After more than 12 years in the military serving overseas, Troy Van Beek founded Ideal Energy in 2009 in Fairfield, Iowa, to continue serving others, this time down a path of sustainability. Today the company primarily works on commercial and industrial solar installations under 1 MW. Ideal Energy excels at providing C&I customers with a competitive advantage — whether through good PR, attracting vendors and employees or reducing operating costs, all through solar.

In this Contractors Corner podcast, Solar Power World editor-in-chief Kelly Pickerel talks with Troy, Amy Van Beek and Aurelien Windenberger about Ideal Energy's work in Iowa.

https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2019/12/contractors-corner-ideal-energy/

Happy Thanksgiving! This month we're discussing the PG&E power outages with California solar installer Allterra Solar. They're saying the phone's been ringing a lot more with people wanting solar+storage projects. What's been your own experience with the public safety power shutoffs?

Read the full story: https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2019/11/contractors-corner-allterra-solar/

Let's go to the southern tier of central New York this month and check in with John Mills Electric. The 75-year-old electrical company also completes residential solar projects and subcontracts on large-scale installs. We talk about the difficulty in finding skilled electricians and why being involved in solar actually gets young people interested in the electrician career.

Read the story: https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2019/10/contractors-corner-john-mills-electric

We recently talked with O3 Energy about the company's work in the C&I solar market. O3 has an office in Guam, and we talk a little about the logistical benefits of being in the Pacific. Are PPAs still king? Find out on this podcast!

Read our story here: https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2019/09/contractors-corner-o3-energy/

Preformed Line Products (PLP) has a vast portfolio of mounting products for the solar industry, but it has carved out a specific niche within long-span commercial rooftop projects. The company's POWER RAIL product optimizes roof space to include more solar in tricky areas, like over roof obstructions.

In this Solar Speaks podcast, we talk with John Markiewicz and Dustin Graef of PLP about how installers can best work on commercial rooftop solar projects, including why PLP mounting solutions are ideal on projects requiring long spans. 

See more: https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2019/09/solar-speaks-commercial-solar-projects-long-spans-plp

We head south this month, talking with South Carolina's Palmetto State Solar. The audio is a little shaky at the beginning, and we sincerely apologize, but it does get better! Kelly enjoyed talking with PSS about the competitive Carolinas market and the steps it takes to stand out.

Read more: https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2019/08/contractors-corner-palmetto-state-solar

We go big this week, talking to large-scale solar developer Community Energy about its 20 years of work in the fight against climate change. The company first started in wind and eventually transitioned to solar, so we talk about the energy markets in the early 2000s, how PPAs have evolved over the past two decades, and what else needs to be done to get 80% reduction of carbon emissions by 2030. Will we make a difference? KP hopes so. It's so hot in the Midwest right now, we can't ignore the effects of climate change any more.

Read the full story: https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2019/07/contractors-corner-community-energy/

Racial disparity in rooftop solar PV deployment has historically been attributed to income or home ownership inequality in communities of color. But a study found the problem goes much deeper than that. Read the story that's part of Solar Power World's #TopSolar19 issue at https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2019/07/installers-racial-disparity-rooftop-solar/

This is one of Kelly's favorite interviews! Join her as she talks with Phil and Nancy Brodhagen, co-owners of Colorado's Peak View Solar. The company has been installing mainly residential solar systems since 2008, but it has seen such a recent uptick in projects that the whole Brodhagen family came on board to help out. We have a frank conversation about U.S. solar panel companies and how batteries are being used in markets outside of California.

Read the extended story (and see a picture of a llama, or maybe an alpaca (?), with solar panels): https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2019/06/contractors-corner-peak-view-solar/

Kelly talks this month with Florida's A1A Solar Contracting. Although electricity prices aren't too bad in Northern Florida, the solar installer still has a big demand for renewable energy projects. We talk SunPower, Tesla and ITC.

Read the story: https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2019/05/contractors-corner-a1a-solar-contracting/