Clean Power Hour

Can America build a competitive solar manufacturing industry, or will China continue to dominate the global solar supply chain?
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, Tim Montague sits down with Ryan Kennedy, Senior Editor at PV Magazine USA, and Finlay Colville of Terawatt PV Research to examine the state of American solar manufacturing following the Solar Manufacturing USA 2026 in Austin, Texas.
The U.S. has nearly 80 GW of solar module manufacturing capacity, but domestic solar cell production capacity stands at approximately 10.6 GW, with another 19 GW under construction. The gap between factory announcements and actual production remains one of the industry's biggest challenges.
Ryan and Finlay explain why solar cell manufacturing is critical to building a domestic supply chain, which companies are making meaningful investments, and whether new tariffs will strengthen American manufacturing or simply increase solar costs.
The conversation also explores Tesla's ambitious solar manufacturing plans, China's decades-long manufacturing advantage, rising electricity demand from AI data centers, and the next generation of high-efficiency perovskite solar technology.
Key Highlights
America's solar manufacturing momentum: The U.S. has reached 100 GW of cumulative solar production, with an industry ambition of reaching 100 GW of annual production capacity by 2035. 
Who's manufacturing solar in America? Qcells, Canadian Solar, First Solar, Corning, Illuminate USA, T1 Energy, and other manufacturers are investing across different stages of the domestic solar supply chain. 
Tesla's solar manufacturing ambitions: Tesla has outlined an ambitious 100 GW manufacturing goal, while proposed Texas facilities represent potentially significant investments in domestic ingot, wafer, cell, and module production. 
Section 232 tariffs and solar prices: Proposed import price floors and tariffs could protect domestic producers from low-cost imports but also increase costs for American module manufacturers that depend on imported solar cells. 
The cost of solar trade policy: Roth Capital analysis cited during the conversation suggests that solar power purchase agreement prices could increase as developers absorb higher equipment costs. 
AI data centers are changing electricity demand: After decades of relatively flat growth, annual U.S. electricity demand could rise by 2–4%, creating opportunities for solar, battery storage, and microgrids. 
Perovskites and the future of solar efficiency: Emerging perovskite-silicon tandem cells could push conversion efficiencies toward 40%, beyond the approximately 29% theoretical limit of single-junction silicon cells. 
Can America catch China? Finlay argues that building a sustainable U.S. manufacturing industry requires coordinated investment, technical expertise, profitable factories, and strategic use of global supply chains rather than attempting to replicate China's entire manufacturing ecosystem. 
Connect with Our Guests
Ryan Kennedy, Senior Editor, PV Magazine USA
PV Magazine
Finlay Colville, Terawatt PV Research
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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

What happens when a utility faces rising electricity demand, growing customer expectations, and pressure to keep power affordable?
In 2022, Winter Storm Elliott forced rolling blackouts across the Tennessee Valley. For Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB), the experience reinforced the importance of grid reliability, resilience, and local accountability.
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague sits down with Erin Gill, Vice President of Communications and External Relations at Knoxville Utilities Board, during the Tennessee Solar Energy Industries Association (TenneSEIA) conference in Chattanooga.
Erin explains how KUB is responding to rising electricity demand and population growth while investing in solar, battery energy storage, and new approaches to managing the grid.
KUB is working toward a portfolio of 400 MW of solar by 2040 and plans to deploy 22 MW of battery storage, primarily at substations. Through TVA's Generation Flexibility program, KUB has also saved customers approximately $4.7 million since January 2025.
The conversation explores how municipal utilities can use renewable energy, peak shaving, demand flexibility, and partnerships to improve reliability without placing unnecessary financial pressure on customers.
Key Highlights
Winter Storm Elliott and grid resilience: How the 2022 rolling blackouts changed KUB's approach to reliability and reinforced the responsibility of local power companies to their customers.
Rising electricity demand: Why AI-driven data centers, population growth, and expanding infrastructure needs are creating new challenges for TVA and its local power companies.
Knoxville's growth: How KUB is keeping utility infrastructure ahead of residential and commercial development, including the shift toward multifamily housing.
400 MW solar goal: KUB's plan to build a portfolio of 400 MW of solar by 2040, including participation in TVA's Green Invest program.
$4.7 million in customer savings: How KUB is using TVA's Generation Flexibility program to source part of its electricity from solar and biomass, reducing costs for customers.
22 MW of battery storage: KUB's plans to install modular battery energy storage systems primarily at distribution substations.
Peak shaving and grid optimization: How batteries, demand management, and flexible loads can reduce peak electricity demand and make better use of existing infrastructure.
Customer affordability: Why Erin believes utilities must pursue innovation and coordination rather than relying solely on expensive infrastructure expansion.
The future of public power: How municipal utilities can support the energy transition while keeping customer needs at the center of their decisions.
Connect with Erin Gill
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-gill-25a43510/
Knoxville Utilities Board: https://www.kub.org/
Tennessee Valley Authority: https://www.tva.com/
American Public Power Association: https://www.publicpower.org/
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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

Battery storage is moving fast, and the numbers keep getting bigger.
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour live, Tim Montague joins John Weaver from Melbourne, Australia, after attending All Energy Australia with CATL. They dig into what Tim learned about sodium-ion batteries, including CATL’s plans to significantly expand sodium battery production and why sodium could complement lithium rather than replace it. From there, Tim and John examine the accelerating global energy storage market, the growing role of microgrids in powering data centers, and how batteries are beginning to change the economics of daytime solar generation.
They also discuss Sonnen’s insolvency filing, T1 Energy’s solar cell import waiver, the evolution of vehicle-to-grid technology, silver and copper use in solar manufacturing, and the latest developments in high-efficiency solar modules.
Key Highlights
• Sodium-ion batteries are getting real. Tim shares what he learned from CATL at All Energy Australia, including plans to grow sodium battery production from roughly 1 GWh this year to between 10 and 40 GWh next year.
• Data centers are accelerating microgrid investment. Tim and John discuss how data centers are using combinations of solar, batteries, and generators to achieve “speed to power” while waiting for utility interconnection. [Reuters]  
• Global battery deployment forecasts are rising fast. John highlights a major upward revision in projected 2026 energy storage deployments, with the forecast reaching 188 GW. [BloombergNEF]
• Sonnen files for insolvency. Tim and John discuss the German battery company’s insolvency filing, its ownership history, and what the development could mean for one of the longtime names in residential energy storage. [pv magazine]  
• T1 Energy receives a Section 232 waiver. The company received permission to import up to 1.7 GW of solar cells to meet existing and expected contracted demand while its domestic cell manufacturing capacity develops. [StockTitan]  
• Batteries are pushing Australian midday electricity prices higher. John explains why this could actually be positive for solar. Batteries are soaking up cheap daytime electricity and shifting it into higher-value periods, potentially improving the economics for additional daytime solar generation. [Renew Economy]  
• Could cheaper silver slow solar’s shift toward copper? John examines how changing silver prices affect solar module manufacturing and discusses copper-based conductors and back-contact module designs as manufacturers work to reduce dependence on silver. [Bluesky]  
• High-efficiency solar modules are reaching the 25% range. John reviews a ranking of commercially available high-efficiency modules and discusses why the relative lack of recent changes could reflect manufacturers focusing more heavily on profitability and existing production lines. [TaiyangNews]  
• AIKO returns to profitability and pushes back-contact technology forward. Tim and John discuss AIKO Solar’s return to profit and its PERC-to-ABC manufacturing upgrade strategy, which could convert existing production capacity toward higher-efficiency back-contact cells and modules. [PV Tech]  
This episode makes one trend especially clear: batteries are no longer a side story to solar. They are beginning to influence how projects are designed, how electricity is priced, how microgrids are built, and how solar itself gets deployed.
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Connect with Tim  
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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

The U.S. is facing a major energy challenge. AI data centers are driving electricity demand higher, grid infrastructure takes years and billions of dollars to expand, and communities need reliable power. Could microgrids and distributed energy resources help bridge the gap?
In this episode of The Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague speaks with Lester Crafton of Ovanova about the evolution of solar, battery storage, and microgrids, and why he believes homes and businesses could play a much bigger role in America's energy future.
Lester shares the story behind Ovanova's unconventional beginnings, from a solar marketing model built around supporting schools and community organizations to deploying integrated energy systems designed for resilience and grid support.
The conversation explores Ovanova's microgrid project at the Isha Institute of Inner Sciences in Tennessee, where limited grid capacity threatened to delay a major community development. Lester explains how a combination of battery storage, solar generation, and dispatchable backup power can help address that challenge while reducing dependence on costly grid upgrades.
Tim and Lester also discuss a bigger question: As data centers and AI increase electricity demand, should homes and businesses remain passive electricity consumers, or could they become local power plants that help support the grid?
In this episode, you'll learn:
• How Ovanova evolved from residential solar into integrated microgrid and energy resilience projects.
• Why Lester believes solar and battery storage should be designed to work together.
• How a buffer battery can help a community develop when the local grid cannot initially supply enough power.
• What the Isha Institute microgrid project reveals about the challenges of developing new infrastructure.
• How distributed energy resources could help utilities access reliable, dispatchable power.
• Why cybersecurity and communications reliability matter as more distributed energy assets connect to the grid.
• How homeowners and businesses could potentially earn revenue by supplying power during periods of peak demand.
• Why data center developers could help finance distributed energy infrastructure in the communities they affect.
• What it will take to scale microgrids, battery storage, and local energy resilience across the United States.
Connect with Lester Crafton, Ovanova 
Website: https://ovanova.co/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lestercrafton/
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Connect with Tim  
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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

Can you put cattle beneath solar panels without damaging the equipment or driving up project costs?
Silicon Ranch set out to answer that question, and the result is what Matt Beasley, Chief Commercial Officer at Silicon Ranch, describes as the world's first utility-scale solar PV plant specifically designed to integrate cattle grazing.
In this episode of the Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague speaks with Matt about the engineering behind this breakthrough, including a patented solar tracking design that adjusts panel positioning in active grazing areas. The 4.5 MW project in Christiana, Tennessee, went live in April 2026 and could open the door to integrating cattle into larger solar developments.
Matt also explains how Silicon Ranch is expanding its regenerative energy model, from managing solar sites with more than 5,000 sheep to partnering with farming families and exploring new agricultural revenue streams.
The conversation goes beyond cattle grazing to examine how Silicon Ranch develops utility-scale solar projects, why it retains long-term ownership of its facilities and land, and how TVA's Generation Flexibility program has created new opportunities for renewable energy procurement across the Tennessee Valley.
In this episode, you'll learn:
• How Silicon Ranch engineered a solar tracking system to accommodate cattle without raising entire arrays to impractical heights.
• Why conventional cattle grazing presents equipment-protection and capital-cost challenges for solar developers.
• How adaptive grazing and software-controlled panel positioning work together.
• How livestock grazing can reduce vegetation management costs and create additional revenue opportunities.
• How Silicon Ranch works with farming families and builds its own livestock operations.
• How TVA's Generation Flexibility program enables local power companies to participate in utility-scale solar projects.
• How Silicon Ranch identifies customers, land, transmission access, and power purchase agreements for new developments.
For solar developers, asset owners, utilities, and agricultural businesses, this conversation examines a specific technical innovation that could expand the possibilities for cattle grazing at utility-scale solar facilities.
#SolarEnergy #Agrivoltaics #CattleGrazing

Connect with Matt Beasley, Silicon Ranch 
Website: https://www.siliconranch.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-beasley-7229154/

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