SunCast

Today's special edition podcast offers practical, tactical advice on getting the most from your customer relationships. Through an all-star panel discussion led by Bodhi CEO Scott Nguyen, you'll learn how to double the value of your solar customers through follow-on sales. 

Join us for insights from Ryan Barnett, market development officer at Palmetto; Preston Booker, head of strategic accounts at BayWa r.e. Solar Systems; Adam Hinckley, vice president, Corporate Development at Enphase Energy; and Mark Liffmann, co-founder and CEO of Omnidian.

You'll hear excellent perspectives on follow-up sales for solar companies and discover how solar installers can help cultivate more sales through thoughtful customer relations.

This Bodhi Media Zone Takeover was part of the RE+ PowerUp Media Zone, a live production of SunCast Media.

Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?

Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.

If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.

Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!

You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.

Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 950 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.

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

Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Piper Foster Wilder is the co-founder and CEO of 60Hertz Energy, the first maintenance software purpose-built for distributed energy resources (DER). DERs are physical and virtual assets deployed across the distribution grid, typically close to load and usually behind the meter, and used individually or in aggregate to provide value to the grid, individual customers, or both.

Anchorage, Alaska-based 60Hertz's remote management platform enables maintenance personnel to optimize the potential of solar, wind, battery energy storage systems (BESS), microgrids and backup diesel assets. 

In today's podcast, Piper and I explore the growth of 60Hertz and her commitment to creating meaningful work. Her company supports the energy transition while making the best of existing diesel-fueled microgrids. 

Regular listeners may recall her appearance on Episode 457 when she advised how to work with electric cooperatives.

Piper is a thoughtful entrepreneur. She has an interesting role as a non-technical founder of a company that enables microgrids and their managers to use their assets more effectively and efficiently. You'll enjoy the conversation as we unpack how Piper successfully created this entrepreneurial venture.

Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?

Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.

If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.

Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!

You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.

Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 950 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.

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

Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

In today's Tactical Tuesday, we talk with Andy Redinger, head of the Utilities, Power & Renewable Energy Group at KeyBanc Capital Markets (KBCM).  

KBCM is Cleveland-based KeyCorp's corporate and investment banking arm. It's North America's leading renewables project finance lender and provides services to clean technology firms in the power generation, smart grid, energy management, and pollution control sectors. 

Andy discusses KeyBank's response to a spate of fast followers in the renewable energy lending space, examines the role of construction and term debt and equity, and looks at lessons learned from the unfortunate demise of yieldcos. (Yieldcos are tools for financing clean energy projects with cheap stock market capital from a diverse pool of dividend-focused investors, and it was once a very popular option for wind and solar development platforms.)

Andy gives his perspective on the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which includes extensions and enhancements to existing tax credits to spur the development of renewable energy projects. "It was like throwing gasoline on a roaring bonfire," Andy said. 

Why does he think that? Tune in to find out that and more about financing renewable energy projects.

The conversation was part of the RE+ PowerUp Media Zone, a live production of SunCast Media.

Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?

Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.

If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.

Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!

You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.

Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 950 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.

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

Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Hawaii native Aric Saunders is a clean energy champion well versed in reaching low to moderate-income communities, creating innovative products, and integrating storage into the grid. Aric is the executive vice president of sales and marketing for Electriq Power, a battery storage company in San Leandro, California. He joined the company as director of business development in 2017 to advise their residential energy storage and go-to-market strategy. 

Electriq has developed a smart home battery storage solution for homes and small businesses that helps owners harness the power of smart batteries to achieve a more renewable energy solution. 

A serial entrepreneur, Aric leverages more than a decade of renewable experience built on a foundation of real estate development. Before Electriq, he founded three companies in Hawaii and brought a first-for-Hawaii residential financing product to the market, which we discuss in today's episode. 

You'll hear how he has incorporated sales operations, product management, and finance into an interesting and diverse career. 

If you're curious about how the battery storage markets are growing and how the recently passed US Inflation Reduction Act will affect it, tune in to learn more.

Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?

Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.

If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.

Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!

You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.

Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 950 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.

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

Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Perhaps you’ve noticed, but over the past year, I've built a strong friendship with the folks at Sungrow, the leading global inverter solution supplier for renewables. SunCast is presented by Sungrow, afterall,  and they are the world’s most bankable inverter brand. But I have known many people who work at nearly all the other inverter manufacturers, and we’ve been sponsored by some of them here at SunCast. But I wondered, what is it that makes Sungrow unique? Why are they the most bankable, and most preferred brand by so many EPCs and Project owners?

Sungrow has installed more than 224 GW globally since it was founded in 1997 — and 47 GW in 2021 alone. And it turns out, Sungrow is also the leader in the research and development (R&D) of solar inverters with the largest dedicated R&D team in the industry and a broad product portfolio offering photovoltaic (PV) inverter solutions and energy storage systems for utility-scale, commercial and industrial (C&I), residential and floating PV plant solutions.

So I'm excited to host today's Tactical Tuesday with Hank Wang, president of Sungrow Americas. Hank credits the company's enviable position in the market to product and service excellence and steady investment in the Americas. In fact, Sungrow outspends all of its competitors in R&D. 

Join us today to hear how Sungrow maintains its market-leading position and continues to innovate to enhance its product's performance, quality and stability.

Today's conversation was part of the RE+ PowerUp Media Zone, a live production of SunCast Media.

Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?

Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.

If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.

Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!

You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.

Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 950 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.

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

Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Kimberlee Centera is one of the few female CEOs of a privately held, privately funded utility-scale renewable energy consulting practice. As the founder and CEO of San Diego-based TerraPro Solutions, she's earned an enviable reputation as a risk management expert for developing and financing large-scale energy projects. She and her team have financed more than 12 gigawatts of wind, solar, and energy storage projects valued at more than $6 billion. 

For Kimberlee, renewables are personal — and her objective is to protect families, communities and Mother Earth. And her real-life stories, anecdotes and checklists prove not only incredibly valuable but instructive and entertaining to us as well as her many clients who are saving the planet one clean energy power plant at a time.

In today’s podcast, we dig into practical and specific ways to mitigate risk in your projects and learn from Kimberlee's decades-long experience (seriously, she was responsible for land acquisition for AES!). You'll benefit from Kimberlee's deep knowledge and understanding of how solar projects come together and how the renewables industry has developed over the past 30 years  

Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?

Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.

If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.

Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!

You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.

Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 950 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.

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

Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Stanford Business School grads Chris Hopper and Sam Adeyemo founded Aurora Solar in 2012 with a mission to reduce solar design costs. They created software that quickly and accurately designs rooftop panels through aerial photos, eliminating the need for the installer to climb on the roof with a tape measure. And it fast-became the industry standard digital tool that every residential solar installer needed in order to empower their increasingly digital-first sales orgs. 

In today's Tactical Tuesday, a live conversation from our recent PowerUp Media Zone at RE+ in September, Chris, Aurora's CEO, and Sam, its Chief Revenue Officer, talk about the Menlo Park, California-based company's incredible track record and the origin of its industry-leading software platform. Now a leading software for residential and commercial PV sales and design, Aurora is used in about 100,000 PV systems designs every month by more than 7,000 installers across the globe. And, they recently hit 2 huge milestones - their 10 Millionth solar project design on the platform, and a massive $200 Million Series D fundraising. It’s the first time I’ve had the opportunity to interview both Founders at the same time, and we took full advantage of the moment.

Regular listeners may remember my first conversation with Sam on Episode 199. And in Episode 394, we shared news of Aurora's acquisition of a leading competitor, Folsom Labs, the developer of HelioScope, a leading software platform for the commercial solar sector. As the two teams became one, they benefited from a larger engineering team, a global user base and an expanded product suite. 

Coinciding with the release of this episode, Aurora is also presenting their annual Empower Virtual Conference, which is a Free 2-day event designed to provide inspiration and education to empower our community with greater insights and community gatherings. And they lined up legendary Hollywood actor, Edward Norton, to keynote today’s kickoff at 9:30am PT - so if you are reading this in time, you should head over and Register so you don’t miss that as well! 

Today's conversation was part of the RE+ PowerUp Media Zone, a live production of SunCast Media.

Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?

Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.

If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.

Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!

You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.

Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 950 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.

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

Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Geoff Ferrell is vice president of virtual power plants (VPP) and commercial and industrial (C&I) project business at sonnen, a German-based global energy storage provider fully owned by Royal Dutch Shell.

A pioneer for intelligent lithium-based energy storage, sonnen offers customers energy storage and digital energy services like the sonnenBatterie, which optimizes residential solar power and supplies energy at night using stored solar power generated during the day. It built a reputation by pioneering storage technology and combining it with new business models for a decentralized energy system, like virtual power plants.

In today's podcast, Geoff talks about evolving his role from a buyer of sonnen products to one of its top executives. 

Before joining sonnen in 2020, Geoff was chief technology officer at Mandalay Homes, where he championed technological innovations in home building and building science. Mandalay Homes is an energy-efficient production home builder in Northern Arizona, and Geoff helped it win the U.S. Department of Energy's Zero Energy Ready Housing Innovation Award 12 times.

Geoff has experience in energy management, environmental building practices and, importantly, using sonnen's residential products. He weaves that knowledge through today's conversation, which stretches from his birth in Las Vegas through "falling in love" with residential construction and nurturing his interest in solar.

Join us for a great discussion about Geoff's career trajectory from a potential pilot to a solar warrior bringing cutting-edge renewables and energy storage to the world.

Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?

Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.

If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.

Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!

You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.

Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 950 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.

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

Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Kiran Kumaraswamy is a high-caliber energy storage executive focused on the commercialization of technology — specifically, architecting the techno-economic analysis and justification of deployment of hardtech like batteries. He’s had a lot of practice, which contributed in-part to his rise to Vice President of Growth and Head of Commercial Business at Fluence, a global energy storage technology and services company created and backed by Siemens and AES.

Kiran is an engineer who can translate technology to make it easy for customers to understand and teams to model and deploy. I was lucky enough to get an Hour with him at the recent RE-Plus show, so I dig into precisely how he has helped bring such transformative products and business models to life.

So, it’s a longer Tactical Tuesday than usual, but well-worth the investment.

After earning his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Madras in India and a master's in engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he took a course in energy economics.

"That's how I learned about the beautiful nature of power markets, asset trading, and a bunch of related things," he said.

In today's Tactical Tuesday, Kiran shared insights on the "generational opportunities" created by the recently passed US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), stabilizing the supply chain, and how innovative technology is impacting the future of the potential $200 billion energy storage market in the United States. 

Today’s conversation was part of the RE+ PowerUp Media Zone, a live production of SunCast Media.

Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?

Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.

If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.

Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!

You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.

Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 950 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.

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

Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Shannon Miller is the chief executive officer and co-founder of Mainspring Energy — a Menlo Park, California company that sees itself as part of the affordable, reliable, net-zero carbon grid of the future. 

She leads the design, manufacture, and commercialization of the Mainspring Linear Generator, whose fuel-agnostic design enables it to adjust dynamically for varying fuel quality and different types of fuels. Those fuels include renewables such as biogas, green ammonia, and green hydrogen — which is why many of you solar warriors will want to listen to this podcast.

This innovative generator aims to increase grid reliability and resilience while accelerating the transition to clean fuels. How does it do that? Where did the idea originate? And how did Mainspring grow from zero in 2010 to near unicorn status? 

We'll explore all those questions in today's conversation with Shannon, a remarkable woman who holds 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 "35 Innovators Under 35." And just this month, she was recognized for advancing women’s leadership in clean energy as one of only 9 annual DOE awardees for the C3E initiative.

Mainspring Energy has raised nearly a half a billion in funding, including $290 in the Series E round announced only a few weeks ago. That's no small feat. 

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

Join us to learn more about how Shannon, Matt and Chief Product Officer Adam Simpson, the company's third co-founder, combined low cost and low emissions with high efficiency, fuel flexibility, and full dispatchability to create the Mainspring Linear Generator.

Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?

Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.

If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.

Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!

You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.

Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 950 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.

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

Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus