Clean Power Hour
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
415 episodes
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 bury...
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 ...
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-d...
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-genera...
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 Bre...
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 thi...
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...
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 fo...
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 ...
How AI Agents Are Reshaping the Solar Industry Right Now? #343
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, ho...
The $65/kWh Incentive Making US Batteries Compete with China
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 ...
Community Microgrids Are Proven. So Why Aren’t They Everywhere? #342
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...
Old Solar Panels Are a Gold Mine (Here's the Math) #341
Revenue from aging solar assets can now more than double through redevelopment. Matt Murphy, CEO of Flux Energy, joins Tim Montague on the Clean Power Hour to explain how. Murphy, a 20-year solar industry veteran and former Greenbacker executiv...
LG Ditches EV Batteries for Grid Storage. Big Signal.
LG Energy Solution and GM are converting their Tennessee EV battery plant to LFP production for the US grid storage market. The $70 million retooling signals a broader industry shift as EV demand in the US slows and grid storage demand accelera...
FEOC, ITC Phase-Out, and Storage: InterSolar 2026 Dispatch #340
FEOC compliance is the number one question solar buyers ask in 2026, and the answer determines which module manufacturers survive. In this episode, Tim Montague talks with Chris Lettman of Imperial Star, Benoy Thanjan of Reneu Energy, and the h...
Iran War Sends Natural Gas Prices Soaring: What It Means for Solar
Natural gas prices in Europe surged roughly 80% after the Iran war disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off 20% of the world's oil supply. On this episode of The Clean Power Hour Live, Tim Montague and John Weaver break down...
Luminous Robotics Lumi 4: Faster Solar at 30% Lower Cost #339
Third-party testing shows robotic solar panel installation reduces micro cracks and defects by 16 to 20%. In this episode, Tim Montague sits down with Jay Wong, CEO of Luminous Robotics, and Andy Klump, longtime solar industry advisor, at RE+ B...
Scattered Solar Monitoring Is Costing You Thousands #338
Every disconnected monitoring platform in your stack is a blind spot. And every blind spot is lost revenue. On this episode of The Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague sits down with Hervé Billiet, CEO of Sunvoy and co-host of What Solar Install...
I Asked 6 CPS America Insiders What's Changing in Solar #337
Energy bills have jumped as much as 30% in the last year, and data center demand is outpacing grid growth. CPS America, with over 10 gigawatts of string inverters shipped in the US, is responding with a wave of new products: skidded string solu...
Why the Middle Market Is Storage's Biggest Battleground
LFP battery storage pricing dropped from over $1,000 per kilowatt hour to under $100 per kilowatt hour in a few short years. That single shift is reshaping project economics across the solar and storage industry. In this episode of The Clean Po...
Batteries Now #1 Morning Power Source in California
For the first time, batteries and solar powered California around the clock, with batteries running as the number one morning electricity source at nearly 6,000 megawatts. Tim Montague and John Weaver break down this milestone and a packed week...
Your Solar Asset Is Underperforming. Here's Why. #335
Most solar asset owners still manage performance data the same way they did 10 years ago. Dan Leary, founder of Denowatts, says that needs to change. In this episode, recorded live at RE+ Northeast in Boston, Tim Montague sits down with Leary a...
The ITC Is Ending. Here Is How Solar Adapts #334
The 30% investment tax credit is going away. The safe harbor window closes July 3, 2026. After that, commercial solar stands on its own. So what separates the companies that thrive from the ones that disappear? Costa Nicolaou, found...
4 Storytelling Rules Solar Pros Need Right Now #333
One LinkedIn post. Almost 400,000 impressions. Aaron Nichols has earned 1.8 million impressions on LinkedIn in one year, and he did it by breaking every rule the clean energy industry follows. His message is blunt: solar companies insist on bei...
Wind Farms Beat Trump 5-0: Offshore Construction Resumes
Wind farms are defeating the Trump administration's stop-work orders 5-0 as federal judges allow offshore construction to resume, while data centers drive consumer power bills up 30-50% across the country. Tim Montague and John Weav...
