Clean Power Hour
by Tim Montague, John Weaver
The Clean Power Hour podcast is speeding the clean energy transition. Tim Montague and John Weaver highlight clean energy innovations shaping the next generation of renewable energy sources. We discuss the latest solar PV, battery storage, wind, water, wave, and other low-carbon technologies. We answer the question: How can we decarbonize the economy? We promote the economic opportunity of electrifying everything - transportation, energy, industry, and the built environment. Let's speed up the clean energy transition together. Join the movement - www.CleanPowerHour.com
Episodes
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How KUB Saved Customers $4.7 Million With Clean Energy #380
What happens when a utility faces rising electricity demand, growing customer expectations, and pressure to keep power affordable? In 2022, Winter Storm Elliott forced rolling blackouts across the Tennessee Valley. For Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB), the experience reinforced the importance of...
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Sodium-Ion Is Coming: The Next Wave of Battery Storage
Battery storage is moving fast, and the numbers keep getting bigger. In this episode of the Clean Power Hour live, Tim Montague joins John Weaver from Melbourne, Australia, after attending All Energy Australia with CATL. They dig into what Tim learned about sodium-ion batteries, including CATL’s...
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Can Microgrids Solve America’s AI Power Crisis? | Lester Crafton #379
The U.S. is facing a major energy challenge. AI data centers are driving electricity demand higher, grid infrastructure takes years and billions of dollars to expand, and communities need reliable power. Could microgrids and distributed energy resources help bridge the gap? In this episode of The...
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Building the World's First Utility-Scale Solar Plant Designed for Cattle. #378
Can you put cattle beneath solar panels without damaging the equipment or driving up project costs? Silicon Ranch set out to answer that question, and the result is what Matt Beasley, Chief Commercial Officer at Silicon Ranch, describes as the world's first utility-scale solar PV plant…
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Tennessee’s Nuclear Renaissance Needs Solar Now | Cortney Piper #377
America’s nuclear renaissance is gaining momentum, but new nuclear power plants can take around a decade to build. With electricity demand rising and the grid under pressure, what can the energy industry do now to deliver reliable, affordable power? In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, host…
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Batteries vs. Gas Peakers, China's Solar Export Restrictions, and the Future of Clean Energy
Solar and battery storage are reshaping the energy industry, but policy uncertainty, grid constraints, manufacturing challenges, and equipment reliability remain major issues. In this episode of Clean Power Hour Live, Tim Montague and John Weaver break down the latest developments in solar…
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The Business of Solar EPC: Profitability, Policy Risks, and Project Delivery #376
Solar EPCs face growing pressure to deliver projects on time, manage costs, secure financing, and navigate changing energy policies. So how can smaller companies grow while protecting their profitability and reputation? In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague sits down with...
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How to Make Affordable Housing Solar Work | Resonant Energy #375
A 100 kW rooftop can be a meaningful source of energy savings—and a difficult project to finance. How do you make solar work for affordable housing, churches, and nonprofits? In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, Tim Montague sits down with Ben Underwood and Isaac Baker, founders of...
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TVA’s Grid Is Under Pressure. Solar, Storage and Microgrids Could Be the Answer #374
Rising electricity demand and prolonged outages are pushing the Tennessee Valley to rethink how it builds and operates the grid. Where do solar, batteries, and community-scale microgrids fit? In episode 374 of the Clean Power Hour, Tim Montague welcomes Gil Hough, Executive Director of the...
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California Just Changed the Game for Solar & Batteries
Solar and storage are moving into a new phase, and this week's Clean Power Hour Live covers the technologies, policies, and market shifts shaping that transition. Tim Montague and John Weaver break down the latest developments across solar, batteries, wind, grid infrastructure, and…
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Why Batteries Are the Key Technology Behind the Next Energy Economy with Simon Engelke #373
A battery only earns its keep when it can connect to the grid and get to work. What does it take to turn better battery technology into a viable energy project? In episode 373 of the Clean Power Hour, Tim Montague speaks with Dr. Simon Engelke, founder of Battery Associates and Battery MBA and…
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The Battery Boom Is Moving Beyond EVs
Grid storage is growing faster than the industry expected. EVs accounted for more than 70% of global battery deployment in 2025, down from almost 80% in 2024, according to the IEA. On this CPH Live, Tim Montague and John Weaver unpack stationary battery storage growth and follow the batteries to...
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Inside a 365 kW Commercial Solar Project: First Solar Series 7 + Custom Racking #372
How do you take a 365 kW commercial solar project from a customer conversation to steel in the ground? In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, Tim Montague goes behind the scenes of a 365 kW commercial solar project for Griffin Beverage in West Branch, Michigan, with Jordan Rhyne of Countryside...
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This Startup Pays You to Run AI on Your Solar Power #371
What if your solar system could earn far more by powering AI compute than by selling electricity back to the grid? In this episode of Clean Power Hour, Tim Montague talks with Karl Andersen, founder and CEO of Lektra, about a different approach to the growing power demands of AI. Lektra places…
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The U.S. Needs 230 GW of New Power. Where Will It Come From? #370
America may need more than 230 GW of new power capacity through 2030. Regulated utilities are expected to deliver only about 93 GW. So where does the rest come from? Tim Montague takes that question to Sylvia Leyva Martinez, Director of North America Utility-Scale Solar at Wood Mackenzie, on a...
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Solar, Vanadium Flow and a Flywheel: Inside G&W's Microgrid #369
G&W Electric's vanadium flow + flywheel microgrid matched a full year of frequency regulation revenue in under three months Vanadium flow batteries rarely anchor a commercial microgrid, but G&W Electric built one around a solar, battery, and flywheel system at its Bolingbrook, Illinois...
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How Do You Get 20 MW When the Utility Offers 7? #368
Speed to power: Bala Ramamurthy of Critical Loop on cutting grid connection from years to days with modular microgrids. Speed to power is the problem Critical Loop was built to solve. Bala Ramamurthy is the founder and CEO of Critical Loop, a California modular microgrid company that brings...
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Section 232 Is a Price Floor, Not a Tariff: Solar Module Prices Explained.
Section 232 tariffs are reshaping solar module pricing across the United States. Tim Montague and co-host John Weaver sit down with returning guest Chris Lettman, a solar module supply chain and technology expert with Imperial Star Solar. Chris explains why the new policy works as a price floor,...
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Derek Hansen on what makes a solar company great, not just good #367
Clean energy company culture is what separates good solar EPCs from great ones, and Mynt CEO Derek Hansen has a name for how he builds it: inspire, empower, support. Company culture in the solar and storage industry gets talked about far less than it should, and this episode makes the case for…
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What does it take to build solar that lasts 30+ years? #366
Solar asset management inside a 35-year ownership model: CJ Colavito and Jay Smith of Standard Solar explain what it actually takes to own distributed generation projects for decades, from evaluating tracker and inverter reliability to redesigning inverter specs around eventual failure. In this...
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Foreign Inverter Ban Hits US Solar: Here's What Changes
The Federal Communications Commission's new ban on foreign-produced solar inverters left the industry without clear answers on warehoused stock, firmware updates, and grid cybersecurity risk. On this episode of The Clean Power Hour Live, hosts Tim Montague and John Weaver break down the foreign...
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How to Build a Great Solar Company: Lessons from LightWave Solar CEO Chris Koczaja #365
Chris Koczaja grew LightWave Solar to 30 million dollars by refusing to chase every deal. This is the discipline that got him there. Chris Koczaja is the CEO of LightWave Solar, a residential and commercial solar and storage installer in Nashville, Tennessee, now in its 20th year in business. In...
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How do we Remove 1.7 Trillion Tons of CO₂? #364
Enhanced rock weathering pulls carbon dioxide from the air using crushed rock. Jim Mann, CEO and founder of Undo, explains how the process works and why the technology scales fast. Undo turns rock dust into permanent carbon storage and sells credits to Microsoft and British Airways at $350 a ton…
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How a 700kW Commercial Solar Project Saves $3M+ Over 25 Years #363
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…
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Georgia's Data Center Boom Is Straining the Grid. Here's How Solar Fits In #362
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...
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Why 80% of Grid-Ready Devices Are Still Sitting on the Sidelines? #361
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…
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Wildfire Smoke Cuts New England Solar Output by 40 Percent
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…
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The Grid Can't Keep Up. Can Linear Generators Solve the Power Crisis? #360
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...
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The Grid Was Built Over a Century Ago. Here's How We Fix It. #359
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...
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Swift Solar's Plan to Close the 10x U.S. Solar Cell Gap
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…
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Lives Saved: The Case for Community Microgrids #358
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...
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Carport Solar Done Right: Engineering, Pricing, and Building for the Long Haul #357
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...
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CATL's Sodium Ion Battery Could Last 30 Years: Rebuild Your Storage Model Now
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...
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The Engineering Gap Costing Solar Companies A Fortune #356
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…
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Battery Storage Fires: Myths, Facts, and What Actually Happens #355
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...
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Solar Safe Harbor Court Ruling: What Developers Need to Know Now
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...
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They Put Solar on the White House. Here's What Solar Design Associates Learned #354
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...
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Clean Coalition's Craig Lewis on Microgrids, VPPs, and the Resilience Gap #353
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...
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Can Homeowners Finally Afford Whole Home Backup? #352
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...
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Perovskite Tandem Solar: Breaking the 30% Efficiency Limit #351
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...
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US Solar Has a Quality Problem: What Buyers Need to Know
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...
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Why Community Microgrids Are Illegal in Most of the US #350
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…
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Why Utility-Scale Solar Is Quietly Failing in 2026? #349
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...
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SDE's Approach to Solar Racking: What DG Installers Need to Know #348
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...
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LG Energy Solution Targets 50 GWh With 5 US Battery Factories
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...
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This Microgrid Model Pays Businesses to Go Solar #347
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…
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Why Most Battery Developers Fail at Zoning? #346
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…
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California Batteries Just Killed Negative Daytime Solar Prices
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...
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Women in Solar Construction: Why the Industry Is Failing Them? #345
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…
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Why is USA Residential Solar So Expensive? The Real Reason U.S. Solar Is So Expensive #344
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…
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About this show
The Clean Power Hour podcast is speeding the clean energy transition. Tim Montague and John Weaver highlight clean energy innovations shaping the next generation of renewable energy sources. We discuss the latest solar PV, battery storage, wind, water, wave, and other low-carbon technologies. We answer the question: How can we decarbonize the economy? We promote the economic opportunity of electrifying everything - transportation, energy, industry, and the built environment. Let's speed up the clean energy transition together. Join the movement - www.CleanPowerHour.com
Hosted by
Tim Montague, John Weaver
Categories