SunCast

Plug-in solar has the potential to change far more than how or where we install solar panels. I believe it could fundamentally change who gets to participate in the energy transition.
I recently sat down with Stephan Scherer, Co-Founder and CEO of CraftStrom, who's spent nearly a decade helping pioneer the plug-in solar market—first in Europe, and now here in the United States. Stephan didn't simply watch this category emerge. He helped move it from a niche idea to a product you can buy off-the-shelf in mainstream retail stores like Aldi and Lidl.
In this conversation, Stephan shares what his customers taught him as the market evolved, why the U.S. is now wrestling with many of the same questions Europe faced years ago, and what policymakers, utilities, retailers, installers, and manufacturers should be paying attention to as this category begins taking shape here at home.
We also explore one of the biggest surprises from CraftStrom's own customer base: the people buying these systems aren't always who the solar industry expected. That raises a much bigger question about who traditional rooftop solar has been leaving behind—and whether plug-in solar could become an entirely new on-ramp to energy independence.
Whether you're writing policy, designing energy products, selling residential solar, or simply curious about where customer-owned energy is headed next, this conversation offers a rare opportunity to learn from someone who's helped build this market from the very beginning—and why he believes plug-in solar is about to change everything.
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.
If 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!
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/nicomeo
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

The most expensive mistakes on a solar project usually aren't made during the install. They're made long before anyone arrives on site.
Greg Smith has spent nearly two decades helping installers avoid those mistakes. As one of the solar industry's most respected trainers and educators, and the author of a practical guide to energy storage, he's helped thousands of professionals understand what it takes to build reliable solar and storage systems that perform as intended long after the installation is complete.
In this live conversation from the NABCEP conference, Greg and Nico Johnson explore why communication has become the industry's number one service call, how better system design prevents costly callbacks, and why setting realistic homeowner expectations is just as important as selecting the right equipment. Along the way, Greg shares the simple disciplines that separate installers who are constantly troubleshooting from those who build systems that simply work.
Expect to learn:
🔹 Why communication failures have become the industry's number one service call
🔹 How better system design prevents problems before the installer ever arrives on site
🔹 Why managing homeowner expectations is just as important as sizing the battery correctly
🔹 What "No Boots, No Truth" means, and why every installer should adopt it
Whether you're designing systems, installing them, or supporting customers after the sale, this conversation is a reminder that reliability isn't something you troubleshoot into a system. It's something you design from the very beginning.
Hit play and learn why the best installers spend just as much time preventing problems as they do solving them.
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.
If 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!
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/nicomeo
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

David Holmes has spent decades at the intersection of energy and technology, giving him a front-row seat to one of the biggest shifts our industry has ever faced.
As Global Industries CTO at Dell Technologies, he works with utilities, hyperscalers, developers, and data center operators who are all asking the same question: how do we power the rapid growth of AI?
But David argues that's only half the story.
The bigger opportunity is using AI to make our energy system itself more intelligent. From flexible compute and workload orchestration to long-duration storage, demand response, and the idea of "maximizing every electron," this conversation explores how the relationship between electricity and compute is being fundamentally rewritten.
Along the way, David explains why energy has become a board-level conversation inside technology companies, why decades of conventional data center thinking are being challenged, and why the next generation of infrastructure may be defined less by building more generation than by making better use of what we already have.
Expect to Learn:
🔹 Why energy has become a strategic issue in boardrooms across the technology industry
🔹 The difference between Energy for AI and AI for Energy and why both matter
🔹 What "energy-aware compute" means and how workload orchestration could reshape grid operations
🔹 Why flexible loads may become one of the grid's most valuable assets
🔹 How long-duration storage, behind-the-meter generation, and demand response fit into the future of AI infrastructure
🔹 Why David believes we should focus on maximizing every electron, not simply generating more of them
Nico and David also get into flow batteries, tokens per watt, and why everything Dell learned about data centers over four decades suddenly stopped being useful.
Hit play and rethink what the grid can already do.
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.
If 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!
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/nicomeo
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Battery recycling is about to become one of the most important pieces of the clean energy transition. But before we can build a true circular economy, there's a problem hiding in plain sight.
Today's recycling process often starts by shredding batteries with different chemistries into the same stream, creating inconsistent feedstock that's harder to refine, harder to value, and harder to return to the supply chain.
Sheeba Dawood, CEO and co-founder of Minerva Lithium, believes the missing step comes before the shredder. Her team has developed battery chemical fingerprinting technology that identifies battery chemistry before processing, creating more consistent feedstock, improving traceability, and unlocking more value from recycled materials.
Along the way, we also explore Sheeba's journey from nanoscience researcher to entrepreneur, why she was carrying business cards as a PhD student, and what motivated her to turn laboratory research into a commercial technology.
Expect to learn:
🔹 Why mixed battery chemistries make recycling far less efficient than most people realize
🔹 How chemical fingerprinting changes the economics of battery recycling
🔹 Why traceability could become the foundation of a domestic battery supply chain
🔹 How better battery identification can improve both safety and material recovery
If batteries are going to power the future, what happens at the end of their life matters just as much as how they're built. This conversation offers a fresh perspective on one of the industry's least understood challenges.
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.
If 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!
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/nicomeo
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Heather Reams spends her days at the intersection of clean energy and public policy, helping shape conversations with lawmakers about how the U.S. meets rapidly growing electricity demand. As President and CEO of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES), she brings an insider's perspective on the political shifts redefining how Washington talks about solar—and why those shifts matter far beyond Capitol Hill.
In this conversation, Heather explains why affordability has become the dominant energy issue in Washington, why permitting reform remains one of the biggest barriers to building new infrastructure, and why solar's greatest political advantage today may be something much simpler than subsidies or ideology: it's ready to be built. Along the way, we explore how Republican engagement with solar is evolving, what changed after the debate over federal tax credits, and why the industry's long-term success still depends on educating policymakers and communities alike.
Expect to Learn:
🔹 Why solar's ability to deploy quickly is changing how policymakers evaluate its value (11:38)
🔹 How affordability and rising electricity demand have become Washington's defining energy priorities (00:58–02:02)
🔹 Why permitting reform is fundamentally about building infrastructure—not just renewable energy (04:28)
🔹 What the debate over federal tax credits changed inside the Republican conversation around solar (13:16)
🔹 Why transmission and permitting certainty matter just as much as favorable policy (05:24)
🔹 Why the clean energy industry cannot stop educating policymakers and the public simply because adoption is growing (16:40)
If you want to understand where clean energy fits in today's Republican Party, this conversation lays it out plainly. Hit play and hear it straight from inside the Beltway.
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.
If 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!
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/nicomeo
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus