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Distributed generation doesn't quite grab the headlines like utility-scale. A megawatt here, a few megawatts there pales in comparison to multi-gigawatt projects spanning thousands of acres.

But Nexamp — the Boston-based community solar developer — is proving scale isn't monolithic. Bit by bit, the company has become one of the most influential developers in the country, both in deploying projects and influencing policy, with a private valuation surpassing $1 billion. That's unicorn status for a so-called small player.

Episode 76 of the Factor This! podcast features Zaid Ashai, the cerebral CEO who built Nexamp into a forceful DG platform. Ashai shares his outlook for the crowded community solar market, the potential impact of Donald Trump returning to the White House, and why, now, solar is only the beginning.

That's all next on Factor This!

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This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. 

This Week in Cleantech — March 8, 2024

This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is EDP CEO Miguel Stilwell d'Andrade!

1. Spanish Power Is Almost Free With Renewables Set for Record — Bloomberg
2. Fury after Exxon chief says public to blame for climate failures — The Guardian
3. New York Awards Offshore Wind Deals to Orsted, Equinor — Bloomberg
4. New satellites will make oil and gas companies’ methane emissions public — The Washington Post
5. Amid explosive demand, America is running out of power

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This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. This week's episode was recorded live from DISTRIBUTECH International, North America's largest transmission and distribution utility event.

This week's episode features Latitude Media co-founder Stephen Lacey, whose podcast Carbon Copy, broke down the latest data on clean energy investment and whether it's enough to achieve climate goals.

This Week in Cleantech — March 2, 2024

This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Jon Pevitali from VDE Americas.

1. Profiteering Hampers U.S. Grid Expansion — IEEE Spectrum
2. Coal's influence on energy generation is fading fast — Axios
3. Why Oil Stocks Aren’t That Hot — The New York Times
4. How BYD and CATL’s Solid-state Battery Partnership Impacts Toyota And Tesla — TopSpeed
5. Views on the $1.8 trillion clean energy economy — Latitude Media’s “Carbon Copy”

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Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to [email protected]. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.

This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

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This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.

This week’s episode features Amanda Chu, US energy reporter for the Financial Times, who reported on President Biden’s challenge of making investments in clean energy and infrastructure resonate with voters.

This Week in Cleantech — Feb. 23, 2024

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Dan Shugar, CEO of the Nextracker, which was recently featured on CNBC's "Mad Money" for its successful IPO and stock performance.

1. JPMorgan, State Street quit climate group, BlackRock steps back — Reuters
2. 'We got your money, see ya': Customers frustrated by Encor Solar closure — WRAL
3. How the housing industry is working to stop energy efficient homes — The Washington Post
4. A traditional automaker just turned a profit on EVs — CNN
5. Biden’s clean energy conundrums — Financial Times

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Most CEOs are deliberate and careful, often neutering commentary of any hint of controversy. Sheldon Kimber is not like most CEOs.

He's known to pen a thousand words, or two, on the ebbs and flows of the energy transition. His comments are not always complimentary. But they're aimed at pushing the industry toward new heights.

Don't be mistaken— Kimber is deliberate, too. He uses his voice not for attention, but because he passionately believes the clean energy industry needs an unashamed advocate.

His latest campaign may be his most bold. In Episode 75 of the Factor This! podcast, Kimber shares why you should forget everything you know about clean energy development. He's convinced a fresh business model is necessary to sustain an industry battered by rising capital costs, which have shaken even the likes of sector king NextEra.

Clean energy is in desperate need of a new bellwether, and way of thinking, to survive and thrive. Kimber, and Intersect Power, say they are ready to lead the charge. 

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This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.

This week’s episode features Latitude Media founding reporter Maeve Allsup, who covered some of the challenges facing one of the first virtual power plants deployed in the U.S.

This Week in Cleantech - Feb. 16, 2024

This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is world-renowned Climate Scientist Michael Mann.

1. This Arctic Circle Town Expected a Green Energy Boom. Then Came Bidenomics. — New York Times
2. California could make — or break — the Western grid — E&E News
3. The world is reducing its reliance on fossil fuels – except for in three key sectors — The Guardian
4. Fervo Energy Is Quickly Making Geothermal Cheaper — Heatmap News
5. Under the hood of PG&E's summer VPP pilot with Sunrun — Latitude Media

Watch the full episode on YouTube

Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to [email protected]. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.

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Tell us what you think of the show!

This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.

This week’s episode features USA Today national correspondent Elizabeth Weise, who reported on overwhelming local opposition to clean energy projects.

This Week in Cleantech  — February 9, 2024

This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Tom Matzzie, CEO of CleanChoice Energy.

1. Summer Has Long Stressed Electric Grids. Now Winter Does, Too. — New York Times
2. ‘Gold’ hydrogen: The next clean fuel? — E&E News
3. How bad is Tesla’s hazardous waste problem in California? — The Verge
4. EV Slowdown Turns the Table for Leaders and Laggards — Bloomberg
5. Across America, clean energy plants are being banned faster than they're being built — USA Today

Watch the full episode on YouTube

Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to [email protected]. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

Tell us what you think of the show!

This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.

This week's episode features Associated Press climate change reporter Matthew Daly, who reported on President Biden's controversial pause on considering new LNG export terminals.

This Week in Cleantech — Feb. 2, 2024 (not Jan. 26!)

This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Jimmy Rogers, Manager of Communications at Redaptive.

1. The Rooftop Solar Industry Could Be On the Verge of Collapse — TIME
2. U.S. Oil Drillers Are Going Electric—if They Can Get the Electricity — Wall Street Journal
3. China Leads Global Clean Energy Spending, Which Record $1.8 Trillion in 2023 — Bloomberg
4. The Coolest Thing in Climate Tech is a Super Hot Rock — Heatmap News
5. Liquefied Natural Gas: What to know about LNG and Biden's decision to delay gas export proposals — Associated Press

Watch the full episode on YouTube

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By all accounts, community solar looks like an unstoppable force. One of the hottest clean energy sectors continues to flourish thanks to new markets and rich incentives.

But it's also getting tougher. First-mover states are saturating, fueling intense competition. And those rich incentives? They're increasingly tied to serving elusive low-income customers often skeptical of promises that are too good to be true.

So what's in store for community solar in 2024?

Episode 74 of the Factor This! podcast features Bruce Stewart, the CEO of community solar subscriber management platform Perch Energy.

Stewart maps out new markets on the way this year, breaks down the challenge of acquiring, and keeping, low-income customers, and shares the latest on the highly-anticipated reboot of California's troubled community solar program. 

Watch the full episode on YouTube

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

Tell us what you think of the show!

This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.

This week's episode features Quillian Robinson, an associate fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who wrote an op-ed in TIME about the true cost of China's clean energy dominance.

This Week in Cleantech — Jan. 25, 2024

This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is David Arfin, CEO of NineDot Energy. Send your nominations and story recommendations to [email protected].

1. Biden needs young voters. Can his climate policy rally them? — E&E News
2. US unveils solar energy plan for western public lands — Reuters
3. How Biden’s climate law spurred a tax credit revolution — Financial Times
4. Growth in low-emissions power expected to cover demand - IEA — Reuters
5. The True Cost of Chinese Solar Panels — TIME

Watch the full episode on YouTube

Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to [email protected]. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast