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Emmitt sits down with Kate Collardson, a 20-year PV pro from Denver, to unpack life after OB3: layoffs, the “overqualified” trap, and the massive opportunity in orphaned residential systems. They dig into why U.S. residential solar still carries heavy soft costs (dealer fees, sales stacks), how VPPs beat peaker plants on speed, and where the next wave of jobs lives—project management, design, interconnection, tech support, and O&M. Plus: why parking-lot carports solve heat islands and energy at the same time, and straight talk for women entering solar.

Highlights

• OB3/IRA whiplash and hiring reality
• Orphaned-system O&M as a starter business
• VPPs: fast response, real grid value
• Carport PV > heat islands
• Soft-cost bloat: how to trim the stack
• Breaking into solar today (training paths & local shops)
• Women in solar: confidence, competence, boundaries

Links & CTAs

• Watch the episode on YouTube: @wattsuppod
• Consumer education & webinars: solarenergyforconsumers.com
• Fractional training & O&M consulting: sepowerconsulting.com
• Follow Emmitt on LinkedIn: Emmitt Muckles

Episode Tags / SEO Keywords
Solar, Photovoltaics, Residential Solar, Virtual Power Plant, Energy Storage, O&M, Orphaned Systems, Women in Solar, Soft Costs, Dealer Fees, Interconnection, Project Management, Design, Carport Solar, Heat Island, Grid Services

Suggested Buzzsprout Chapter Marks
00:00 Intro & why this conversation now
03:29 OB3 impacts & layoffs
10:57 Orphaned systems = service opportunity
15:04 Careers beyond the roof (PM, design, interconnection)
17:40 VPPs & fast grid response
21:26 Carports, cities, and heat islands
26:17 Why U.S. $/W is high
32:45 The 2026 reset
36:00 Breaking into solar today
37:59 Advice for women entering PV
40:30 Sign-off & next episode teaser

Our Sponsor for this Episode is S.E. Power Consulting
S. E. Power Consulting offers Fractional Training Leadership—meaning you get expert-level training support when you need it, without the cost of a full-time hire.
Whether you’re scaling up or just getting organized, we help you train smarter, not harder.
Visit SEPowerConsulting.com to learn more.
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Brittany Boyette Services LLC

Brittany Boyette left corporate success to build a business around intentional, aligned marketing, the kind that sounds like you, serves your audience, and converts. We dig into her why (family, inclusion, and community), how to find your authentic voice, and the practical systems that make growth feel human: CRMs, onboarding, event planning, meeting-booking at conferences, and consistent follow-up.

You’ll hear:

• How to spot misalignment fast—and what to do before burnout hits
• Trade show and webinar planning that actually leads to deals
• Content repurposing and measurement without losing your soul
• Tool overload vs. AI as a voice amplifier, not a replacement
• Why founders need a “safe place to land” (and how Brittany provides it)

Connect with Brittany on LinkedIn:

 https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittany-boyette-203834267/
 Learn more about Emmitt’s work at SEPowerConsulting.com and SolarEnergyForConsumers.com.
Subscribe on YouTube: @wattsuppod

Sign-off: The sun will never send you a bill.

Our Sponsor for this Episode is S.E. Power Consulting
S. E. Power Consulting offers Fractional Training Leadership—meaning you get expert-level training support when you need it, without the cost of a full-time hire.
Whether you’re scaling up or just getting organized, we help you train smarter, not harder.
Visit SEPowerConsulting.com to learn more.
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Emmitt visit Vienna Austria and has a laid back socail conersation with Laarak Labbafi a PV engineer who jumped from physics to hands-on and technical support in solar, launching her career in Iran before moving to Austria. They unpack:

• How gender dynamics can shape early career experiences, and how to push through
• Iran’s solar story: sunshine abundance vs. sanctions, FiTs, and ROI whiplash
• Why Europe is all-in on batteries and self-consumption
• What O&M looks like from a distributor’s troubleshooting desk (Energy3000 + Huawei fleets)
• The U.S. grid squeeze, EV loads, and how Virtual Power Plants actually work
• Practical advice for women and newcomers entering PV, plus networking tips (NABCEP, Women in Solar)
• Lori’s next chapter: mastering ESS and bringing PV access to underserved regions and America

Links

• Watts Up Solar: https://www.solarenergyforconsumers.com
  
  
• S.E. Power Consulting: https://www.sepowerconsulting.com
  
  
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wattsuppod
  
  
• Orgs: NABCEP, Women in Solar

Chapter Marks (for players that support them)
00:00 Vienna intro

 • 00:32 Why PV

 • 02:28 Early career & barriers

 • 06:24 Solar in Iran

 • 07:55 Sanctions & ROI

 • 10:01 Residential vs. utility

 • 11:16 Batteries & self-consumption

 • 12:58 Europe path

 • 16:12 Energy3000/Huawei O&M

 • 20:18 ESS goals

 • 22:14 VPP explained

 • 24:15 Career advice

 • 25:44 California move

 • 29:35 Networking

Call to Action
Subscribe, leave a rating, and share this episode with someone considering a PV career or an ESS upgrade at home.

Episode Keywords
NABCEP, solar, photovoltaics, energy storage, ESS, VPP, O&M, Austria, Iran, women in solar, NEM 3.0, Huawei, Energy3000, virtual power plant, career advice, troubleshooting

Our Sponsor for this Episode is S.E. Power Consulting
S. E. Power Consulting offers Fractional Training Leadership—meaning you get expert-level training support when you need it, without the cost of a full-time hire.
Whether you’re scaling up or just getting organized, we help you train smarter, not harder.
Visit SEPowerConsulting.com to learn more.
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Emmitt welcomes Jill and Logan from AlertHub, a platform built to help residential solar companies pivot from installs to service. They aggregate inverter alerts across major brands, layer in a homeowner portal and payments, and streamline RMAs—so small teams can manage bigger fleets with fewer truck rolls. We unpack the origin story (from edtech to solar), policy headwinds, pricing and onboarding, and a live case where proactive alerting led to a fast fix and fresh referrals.

Key Takeaways:
• Multi-brand alert aggregation in one dashboard
• Proactive > reactive: fewer truck rolls, happier homeowners
• Built-in homeowner portal, service plans, and payouts
• Simple onboarding; subaccounts for outsourced monitoring
• Residential focus now; commercial support on deck
• Supported today: Enphase, SolarEdge, APsystems, SMA (with more coming)

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:18 Bonus guests & agrivoltaic vibes
01:12 What is AlertHub?
03:00 Tech: native alert aggregation
04:30 Homeowner experience = retention
06:03 Buying a solar company & the pivot
07:55 Service/repairs as profit center
09:25 Policy shocks & adaptation
10:46 Visibility/coordination bottlenecks
11:10 RMA integration
12:02 Service-first retraining
14:07 Onboarding workflow
15:34 Connectivity matters
16:36 USB-stick era memories
17:19 Residential focus
18:23 Who it’s for (EPCs/installers)
19:45 Pricing & homeowner plans
20:31 Competitive advantage
21:25 Case study → referrals
22:39 Monitoring vs. alerting
23:17 RE+ & mobile status
24:59 Differentiators
27:22 Brands supported & roadmap
28:26 Emmitt’s closing note

Links & Resources:
• Watts Up Solar Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wattsuppod
• Homeowner education & tools: solarenergyforconsumers.com
• Consulting & training: sepowerconsulting.com

Our Sponsor for this Episode is S.E. Power Consulting
S. E. Power Consulting offers Fractional Training Leadership—meaning you get expert-level training support when you need it, without the cost of a full-time hire.
Whether you’re scaling up or just getting organized, we help you train smarter, not harder.
Visit SEPowerConsulting.com to learn more.
S.E. Power Consulting—Fractional training. Full-time results.

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America’s energy story is mid-pivot. Incentives shifted, EVs are scaling, and the grid is creaking like it’s still 1947. In this episode, Emmitt chops it up with Mats Larsson of the Global Energy Transformation Institute about what full electrification really takes: winter EV range hits, smart-grid load control, VPPs (virtual power plants), and why planning this transition like Apollo—not vibes—is the move.

Highlights

• Why the U.S. is already “highly electrified” (just… differently than Europe)
• EVs vs. the grid: load peaks, smart charging, and seasonality
• Solar + storage + VPPs as the anti-peaker, pro-resilience stack
• Jobs shift: from crankshafts to chips, software, and charging ops
• The hard truth: grids must be digitized, coordinated, and funded

Guest

• Mats Larsson — Global Energy Transformation Institute (GET): getinstitute.com
• YouTube: search “Mats Larsson”

🔗 Listen/Subscribe: Buzzsprout

🎥 Watch the video: YouTube Channel

Our Sponsor for this Episode is S.E. Power Consulting
S. E. Power Consulting offers Fractional Training Leadership—meaning you get expert-level training support when you need it, without the cost of a full-time hire.
Whether you’re scaling up or just getting organized, we help you train smarter, not harder.
Visit SEPowerConsulting.com to learn more.
S.E. Power Consulting—Fractional training. Full-time results.

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Honey isn’t just something you stir into tea; it’s a reflection of soil, flowers, and the ecosystems that sustain us. In this episode of the What’s Up Solar Podcast, Emmitt Muckles sits down with Thad of Chicago’s Westside Bee Boyz, a true “bee entrepreneur,” to explore how local honey connects us to nature in ways most people never realize.

Thad shares why Chicago is full of unexpected beekeepers, how soil health changes the taste of honey, and why clover in your lawn is a lifeline for pollinators. We get into beeswax candles as “natural Lysol,” the surprising toughness of creatures like mice and spiders, and how your yard can become an oasis for monarchs, birds, and bees alike.

This episode is sweet, raw, and buzzing with insights that tie honey to ecology, community, and balance.

Find Thad and the Westside Bee Boyz at https://westside-bee-boyz.square.site/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/westsidebeeboyz/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Westsidebeeboyz/

Watts Up solar Podcast link: https://wattsupsolarpodcast.buzzsprout.com

Our Sponsor for this Episode is S.E. Power Consulting
S. E. Power Consulting offers Fractional Training Leadership—meaning you get expert-level training support when you need it, without the cost of a full-time hire.
Whether you’re scaling up or just getting organized, we help you train smarter, not harder.
Visit SEPowerConsulting.com to learn more.
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Rebekah Carpenter didn’t just “get into” solar—she jumped on a plane to Mali to install an off-grid system after teaching herself the trade. Two decades later, she’s still providing results and calling BS where needed. We cover the early net-metering era, 48V throwbacks, the DIY wave, when batteries are smart (and when they’re just expensive), and the uncomfortable art of telling customers “this site won’t pencil.”

What We Cover

• The Mali leap: learning solar by doing
• Net metering 1.0 & spinning disks vs. today’s digital meters
• Inverters then vs. now (Trace, Sunny Boy, high-voltage strings)
• DIY solar: design gaps, failure modes, and true cost of “cheap”
• Shade, valleys, and how to say “no” with integrity
• Micros/optimizers: useful… but physics still wins
• Batteries for backup: expectations vs. reality
• The future: smaller, smarter, more grassroots—and more essential

Key Takeaways

• Mitigation isn’t magic: shaded panels are still shaded panels.
• Education beats upsell: right-sized systems + honest site calls save money.
• Resilience is a use case, not a vibe: batteries, loads, and behavior must align.

Links & Resources

• Finger Lakes Renewables (guest) — https://www.flenergy.com/
• S.E. Power Consulting (host) — https://sepowerconsulting.com/
• Watts Up Solar Podcast on YouTube —https://wattsupsolarpodcast.buzzsprout.com/
• Contact/Booking —https://calendly.com/emmitt-muckles-sepowerconsulting/podcast-recording-watts-up-in-solar-w-emmitt-muckle

Credits
Host: Emmitt  Muckles
Guest: Rebecca Carpenter
Producer: Watts Up Solar

Our Sponsor for this Episode is S.E. Power Consulting
S. E. Power Consulting offers Fractional Training Leadership—meaning you get expert-level training support when you need it, without the cost of a full-time hire.
Whether you’re scaling up or just getting organized, we help you train smarter, not harder.
Visit SEPowerConsulting.com to learn more.
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In this episode of the Watts Up Solar Podcast, I sit down with Ziwen Deng, a startup founder, innovator, and renewable energy trailblazer. We get real about the challenges of immigrant grit, the future of skilled trades, and why the renewable industry desperately needs fresh hands in the field.

Ziwen shares how his journey from micro-loan projects in North Carolina farms to cutting-edge AI solutions in solar taught him the power of technology to change lives. We dive into:

• Why startups succeed (or crash and burn) in renewables
• The massive labor gap that is coming to the trades and solar fieldwork
• How training must evolve in the attention economy (hint: it’s not about PDFs anymore)
• The role of AI in transforming manuals into instant, on-site knowledge

This conversation is equal parts gritty reality check and hopeful vision for the next generation of energy workers. If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to build solutions at the intersection of startups, solar, and workforce training—this is the one you don’t want to miss.

🌐 Learn more at suresteps.io

🔗 Connect with Ziwen on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to the Watts Up Solar Podcast for more insights on the future of renewable energy.

Our Sponsor for this Episode is S.E. Power Consulting
S. E. Power Consulting offers Fractional Training Leadership—meaning you get expert-level training support when you need it, without the cost of a full-time hire.
Whether you’re scaling up or just getting organized, we help you train smarter, not harder.
Visit SEPowerConsulting.com to learn more.
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In this episode of the Watts Up Solar Podcast, Emmitt Muckles sits down with Cesar Barbosa, founder of New Life Power, for an unfiltered conversation about leadership, grit, and the evolving landscape of solar energy.

From pulling panels in the field to leading multi-million-dollar repowering projects, Cesar shares the truth about what it takes to stay relevant in the solar industry, why America needs to reinvest in its trades, and how he’s mentoring the next generation of blue-collar leaders.

We cover everything from end-of-life PV system challenges to building a company culture that weeds out mediocrity, plus the untapped $100 billion “opportunity” waiting in aging solar infrastructure.

Whether you’re a solar pro, a tradesperson, or someone who believes in the dignity of work, this episode will inspire you to sharpen your craft and lead from the front.

Guest Links:
🌐 New Life Power
🔗 Cesar Barbosa on LinkedIn (search Cesar Barbosa)

Follow the Watts Up Solar Podcast:
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Our Sponsor for this Episode is S.E. Power Consulting
S. E. Power Consulting offers Fractional Training Leadership—meaning you get expert-level training support when you need it, without the cost of a full-time hire.
Whether you’re scaling up or just getting organized, we help you train smarter, not harder.
Visit SEPowerConsulting.com to learn more.
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In this episode of the Watts Up Solar Podcast, Emmitt Muckles sits down with solar veteran and quality engineering manager David Compaan of IGS Solar. David has inspected over 3,000 PV systems and holds NABCEP PVIP and PV System Inspector certifications. Together, they dive deep into the importance of code compliance, equipment standards, and the growing need for hands-on training in the solar industry.

They discuss:

• Why torquing matters in every install
• The challenges of training new solar installers
• The evolution of UL standards and AHJ complexity
• Power control systems, CT placement, and residential monitoring
• The explosion of battery storage in Europe vs. the U.S.
• Career growth, wind turbines, and solar job specialization

Whether you're a solar installer, inspector, engineer, or just solar curious—this episode is packed with real-world insights, lessons from the field, and Emmitt’s signature humor and wisdom.

👉 Watch the full video on YouTube
 🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Buzzsprout & more
 💡 www.solarenergyforconsumers.com

Our Sponsor for this Episode is S.E. Power Consulting
S. E. Power Consulting offers Fractional Training Leadership—meaning you get expert-level training support when you need it, without the cost of a full-time hire.
Whether you’re scaling up or just getting organized, we help you train smarter, not harder.
Visit SEPowerConsulting.com to learn more.
S.E. Power Consulting—Fractional training. Full-time results.