SunCast

AI data centers are changing more than electricity demand. They are changing how the grid itself has to operate.
Legacy data centers behaved with relatively flat, predictable load profiles. But giga-scale AI campuses introduce rapid swings in demand that can stress substations, destabilize generation assets, and expose the limits of infrastructure designed for a very different era.
In today’s episode, Nico Johnson sits down with Jon Parrella, CEO of Terraflow, and Anna Siefken, Director of Policy & Markets at the Long Duration Energy Storage Council (LDES), to explore what this shift means for storage, grid reliability, and the future of energy system design.
Together, they unpack why batteries may need to evolve from simple energy storage assets into active infrastructure that stabilizes and buffers the grid itself.
Expect to learn:
🔹 Why giga-scale AI creates a fundamentally different kind of electrical load
🔹 How storage can act as the “shock absorber” between data centers and the grid
🔹 Why responsiveness may become more important than raw generation capacity
🔹 Where lithium-ion architectures face constraints at giga-scale
🔹 How hybrid systems, co-location, and responsive loads could reshape grid planning
If you work in clean energy, storage, infrastructure, utilities, or project development, this conversation offers an important glimpse into how AI may reshape the future grid.
Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?
Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.
If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.
Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!
SunCast is also sponsored by Nextpower!
You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.
Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.
Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/
You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:
Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

The grid is getting more crowded.
EVs. Heat pumps. Batteries. Rooftop solar. Flexible demand.
What used to be a system built around a few thousand centralized assets is rapidly becoming a network of millions of connected devices interacting with the grid in real time.
That changes everything.
In this episode, Nico sits down with Devrim Celal, Chief Flexibility Officer at Kraken, to unpack why the future grid is becoming a software coordination problem, and how Kraken is helping utilities orchestrate distributed energy at massive scale.
But this conversation goes far beyond software.
Devrim shares the entrepreneurial journey that led him from software engineering and consulting to ultra-distance running, real estate, reinsurance, and eventually Upside Energy, the company that evolved into Kraken through its acquisition by Octopus Energy.
Expect to learn:
🔹Why visibility into the low-voltage grid is one of electrification’s biggest hidden challenges
🔹How utilities are turning EVs and batteries into flexible grid assets
🔹Why consumer participation is defining feature of our future energy system
🔹What entrepreneurs can learn from Upside Energy’s evolution into Kraken
This is a conversation about systems thinking, entrepreneurship, culture, and the increasingly important role software will play in the clean energy transition.
Listen now to hear how Kraken is helping turn grid complexity into clean energy opportunity.
Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?
Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.
If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.
Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!
SunCast is also sponsored by Nextpower!
You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.
Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.
Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/
You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:
Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Australia is installing solar and batteries for about $2 a watt.
In the U.S., it’s closer to $5.50.
So why do we still have this huge gap?
Barry Cinnamon went to Australia to find out. What he discovered challenges one of the industry’s favorite explanations. Even if you remove permitting delays and other “soft costs,” the U.S. still doesn’t come close.
Today’s Tactical Tuesday breaks down the real drivers behind [residential] solar pricing, from federal manufacturing policy and tariffs to financing structures and regulatory friction. Then we take it a step further, exploring a new hypothesis Barry has been modeling: using data center demand to help fund rooftop solar and storage.
Expect to learn:
🔹 Why U.S. solar costs 2–3x more than Australia
🔹 What’s actually driving the cost gap beyond “soft costs”
🔹 How policy and financing shape the price customers pay
🔹 Why data centers could become unlikely allies for rooftop solar and storage
This is a practical, provocative look at the policies and business models that could make solar cheaper, faster, and more useful to the grid.
Tune in to hear Barry Cinnamon’s roadmap for making distributed energy actually affordable.
Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?
Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.
If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.
Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!
SunCast is also sponsored by Nextpower!
You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.
Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.
Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/
You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:
Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Rebuilding solar manufacturing in the U.S. is not just about capital or policy. It is about making the right bets at the right time.
It comes down to timing, experience, and the critical decisions.
Alex Zhu has spent nearly two decades inside the global solar manufacturing system—from the early rise of Chinese production to failed U.S. factory attempts, and now to building one of the few solar cell manufacturing facilities in America through ES Foundry.
In this conversation, Alex explains why he focused on solar cells instead of modules. Module assembly scaled quickly after the IRA. Cell manufacturing remained limited, even though it sits at the center of the supply chain. But that gap is precisely where Alex recognized his greatest strength.
Experience.
But the ensuing decisions (bets) he made carry real risk.
He is betting that the U.S. cannot sustain a domestic solar industry without cell production. He is also building on proven PERC technology, even as the global market moves toward TOPCon. And he is relying on speed, execution, and hard-won experience to make that strategy work.
We also get into how his past shaped these decisions, what has changed since earlier U.S. factory failures, how the IRA shifted the economics, and what it actually takes to build a factory, from permitting and infrastructure to workforce and community impact.
Expect to learn:
🔹 Why solar cells—not modules—are the real constraint in U.S. manufacturing
🔹 How Alex’s past factory experience shaped his strategy today
🔹 Why ES Foundry chose PERC, and how he thinks about the shift to TOPCon
🔹 What family office investors understood about this opportunity
🔹 What it really takes to build—and sustain—a solar factory in the U.S.
This is a bet on how the industry gets rebuilt. Listen and decide if you agree.
Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?
Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.
If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.
Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!
SunCast is also sponsored by Nextpower!
You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.
Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.
Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/
You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:
Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Are data centers starting to bypass the grid?
A growing share of planned projects are pairing with behind-the-meter generation, and the shift has happened quickly. At the same time, there’s still real debate about how much of this will actually materialize.
Michael Thomas, founder of Cleanview, tracks what moves through interconnection queues, permitting timelines, and development pipelines. His data highlights how developers are responding to rising demand, tighter timelines, and increasing grid constraints.
In this conversation, Michael shares what he’s seeing in the data, where demand is growing fastest, and how different generation strategies are being considered to meet it.
If you’re trying to understand how data center growth is shaping project decisions, this episode offers a grounded look at what’s emerging.
Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?
Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.
If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.
Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!
SunCast is also sponsored by Nextpower!
You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.
Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.
Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/
You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:
Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus