By Yann Brandt, Managing Editor In this episode of the Energy Wakeup podcast, we sat down with Brad Klein, senior attorney with the Environmental Law and Policy Center. He and the team at ELPC were instrumental in bringing Illinois’ Future Energy Jobs Act of 2016, and Klein takes us behind the scenes to discuss exactly what that process – long and arduous as it sometimes was – looked like. Whether it was the threatened closure of nuclear plants or the coal industry piping up near the end of the process to get involved, Klein says what ultimately brought about the … Read More →

By Yann Brandt, Managing Editor In this episode of the Energy Wakeup podcast, we sat down with Anthony Star, director of the Illinois Power Agency, to discuss the process for developing solar under the Future Energy Jobs Act of 2016, which will increase the amount of solar produced in the state in the coming years. Star discusses in detail the Illinois SREC procurement program, as well as what’s coming with the adjustable block grant that will inform what happens with distributed generation and community solar. He also provides background on how these developments came to be. Listen to the whole … Read More →

By Yann Brandt, Managing Editor In this episode of the Energy Wakeup podcast, we sat down with Jon Carson, founder of Trajectory Energy Partners, to discuss early solar project development in Illinois—and the politics of solar. Carson has spent nearly a lifetime in Illinois politics, first running Tammy Duckworth’s successful Congressional campaign and then was the field director and then national field director for President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. So he knows a little about politics and how solar fits into our current political atmosphere. Carson discusses the importance of grassroots campaigning in early stage solar development—meeting with citizens in … Read More →

By Yann Brandt, Managing Editor This may be the most important topic to be organized in solar since the start of net metering. The permitting process in the US adds almost $1/watt to the cost of the installations and increases the cancellation rate for customers looking to go solar. In this episode of SolarWakeup Live! I speak with Andrew Birch who was a co-founder of Sungevity. Andrew tackles this issue by spearheading a two-day meeting which happened last week along with his co-chairs Billy Parish of Mosaic and Lynn Jurich of Sunrun. SEIA and The Solar Foundation will be intimately … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: It appears Florida is finally getting serious about becoming a viable solar market. Two weeks ago, the Public Service Commission decided, against all odds and the expectations of some seasoned solar observers, to allow third parties to own solar arrays without becoming regulated utilities. In the wake of the decision, at least one major residential solar company has decided to execute a Florida market plan it’s been working on for years and waiting for precisely the right moment to go in—and they’ve decided now is that time. To discuss this development is the the … Read More →

By Yann Brandt, Managing Editor What Happened: In this episode of SolarWakeup Live!, taped live at the Midwest Solar Expo, I speak with the CEO of Connexus Energy, Greg Ridderbusch. Connexus Energy is one of the largest utility cooperatives in the Country and serves over 150,000 members in Minnesota. Connexus is building a 10MW solar farm which will be integrated with an AC coupled energy storage system. This project was done under a PPA and energy storage agreement which work to save money to the members. The conversations shows the power of solar for utilities around the country and we end … Read More →

The Energy Show with Barry Cinnamon Public policies have a tremendous influence on the energy we use, as well as the condition of our environment. State and Federal legislators make these policies with input from private citizens and businesses. The solar industry quite frankly has thrived with policies in favor of clean renewable energy, and it’s no accident that California is a leader in solar and clean renewable energy. The Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG) helps advocate for favorable business and citizen policies in Silicon Valley and they have made a tremendous impact not only in California but also in … Read More →

The Energy Show, a podcast by Barry Cinnamon is now available on SolarWakeup We call our power system an electric “grid” because it is composed of a network of wires that move the power around from node to node – basically a combination of power sources (natural gas power plants, solar farms, nukes), wires (long distance transmission lines and local distribution utility poles) and controls. Microgrids are the same concept but on a much smaller scale. One example of a microgrid is a complex of buildings on an island. The power plant on an island has historically been a diesel … Read More →