Interchange Recharged
Wood Mackenzie
Clean tech, green finance and energy innovation are the three lanes on the road to a successful global energy transition. At the intersection of these lanes is a place where ideas on finance, technology and policy are shared and debated. That intersection is Interchange Recharged. Sylvia Leyva Martinez, principal analyst at Wood Mackenzie, invites visionaries, entrepreneurs, policy-makers and energy analysts to explore the newest developments in renewable technology, explain the ideas on global energy policy that could accelerate the energy transition, and identify new funding and financial models that could solve the biggest challenges we face on the way to net zero. Sylvia and her guests bring you data and forecasts on clean technology, climate science, and offer predictions on the build out of utility-scale projects and the future of green finance. What impacts do the annual UN Conference of the Parties have on decarbonisation goals and climate change? What will COP30 bring? What’s happening in global EV adoption and development? What’s the forecast for solar energy, one of the major success stories of renewable energy in the last ten years? What does the data tell us about the future of hydrogen, of nuclear, or of low-carbon power? These are examples of the insights and detailed analyses you can expect bi-weekly on Tuesdays at 7am ET. If you like The Energy Transition Show, Catalyst with Shayle Kann, The Big Switch from Columbia University, Open Circuit with Jigar Shah or The Green Blueprint, you’ll enjoy Interchange Recharged. Want to get involved with the show? Reach out to podcasts@woodmac.com to: Bring Sylvia and Interchange Recharged to your event Be a guest on the show Sponsor an episode Ask a question to Sylvia or one of our guests Check out another leading clean tech global podcast by Wood Mackenzie, Energy Gang, at woodmac.com/podcasts/the-energy-gang Wood Mackenzie is the leading global data and analytics solutions provider for renewables, energy and natural resources. Learn more about Wood Mackenzie on the official website: https://www.woodmac.com/
Episodes
Mentioned books
Oct 30, 2018 • 32min
The Solar Window Shopper
How are residential customers shopping for solar?This week, Stephen shares his solar experience. He’ll explain how and why he made his decision — and what it tells us about the way people look for solar offerings today.Brian Sadler, the VP of project development at Revolusun, describes the residential solar sales cycle.Vikram Aggarwal, the CEO of EnergySage, talks about how installers can better serve the solar window shopper.Josh Garrett, an account director at Antenna Group, shares his bad experience with community solar.Kiran Bhatraju, the CEO of Arcadia Power, explains the residential “energy concierge” concept for community solar, wind RECs, smart home devices and other services.Recommended reading:Vikram Aggarwal's column at GTM: It’s Time for the Solar Industry to Embrace Window ShoppersJosh Garrett's colum at GTM: My Experience With Community Solar: Excessively Complicated and FrustratingGTM: Shopping for Community Solar? Contract Terms Are Getting FriendlierSupport for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.We're also supported by Shoals Technologies Group, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Oct 15, 2018 • 29min
Are Buildings Smart Yet?
This week, a conversation with Joe Aamidor, an expert on smart buildings. Over the last two years, large multinational energy firms have dumped billions of dollars into commercial energy management — acquiring companies in smart lighting, demand response, battery storage, energy billing, microgrids, smart controls and software.But there’s no one-size fits all approach to the built environment. Creating a scalable business that serves the diverse needs of building owners is tough. Joe explains.Read Joe Aamidor’s three-part series for GTM Squared on building energy management. Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Oct 10, 2018 • 18min
Meet the Women Closing Solar Deals [Special Episode From Wunder Capital]
This week, we present an original podcast, brought to you by Wunder Capital.Katie and Becca do a lot of solar deals. They're closing tens of millions in commercial solar projects every month.Karen is an SREC trader and longtime real estate pro. She recently approached Katie and Becca with a complicated merchant solar project. The three of them worked hard to refinance the project -- and when it was all over, formed a deep relationship.Katie Lynch is lead director of finance at Wunder Capital. Becca Gallery is the manager of business development at Wunder. And Karen Lichtin is the president of Cleanlight Power + Energy.Despite their ability to do high volumes of deals, they often get the same reaction from men: "You are not what I expected."Solar is more diverse than other energy sectors. But there are few women working on the business side of projects.In this episode, talk with Katie, Becca and Karen about how they do deals, how gender dynamics play out in the solar industry, and why more diverse teams are good for business. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Oct 2, 2018 • 43min
Electric Aviation Is Coming
Self-flying electric airplanes are closer than you think. But how close?Andrew Beebe, managing director at Obvious Ventures, has been watching the space intently. His firm recently invested in Lilium, a startup making a vertical takeoff and landing jet. "In the near future, this industry could vastly change how and where we all live, work and play. There are indeed threats and challenges to this vision, but the wheels are already in motion, and the future is much closer than most people think," wrote Beebe and Joe Blair in a recent column. A combination of improvements in batteries, software and sensors are forming the "corners of a very clear roadmap," says Beebe, speaking on The Interchange.When electric aviation finally becomes commercialized — both battery-hybrid conventional planes and vertical-takeoff-and-landing jets — what will be the consequences for our communities and transportation systems?In this week's episode, we talk with Beebe about the flight path for electric aviation.Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.We're also supported by Shoals Technologies Group, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Sep 26, 2018 • 26min
Judge Kavanaugh's Past
Everyone is paying close attention to Judge Brett Kavanaugh.On Thursday, Trump's Supreme Court nominee will face questions from Congress about alleged sexual assaults. In most cases, Supreme Court confirmation hearings aren't made-for-television affairs. But a new poll out from PBS and NPR shows that 58 percent of Americans will be paying attention to this week’s confirmation hearings.Since so many people are fixated on Judge Kavanaugh, it’s a good opportunity to discuss his extensive record on energy and the environment.This week on The Interchange podcast, we're joined by Michael Wara, director of the climate and energy program at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Michael is familiar with some cases that Kavanaugh has heard as a circuit judge — and he’s going to help understand Kavanaugh’s judicial philosophy.Wara calls him an "extreme textualist" who rarely gives deference to agencies. "He tends to discover that words in legislation can only mean one thing — and that 'thing' happens to mean that the agency can't regulate. Putting him on the court in combination with Gorsuch would likely mean a significant curtailment of agency authority to make judgments."Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.We're also supported by Shoals Technologies Group, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Sep 6, 2018 • 31min
Untangling Solar and Storage Markets
This week, we take stock of the market for solar and storage. How much solar and storage are getting built — and at what cost?We’re joined by MJ Shiao, director of Americas research for Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables, for a look at the factors currently driving PV development and battery deployments.We'll answer:How have tariffs impacted pricing?How did the sudden slowdown in China influence the U.S. market?How is the tax credit stepdown pushing development?What goes into record-low solar-plus-storage bids?Support for The Interchange comes from Wunder Capital. According to GTM Research , Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.The Interchange is also brought to you by Shoals Technologies Group, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Aug 28, 2018 • 32min
Where Did All Those Electric Scooters Come From?
This spring, electric bikes and electric scooters started showing up on the streets of a handful of major U.S. cities in droves. Where did they come from? They were put there by a new breed of Silicon Valley companies focused on creating a new "last mile" ride sharing service.The startups have spread so quickly, Uber and Lyft are now trying to get in on the action.This week, we talk with Emily Warren, the senior director of public policy at Lime. Lime one of the leading "micromobility" companies hitting the streets. We'll talk with Emily about what this new form of mobility borrows (and hopes to avoid) from the last six years of ride sharing."That first wave of on-demand transportation has now prepared the public and the market to accept a much broader variety of transportation modes. They've now opened the door for a whole bunch of additional kinds of options that are coming on the scene. Frankly, I don't think any of us expected that scooters were going to be the thing," says Warren.Recommended reading: Vox: Electric Scooters' Sudden Invasion of American Cities, ExplainedWashington Post: The Electric Scooters Swarming Our City Won’t Solve Our Commuting CalamitySupport for The Interchange comes from Wunder Capital. According to GTM Research, Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.The Interchange is also brought to you by Shoals Technologies Group, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Aug 21, 2018 • 41min
Best and Worst Cleantech Ad Campaigns of All Time
The clean energy industry may not have a lot of money to spend collectively on advertisements. But over the years, we've seen numerous TV ads, infographics, slogans, and all kinds of marketing campaigns from individual companies.So this week, we are going to rank some of our favorite – and least favorite – marketing efforts. We'll also debate the perennial question: do we need a "Got Milk" campaign for clean energy?We're joined by Tor Valenza, a marketing expert better known as Solar Fred. Tor founded the marketing firm UnThink Solar and is currently the director of marketing at SepiSolar. Firstly, what is unique about clean energy that makes branding so important – yet so hard? Then, what are the best marketing campaigns in history outside of energy? Why are they so good? Finally, we’ll pick our favorite and least favorite ads or marketing campaigns in cleantech.Below are links to our picks for best and worst campaigns.Best non-cleantech campaigns:Mac versus PC adsGot Milk commercialOur favorite cleantech ads or pop-culture placements:Nanosys thin-film solar mention from "Wall Street 2"Sunrun dolphin babies adMr. WOur least favorite cleantech ads or campaigns:Yingli's World Cup sponsorshipSolar freakin' roadwaysSolon AG ad SolarWorld's racist Christmas cardThis podcast is supported by Wunder Capital, the easiest way to invest in large-scale solar energy projects across the U.S. With Wunder, you can help finance renewable energy projects while earning up to 7.5 percent annually. Get started here to diversify your portfolio and support American solar projects.This podcast is brought to you by Shoals, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Aug 14, 2018 • 39min
The Always-On Energy Vampires in Your Home
This week, we’ve got an investigation into the always-on vampires lurking in your home. Actually, one vampire in particular: your DVR box.The engineers over at Sense Labs recently started opening up and testing DVR boxes. They found that power-save mode doesn’t actually do anything — it only saves about a watt of energy.Compared to smart televisions, gaming consoles or smart phones, the power-save mode of DVR boxes is abysmal. But the cable industry says that it’s the overall efficiency of devices that matters — and they’ve slashed total power consumption by half since 2012.Should consumers expect more? In this episode, we investigate.This podcast is supported by Wunder Capital, the easiest way to invest in large-scale solar energy projects across the U.S. With Wunder, you can help finance renewable energy projects while earning up to 7.5 percent annually. Get started here to diversify your portfolio and support American solar projects. Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Aug 7, 2018 • 12min
How a Solar Bromance Cracked the Code for Commercial PV [Special Content From Wunder Capital]
This week, we present an original podcast, brought to you by Wunder Capital. If you’re interested in learning more about is connecting investors and installers at a record pace, read the company’s 2018 mid-year review. Nick and Nick are good friends. They’re fellow solar geeks. They do business together.In fact, they may have cracked the commercial solar code together.Nick Kerwin is the director of partner development at Wunder Capital. Nick Giannotti is the president of New Columbia Solar in Washington, DC. The two met randomly when Nick Kerwin was on a trip in DC.They formed a bond over solar that resulted in a single deal. And then another. And then 26 deals. And now it’s closing in on 40. In a single year, Wunder and New Columbia closed $7 million in small commercial solar projects — some of the hardest projects to finance. “That was the beginning of the solar bromance,” said Kerwin. How are these companies blowing up so fast? Just this year, Wunder Capital financed 48 projects worth 33 megawatts of capacity all around the U.S. That’s $869 million in projects in just the first half of 2018. Isn’t commercial solar supposed to be really hard?We spoke with Nick and Nick about why they’ve had so much success. Have we finally created a replicable model for commercial solar?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
