SunCast

The solar industry scaled faster than almost anyone expected. But in the rush to deploy, one part of the system never fully got built.
In this episode, Nico Johnson sits down with Suvi Sharma, founder of Solaria and now co-founder and CEO of SolarCycle, to talk about what happens after solar works. Suvi explains why end-of-life planning, repowering, and material recovery are no longer edge cases - they’re becoming core infrastructure challenges for the industry.
This conversation goes beyond recycling. It’s about maturity. About what it means for solar to grow up as an industry, and how decisions made twenty years ago are shaping today’s constraints - from glass durability to supply chains to capital planning.
Suvi shares why he came out of “retirement” to start another company, how he’s building a system designed for scale, and what developers, operators, and policymakers are still underestimating.
If you work anywhere near solar deployment, ownership, or manufacturing, this episode may change how you think about the full lifecycle.
You made it this far — hit play.
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.
Check out OpenSolar OS 3.0 at: https://suncast.media/opensolar
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!
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

What goes through Alex Honnold’s mind when he’s thousands of feet off the ground without a rope?
After his first-ever Taipei 101 Live Broadcast ascent of one of the world’s tallest buildings, we thought it’d be useful to revisit what we learned from Alex about mental fortitude and his singular admonition to “do the thing”. Curious how Alex channels discomfort into growth? This episode explores the surprisingly grounded mental habits that drive one of the world’s most extreme athletes and how those same frameworks apply to business, energy, and impact.
You’ll hear why Alex values silence over self-talk, how he trains for precision, and the personal philosophy that powers both record climbs and energy access projects. In addition, Nico reflects on the nature of preparation for such a mind-bending feat and how it extends to the world of business and clean energy.
Expect to learn:
🔹 Why muscle memory matters more than motivation at the highest level of performance
🔹 How climbing helped Alex master “working backwards” and why it matters for entrepreneurs
🔹 How free soloing shapes Alex’s views on risk, focus, and long-term legacy
🔹 Why small details matter more than big goals
Whether you’re scaling a company, a building or a granite wall, this episode will sharpen how you think about goals, fear, and execution.
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.
Check out OpenSolar OS 3.0 at: https://suncast.media/opensolar
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!
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

Clean energy should be easy to finance.
The money exists.
The technology works.
The demand is real.
And yet, projects stall. Deals drag. Capital gets stuck.
And with the IRA crumbling under our feet, everyone is right to ask “how will these projects actually get funded?!”
So what’s actually broken?
In this episode of SunCast, I sit down with Alfred Johnson, CEO and co-founder of Crux, to unpack how clean-energy finance actually works once a project leaves the slide deck — how pricing gets discovered, how risk is evaluated, how trust is established between parties who’ve never worked together, and why so much of the process still depends on manual workflows and bespoke negotiation.
Alfred left a senior role at the U.S. Treasury after reading the Inflation Reduction Act and realizing it didn’t just expand incentives - it forced the creation of a brand-new market. One where buyers and sellers had to find each other without reference prices, standardized terms, or a shared operating system to move capital at scale. Crux exists to solve that coordination problem.
We talk about:
🔹The difference between money being available and money being usable
🔹Why trust — not tax credits — becomes the real bottleneck in new markets
🔹What breaks first when financing workflows don’t scale with market growth
🔹Why standardization matters more than speed in early market formation
🔹How Crux decided which parts of the capital stack to tackle first — and why order mattered
This is an episode about much more than tax credits.
It’s about why markets fail even when money is available — and how they get rebuilt.
If you care about how capital actually moves, why deals slow down, or what it really takes to scale the energy transition, this one’s worth your time.
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.
Check out OpenSolar OS 3.0 at: https://suncast.media/opensolar
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!
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

Data centers aren’t the problem.
They’re the stress test.
As AI-driven demand surges, the grid is being pushed in ways it was never designed for. But instead of asking how to slow data centers down, today’s conversation asks a better question: Is the grid fit enough to handle what’s coming next?
In this Tactical Tuesday episode, recorded live with the Smart Electric Power Alliance, we explore grid fitness — a new way of thinking about flexibility, planning, and speed to power.
SEPA’s Ann Collier is joined by Tyler Norris and Nelson Abramson to break down what the data actually shows, what’s already working in the field, and what has to change upstream in planning and policy.
Expect to learn:
🔹 Why data centers expose grid weaknesses rather than cause them
🔹 How 0.25% flexibility could unlock 76 GW of capacity
🔹 What “planning-grade flexibility” really means
🔹 Why batteries and design matter more than demand response
🔹 How grid fitness changes interconnection strategy
This episode offers a front-row seat to how utilities, regulators, and hyperscalers can move from cautious conversation to confident execution.
Hit play and reimagine what data centers can do.
Why are you still reading? Let’s get into it.
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.
Check out OpenSolar OS 3.0 at: https://suncast.media/opensolar
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!
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

What does a modern energy company actually look like?
In this episode, Nick Chaset, CEO of Octopus Energy US, joins Nico Johnson to explore a question that sits at the center of Octopus’s strategy:
Is it a utility with great technology—or a technology company operating inside energy?
Nick’s career spans California energy policy, years running East Bay Community Energy, and now scaling Octopus in the U.S. He brings an operator’s perspective on what it really takes to build and run energy businesses inside complex regulatory systems.
The conversation also digs into Kraken—the software platform Octopus built internally and later spun out into a standalone, highly successful energy tech company. Nick explains why Kraken’s separation clarified Octopus’s identity, unlocked new utility partnerships, and changed how the company thinks about scale.
AI enters the conversation not as hype, but as one of several forces reshaping demand, operations, and expectations across the grid.
Expect to learn:
🔹Why Octopus calls itself a consumer company that sells electricity
🔹How Kraken grew from an internal tool into a global energy software business
🔹Why partnering with utilities can scale faster than competing with them
🔹Why regulatory engagement should be a profit center for energy companies
🔹What energy leaders must unlearn to build companies that last
If you care about how energy companies are actually built—and rebuilt—this episode delivers a clear-eyed look behind the curtain.
🎧 Press play.
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.
Check out OpenSolar OS 3.0 at: https://suncast.media/opensolar
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!
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