Clean Power Hour

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 cost curve is following the same path, and break down what the ITC-free era means for developers.
Solar and storage pioneers Solar Design Associates have been designing solar energy systems since 1974, accumulating firsts from the Carter-era White House installation to the first true community solar garden in the United States. Haskell Werlin, Vice President of Business Development, and Steven Strong, Founder and President, join Tim Montague on the Clean Power Hour to trace 50 years of solar industry evolution. 
Solar pricing fell from $16 per watt for satellites to $1 per watt for ground mounts today, and Haskell confirms the battery cost curve is now following the same downward path, with Texas leading the country in solar and battery installations. This episode covers landmark projects, including the Bullit Center in Seattle and the Harvard community solar garden, alongside a direct assessment of what the residential ITC removal means for project economics through 2028 and beyond.
Here is what you will learn from this conversation about 50 years of solar storage pioneers and the battery transition ahead:
You will learn why Haskell argues Texas, not Hawaii, is now leading the country in solar and battery installations after transforming the ERCOT grid from fossil fuel dependency to firm base load power.
Find out how the first true community solar garden in the US, a 542-kilowatt ground mount in Harvard, Massachusetts required a statewide home rule petition to resolve a property tax classification dispute with the local assessor.
Understand how the Bullit Center in Seattle, described by the New York Times Architectural Review as the “Most sustainable commercial building in America,” achieved 100% energy offset in one of the least sunny major cities in the US.
Find out how Solar Design Associates put solar on the White House under President Carter in 1979, with Steven Strong on the roof for the dedication ceremony, and were called back under President George W. Bush in 2006 to install solar on the pool and cabana, spanning two administrations and three decades. 
Find out how Solar Design Associates has never exceeded 20 employees in 50 years, why hiring graduates with no prior solar experience is a deliberate strategy, and what Haskell says about the companies growing fast and falling hard.
Fifty years ago solar panels powered satellites because nothing else could reach them, and the technology now costs $1 per watt for ground mounts, a cost collapse driven by German feed-in tariffs, and Chinese manufacturing scale. The battery industry is now following the same path solar took from satellite technology to mass market infrastructure, with the same forces of policy, manufacturing scale, and early adopter projects already in motion. Professionals watching this episode are standing at the same inflection point the solar pioneers of 1974 stood at, with the advantage of knowing exactly how this story ends.
Connect Steven Strong, Haskell Werlin 
Haskell Werlin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haskell-werlin-1a21383/
Steven Strong: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-strong-3309894/
Solar Design Associates: https://solardesign.com/
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The Clean Power Hour is produced by the Clean Power Consulting Group and created by Tim Montague. Contact us by email:  CleanPowerHour@gmail.com
Corporate sponsors who share our mission to speed the energy transition are invited to check out https://www.cleanpowerhour.com/support/

The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS America, maker of North America’s number one 3-phase string inverter, with over 6GW shipped in the US. With a focus on commercial and utility-scale solar and energy storage, the company partners with customers to provide unparalleled performance and service. The CPS America product lineup includes 3-phase string inverters from 25kW to 275kW, exceptional data communication and controls, and energy storage solutions designed for seamless integration with CPS America systems.  Learn more at www.chintpowersystems.com

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 down how community-scale microgrids and VPPs actually work, where the money is, and why the current policy window in California matters to every energy professional in the country.
California's Microgrid Incentive Program funds up to $18 million per community microgrid project, covering 100% of upfront costs for front-of-meter solar and storage, grid upgrades, and interconnection. Craig explains the Clean Coalition's methodology for sizing solar and storage, calculating the minimum state of charge required for resilience, and building a value stack through wholesale markets, bilateral agreements with load-serving entities, and PURPA qualified facility status.
Here is what you will learn in this conversation about community microgrids and virtual power plants:
You will learn the difference between reliability and resilience, and why designing for resilience automatically gives you reliability, but not the other way around.
Find out how California's Microgrid Incentive Program works, what the $18 million funding breakdown covers, and why the program is competitive enough that most applicants need deep grid analysis expertise to win.
Understand the three ways to build a value stack for front-of-meter solar and storage assets: wholesale markets through CAISO, bilateral agreements with load-serving entities, and PURPA qualified facility status.
You will hear why transmission costs, not energy prices, are the fastest-growing component of electricity bills in California, and how distributed energy resources close to load are the only structural fix.
Learn how the Clean Coalition's VOR123 methodology tiers loads and facilities into critical, priority, and discretionary categories, and why tier-one facilities like hospitals and fire stations should be funded through public dollars.
California's Microgrid Incentive Program is active and awarding projects now, with roughly 30 community microgrids expected to be funded as proof-of-concept demonstrations. At the same time, transmission costs continue rising with no policy mechanism anywhere in the US that compensates for provisioning energy resilience. For solar and storage professionals and clean energy investors, the window to build expertise in community microgrid development and front-of-meter value stacks is open today.
Connect with Craig Lewis 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-lewis-81b0521/
Website: https://clean-coalition.org/
Support the show
Connect with Tim  
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Tim on LinkedIn 
Email tim@cleanpowerhour.com 
Review Clean Power Hour on Apple Podcasts

The Clean Power Hour is produced by the Clean Power Consulting Group and created by Tim Montague. Contact us by email:  CleanPowerHour@gmail.com
Corporate sponsors who share our mission to speed the energy transition are invited to check out https://www.cleanpowerhour.com/support/

The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS America, maker of North America’s number one 3-phase string inverter, with over 6GW shipped in the US. With a focus on commercial and utility-scale solar and energy storage, the company partners with customers to provide unparalleled performance and service. The CPS America product lineup includes 3-phase string inverters from 25kW to 275kW, exceptional data communication and controls, and energy storage solutions designed for seamless integration with CPS America systems.  Learn more at www.chintpowersystems.com

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 the rest of the industry ignores, including DIYers and rural markets.
Battery storage and solar access for homeowners is moving beyond coastal markets and high-income consumers. Energy Access Innovations has built a multi-brand portfolio covering distribution, DIY support, installation, and financing under one mission: making energy resilience affordable for every American. Nicole walks Tim through how the company's sister brands, including EG4, Signature Solar, Outback Power, Solar 76, Sun Atlas Power, and EA365, work together to serve customers that most distributors and installers turn away. 
The company's new XR60 battery, 60 kWh with a 16 kW inverter for under $20,000, and its EA365 prepaid lease, which returns a 30% rebate directly to homeowners, are proof that affordability and transparency are not competing goals. 
Here is what you will learn in this conversation about residential battery storage affordability and energy resilience:
You will find out how the XR60 delivers 60 kWh of storage and a 16 kW inverter for under $20,000, why it ships as a single freestanding unit weighing 1,600 pounds, and when it arrives in market.
Learn how the EA365 prepaid lease returns a 30% rebate directly to homeowners, making the residential ITC phase-out less damaging for consumers who no longer qualify for the tax credit.
Understand why Energy Access Innovations built Sun Atlas Power, its own EPC company, to capture DIY customers who need installation help, and how it taps a network of 2,000 to 3,000 regional contractors already buying through Signature Solar.
Find out why Tim pushed back on a California developer's claim that consumer-owned residential batteries are done, and what EAI's experience with DIY customers suggests about that prediction.
You will hear why Texas surpassed California in storage deployment, how PJM grid services programs are generating returns that recover a battery investment in two to three years, and why Illinois is a priority market for EAI.
The residential ITC phase-out is compressing margins across the solar industry and pushing more customers toward third-party ownership models. Illinois is incentivizing 1.8 gigawatts of distributed batteries through its clean energy incentive program, and Texas has already surpassed California in storage deployment. Contractors who are not yet offering storage are running out of time to get positioned.
Connect with Nicole Tomasin, Energy Access Innovations 
Nicole Tomasi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-santos-tomasin/
Sun Atlas Power: https://www.sunatlaspower.com/
Episode 325, James Showalter: https://youtu.be/7CoJQ_lTLkU
Support the show
Connect with Tim  
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Tim on Twitter
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Email tim@cleanpowerhour.com 
Review Clean Power Hour on Apple Podcasts

The Clean Power Hour is produced by the Clean Power Consulting Group and created by Tim Montague. Contact us by email:  CleanPowerHour@gmail.com
Corporate sponsors who share our mission to speed the energy transition are invited to check out https://www.cleanpowerhour.com/support/

The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS America, maker of North America’s number one 3-phase string inverter, with over 6GW shipped in the US. With a focus on commercial and utility-scale solar and energy storage, the company partners with customers to provide unparalleled performance and service. The CPS America product lineup includes 3-phase string inverters from 25kW to 275kW, exceptional data communication and controls, and energy storage solutions designed for seamless integration with CPS America systems.  Learn more at www.chintpowersystems.com

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 decades, silicon solar is closing in on its physical efficiency limit, and no previous thin-film technology has been able to outperform it at competitive cost. Joel Jean, CEO and co-founder of Swift Solar, a tandem PV manufacturer based in California, joined Tim Montague on the Clean Power Hour to explain why perovskite-silicon tandems are different and how Swift is building toward commercial scale. 
Jean explains how Swift's approach of vertically integrating perovskite and silicon at the cell level differs from other tandem strategies, and what certifications and milestones a new module technology must clear before utility buyers and independent engineers will finance it. The conversation also covers the US position in the global solar race, perovskite degradation and lead-content concerns, and what a consistent industrial policy would mean for US solar manufacturers.
Here is what you will learn in this conversation about perovskite tandem solar and the path to next-generation module efficiency:
You'll understand why silicon solar cells are physically limited to around 30% efficiency, and how stacking a perovskite layer on silicon creates a two-junction cell with a path to 35-40%, with three junctions pushing toward 45% or more.
Find out what Swift Solar gains from the Meyer Burger acquisition: a heterojunction product with 0.2% annual degradation, the lowest rate in the industry, and a bankable product to serve customers while the tandem completes its certification and field-proof timeline.
Learn why Swift's approach of integrating perovskite and silicon at the cell level differs from other tandem strategies, including four-terminal approaches where perovskite is deposited on glass and stacked on a separate module.
You'll hear Tim push back on two common concerns about perovskites: degradation and lead content. Joel explains Swift's cell-level stability progress and why perovskite panels contain less lead per square meter than the solder in a standard silicon module.
With China installing solar 8.5 times faster than the US and having spent 15-20 years building a manufacturing and policy foundation, the US is still trying to rebuild. The window for US tandem solar companies to establish a position is narrowing. Swift Solar's acquisition of Meyer Burger assets is one of the few cases where a US perovskite tandem startup enters the market with a proven, bankable product already generating field data, rather than waiting years for the tandem to reach certification. For solar professionals evaluating next-generation module technology and investors tracking the US manufacturing pipeline, this conversation gives a clear picture of where tandem technology stands today and what the next two to three years need to deliver.
Connect with Joel Jean, Swift Solar 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeljean/
Swift Solar: https://www.swiftsolar.com/
Support the show
Connect with Tim  
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Clean Power Hour on YouTube
Tim on Twitter
Tim on LinkedIn 
Email tim@cleanpowerhour.com 
Review Clean Power Hour on Apple Podcasts

The Clean Power Hour is produced by the Clean Power Consulting Group and created by Tim Montague. Contact us by email:  CleanPowerHour@gmail.com
Corporate sponsors who share our mission to speed the energy transition are invited to check out https://www.cleanpowerhour.com/support/

The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS America, maker of North America’s number one 3-phase string inverter, with over 6GW shipped in the US. With a focus on commercial and utility-scale solar and energy storage, the company partners with customers to provide unparalleled performance and service. The CPS America product lineup includes 3-phase string inverters from 25kW to 275kW, exceptional data communication and controls, and energy storage solutions designed for seamless integration with CPS America systems.  Learn more at www.chintpowersystems.com

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 which are still in early ramp-up stages. 
In this week's Clean Power Hour Live, Tim Montague and John Weaver break down what the report means for solar developers sourcing modules right now, why newer factories in the US face the same challenges previously seen in India and Vietnam, and what due diligence steps developers should be taking before modules arrive on site. They also cover grid-forming battery validation, island microgrids, and a $14 billion Chinese renewable energy investment in Ethiopia.
This episode covers battery storage technology, solar panel manufacturing quality, island microgrids, and large-scale renewable energy investment in Africa. 
These are the stories Tim and John break down this week:
US solar panel manufacturers are struggling with soldering quality during factory ramp-up. A report from Clean Energy Associates (CEA) shows yield rates as low as 30% in early production years, meaning 70% of modules require rework. (PV Magazine)
Sungrow completed what Renewable Energy Magazine calls the world's first large-scale grid-forming battery validation, passing 14 unique fault and blackout scenarios. (Renewable Energy Magazine)
Sydney-based Smart Commercial Energy is developing an 18 MW solar and 40 MWh battery microgrid for Nauru, the smallest island nation in the world. The project replaces diesel generation in a location where microgrid electricity costs an estimated $0.40 per kilowatt hour. (PV Magazine)
Africa's telecom sector is moving away from diesel at scale, with one company spending hundreds of millions in Kenya alone. Solar and battery payback periods for cell tower conversions run approximately two years. (My Panhandle)
China's Ming Yang secured a $14.1 billion deal to develop 2.8 GW of solar and 5.5 GW of wind in Ethiopia, alongside wind turbine and transmission gear manufacturing and green ammonia production. (PV Tech)
Gotion unveiled a 5 MW, 18.8 MWh enclosed battery energy storage system, first shown at SNEC 2025. John notes this is larger than any containerized battery he had tracked previously, with BYD previously holding the record at 16 to 18 MWh. (PV Magazine)
John Weaver previewed his own 1.8 MW rooftop solar project in Massachusetts, structured as an alternative on-bill credit agreement with Eversource for a fixed 20-year contract. (BSKY)
Solar professionals, project developers, and clean energy investors will find this episode directly useful. The topics Tim and John cover, from US manufacturing quality to grid-forming battery validation to Africa's energy buildout, reflect decisions the industry is making right now. The Strait of Hormuz situation adds urgency to the energy transition conversation, and this episode puts all of it in context. 
Support the show
Connect with Tim  
Clean Power Hour 
Clean Power Hour on YouTube
Tim on Twitter
Tim on LinkedIn 
Email tim@cleanpowerhour.com 
Review Clean Power Hour on Apple Podcasts

The Clean Power Hour is produced by the Clean Power Consulting Group and created by Tim Montague. Contact us by email:  CleanPowerHour@gmail.com
Corporate sponsors who share our mission to speed the energy transition are invited to check out https://www.cleanpowerhour.com/support/

The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS America, maker of North America’s number one 3-phase string inverter, with over 6GW shipped in the US. With a focus on commercial and utility-scale solar and energy storage, the company partners with customers to provide unparalleled performance and service. The CPS America product lineup includes 3-phase string inverters from 25kW to 275kW, exceptional data communication and controls, and energy storage solutions designed for seamless integration with CPS America systems.  Learn more at www.chintpowersystems.com