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Clean Power Hour
30 episodes
How a 700kW Commercial Solar Project Saves $3M+ Over 25 Years #363
Aug 11, 2026 · 38 min
Dual-use solar financing in action: Sunrise Solar's Richard Stoltzfus built a 700 kW behind-the-meter array for Harbor Sales Company. The build stacks a USDA REAP grant with a Maryland MEA grant and drives the customer's levelized energy cost to near zero. A 700 kW behind-the-meter solar array now offsets 70 percent of the electric load at Harbor Sales Company, a plywood and sign-panel distributor that has run out of Sudlersville, Maryland since 1931. Richard Stoltzfus, CEO of Sunrise Solar, and…
Georgia's Data Center Boom Is Straining the Grid. Here's How Solar Fits In #362
Aug 4, 2026 · 41 min
Georgia is the second-largest data center market in the country, and its grid is straining under load growth no one predicted five years ago. Michael Chanin, CEO of Cherry Street Energy, joins Tim to break down how behind-the-meter solar and storage are stepping in, why utilities need private capital to keep rates in check, and what a multi-gigawatt data center outside Savannah means for the region. Tim sits down with Michael Chanin, CEO of Cherry Street Energy, a vertically integrated power com…
Why 80% of Grid-Ready Devices Are Still Sitting on the Sidelines? #361
Jul 30, 2026 · 40 min
The U.S. needs 400 GW of new capacity over the next two decades. Michael Grasso, CEO and founder of Grid Rails, tells Tim Montague that roughly twice that much flexible capacity is already plugged in, and explains why only 20% of eligible devices are enrolled in virtual power plant programs today. Data centers, EVs, heat pumps, and new construction are pushing U.S. electricity demand up by roughly 50%, about 400 gigawatts over the next two decades. The reflex answer is to build more generation.…
Wildfire Smoke Cuts New England Solar Output by 40 Percent
Jul 28, 2026 · 43 min
Wildfire smoke from Canada cut solar production across New England by as much as 40 percent, according to ISO New England, a loss of 2,500 megawatts at peak hours compared to the forecast. Tim Montague and John Weaver dig into that data, including John's own project numbers, on the Clean Power Hour Live. They also cover a massive BYD battery storage deal in Abu Dhabi, a new gas car ban in China, rising copper prices, and a wave of new battery products hitting the market. Whether you're an instal…
The Grid Can't Keep Up. Can Linear Generators Solve the Power Crisis? #360
Jul 21, 2026 · 32 min
Power generation is changing fast. As utilities struggle with interconnection delays and growing electricity demand, businesses are looking for faster, more reliable ways to secure power. In this episode of Clean Power Hour, Tim Montague sits down with Walt Jordan, Chief Revenue Officer at dGEN Energy Partners, to explore one of the least talked-about emerging technologies in distributed energy: linear generators. Unlike traditional generators, linear generators have no crankshaft, no spark plug…
The Grid Was Built Over a Century Ago. Here's How We Fix It. #359
Jul 16, 2026 · 40 min
America's electric grid wasn't built for AI, electric vehicles, battery storage, or the rapid growth of renewable energy. So how do we modernize a system that was built and started in the late 1800s and early 1900s, more than a century ago? In this episode of Clean Power Hour, Tim Montague sits down with Zaid Ashai, CEO of Nexamp, the nation's largest community solar developer, to discuss community solar, battery storage, grid modernization, and why policy certainty is essential to building a cl…
Swift Solar's Plan to Close the 10x U.S. Solar Cell Gap
Jul 14, 2026 · 1 hr 2 min
What does it take to turn next-generation solar technology into a bankable commercial product? Swift Solar is closing the U.S. heterojunction and perovskite tandem solar cell gap. Dr. Gunter Erfurt, managing director at Swift Solar and former Meyer Burger CEO, joins Tim Montague and John Weaver to explain why U.S. module capacity sits near 50 gigawatts while domestic cell capacity trails at 5 gigawatts. Following Swift Solar's acquisition of Meyer Burger's technology, intellectual property, manu…
Lives Saved: The Case for Community Microgrids #358
Jul 7, 2026 · 27 min
Community microgrids saved lives during a PG&E shutoff in Humboldt County. Lisa Cohn of Microgrid Knowledge has tracked every project getting built in America right now. She tells you what separates the ones that succeed from the ones that fail, and what you need to know before entering this market. Community microgrids are among the fastest-growing segments in solar and storage, and among the hardest to finance and build. Lisa Cohn is the co-founder of Microgrid Knowledge, a publication she has…
Carport Solar Done Right: Engineering, Pricing, and Building for the Long Haul #357
Jul 2, 2026 · 57 min
Solar carport installation costs can swing by 12 cents per watt before a single panel goes up. Kyle Sinclair, CEO and co-founder of SDE (Sinclair Designs and Engineering), James Strizki, Project Manager and CFO of GenMounts and Renewable Energy Holdings, and Matt Boyce, a PE licensed in 27 states and Principal Engineer at Engineered Solutions, join Tim Montague to break down exactly how carport projects are won and lost. Between them, they have engineered, manufactured, reviewed, and installed h…
CATL's Sodium Ion Battery Could Last 30 Years: Rebuild Your Storage Model Now
Jun 30, 2026 · 59 min
CATL unveiled its TENER Sodium energy storage system at Intersolar Europe in Munich, rated for 15,000 cycles to 70 percent state of health at room temperature. CATL frames that as a 25 to 30 year service life, and it takes only 34 modules to stand up a one gigawatt-hour site. That single specification changes how commercial storage professionals price, propose, and finance battery projects. Tim Montague and John Weaver dig into what it means, alongside Illinois growing from about 80 megawatts of…
The Engineering Gap Costing Solar Companies A Fortune #356
Jun 23, 2026 · 45 min
A single design error on a commercial solar project can cost $60,000 to $70,000 to fix. Scott Wyssling and Catherine Kelso of Wyssling Consulting explain what quality design actually looks like, why AI cannot replace a licensed engineer reviewing plans, and how battery integration really fits into commercial solar today. In this episode, Tim Montague sits down with Scott Wyssling, founder and principal at Wyssling Consulting, and Catherine Kelso, Director of Commercial Design and electrical engi…
Battery Storage Fires: Myths, Facts, and What Actually Happens #355
Jun 18, 2026 · 52 min
Battery energy storage fire safety is one of the most urgent permitting challenges facing solar and storage developers in 2026. Mike Nicholas, Energy Storage Specialist and Fire Consultant at Hiller Companies, brings a rare perspective: he built Kern County's entire BESS permitting program from scratch in 2019, when no national standards existed, and now travels the country helping developers, EPCs, and fire departments get these projects to yes. Kern County has the highest concentration of rene…
Solar Safe Harbor Court Ruling: What Developers Need to Know Now
Jun 16, 2026 · 51 min
A US federal court just ruled the IRS acted in an "arbitrary and capricious" manner on solar and wind safe harbor rules, shaking up project timelines for developers racing toward the July 4, 2026 deadline. Meanwhile, at the Shanghai Solar Show (SNEC), energy storage claimed more floor space than solar panels for the first time, signaling a major shift in where the industry is placing its bets. Tim and John dig into safe harbor court rulings, vertical integration in US module manufacturing, batte…
They Put Solar on the White House. Here's What Solar Design Associates Learned #354
Jun 9, 2026 · 30 min
Solar & storage pioneers Solar Design Associates share 50 years of firsts on the Clean Power Hour. They put solar on the White House in 1979 and built the first community solar garden in America. Haskell Werlin and Steven Strong trace solar's fall from $16 to $1 per watt, explain why the battery cost curve is following the same path, and break down what the ITC-free era means for developers. Solar and storage pioneers Solar Design Associates have been designing solar energy systems since 1974, a…
Clean Coalition's Craig Lewis on Microgrids, VPPs, and the Resilience Gap #353
Jun 2, 2026 · 1 hr 22 min
Community microgrids and virtual power plants are two of the most misunderstood concepts in clean energy, and the gap between them is where billions of dollars in grid value are being left on the table. Craig Lewis, Founder and CEO of the Clean Coalition, returns to The Clean Power Hour to break down how community-scale microgrids and VPPs actually work, where the money is, and why the current policy window in California matters to every energy professional in the country. California's Microgrid…
Can Homeowners Finally Afford Whole Home Backup? #352
May 26, 2026 · 54 min
Energy resilience for homeowners is the mission behind Energy Access Innovations, a multi-brand clean energy company building an end-to-end ecosystem for solar and battery storage. Nicole Tomasin, Chief Commercial Officer at EAI, joins Tim Montague to explain how the company serves the consumers the rest of the industry ignores, including DIYers and rural markets. Battery storage and solar access for homeowners is moving beyond coastal markets and high-income consumers. Energy Access Innovations…
Perovskite Tandem Solar: Breaking the 30% Efficiency Limit #351
May 21, 2026 · 47 min
Silicon solar is approaching a hard physical efficiency ceiling at 30%. Perovskite tandem solar is the only proven path through it. Joel Jean, CEO of Swift Solar, explains the technology, what the Meyer Burger acquisition brings, and where tandems sit on the road to commercial scale. After seven decades, silicon solar is closing in on its physical efficiency limit, and no previous thin-film technology has been able to outperform it at competitive cost. Joel Jean, CEO and co-founder of Swift Sola…
US Solar Has a Quality Problem: What Buyers Need to Know
May 19, 2026 · 46 min
A new report from Clean Energy Associates found that some solar module factories in their first year of production are hitting yield rates as low as 30%. That means 70% of modules coming off certain lines require rework before they ship. The finding applies directly to US manufacturers, most of which are still in early ramp-up stages. In this week's Clean Power Hour Live, Tim Montague and John Weaver break down what the report means for solar developers sourcing modules right now, why newer fact…
Why Community Microgrids Are Illegal in Most of the US #350
May 14, 2026 · 51 min
Community microgrids are functionally illegal in most of the United States, yet climate-driven outages are getting worse. Cameron Brooks of Think Microgrid explains why wires laws block resilient grid solutions and what it costs us to keep burying lines instead. Burying power lines costs $4 million per mile in Colorado and up to $9 million per mile in California. That means every 20 to 25 feet of buried line costs as much as it would take to equip a home with a full battery backup system capable…
Why Utility-Scale Solar Is Quietly Failing in 2026? #349
May 12, 2026 · 27 min
American solar manufacturing is getting a reboot. Dean Solon, founder of Create Energy and formerly of Shoals Technologies, sold 1 GW of product in Q1 of this year alone. In this episode, he walks Tim Montague through his vertically integrated factory in Portland, Tennessee, and names exactly why utility-scale solar equipment is quietly failing at scale. American solar manufacturing has a reliability problem, and the utilities and independent power producers who own these fields for 30 to 50 yea…
SDE's Approach to Solar Racking: What DG Installers Need to Know #348
May 7, 2026 · 45 min
Solar racking is one of the lowest-cost line items on a DG project and one of the highest-risk failure points. Kyle Sinclair, Co-founder and CEO of SDE (Sinclair Designs and Engineering), joins Tim Montague to explain how USA-made steel and 4-day commercial engineering turnarounds are solving the lead time and logistics failures that slow commercial solar projects. SDE produces 3 megawatts of racking in a single 8-hour shift. On this episode of the Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague speaks with…
LG Energy Solution Targets 50 GWh With 5 US Battery Factories
May 5, 2026 · 45 min
LG Energy Solution plans to bring over 50 gigawatt hours of annual battery manufacturing capacity online in the US by the end of 2026 across five facilities (MI, IL, AZ, OH, GA). The company also projects a 15% cost reduction on its next-generation cells by 2028. Tim Montague and John Weaver dig into that story and more in this May 1, 2026, edition of Clean Power Hour Live. Tim and John cover five stories this week, drawn from industry publications and their own active projects in the field. LG…
This Microgrid Model Pays Businesses to Go Solar #347
Apr 28, 2026 · 35 min
San Diego pays the second-highest electricity rates in the United States, trailing only Hawaii, and peak-hour pricing from 4 pm to 9 pm runs up to triple morning rates. In this episode, Tim Montague sits down with Rod Matthews, President of Brevian Energy, a North County San Diego developer focused on solar, battery storage, and community microgrids. Brevian works with Community Choice Aggregators to deliver behind-the-meter solar and storage at no upfront cost to commercial property owners. Tim…
Why Most Battery Developers Fail at Zoning? #346
Apr 23, 2026 · 45 min
Eighty-five towns across New York state sit under battery storage moratoriums right now, and two of three Westchester County towns where Joe Tassone Jr. built successful battery projects in 2020 have since banned the technology outright. In this episode, Tim Montague sits down with Joe Tassone Jr., partner at onCORE Origination, a site origination firm working in 25 states on solar, battery storage, data centers, and EV infrastructure. This episode covers the top three issues blocking battery de…
California Batteries Just Killed Negative Daytime Solar Prices
Apr 21, 2026 · 45 min
John Weaver calls California's daytime pricing shift the story of the year. Battery demand has pushed wholesale solar prices from negative five cents per kilowatt hour up by 4.2 cents, adding around $10,833 of revenue to solar asset owners in a single five-minute period. Tim Montague and John Weaver break down what this shift means for solar developers, plus community solar crossing 10 gigawatts, BYD's 14.5 megawatt-hour battery priced at 1.4 cents per kilowatt hour lifecycle cost, and Dean Solo…
Women in Solar Construction: Why the Industry Is Failing Them? #345
Apr 16, 2026 · 41 min
One large solar company reported less than 1% of its field employees were women. The solar industry overall sits at 25 to 30% women across all roles, but the construction side drops to an estimated 1 to 3%. Riley Neugebauer, founder of Solar for Women, joins Tim Montague on the Clean Power Hour to talk about why women are missing from solar installation and what the industry needs to do about it. Riley Neugebauer is the founder of Solar for Women, a nonprofit building a network of women in the s…
Why is USA Residential Solar So Expensive? The Real Reason U.S. Solar Is So Expensive #344
Apr 14, 2026 · 45 min
Solar modules once cost $8 per watt. Geoff Greenfield bought his first panels from a classified ad in Home Power magazine. Twenty-six years later, he leads an EPC division building 67 MW projects and negotiating 100 MW contracts. In this episode of The Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague sits down with Greenfield to trace the full arc of the U.S. solar industry, from off-grid battery systems with lead-acid batteries to utility-scale construction backed by a multi-billion-dollar general contracto…
How AI Agents Are Reshaping the Solar Industry Right Now? #343
Apr 9, 2026 · 47 min
A 10-person, three-month estimating process. Compressed into 12 hours by a single AI agent. That is what Jesse Anglen, co-founder of Ruh AI, is building for construction and solar companies right now. In this episode of The Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague sits down with Anglen to break down what a digital workforce actually looks like in practice, how solar contractors and EPCs can start using agentic AI today, and what it means when AI agents take over knowledge work at scale. Episode Highl…
The $65/kWh Incentive Making US Batteries Compete with China
Apr 7, 2026 · 55 min
US battery manufacturing capacity is set to hit 145 gigawatt hours by the end of 2026, enough to cover 100% of domestic grid storage demand. Tim Montague and John Weaver break down this milestone and seven more stories on this Clean Power Hour Live. This live episode covers battery manufacturing economics, solar panel technology shifts, offshore wind project costs, global installation records, grid stability regulation, and DIY plug-in solar. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS US grid battery manufacturing capa…
Community Microgrids Are Proven. So Why Aren’t They Everywhere? #342
Apr 2, 2026 · 45 min
Billion-dollar weather emergencies hit the United States every 19 days. In the 1980s, they came every 90 days. The grid is still running, but communities are paying the price when it fails. Elisa Wood, founder of Energy Changemakers and host of the Energy Changemakers podcast, joins Tim Montague on The Clean Power Hour to explain why community microgrids are the missing layer in grid resilience, where they are actually working, and what is stopping most communities from building them. In this Ep…
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