Clean Power Hour

What does it take to turn next-generation solar technology into a bankable commercial product?
Swift Solar is closing the U.S. heterojunction and perovskite tandem solar cell gap. Dr. Gunter Erfurt, managing director at Swift Solar and former Meyer Burger CEO, joins Tim Montague and John Weaver to explain why U.S. module capacity sits near 50 gigawatts while domestic cell capacity trails at 5 gigawatts.
Following Swift Solar's acquisition of Meyer Burger's technology, intellectual property, manufacturing equipment, and engineering team, Dr. Erfurt shares how the company plans to accelerate U.S. solar manufacturing while preparing for the future of perovskite tandem solar cells. John Weaver presses Erfurt throughout on tariffs and real project pricing, drawing on his own current commercial bid.
The conversation explores why heterojunction (HJT) technology is the ideal foundation for perovskites, why bankability matters as much as efficiency, and how domestic solar manufacturing can strengthen energy security and supply chain resilience.
Whether you're a solar developer, EPC, utility professional, investor, policymaker, or clean energy enthusiast, this episode offers valuable insights into where the solar industry is heading over the next decade.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why Swift Solar acquired Meyer Burger's manufacturing assets and IP
How heterojunction technology supports the future of perovskite tandem solar cells
Why Swift Solar plans to commercialize HJT modules before launching tandem products
The importance of reliability, bankability, and long-term module performance
Why glass-glass solar modules outperform traditional glass-backsheet designs
How domestic U.S. solar manufacturing is evolving, and why module capacity still outpaces cell capacity by a factor of ten
The challenges of scaling advanced solar cell manufacturing
Why the utility scale market is Swift Solar's primary focus
How electrification is expected to triple or quadruple global electricity demand, and why Tim and Dr. Erfurt believe solar, wind, and batteries scale faster than nuclear to meet it
John Weaver's pushback on tariffs, grounded in real project pricing, and Dr. Erfurt's counter on how the IRA tax credit shaped domestic manufacturing growth
What the next five years could look like for solar manufacturing and clean energy
As electrification accelerates and global electricity demand climbs toward a projected tripling or quadrupling in the coming decades, the solar industry faces real pressure to build technology that is efficient, reliable, and ready to scale. This conversation with Dr. Gunter Erfurt, joined by Tim Montague and John Weaver, offers a behind-the-scenes look at what it actually takes to move breakthrough innovations from the research lab into commercial production. From heterojunction technology and perovskite tandem cells to domestic manufacturing, bankability, and long-term reliability, this episode provides valuable insight into the engineering and business decisions that will shape the next generation of solar. 
Connect with Dr. Gunter Erfurt on LinkedIn.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gunter-erfurt-55103850?originalSubdomain=de
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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
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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 saved lives during a PG&E shutoff in Humboldt County. Lisa Cohn of Microgrid Knowledge has tracked every project getting built in America right now. She tells you what separates the ones that succeed from the ones that fail, and what you need to know before entering this market.
Community microgrids are among the fastest-growing segments in solar and storage, and among the hardest to finance and build. Lisa Cohn is the co-founder of Microgrid Knowledge, a publication she has run for over a decade, covering every major microgrid deployment in the United States. 
In this episode, Lisa joins host Tim Montague to break down the funding models, utility partnerships, and regulatory frameworks that determine whether a community microgrid gets built or abandoned. 
The conversation covers California's shift from the restrictive CMEP program to the MIP, the rise of tribal microgrids, public power's structural advantage over investor-owned utilities, and the emerging model of networked microgrids that share power across adjacent communities. If you work in solar, storage, or clean energy development, this episode gives you a clear picture of where the community microgrid market stands today and where the openings are.
Here is what you will learn from this conversation about community microgrids:
You will hear why Blue Lake Rancheria became the defining case study for community microgrid resilience. When PG&E shut off power across Humboldt County during a wildfire event, Blue Lake's microgrid kept running and saved lives.
Find out how the Redwood Coast Airport microgrid got funded. It secured $5 million from the California Energy Commission and $6.5 million in low-interest USDA loans, and Lisa explains why that funding combination is the model worth studying.
Learn why California's CMEP program failed and how the MIP replaced it. CMEP gave utilities total control and restricted microgrids to outage-only operation. The MIP removed those restrictions, enabling 24/7 operation, grid services, and demand response.
Understand what public power utilities do differently from IOUs when it comes to microgrids. Lisa explains the over-the-fence rule, why tribal land creates exceptions, and why the Portland General Electric model in Beaverton is worth watching.
Find out why legislation comes before market growth, not after. Oregon passed two bills specifically for community microgrids in wildfire-prone areas before the market matured, and Lisa explains why that sequencing matters for every other state.
State legislation in Oregon is already moving community microgrids forward in wildfire-prone areas, and California's MIP program is enabling Clean Coalition to deploy microgrids that run 24/7 and sell grid services. At the same time, the DOE tribal funding program is producing deployments in states like Wisconsin that would not otherwise have the capital to build. The window for solar and storage professionals to get ahead of this market is open right now.
Connect with Lisa Cohn 
cleanenergywriters.com
Lisa Cohn | LinkedIn 
Home | Microgrid Knowledge 
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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

Solar carport installation costs can swing by 12 cents per watt before a single panel goes up. Kyle Sinclair, CEO and co-founder of SDE (Sinclair Designs and Engineering), James Strizki, Project Manager and CFO of GenMounts and Renewable Energy Holdings, and Matt Boyce, a PE licensed in 27 states and Principal Engineer at Engineered Solutions, join Tim Montague to break down exactly how carport projects are won and lost. Between them, they have engineered, manufactured, reviewed, and installed hundreds of megawatts of solar structures. This webinar covers the full arc of a carport project from initial bid to commissioning, with a focus on where costs blow up and what to do before you break ground to prevent it.
Here is what you will learn in this conversation about solar carport installation and commercial carport project execution:
Find out why experienced rooftop EPCs get surprised when they move into carports. Carport structures run 25 feet tall, require serious drilling and concrete work, and the average project size is around half a megawatt, with 100 cubic yards of concrete per site.
You will learn how to structure the due diligence process before a single hole is drilled. James Strizki walks through geotech reports, 811-dig calls, web soil GIS software, conversations with local drillers, and a field layout walk a week before mobilization.
Understand what ground conditions actually cost you on a carport bid. Kyle Sinclair gives real numbers: $800 per drilled hole in clean Michigan clay versus $2,500 per hole when you hit shale, a difference that adds $60,000 to a half-megawatt project and creates a 12-cent-per-watt cost swing.
Find out the three foundation types you will encounter on carport projects and when each one applies. James covers drilled shafts, spread footings, and hybrid helical pile systems, and explains why the wrong choice or a rushed choice can undermine a parking lot within a year or two of commissioning.
You will hear Matt Boyce explain why he will not stamp an existing carport structure for solar unless it was originally designed for the load, and what independent structural review actually protects in a project.
With residential installers entering the commercial carport market in growing numbers, the gap between what a project looks like on paper and what crews find underground is widening. Kyle Sinclair notes that some EPCs entering this space are used to low-cost, high-volume, cookie-cutter projects and are now bidding work that is the complete opposite, large, expensive, heavily customized, and months in the making. If you are pricing carport work or planning to, the cost variability covered in this conversation is not theoretical.
Connect with Guests
Kyle Sinclair | LinkedIn 
James Strizki, P.E. | LinkedIn 
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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

CATL unveiled its TENER Sodium energy storage system at Intersolar Europe in Munich, rated for 15,000 cycles to 70 percent state of health at room temperature. CATL frames that as a 25 to 30 year service life, and it takes only 34 modules to stand up a one gigawatt-hour site. That single specification changes how commercial storage professionals price, propose, and finance battery projects. Tim Montague and John Weaver dig into what it means, alongside Illinois growing from about 80 megawatts of solar a decade ago to over 6,000 megawatts today under the new CRGA law, SunBallast ballasted racking and what module stacking tells you about install labor, UK bids for 16 and 18 hour long-duration storage, perovskite modules reaching the residential market, El Niño shifting solar output across the US, and silver falling more than 50 percent from its 2026 peak.
Episode Highlights
CATL sodium ion battery, 15,000 cycles: CATL launched its TENER Sodium system at Intersolar Europe in Munich. It is rated for 15,000 cycles to 70 percent state of health at 25 degrees C, which CATL frames as a 25 to 30 year service life, and just 34 modules build a 1 GWh site. (Energy Storage News)
Sodium ion safety advantage: CATL claims its sodium cells cut expansion force by roughly 40 percent, generate about 35 percent less gas during thermal runaway, and hold peak surface temperatures far below comparable lithium ion. The fire and thermal-runaway story is a big part of why C&I buyers are paying attention to sodium. (Interesting Engineering)
Sodium ion in the fast-response role: John flagged a detail from a CATL hybrid storage proposal where sodium was specified for the faster-response duty and lithium for the slower role. Worth keeping in context. This is one proposal's configuration, not a blanket claim that sodium beats lithium on response everywhere.
GM and Peak Energy sodium ion partnership: General Motors is moving into stationary storage with Peak Energy, backed by a strategic investment from GM Ventures. GM will develop the sodium ion cell in its Michigan battery lab and keep exclusive manufacturing rights, while Peak integrates the cell into its passively cooled storage systems. Peak energized the first U.S. grid-scale sodium-ion system, 3.5 MWh, in Watkins, Colorado, in 2025. (Inside Climate News)
Illinois energy transition, 80 MW to 6 GW: Tim attended a Nexamp event at the company's Chicago office, where IPA director Brian Granahan reported Illinois has grown from about 80 megawatts of solar a decade ago to over 6,000 megawatts energized today, with roughly 14.5 gigawatts of wind and solar developed under the state RPS (13 GW to date plus about 1.5 GW just approved). The engine is CRGA, the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (SB 25, pronounced "Surge"), which runs its first utility-scale storage procurement in August, the opening tranche toward 3 GW by 2030 via additional 2027 and 2028 rounds. Residential VPP enrollment opens in mid-July, with ComEd and Ameren customers able to put home batteries into a short-term scheduled-dispatch pilot this summer. (PV Magazine)
SunBallast racking and install labor: The hosts walk through SunBallast ballasted, no-penetration racking and get into the labor economics of module mounting, including what the way different manufacturers stack modules for shipping tells you about handling time on the job site.
UK long-duration storage bids at 16 and 18 hours: Fresh procurement results out of Scotland and England show projects awarded at 16 and 18 hours of duration. John notes it is the first time he has seen bids at that scale and ties it to Scotland's wind-heavy generation profile. (Blue Sky)
Trina Solar perovskite module hits residential market: Trina landed its first commercial order for a perovskite-silicon tandem module, going into New Zealand's premium residential market. The record-setting module is 907 watts at 29.2 percent efficiency, certified by TUV SUD. (Perovskite Info)
El Niño and solar irradiance shifts: John walks through regional solar output swings across the US and globally. Rajasthan, India, home to some of the world's largest solar plants, is projected to run about 15 percent above its seasonal average this season. (PV Magazine)
Silver prices fall more than 50 percent: Silver has dropped from its late-January 2026 record near 121 dollars to the upper 50s, more than half off the peak, on a stronger dollar and a hawkish Fed. It matters for PV because silver paste is a real line item, and World Silver Survey data shows solar's silver demand down about 19 percent. (TheStreet)
This episode is essential for commercial solar installers, battery storage developers, community solar professionals, and clean energy policy watchers. The sodium ion story has direct and immediate implications for how professionals structure storage proposals, financial models, and customer conversations. Illinois developers will also want Tim's firsthand account of the CRGA storage procurement and the residential VPP pilot going live this summer.
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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

A single design error on a commercial solar project can cost $60,000 to $70,000 to fix. Scott Wyssling and Catherine Kelso of Wyssling Consulting explain what quality design actually looks like, why AI cannot replace a licensed engineer reviewing plans, and how battery integration really fits into commercial solar today.
In this episode, Tim Montague sits down with Scott Wyssling, founder and principal at Wyssling Consulting, and Catherine Kelso, Director of Commercial Design and electrical engineer at the firm. Wyssling provides structural and electrical engineering and design for residential and commercial solar and storage projects across the United States. With 75 employees and an engineer-owned, engineer-led structure, the firm has built its reputation on quality control, fast turnaround, and a refusal to treat the PE seal as a formality.
With the ITC safe harbor deadline pushing a construction boom through 2027, the pressure to move fast is real. Scott's point is direct: speed without engineering integrity creates liability that lands on the EPC and installer, not just the firm that signed the plans.
What you'll learn in this conversation:
Why a single design error on a commercial project can cost $60,000 to $70,000 to fix, and how $3,000 to $4,000 in better upfront engineering eliminates that risk entirely.
How Wyssling's QAQC process actually works, including internal peer reviews and a 20% audit of already-delivered projects, and why that sets a different standard than automated or outsourced design.
Why Catherine Kelso says battery integration is simpler than most EPCs expect, whether you're retrofitting storage onto an existing system or designing it in from day one, and what to watch for when choosing a manufacturer.
Scott Wyssling's direct case against letting AI replace hands-on engineering review, and why a licensed PE needs eyes on the actual roof, the actual photos, and the actual electrical equipment.
How 15 to 20 year old solar farms are creating a new engineering challenge as 600-volt inverters age out in a market now built around 1,000 and 1,500-volt equipment, and why this only grows from here.
Quality control gets treated as optional right up until a six-figure correction lands on your desk. This episode gives you concrete criteria for telling a serious engineering partner from a shortcut operation before you sign anything.
Connect with Guests 
Website: https://www.wysslingconsulting.com/
Scott LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-wyssling-5b2aa77/
Catherine LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-kelso-pe-997b014a/
Support the show
Connect with Tim  
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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