take’ on one of the hottest acquisitions in the industry this red-hot year of M&A! They answer q's like "what does this mean for the product, the brand, the team?", and of course, they dodge things like "what are the terms of the deal?!?" haha Tune in to learn more.You'll find more resources and learn about SunCast's guest(s), recommendations, book links, and more than 650 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com.You can learn more about partnering with SunCast here: https://mysuncast.com/sponsorsYou can connect with

Today I talk to Ram Ambatipudi about his long history in energy and how that brought him into the world of Electric Vehicles. When Ram left business school in 1995 he headed straight to Southern California Gas Company. Turns out, being on the inside of the world of utilities would prove an unmatched advantage for him as moved through his career, from wind at Enron to PV at SolSource and then Large Scale Renewables for Chevron. But he didn't stop there, co-founding one of the nations leading electric vehicle charging stations, EV Connect, in 2008. Today he is he VP of Business Development for this rapidly growing company.Ram is full of advice about sales, especially in expanding your range so can talk to all parts of the customer's big picture. You won't want to miss his stories, from the "old days" of PV to the fast pace EV market of today. Listen to our conversation right here on Suncast.If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to his contact info in the show notes on the blog

Today's Tactical Tuesday is a five minute jewel from our full episode with Clean Energy Associates' VP of Sales & Marketing, Darryl Parker. In this episode, Darryl focuses on understanding the customer beyond your average sales training. How can you really listen to the customer and structure your offer based on their real concerns?If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to his contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/.Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!SunCast is proudly supported by Trina Solar.You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.mysuncast.com/sponsors.Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 730 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com.Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www

In today’s episode, we speak with a true solar pioneer, a well-known entrepreneur, Erica Mackey of GRID Alternatives. We break down her two decades of growth, entrepreneurship, and influence. Erica gives us a sense of the origin of GRID Alternatives. She talks about how she co-founded it way back in 2001 and how it evolved massively to become a major national nonprofit and off­-grid solar installation company. As the California-based company started opening offices in Los Angeles and San Diego, they created jobs and successfully installed off-grid solar systems that work on affordable residential housing and community solar, serving more than 20,000 families!If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to his contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/.Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!SunCast is proudly supported by Trina Solar.You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.mys

Today’s guest, Darryl Parker, brings more than three decades of extensive high-tech manufacturing and power electronics experience to his role at Clean Energy Associates. But he's got a truly inspiring story of growing up in the booming high tech industry, pulling up a seat at the table and opening the door for many who have followed in his footsteps! He currently leads the global sales and marketing teams focused on solving clients' solar and storage challenges with CEA’s comprehensive suite of technical advisory services. We go into our own history together, having met way back in 2009 on the job when he first arrived at SatCon! This guy's got stories. You're here for Stories. Let's get into it!If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to his contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/.Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!SunCast is proudly supported by Trina Solar.You can learn more about all the sponsors who

Late last year, kWh Analytics released a report titled 2020 Solar Risk Assessment suggesting that Recent assessments of the solar industry’s pre-construction production estimates have found evidence of “an industry wide bias towards aggressive predictions,” noting that “when a typical solar project performs at the official “P90, equity cash yield drops by 50%.” This revelation has the potential to impact cash flows across the industry, as these over optimistic assumptions are netting a measured underperformance of about 2% on P50 revenue. Today, we’ll offer you the opportunity to learn from three highly experienced solar experts on the past, present and future of solar project financing.Heidi Larson, ICF InternationalHao Shen, kWh AnalyticsSkip Dise, Clean Power ResearchToday we will touch on:How to know what your solar project’s really worthWhat does Bankability really mean?What's the difference between common solar finance terms like p50 and p90How does Turning dials on the financial model actual

Today's story of Solar pioneer, Michelle McGee, is illustrative of the power of a good question. In this case, we learn one question that changed the course of her career. This former Tesla Exec leads us on a serendipitous journey, and explains how now as President of GivePower Foundation she supports global communities in need of power.Michele's a true serial entrepreneur having launched and scaled seven businesses, and led teams as large as 1400 people over the course of her career. When I asked her what guiding principle helped her launch two different businesses w/her husband, she imparted, "Know your strengths, be respectful of your partner's strengths, and stay in your lanes." I think that advice is fitting for just about any partnership! She's been able to provide strong support & leadership to some of the most iconic businesses in the solar industry. And the lessons I learned from her are too many to list.If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to his contact info i

Last week, the first ever Cleantech Podcaster's Roundtable was held with 8 of the major clean economy podcasts, hosted by my friend Mike Casey at Tigercomm. The discussions were a lot of fun (and very interesting) as we covered favorites sector trends, where we get our insights/info, key backgrounds we expect to see in CEOs of the sector in coming years, and how best to approach this (and other) group of podcasters with topics & guests for their shows. If you listen closely, you'll even hear me promise some free resources (as per usual!).If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to his contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/.Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!SunCast is proudly supported by Trina Solar.You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.mysuncast.com/sponsors.Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations

Nisha Desai, is a serial entrepreneur, TX clean energy pioneer, and founder and CEO of Ennuity Holdings. This "Startup Queen" has 25+ years of experience in the energy business, and has started companies that span 2 continents and multiple energy sectors. Listen in for critical steps of creating a company and how to skillfully navigate your way through the energy industry. In addition, we learn what she learned on an expedition to the South Pole!If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to his contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/.Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!SunCast is proudly supported by Trina Solar.You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.mysuncast.com/sponsors.Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 730 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com.Subs