Green Giants: Titans of Clean Energy Podcast

Transmission may be the most important energy story most people are not talking about.

In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, host Wes Ashworth sits down with Frank Tybor, Chief Technology Officer at Infravision, to unpack one of the biggest bottlenecks in the energy transition: how we actually build the grid fast enough to support renewable energy, AI data centers, electrification, industrial growth, and rising power demand.

Frank brings a rare systems engineering perspective to the conversation. His background spans SpaceX, Energy Vault, ThinkOrbital, and now Infravision, where he is helping scale drone-enabled robotics for transmission construction. At Infravision, the mission is not simply to replace helicopters with drones. It is to rethink the full construction workflow, combining heavy-lift drones, intelligent ground equipment, specialty line hardware, software, trained crews, and repeatable field systems.

Wes and Frank explore why traditional transmission construction is so difficult to scale, especially when projects depend on highly specialized helicopter operations, skilled labor, complex terrain, environmental constraints, and tight outage windows. They also dig into why the old timeline for grid buildout no longer works in a world where solar farms, data centers, and new loads can come online far faster than transmission infrastructure.

Frank breaks down how Infravision’s drone-enabled system supports pilot line stringing, tension stringing, emergency response, and challenging construction environments where helicopters may be expensive, constrained, risky, or unavailable. The conversation also covers what utilities actually care about when adopting new technology: safety, reliability, cost, schedule certainty, and confidence that the system works repeatedly in real field conditions.

Key themes include:

• Grid expansion as a critical constraint on clean energy deployment
• Why transmission construction has lagged behind other areas of energy innovation
• How drone-enabled robotics can reduce risk and improve construction scalability
• The role of intelligent ground equipment, winches, line hardware, and control systems
• What the energy transition, AI growth, and industrial load growth mean for grid infrastructure
• Why the next wave of grid innovation may come from better construction systems, not just better generation

This episode is a must-listen for utility leaders, renewable energy developers, grid infrastructure professionals, investors, policymakers, and anyone interested in the physical realities behind the energy transition.

Links:
Frank Tybor on LinkedIn
Infravision's Website
Infravision Videos

Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/

• Email: [email protected]
• https://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/
• https://leegroupsearch.com/

Episode: Sandhya Murali, Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer at Perch Energy

Community solar is often described as a simple promise: sign up, receive credits, save money, and support clean energy. But behind that promise is a complex operating system that determines whether community solar actually works for customers, developers, utilities, and the communities it is meant to serve.

In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, Wes Ashworth sits down with Sandhya Murali, Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer at Perch Energy, to unpack the hidden infrastructure behind one of the most important segments of the clean energy transition.

Sandhya brings a rare combination of capital markets discipline, founder operating experience, and deep commitment to clean energy access. Before joining Perch, she co-founded Solstice, a mission-driven community solar company focused on expanding access for renters, low-to-moderate income households, and others historically left out of rooftop solar. Her earlier career in investment banking at Barclays, along with her MBA from MIT Sloan, gives her a unique lens on how mission, finance, and market design intersect in renewable energy. 

This conversation moves beyond the usual case for community solar and into the work most people never see: subscriber acquisition, billing, crediting, eligibility verification, compliance, customer trust, and retention. Sandhya explains why community solar is not only about generating clean power. It is also about making sure the customer experience is reliable, understandable, and financially meaningful.

A major theme throughout the episode is trust. Many customers still wonder whether community solar is real, whether there is a catch, and whether the savings will actually appear on their utility bill. Sandhya breaks down how clear enrollment, accurate billing, transparent savings, and responsive customer support all shape whether the model can scale.

The episode also explores low-to-moderate income access and why Sandhya believes inclusion cannot be treated as a side initiative. She makes the case that community solar should be designed for the households most burdened by energy costs, while also remaining financeable for developers and investors. That means better program design, simplified enrollment, utility consolidated billing, and practical solutions that reduce friction without increasing risk.

Wes and Sandhya also discuss Perch Energy’s role as a scaled community solar subscriber management platform. After Perch’s acquisition of Solstice, the company manages more than 3 GW across over 1,000 community solar projects in 16 states, serving more than 430,000 residential customer equivalents. 

Key topics covered include:

•  Why the hardest part of community solar is often invisible 
•  How subscriber management functions like critical infrastructure 
•  Why trust is the foundation of customer adoption and retention 
•  The importance of utility consolidated billing 
•  How self-attestation could simplify low-income enrollment 
•  Why community solar markets need stable policy and predictable rules 
•  How scale helps, and where local market complexity remains 
•  What regulators and utilities can do to improve program design 
•  Why community solar matters in a future defined by load growth, affordability, and distributed energy 

For clean energy leaders, developers, policymakers, investors, and anyone working to make the energy transition more inclusive, this episode offers a practical and deeply human look at what it takes to turn clean energy access into reality.

Links:
Sandhya Murali on LinkedIn
Perch Energy's Website

Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/

• Email: [email protected]
• https://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/
• https://leegroupsearch.com/

Energy storage is no longer a future need. It is becoming the backbone of a reliable, renewable grid.

In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, Wes Ashworth sits down with Eugene Beh, Founder and CEO of Quino Energy, to explore one of the most important questions in the energy transition: how do we store renewable power affordably, safely, and for long durations?

Quino Energy is developing water-based organic flow batteries that store electricity in quinone molecules, a fundamentally different approach from lithium-ion batteries and traditional vanadium flow batteries. Instead of relying on expensive mined metals or flammable battery cells, Quino is focused on organic electrolytes that can potentially lower costs, improve safety, and scale through existing flow battery infrastructure.

Eugene breaks down the basics of flow batteries in simple terms, explaining how liquid electrolytes act like fuel tanks and how flow battery stacks function more like an engine. He also explains why Quino’s quinone-based electrolyte can work with existing vanadium flow battery hardware with minimal changes, creating a faster path to deployment.

The conversation goes deep into the real challenges of commercialization: manufacturing, degradation, bankability, safety, and proving performance in the field. Eugene shares how Quino’s continuous, zero-waste production process converts widely available dyestuff materials into battery-ready electrolyte without downstream purification. He also discusses why non-flammable storage matters for hospitals, communities, data centers, islands, military bases, and other critical infrastructure.

Listeners will also hear about Quino’s field demonstration plans, including a project serving a medical center in Lancaster, California, and the company’s strategy to repurpose existing tank storage infrastructure for grid-scale energy storage.

This episode is a clear, practical look at how chemistry, infrastructure, and manufacturing come together to solve one of the grid’s biggest bottlenecks.

Topics covered include:

• Why long-duration energy storage is becoming essential
• How flow batteries differ from lithium-ion batteries
• Why quinone-based electrolytes could reduce flow battery costs
• The safety and permitting advantages of non-flammable storage
• How existing fuel tank infrastructure could become grid storage
• Why data centers and critical facilities are strong early markets
• What it takes to move battery chemistry from the lab to the field
• How Quino Energy is approaching commercialization through partnerships

If you care about renewable energy, grid reliability, long-duration storage, battery innovation, or the future of clean infrastructure, this episode is a must-listen.

Links:
Eugene Beh on LinkedIn
Quino Energy's Website

Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/

• Email: [email protected]
• https://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/
• https://leegroupsearch.com/

Electricity demand is accelerating from every direction: AI, data centers, transportation, home electrification, industrial load growth, and rising expectations for reliability. But building new grid infrastructure is getting harder, slower, and more expensive. In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, Wes Ashworth sits down with Vinnie Campo, Co-founder and CEO of Haven Energy, to explore how residential batteries could become one of the most important pieces of the modern grid.

Vinnie returns to the show with a major update on Haven Energy’s evolution. What began as a company helping homeowners access batteries has grown into a broader mission: deploying, owning, and operating distributed energy assets that can provide real, dispatchable capacity for utilities while giving homeowners backup power, lower costs, and a simpler energy experience. 

The conversation explores why the current grid challenge is different from past demand cycles. Vinnie explains how electrification is pushing load growth into millions of homes and neighborhoods, not just large data centers. That creates a localized infrastructure challenge where transformers, substations, and transmission systems are under increasing pressure. Instead of relying only on new centralized generation, Haven is focused on deploying distributed batteries where capacity is needed most. 

Wes and Vinnie also break down Haven’s business model shift from selling batteries to owning and operating them through a low-cost subscription model. By bringing financing, sales, installation, and optimization closer together, Haven is working to reduce soft costs, simplify the customer experience, and make home batteries accessible to a much broader market. 

Key topics covered include:

• Grid capacity constraints and why demand growth is different this time
• How AI, transportation, and home electrification are reshaping electricity needs
• Why utilities are moving from virtual power plant pilots to full-scale deployment
• The role of residential batteries as localized grid infrastructure
• Haven Energy’s shift toward battery subscriptions starting around $49 per month
• Why homeowners want simplicity, backup power, lower bills, and less complexity
• How distributed power plants could become as important as centralized assets
• The role of AI in reducing permitting, design, installation, and interconnection friction
• Why Vinnie believes every home could eventually have a battery

This episode is a clear look at the future of home batteries, distributed power plants, virtual power plants, grid reliability, and the next era of residential energy. If you care about how the grid evolves, how utilities meet new demand, or how homeowners become part of the energy system without becoming energy managers, this conversation is essential listening.

Links: 

Vinnie Campo on LinkedIn

Haven Energy's Website

Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/

• Email: [email protected]
• https://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/
• https://leegroupsearch.com/

Clean energy may be cheaper, cleaner, and more scalable than ever, but that does not mean the transition will happen fast enough, fairly enough, or automatically.

In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, host Wes Ashworth sits down with Sachu Constantine, Executive Director of Vote Solar, to explore the policy, power structures, and market rules shaping America’s clean energy future.

Sachu brings more than three decades of experience across international development, utility regulation, solar policy, and clean energy advocacy. His journey spans Peace Corps service in Ghana, regulatory work at the California Public Utilities Commission, private sector experience with SunPower, and national leadership at Vote Solar. 

The conversation centers on a critical tension: solar and storage are ready, but the system around them often is not. Sachu explains why better technology does not always win on its own, especially in an energy system shaped by monopoly utilities, legacy incentives, interconnection bottlenecks, rate design fights, and regulatory processes many communities never get a meaningful chance to influence.

Wes and Sachu unpack how utilities actually make money, why public utility commissions matter, and how policies around net metering, resource adequacy, demand charges, interconnection queues, virtual power plants, and distributed solar can either accelerate or slow the transition.

They also dig into one of the episode’s most important themes: equity is not a side issue. Communities facing high energy burdens, poor service quality, and limited clean energy access should not be last in line for the benefits of solar. They should help shape the system from the beginning.

Listeners will come away with a clearer understanding of where clean energy decisions really get made, why public participation matters, and what it takes to build a future where solar is affordable and accessible to all.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why clean energy is inevitable only if we actively shape the rules
• How utility incentives influence the pace of solar adoption
• Why public utility commissions are critical to the clean energy transition
• The role of interconnection queues in slowing renewable deployment
• How distributed solar, batteries, and virtual power plants can support grid reliability
• Why affordability is one of the defining energy issues of the moment
• How energy equity shows up in real communities, bills, and service quality
• What policy changes could accelerate solar adoption in the next five years
• Why coalition building and community trust are essential to lasting progress
• How everyday people can use their voice to influence energy decisions

The energy transition is not just about technology. It is about who has power, who gets access, who pays, who benefits, and who shows up when the rules are being written.

Guest: Sachu Constantine, Executive Director, Vote Solar
Host: Wes Ashworth, President of Lee Group Search
Episode Theme: Solar policy, energy equity, utility regulation, grid modernization, clean energy advocacy, and the future of distributed energy

Links: 

Sachu Constantine on LinkedIn

Vote Solar's Website

Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/

• Email: [email protected]
• https://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/
• https://leegroupsearch.com/

Episode 100 of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy marks a major milestone and captures a pivotal shift happening across the solar industry.

In this episode, Wes Ashworth sits down with Howard Wenger, President of Nextpower, a company delivering a utility-scale solar integrated platform designed to improve performance, reliability, and speed at scale.

With more than four decades in solar, Howard brings a rare perspective. He has helped build and scale companies from the earliest days of the industry to today’s global deployments exceeding hundreds of gigawatts. At Nextpower, he is leading the transition from fragmented system design to a fully integrated approach that combines hardware, software, and data into a unified platform.

This conversation explores how solar power plants are being redefined in response to rising electricity demand, increasing system complexity, and the need for long-term performance certainty.

Key topics covered in this episode include:

• The shift from individual components to utility-scale solar integrated platforms and why it matters
• How disaggregation helped scale the industry and why integration is now the next phase
• Where projects break down today when systems are not designed holistically
• The role of software, AI, and automation in improving plant performance and decision-making
• How Nextpower is investing in engineering, robotics, and system design to optimize outcomes
• Why resilience is now directly tied to financing, insurance, and long-term asset performance
• The impact of data center demand and electrification on the pace of solar deployment
• What could constrain growth over the next several years, including grid and policy dynamics
• How utility-scale solar paired with storage is shaping the future generation mix

Howard also reflects on key moments that signaled solar’s ability to scale, including the development of one of the world’s first 10 megawatt solar parks, and how the industry has evolved from a niche market to a global energy backbone.

A central theme throughout the episode is accountability. When systems are fragmented, responsibility is distributed and performance can suffer. An integrated platform approach brings design, execution, and operations into closer alignment, improving reliability and reducing risk over the life of the asset.

Looking ahead, the conversation outlines what a fully integrated solar power plant could become by 2030. Systems that are engineered to work together from the start, supported by software and automation, and capable of delivering consistent, insurable performance over decades.

As solar continues to scale as one of the fastest and most cost-effective sources of new power, this episode provides a clear view into how the industry is evolving and what it will take to meet the next wave of demand.

Links: 

Howard Wenger on LinkedIn

Nextpower's Website

Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/

• Email: [email protected]
• https://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/
• https://leegroupsearch.com/

Refrigeration is everywhere. Grocery stores. Warehouses. Cold storage. But almost no one is talking about its climate impact.

In Episode 99, Wes Ashworth sits down with Amrit Robbins, CEO and Co-Founder of Axiom Cloud, to unpack a problem hiding in plain sight across grocery stores, warehouses, and the global cold chain. 

The Hidden Reality

Refrigerant leaks are a massive issue:

• 3 to 4 percent of global emissions come from refrigerants
• One pound leaked can equal thousands of pounds of CO2
• A single grocery store can leak hundreds of pounds per year

This is bigger than most people think and rarely discussed.

Why It’s Been Ignored

It’s not visible.

It’s not exciting.

And most operators are stuck reacting to constant system failures with little data or insight.

The Axiom Cloud Approach

Axiom Cloud turns existing refrigeration data into clear, prioritized action.

No new hardware. No site visits. Fast deployment.

What that unlocks:

• Early leak detection
• Predictive maintenance
• Lower energy use
• Fewer emergency calls

Most importantly, teams know exactly what to fix first.

Why It Matters

This goes far beyond sustainability.

Refrigeration drives:

• Over half of energy use in many stores
• The majority of maintenance costs
• Compliance risk
• Lost revenue when systems fail

Fixing it improves both performance and profitability.

AI That Actually Works

Axiom has been applying AI to real systems long before the hype.

Their models detect patterns humans simply cannot see.

But the real value comes from turning insight into action.

That’s where most companies fall short.

Key Takeaways

• The biggest opportunities in energy are often invisible
• Refrigerant leaks are one of the fastest problems to solve
• AI delivers value when paired with execution
• The cold chain is on the verge of major change

This episode will change how you think about the energy transition.

Some of the biggest wins are already there.

They’re just waiting to be seen.

Links:

Amrit Robbins on LinkedIn

Axiom Cloud's Website

Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/

• Email: [email protected]
• https://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/
• https://leegroupsearch.com/

What does it actually take to build solar infrastructure that performs for 30 years in the real world?

In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, Wes Ashworth sits down with Aaron Gabelnick, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Technology Officer at ARRAY Technologies. With a career spanning chemicals, refining, consulting, and large-scale capital projects, Aaron brings a systems-level perspective that is often missing in today’s energy conversation.

This is not a discussion about solar theory. It is about execution, risk, and building infrastructure that holds up under real conditions.

Aaron shares how his background in industrial systems shaped his approach to renewable energy, and why the biggest challenge in solar today is not innovation, but discipline.

What You’ll Learn

• Why solar trackers are central to project performance, not a secondary component
• How tracker design can increase energy production by up to 25 percent depending on conditions
• The real meaning of LCOE and why upfront cost alone is a flawed decision metric
• How extreme weather like wind and hail is now shaping core engineering decisions
• The difference between active and passive wind stow systems and why it matters for reliability
• How hail risk is driving new technology, including predictive response systems and high-angle stow strategies
• Why simplicity in design leads to better long-term performance and lower maintenance risk
• The hidden complexity behind “simple” solar projects, from subsoil to system integration

Key Themes

Infrastructure Over Ideology
The energy transition is not a switch. It is a complex evolution of systems that must remain reliable while scaling rapidly.

Execution Is the Differentiator
Many failures in solar are not due to bad technology. They are the result of poor installation, weak alignment between engineering and construction, and lack of discipline at scale.

Design Decisions Compound Over Time
Small engineering choices can materially impact performance, risk, and cost over decades.

Weather Is Now a Core Design Driver
Severe weather is no longer a boundary condition. It is central to how modern solar systems are engineered and financed.

Why This Episode Matters

As solar becomes critical infrastructure, the industry is being forced to mature.

That means:

• Thinking in decades, not development cycles
• Prioritizing reliability alongside speed
• Integrating lessons from traditional energy and industrial sectors
• Designing systems that perform under stress, not just ideal conditions

Aaron brings a rare perspective that connects all of these dots.

If you are building, investing in, or operating energy systems, this episode offers a clear view of what it really takes to get it right.

Links: 

Aaron Gabelnick on LinkedIn 

ARRAY Technologies Website

Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/

• Email: [email protected]
• https://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/
• https://leegroupsearch.com/

AI may be grabbing the headlines, but power is becoming the real constraint.

In Episode 97 of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, Wes Ashworth sits down with Jason Few, President and CEO of FuelCell Energy, for a timely conversation about AI, data centers, grid constraints, and the growing urgency around speed to power.

Jason explains why this moment is bigger than data centers alone. As electricity demand rises and infrastructure timelines stretch, the conversation is shifting from simply finding electrons to building the right power stack. That means rethinking how power is generated, where it is delivered, and what role distributed energy should play in the next era of industrial and digital growth.

The episode explores why power has become a gating factor for AI deployment, how data center developers are increasingly being forced to think in terms of bring your own power, and why modular, resilient, community-compatible solutions are gaining attention. Jason also shares how FuelCell Energy has worked to move beyond being seen as an interesting technology story and instead focus on solving real customer problems with speed, reliability, and commercial discipline.

Wes and Jason also discuss:

• Why grid interconnection timelines no longer match market urgency 
• How fuel cells fit into a broader and-not-or energy system 
• Why community acceptance, footprint, noise, and emissions matter more than many people realize 
• How leadership teams can identify a real market signal before consensus arrives 
• Why the future of energy infrastructure will be shaped by layered architectures, not one single solution 

This is a sharp and practical conversation for anyone following AI infrastructure, distributed energy, clean power, or the future of data center development.

Links: 

Jason Few on LinkedIn

FuelCell Energy's Website

Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/

• Email: [email protected]
• https://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/
• https://leegroupsearch.com/

What happens to electric vehicle batteries after they come off the road is quickly becoming one of the most important questions in energy.

In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, Wes Ashworth sits down with Freeman Hall, President of B2U Storage Solutions, to explore how second-life EV batteries are transforming from a perceived waste problem into a scalable infrastructure opportunity.

Freeman brings a rare combination of experience across renewable energy investing, utility-scale solar development, and now battery storage innovation. After helping scale over 100 MW of solar projects and working at the forefront of early solar adoption, he is once again operating ahead of the curve, this time in battery lifecycle management.

At B2U, Freeman and his team are pioneering a fundamentally different approach to energy storage. Instead of dismantling EV batteries, they deploy them in their original form, using proprietary controls and software to unlock additional years of value in stationary storage applications. This approach significantly reduces costs while maintaining performance, creating a new category of infrastructure that challenges traditional assumptions about battery end-of-life.

This conversation goes far beyond technology. It dives into the real drivers of scale: capital structure, risk perception, market design, and the long process of proving bankability in a new asset class.

You’ll hear how B2U:

•  Identified the economic opportunity behind second-life batteries early 
•  Built a proprietary system to avoid costly repurposing processes 
•  Proved reliability through years of real-world operating data 
•  Navigated skepticism around safety, performance, and longevity 
•  Structured a new investment model to unlock scalable growth 

Freeman also shares insights on the evolving energy landscape, including the growing demand for electricity driven by electrification and AI, the role of storage in stabilizing renewable-heavy grids, and why repurposing will become a critical link in the battery value chain.

As the industry grapples with supply chain constraints, policy shifts, and the need for more resilient infrastructure, this episode offers a clear look at how innovation actually reaches commercial scale.

If you want to understand where energy storage is heading and what it takes to build confidence in something entirely new, this is a conversation you don’t want to miss.

Links: 

Freeman Hall on LinkedIn

B2U Storage Solutions' Website

Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/

• Email: [email protected]
• https://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/
• https://leegroupsearch.com/