Factor This! – Details, episodes & analysis

Tell us what you think of the show!

The energy transition was always going to produce some form of tension. That isn't altogether negative— friction keeps a speeding train on the tracks, after all. In the energy industry, it's electric utilities and clean energy developers who most often collide, one positioned as the gatekeeper of the grid and the other a disrupter.

Plenty of challenges face the energy transition, but one underpins nearly all of them: interconnection. Utilities and developers, meanwhile, are beginning to recognize the importance of collaboration, and that fences must be mended to reach our goals. 

Episode 82 of the Factor This! podcast features Carrie Gill, the head of electric regulatory strategy at Rhode Island Energy, and Ed Brolin, the vice president of policy and distributed government relations at RWE. Both will be featured speakers at the interconnection event GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast, which will be held in Newport, Rhode Island in October. 

Gill and Brolin break down the challenges and solutions to interconnection in the Northeast and preview what you can expect at GridTECH Connect Forum. Register today using the promo code PODCAST to receive 10% off your admission. 

That's all next on Factor This! 

Watch the full episode on YouTube

Tell us what you think of the show!

his Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.

This week's episode features Dan Gearino from Inside Climate News, who wrote about how progress in solid-state battery technology may soon enable electric vehicles to achieve up to 600 miles of range. 

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Emilie Oxel O’Leary, founder of Green Clean Wind LLC. Emilie is actively urging her LinkedIn followers to reach out for their solar recycling needs, highlighting the growing concern over solar components ending up in landfills. She’s asking for every steel pile, aluminum racking component, nut, and bolt, so she can help clean up your site. Congratulations Emilie! 

This Week in Cleantech — August 30, 2024

1. Far-Right ‘Terrorgram’ Chatrooms Fuel Wave of Power Grid Attacks — Bloomberg
2. The Case for a Clean Energy Marshall Plan — Foreign Affairs
3. Scoop: Swell is shutting down — Latitude Media
4. Hungry for Clean Energy, Facebook Looks to a New Type of Geothermal — New York Times
5. Want an EV With 600 Miles of Range? It’s Coming — Inside Climate News

Watch the full episode on YouTube

Tell us what you think of the show!

Virtual power plants were always doomed to fall into clean tech's notorious hype cycle.

There are plenty of reasons for that, but start with the name. 'Virtual power plant' means everything and nothing all at once. Then there's the origin story—one rooted in the far-less-sexy, and decades-old concept of demand response. Round that out with projections that utilities could save as much as $35 billion in just 10 years by embracing VPPs and you have the makings of a hype cycle even green hydrogen can't reach.

But VPPs are proving to have staying power. Federal and state policies have opened new markets. The tech works, and projects are being deployed at breakneck speed.

Episode 79 of the Factor This! podcast features Michael Smith, CEO of the leading C&I virtual power plant provider CPower, who breaks down the technology behind VPPs, where the industry stands today, and the critical markets no one is looking at.

That's all next on Factor This!

Tell us what you think of the show!

This episode of Factor This! is sponsored by Heila Technologies, a Kohler company.

Episode 31 of the Factor This! podcast features Aaron Bates, the CEO and founder of Toledo Solar, a manufacturer of cadmium telluride thin-film solar modules.

Bates cares deeply about who is making solar modules and, just as importantly, where. And he has strong opinions about the direction the solar industry is heading.

In response to the Inflation Reduction Act, Toledo Solar is scaling its production capacity to 2.3 gigawatts by 2027. It's bringing the technology that made First Solar a household name to the commercial and residential sectors, and doing it right down the street from First Solar's factory in Ohio.

Bates discusses Toledo Solar and its ties to Ohio's rich history of manufacturing, silicon vs. CadTe modules, tariffs, and what he calls the "untruths" behind Made in America solar.

About the sponsor:

This episode of Factor This is sponsored by Heila Technologies, a Kohler Company.

Heila is changing the way complex microgrids are managed and operated with its EDGE control and optimization platform, which makes each asset in a system smarter while making the whole microgrid more efficient and resilient. 

The EDGE helps EPCs and developers simplify microgrid deployment through a flexible approach that ensures systems operate reliably while unlocking new revenue streams.

Heila is a proud sponsor of the 2023 GridTech Connect Forum. Register now at www.gridtechconnect.com to learn more about Heila and the EDGE platform.

Factor This!  is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Tell us what you think of the show!

This episode of Factor This! is sponsored by Heila Technologies, a Kohler company.

Corporate demand for clean energy couldn’t be hotter. And it’s not just for far-away solar and wind farms anymore.

In a year plagued by trade disputes, supply chain constraints, and missed targets, onsite commercial and industrial deployment of solar, batteries and EV charging grew in 2022 when other areas sank.

Leaders in the C&I space say it’s about to explode. That growth doesn’t come without its own challenges for grid reliability.

Episode 30 of the Factor This! podcast features Raphael Declercq, CEO of the C&I solar, storage, and EV charging developer PowerFlex.

Owned by EDF Renewables, PowerFlex is a leader in the C&I space, recently raising $100 million to expand its onsite energy management hardware and software offering.

Declercq weighed in on the impact of the California net metering decision, intelligent EV charging, and the outlook for an often overlooked segment of the industry.

About the sponsor:

This episode of Factor This is sponsored by Heila Technologies, a Kohler Company.

Heila is changing the way complex microgrids are managed and operated with its EDGE control and optimization platform, which makes each asset in a system smarter while making the whole microgrid more efficient and resilient. 

The EDGE helps EPCs and developers simplify microgrid deployment through a flexible approach that ensures systems operate reliably while unlocking new revenue streams.

Heila is a proud sponsor of the 2023 GridTech Connect Forum. Register now at www.gridtechconnect.com to learn more about Heila and the EDGE platform.

Factor This!  is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Tell us what you think of the show!

It was a best-of-times, worst-of-times sort of year for solar: long-awaited federal policy support tempered by ongoing trade disputes involving some of the industry’s biggest suppliers. 

As the year closes, giving new meaning to the term ‘solar coaster,’ we invited Paula Mints, who has been tracking the industry for more than two decades, to shed some light on what 2022 means to the solar industry and what to watch out for in the new year. 

She joined Episode 29 of the Factor This! podcast to break down everything from the Auxin Solar petition to the Inflation Reduction Act and to discuss the industry’s path forward amid mounting headwinds.

Factor This!  is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Tell us what you think of the show!

When the American clean energy industry met at RE+ in September, seemingly every conversation exuded an optimistic tone about the future.

Historic incentives for clean energy in the Inflation Reduction Act, paired with a generational industrial policy, brought U.S. climate goals within reach at a point when their prospects appeared bleak at best. Now, billions of dollars of investment is flowing into American clean energy manufacturing.

The outlook couldn't be more different in Europe, where industry leaders recently came together at Enlit Europe in Frankfurt, Germany. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated an already dire energy crisis, and the continent that once led the energy transition is watching its influence slip.

Two of Europe's clean energy leaders joined Episode 28 of the Factor This! podcast from Frankfurt to discuss Europe's path forward and the prospect for transformational industrial policy. 

Guests:
Jochen Hauff, Director Corporate Strategy, Energy Policy & Sustainability, BayWa r.e.
Axel Thiemann, CEO, Sonnedix

Factor This!  is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Tell us what you think of the show!

Clean energy is in broad agreement: the Inflation Reduction Act is a game-changer for the industry and our goals of staving off the worst effects of climate change. 

But underneath the optimism is a shared anxiety that significant headwinds still plague the industry. Costly and time-consuming permitting and interconnection processes remain poison pills for projects. 

On Episode 27 of the Factor This! podcast, we introduce you to two climate tech entrepreneurs who are taking on these challenges. 

Robin Laine, CEO and co-founder of Transect, used her background as an environmental engineer to shrink the environmental assessment process down from weeks or months to just minutes. 

James McWalter, CEO of Paces, is developing what he calls the "Google for site selection," which allows developers to start with a set of criteria, like distance to an interconnection point, to find available parcels for development in just minutes. The platform also tracks ever-changing policies that could impact projects all the way down to the local level.

Factor This!  is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Tell us what you think of the show!

After a series of starts, stops, and outright confusion over the future of rooftop solar, California regulators have released their latest proposal to reform the state’s net metering program. 

The process known as NEM 3.0 has pitted advocates against investor-owned utilities over how customers should be paid for sending excess solar power to the grid. And since it involves the country’s largest solar market, the entire industry is paying attention.

Vote Solar’s executive director, Sachu Constantine, returns to the Factor This! podcast to break down the latest proposal, which is drawing fire from both sides. Check out Constantine’s analysis of the original NEM 3.0 proposal in Episode 6 of the Factor This! podcast.

Factor This!  is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Tell us what you think of the show!

A look around one of clean energy's largest events offered a common sight: There were a lot of men. 

 The challenge is well-known in renewables. Women make up only about a third of the workforce. And they hold an even smaller share of executive positions. 

On Episode 25 of the Factor This! podcast, three senior female executives weigh in on how to effectively recruit women to clean energy.

Guests:
Julia Bell, Chief Commercial Officer, CleanCapital
Carey Kling, Director, BQ Energy Development
Jenn Miller, CEO, Renewable IPP

Factor This!  is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Registration is now open for the GridTECH Connect Forum, a new event bringing together distributed energy developers and utilities to tackle the critical issue of interconnection.

Join us in San Diego on Feb. 6, 2023 for an event focused on the California market, like interconnection collaboration, vehicle-to-grid integration, demand response, and more.

Learn more at GridTECHConnect.com.