SunCast

The residential solar playbook did not just change. It got torn up.If you are still operating like yesterday’s incentives, product assumptions, and sales motions will carry you forward, this episode is a reality Margins aren’t disappearing overnight. They’re leaking — in places most contractors don’t even notice.In this live conversation from IESNA 2026, Nico Johnson sits down with Rob Smith and Eric Cieslak of ABC Supply to break down where solar contractors are quietly losing profit — and where the smartest operators are starting to take it back.From jobsite efficiency and logistics to financing-driven product decisions, this episode connects the dots between day-to-day operations and long-term business survival. ABC Supply brings a unique vantage point, seeing how contractors across the country are adapting — or failing to — as the market shifts.If you’re still running your business the way you did two years ago, this conversation will challenge you to rethink what’s actually driving your margins today.Expect to learn:🔹 Where contractors are losing margin in time, labor, and logistics🔹 Why contractors need a new operating playbook in a finance-driven solar market🔹 Why planning with your distributor can unlock real efficiency gains🔹 How storage and product selection are impacting ROI🔹 Why disciplined, regional contractors may have the advantage right nowThe margin is still there — just not where it used to be.Press play and find out where to look.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 - team@suncast.me with your feedback & recommendations.Check out OpenSolar OS 3.0 at: https://suncast.media/opensolarIf 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!SunCast is also sponsored by Nextpower!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 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.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/nicomeoLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Tristan Bannon, CellCube CCO, veteran of vanadium flow systems. Aric Saunders, Noon Energy commercialization lead, building a 100-hour reversible electrofuels approach. Anna Siefken, LDES Council policy director, advocating market design for long-duration storage. They discuss 100-hour and multi-hour storage technologies, vanadium and zinc chemistries, rising commercial momentum, resilience needs, and procurement and policy barriers.

Rebekah Pierce, a first-generation farmer and author who runs multi-site solar grazing, shares how solar shifted from lifeline to landscape-changing tool. She talks about the business of solar grazing, where the economics work and fail. She explores misconceptions about prime farmland, developer missteps, scaling limits, and how agrivoltaics could reshape farm viability.

AI isn’t just increasing demand for electricity - it’s changing how power behaves.In this Tactical Tuesday, Nico Johnson sits down with Jon Parrella of Terraflow Energy to break down a problem few people are talking about: modern AI data centers don’t draw power like traditional loads. They ramp rapidly, swing unpredictably, and introduce volatility that existing infrastructure wasn’t designed to handle.That shift is putting real strain on generators, batteries, and the grid itself - accelerating wear, increasing complexity, and creating new risks for developers and investors alike.In this episode, you’ll learn:🔹 Why AI data centers behave differently from traditional power loads🔹 How rapid load swings impact generators, lithium-ion batteries, and grid stability🔹 What “controllable load” means - and why utilities and ISOs are prioritizing it🔹 Where traditional power system design breaks down under AI-driven demand🔹 Why being a responsive load could dramatically change interconnection timelinesMost importantly, you’ll understand what needs to change to make next-generation data center infrastructure reliable, scalable, and bankable.If you’re developing, financing, or investing in data centers, energy infrastructure, or AI-driven growth, this episode will change how you think about the power system that it requires.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 - team@suncast.me with your feedback & recommendations.You'll find more resources and learn about SunCast's guest(s), recommendations, book links, and more than 850 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com.You can learn more about partnering with SunCast here: https://mysuncast.com/sponsorsYou can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeoLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalusSubscribe to Valence, our weekly Linkedin Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

Russell Gold, former Wall Street Journal energy reporter turned EVP at T1 Energy, brings insider perspective on clean energy. He discusses why solar and storage are racing ahead while wind lags. He explores transmission bottlenecks and the rise of behind-the-meter solutions. He also examines how storytelling shapes where capital flows and what U.S. manufacturing needs to compete globally.

Most C&I solar projects don’t fall short because of the solar itself.They struggle because deals aren’t structured correctly, markets are misunderstood, or developers take on opportunities that were never a fit to begin with.In this episode of SunCast, Nico Johnson sits down with Aaron Wilson, co-founder and CEO of Solar One, to unpack what actually separates projects that get built and deliver long-term value - from the ones that stall, get delayed, or fail to meet expectations.Aaron didn’t come up through traditional solar channels. He started in commodities - trading steel and silicon across Europe and China - before moving into development and building Solar One into a vertically integrated C&I solar company operating in markets like Long Island and Texas.Along the way, he’s:Built projects in markets most developers overlookedHelped stand up hundreds of megawatts in Texas - before the market was readyMade deliberate decisions to walk away from residential solarAnd developed a disciplined approach to choosing markets, customers, and dealsIn this conversation, we explore:🔹 Why Solar One chose C&I over the residential gold rush🔹 What business owners actually need from a solar partner in an era of rising electricity costs🔹 Why great entrepreneurs are driven by purpose, not ruled by fear🔹 How to evaluate whether a market is actually viable (vs just “hot”)🎧 Listen now to learn how to build C&I solar projects that actually deliver.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 - team@suncast.me with your feedback & recommendations.Check out OpenSolar OS 3.0 at: https://suncast.media/opensolarIf 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!SunCast is also sponsored by Nextpower!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 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.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/nicomeoLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Clean energy is winning on cost.Solar and storage are cheaper than ever. Deployment is accelerating. The economics are undeniable.So why does it still feel like the industry is losing the broader public narrative?In this live conversation, Nico Johnson sits down with journalist Sammy Roth to explore the gap between technical success and cultural influence. After more than a decade covering energy and climate for the Los Angeles Times, Sammy now writes the independent newsletter Climate-Colored Goggles, where he examines how media, identity, and storytelling shape the energy transition.Sammy argues that the challenge isn’t just policy or technology — it’s narrative. While clean energy has focused on cost curves and deployment, it has often underinvested in the cultural work required to build public trust, identity, and long-term support.This conversation digs into what the industry gets wrong about communication, why reacting to politics is a losing strategy, and what it would actually take to win the long-term cultural battle.And asking a bigger question: what if the clean energy industry is fighting the wrong battle?Expect to learn:🔹 Why Sammy believes clean energy is losing a cultural battle, not just a political one🔹 What the industry got wrong in communicating the Inflation Reduction Act🔹 Why facts, economics, and climate science are not enough to win public support🔹 How entertainment, sports, media, and advertising shape energy narratives over timeThis is a conversation about branding, belief, and what it will really take to make clean energy feel as essential and American as the incumbents it is trying to replace.Listen in.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 - team@suncast.me with your feedback & recommendations.Check out OpenSolar OS 3.0 at: https://suncast.media/opensolarIf 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!SunCast is also sponsored by Nextpower!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 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.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/nicomeoLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

If you want to understand where the energy industry is heading, pay attention to the journalists tracking it every day.Thankfully, we get to sit down with three of the most plugged-in reporters covering the energy transition: Sammy Roth of Climate-Colored Goggles (formerly w/ LA Times), Julian Spector of Canary Media, and Darrell Proctor of POWER Magazine.What signals are shaping the market right now — from capital flowing into new energy projects to grid bottlenecks, AI-driven electricity demand, and the evolving narrative around fossil fuels and nuclear?These are the conversations happening inside the clean energy newsroom.Topics covered:🔹 Why AI and hyperscale data centers are suddenly driving massive clean energy investment🔹 The surprising rise of domestic solar manufacturing in the United States🔹 Why grid interconnection queues remain one of the biggest barriers to new projects🔹 How journalists are thinking about climate targets in a world already at 1.5°CIf you’re not already following Darrell Proctor, Julian Spector, and Sammy Roth then you’re missing the conversations and stories shaping the clean energy transition.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 - team@suncast.me with your feedback & recommendations.Check out OpenSolar OS 3.0 at: https://suncast.media/opensolarIf 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!SunCast is also sponsored by Nextpower!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 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.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/nicomeoLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Brendan Bell, co-founder and CEO of Aligned Climate Capital and former DOE Loan Programs Office leader, talks about how institutional capital evaluates energy projects and teams. He covers why capital is more selective now, what founders commonly get wrong, how infrastructure investors view risk and scale, and the roles and systems needed to raise and deploy large clean-energy capital.

Amy Harder, Axios national energy correspondent and author of the Harder Line, maps how AI and data centers are reshaping electricity demand. She explores tech companies acting like utilities, capital flowing into energy infrastructure, and shifting climate politics. Short, vivid takes on data center scale, market strategies, and why energy is now central to tech expansion.