The Energy Show

Starting January 1, 2027, California's new balcony solar law, SB 868.

On this week's The Energy Show, host Barry Cinnamon welcomes Kevin Chou, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Bright Saver, the nonprofit helping bring plug-in solar to communities across the United States.

Inspired by the explosive growth of balcony solar in Germany and Europe, Bright Saver is working to make DIY solar affordable, simple, and accessible to everyday Americans.

And the numbers are surprisingly compelling.

Episode Highlights:

• California's SB 868: What the new balcony solar law means for renters

• Why plug-in solar could challenge traditional utility business models

• The $400 solar system that could save approximately $365 annually

• California's 1,200-watt limit and important UL safety requirements

• How Bright Saver helped advance plug-in solar legislation across 10 states

• The future of plug-in solar combined with battery storage

• Why Barry believes balcony solar could introduce a new generation to clean energy

#BalconySolar #PlugInSolar #SB868 #CaliforniaSolar #BrightSaver #KevinChou #BarryCinnamon #TheEnergyShow #CinnamonEnergySystems #SolarEnergy #PGandE #DIYsolar #SolarPanels #SolarForRenters #CaliforniaEnergy #SolarSavings #RenewableEnergy #UtilityRates #HomeElectrification #CleanEnergy #SolarLegislation #SolarPower #EnergyIndependence #SolarBatteryStorage #ElectricBills

This week on The Energy Show, Barry sits down with Anoushka Tamhane, an MIT Climate Systems Engineering student who's researching battery storage and exploring an ingenious approach to geothermal heating and cooling. The technology is brilliant. The politics? Not so much.

While students at MIT are developing the next generation of energy solutions, research funding cuts and changing policies are making their work more difficult.

Barry and Anoushka discuss what happens when technological progress runs headfirst into political reality.

Plus, Barry shares a few stories about working on experimental solar homes at MIT in 1978.

Episode Highlights:

• Why California homeowners are investing in battery storage while other states lag behind

• How electricity rates and net metering policies influence solar and battery economics

• Why backup power and blackout protection are driving battery adoption

• Virtual power plants and getting paid to support the electric grid

• Networked geothermal and sharing heating and cooling across entire neighborhoods

• Turning waste heat from data centers, grocery stores and wastewater into usable energy

• Massachusetts' geothermal pilot projects and the potential for lower installation costs

• How outdated utility regulations and government policies slow clean energy innovation

• The impact of federal research funding cuts on MIT and the next generation of energy engineers

• Barry's early solar and geothermal research at MIT—and how far the technology has come

• Why smarter energy technology needs smarter policies to succeed

#TheEnergyShow #BarryCinnamon #MIT #CleanEnergy #SolarEnergy #EnergyPolicy #BatteryStorage #GeothermalEnergy #RenewableEnergy #EnergyInnovation #VirtualPowerPlants #ElectricityRates #ClimateTechnology #EnergyTransition #AnoushkaTamhane

This week on The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon sits down with Tom Werner, who led SunPower from 2003 to 2020 and helped build it into one of the world's largest solar companies.

Tom has ridden the solar coaster through booms, busts, policy changes and technology revolutions. And his assessment of 2026?

It's actually worse than he expected.

In some U.S. markets, Tom says residential solar is down 25–50% or more, as the industry deals with the loss of the residential tax credit, changing net-metering economics and a difficult transition to new financing models.

But zoom out, and the picture gets much more interesting.

Episode Highlights:

• How badly the market has fallen since the tax credit disappeared

• Why falling battery prices could change the equation

• Why exploding electricity demand could revive distributed solar

• How AI and data centers are creating enormous new grid loads

• Why Virtual Power Plants could finally become a major opportunity

• Why Tom, once skeptical of solar financing now says installers have to embrace it

• How homes are slowly becoming their own miniature utilities

This week on The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon sits down with longtime solar industry leader Tom McCalmont, CEO of Paired Power and president of McCalmont Engineering, to talk about one of the biggest challenges facing electrification: how do we add massive new electrical loads when there simply isn’t enough grid capacity?

Tom's answer is surprisingly straightforward: stop thinking of the grid as the only source of power.

By combining existing grid capacity with solar, battery storage, and intelligent energy management, Paired Power says it can install roughly six times as much EV charging capacity as the available grid connection could otherwise support.

Episode Highlights:

• How solar can dramatically expand available charging capacity

• Why falling battery prices are changing the economics again

• Why most EV drivers don't actually need ultra-fast charging

• The coming shift toward Vehicle-to-Grid and Vehicle-to-Home

• Why Tom still sees powerful tailwinds for solar and storage

• What two 25-year solar veterans think happens after the latest ride on the “solar coaster”

Solar Is Installed. Now Who Keeps It Running?

There are millions of solar panels, batteries, EV chargers and other energy systems installed on homes and businesses around the world.

There's just one little problem:

Someone has to keep all that stuff working.

This week on The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon sits down with John Berger, founder and CEO of Otovo Energy, to talk about what may be one of the biggest—and most overlooked—opportunities in clean energy: service and maintenance.

Episode Highlights

• Why solar installation and solar service are completely different businesses

• Who maintains solar and batteries when the original installer disappears

• Why recurring service could become a major clean-energy business

• How AI is transforming customer service, scheduling and dispatch

• Why AI could dramatically reduce the cost of running energy-service companies

• What homeowners should demand before choosing a solar installer

• How Virtual Power Plants depend on reliable, well-maintained batteries

• Why rising electricity rates continue to improve solar economics

• How AI data centers are putting enormous new pressure on the electric grid

• Why distributed solar and batteries could become part of the solution

One of the most interesting parts of the conversation is John's experience deploying AI throughout Otovo. The company is using AI not simply as a chatbot, but across customer care, scheduling, dispatch, sales and technician support. John argues that the technology is moving so quickly that "the humans have to catch up."

With the 30% residential solar tax credit gone, the industry entered the year expecting installations to fall by as much as 20–30%. But rising electricity rates, cheaper batteries, new financing products and an increasingly unreliable grid are changing the math yet again.

This week on The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon talks with Charlie Herche, CEO of Aurora Solar, about where the residential solar and storage industry actually stands and what comes next.

Episode Highlights:

• Why residential solar installations are down in 2026

• Why batteries are becoming even more important to solar economics

• How prepaid leases and PPAs can still capture federal tax incentives

• What homeowners should look for when buying solar and storage

• Why Virtual Power Plants could become a major source of value

• How AI is changing solar design, sales and permitting

• Whether balcony solar could become the "gateway drug" to rooftop solar

• What installers need to do to survive and thrive in this market

• Why Charlie expects solar and storage growth to begin recovering in 2027

2025 was a record year for residential solar and batteries.

2026 is shaping up to be a record bad one.

The 30% homeowner solar tax credit is gone ... is residential solar in serious trouble? Not so fast.

This week on The Energy Show, Barry sits down with Raghu Belur, co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Enphase, to talk about what comes next for homeowners, installers and the solar industry.

Raghu and Barry have both been riding the solar coaster since the early days of residential solar and they've seen enough downturns to know that today's bad market doesn't necessarily mean tomorrow's bad business.

Episode Highlights:

• How prepaid leases can help homeowners capture economics similar to the former 30% tax credit

• Enphase's new IQ9 microinverter and upcoming G5 battery

• Why Enphase says its G5 battery costs are about 40% lower

• Bidirectional EV charging and turning your car into a giant home battery

• AI-powered solar, battery and home energy management

• Why installers should go back to their existing customers

• Expanding into EV charging, HVAC and commercial solar

• Balcony solar as a gateway into home electrification

• Falling battery costs and the next generation of power electronics

With the 30% residential solar tax credit gone, the effective cost of going solar has jumped dramatically and residential installations are already down roughly 20–25%. For installers that historically relied on cash sales, the drop can be even worse.

But before we start writing solar’s obituary, there are a few important plot twists.

Electricity rates are still climbing. Blackouts aren’t exactly going out of style. Battery prices continue to improve. And, most importantly, leases, PPAs and prepaid financing can still give homeowners access to the economics of the 30% commercial tax credit.

In other words, financing has gone from being something that helps sell solar to something that may determine whether solar gets sold at all. The tail is officially wagging the dog.

This week on The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon welcomes back solar finance expert Dan Javen, who correctly predicted many of the financing challenges now hitting the residential market.

Episode Highlights:

• Why residential solar is down 20–25% in 2026

• How leases, PPAs and prepaid leases can preserve the 30% tax-credit advantage

• Which solar and battery companies may be best positioned to survive

• Why standalone battery installations and Virtual Power Plants could become one of the industry's biggest opportunities

•Why Dan believes the real solar-and-storage recovery may begin around 2028

Utilities, finance companies, and software aggregators have suddenly discovered something valuable:

Your battery.

Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) promise easy money by letting utilities tap into thousands of home batteries during periods of high demand. Sounds great... until you discover who actually makes the biggest profits.

In this week's Energy Show, Barry digs into the fine print behind today's VPP programs and explains why some are a fantastic deal and others are little more than a money grab.

If you've invested thousands in a home battery, don't let someone else cash the checks. Before you enroll your battery, watch this first.

Episode Highlights:

• Why utilities suddenly LOVE your battery

• Which VPPs actually pay homeowners and which barely do

• Why letting utilities run VPPs is like letting the fox guard the henhouse

• Hidden battery wear, cycling, taxes, and blackout risks nobody mentions

• California's DSGS vs ELRP programs—which pays more?

• Why AI data centers are making VPPs more valuable than ever

• How to know if your battery is working for you... or someone else

Everyone wants lower utility bills. Unfortunately, many homeowners start with expensive projects that deliver disappointing returns.

That's because most energy audits focus on generic recommendation not the upgrades that make the biggest difference for your home.

This week on The Energy Show, Barry shares the Low Hanging Fruit of home electrification, the affordable improvements that often pay for themselves in just a year or two.

Episode Highlights:

• Which DIY projects deliver the biggest savings

• Why utility energy audits often miss the mark

• How to eliminate "vampire loads"

• When attic insulation makes sense—and when replacing windows doesn't

• Why timing matters when running electric dryers and pool pumps

• How to prioritize solar, batteries, heat pumps, and EV charging after you've tackled the basics

Don't waste money chasing tiny improvements with huge price tags.

Start with the upgrades that actually deliver.

#HomeElectrification #EnergyAudit #DIYHomeImprovement #EnergyEfficiency #SolarPower #BatteryStorage #HeatPump #ElectricBills #LEDLighting #SmartThermostat #Weatherstripping #HVAC #Insulation #PoolPump #CleanEnergy #RenewableEnergy #HomeEnergy #CaliforniaEnergy #BarryCinnamon #TheEnergyShow