SunCast

Most conversations about agrivoltaics stay at the surface.
Rebekah Pierce didn’t set out to become a voice for solar. She was trying to solve a much simpler problem:
How do you make a small farm financially viable… without giving it up?
What followed was a shift — from seeing solar as a “necessary evil” to recognizing it as a tool that might fundamentally reshape how farms survive.
In this conversation, we unpack what’s actually happening on the ground:
🔹 What exactly is the business of solar grazing
🔹 Where the economics work — and where they don’t
🔹 Why “prime farmland” is often misunderstood
🔹 The gap between developer intent and rural reality
🔹 What breaks when you try to scale this model
This is less about sheep under panels…
…and more about what new revenue models might actually keep farms alive.
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🎧 Guest: Rebekah Pierce
Author of Agri-Energy: Growing Power, Growing Food
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If you’re curious about agrivoltaics, this is a perspective you don’t usually hear.
Hit play to hear why Rebekah Pierce believes agrivoltaics is not a side strategy. It is a glimpse of what farming could become.
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!
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

AI isn’t just increasing demand for electricity - it’s changing how power behaves.
In this Tactical Tuesday, Nico Johnson sits down with Jon Parrella of Terraflow Energy to break down a problem few people are talking about: modern AI data centers don’t draw power like traditional loads. They ramp rapidly, swing unpredictably, and introduce volatility that existing infrastructure wasn’t designed to handle.
That shift is putting real strain on generators, batteries, and the grid itself - accelerating wear, increasing complexity, and creating new risks for developers and investors alike.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
🔹 Why AI data centers behave differently from traditional power loads
🔹 How rapid load swings impact generators, lithium-ion batteries, and grid stability
🔹 What “controllable load” means - and why utilities and ISOs are prioritizing it
🔹 Where traditional power system design breaks down under AI-driven demand
🔹 Why being a responsive load could dramatically change interconnection timelines
Most importantly, you’ll understand what needs to change to make next-generation data center infrastructure reliable, scalable, and bankable.
If you’re developing, financing, or investing in data centers, energy infrastructure, or AI-driven growth, this episode will change how you think about the power system that it requires.
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.
You'll find more resources and learn about SunCast's guest(s), recommendations, book links, and more than 850 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com.
You can learn more about partnering with SunCast here: https://mysuncast.com/sponsors
You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:
Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus
Subscribe to Valence, our weekly Linkedin Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

Russell Gold has spent years explaining the energy transition from the outside. First as one of The Wall Street Journal’s leading energy reporters, and now from inside one of clean energy’s fastest-growing new entrants, T1 Energy.
At The Wall Street Journal, his award-winning work covered the fracking boom, Deepwater Horizon, and the investigation into the Camp Fire in California. He also wrote The Boom and Superpower, digging into the people, decisions, and forces shaping modern energy.
Now, he’s on the other side of the table.
As EVP of Strategic Communications at T1 Energy, Russell is helping shape how a new U.S. solar manufacturer shows up to the market—and how that story connects to capital.
In this conversation, we explore what that shift in perspective reveals. Where the industry is actually making progress. Where the bottlenecks persist. And why clean energy still struggles to tell a clear reliability story, even as deployment continues at record pace.
We also dig into something most people underestimate: how much narrative influences where capital flows—and what leaders in this industry should be doing about it.
Expect to learn:
🔹 How behind-the-meter deployment is helping bypass transmission delays
🔹 Why the reliability story is still one of clean energy’s biggest messaging gaps
🔹 What it will take for domestic solar manufacturing to compete globally
This is a fascinating look at how Gold’s perspective changed once he got a chance to see what’s really happening from inside the clean energy sector, and what we all can learn and apply to our own businesses.
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!
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

Most C&I solar projects don’t fall short because of the solar itself.
They struggle because deals aren’t structured correctly, markets are misunderstood, or developers take on opportunities that were never a fit to begin with.
In this episode of SunCast, Nico Johnson sits down with Aaron Wilson, co-founder and CEO of Solar One, to unpack what actually separates projects that get built and deliver long-term value - from the ones that stall, get delayed, or fail to meet expectations.
Aaron didn’t come up through traditional solar channels. He started in commodities - trading steel and silicon across Europe and China - before moving into development and building Solar One into a vertically integrated C&I solar company operating in markets like Long Island and Texas.
Along the way, he’s:
Built projects in markets most developers overlooked
Helped stand up hundreds of megawatts in Texas - before the market was ready
Made deliberate decisions to walk away from residential solar
And developed a disciplined approach to choosing markets, customers, and deals

In this conversation, we explore:
🔹 Why Solar One chose C&I over the residential gold rush
🔹 What business owners actually need from a solar partner in an era of rising electricity costs
🔹 Why great entrepreneurs are driven by purpose, not ruled by fear
🔹 How to evaluate whether a market is actually viable (vs just “hot”)
🎧 Listen now to learn how to build C&I solar projects that actually deliver.
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!
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

Clean energy is winning on cost.
Solar and storage are cheaper than ever. Deployment is accelerating. The economics are undeniable.
So why does it still feel like the industry is losing the broader public narrative?
In this live conversation, Nico Johnson sits down with journalist Sammy Roth to explore the gap between technical success and cultural influence. After more than a decade covering energy and climate for the Los Angeles Times, Sammy now writes the independent newsletter Climate-Colored Goggles, where he examines how media, identity, and storytelling shape the energy transition.
Sammy argues that the challenge isn’t just policy or technology — it’s narrative. While clean energy has focused on cost curves and deployment, it has often underinvested in the cultural work required to build public trust, identity, and long-term support.
This conversation digs into what the industry gets wrong about communication, why reacting to politics is a losing strategy, and what it would actually take to win the long-term cultural battle.
And asking a bigger question: what if the clean energy industry is fighting the wrong battle?
Expect to learn:
🔹 Why Sammy believes clean energy is losing a cultural battle, not just a political one
🔹 What the industry got wrong in communicating the Inflation Reduction Act
🔹 Why facts, economics, and climate science are not enough to win public support
🔹 How entertainment, sports, media, and advertising shape energy narratives over time
This is a conversation about branding, belief, and what it will really take to make clean energy feel as essential and American as the incumbents it is trying to replace.
Listen in.
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!
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