Experts Only

Happy Birthday Experts Only! Thanks to all our listeners so far, it’s been a big year for our podcast, we’ve released 30 episodes with leading experts ranging from investors, industry visionaries, and innovators across the cleantech space and financial markets focusing on the intersection of energy, innovation and finance. We’ve invited back our first Experts Only guest, Abby Ross Hopper, President and CEO of Solar Energy Industries Association. It’s been quite the year for the solar industry and we’ve invited Abby back to discuss the state of solar, how the industry has responded to a challenging political climate from the international trade case to international climate agreement withdrawals and federal regulations intended to favor fossil fuels. It’s been a busy year. As many of our listeners will be headed to Solar Power International in Anaheim, we hope today’s conversation will help give you a sense of where the industry is and where it’s headed before you head out to this year’s show. For those headed to Anaheim, we’ll be doing a live recording of Experts Only focused on Business Opportunity of Microgrids on Wednesday from 2:30-4, you can find more details below. I hope you enjoy today’s conversation as we discuss that the state of solar is strong. Experts Only is made possible by CleanCapital. Learn more: http://www.cleancapital.com Follow on Twitter: @CleanCapital_ Details about Experts Only Live at SPI on Wed, Sept 26 from 2:30-4pm: https://www.eventscribe.com/2018/SPI/fsPopup.asp?Mode=presInfo&PresentationID=403418 Details about SPI: https://www.solarpowerinternational.com/ Details about SEIA: https://seia.org ICYMI Abby’s first interview 1 year ago: https://cleancapital.com/2017/09/understanding-the-solar-trade-case-my-conversation-with-seia-ceo-abigail-ross-hopper/

Today we are speaking with Ilan Gur, the Founder and Executive Director of Cyclotron Road, a fellowship program that supports hard science and technology innovators as they advance a project with the potential for global impact. Ilan founded Cyclotron Road in order to provide entrepreneurial scientists and engineers with access to support and infrastructure that he noticed was lacking during his time directing research and technology projects in academia, startups, and corporate labs. The program is based at Berkeley Lab and fellows collaborate with scientists from the lab and from UC Berkeley. Cyclotron Road’s initial focus has been on advanced energy and materials technologies, and they have supported 41 innovators coming from some the world's top research institutions since their launch in 2014. Prior to founding Cyclotron Road, Ilan served as program director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), where he managed a $50 million portfolio spanning energy storage, solar energy, and advanced materials. Prior to ARPA-E, he launched two energy startups based on materials and manufacturing innovations, including Seeo, an advanced lithium battery company that was acquired by Bosch in 2015.

This week, we are speaking with Nancy Pfund, Founder and Man­ag­ing Part­ner of DBL Part­ners, a ven­ture cap­i­tal firm whose goal is to com­bine top-​​tier finan­cial returns with mean­ing­ful social, envi­ron­men­tal and eco­nomic returns in the regions and sec­tors in which it invests. As a lead­ing player in the grow­ing field of impact invest­ing, helping to reveal the power of ven­ture cap­i­tal to pro­mote social change and envi­ron­men­tal improve­ment. Nancy cur­rently spon­sors or sits on the board of direc­tors of sev­eral clean tech com­pa­nies, includ­ing; Advanced Micro­grid Solu­tions, Off-​​Grid Elec­tric, Primus Power, and prior to their pub­lic offer­ing, Tesla Motors. Previously, Nancy was a Man­ag­ing Direc­tor in Ven­ture Cap­i­tal at JPMor­gan, hav­ing started her invest­ment career at Ham­brecht & Quist in 1984. Nancy has garnered many accolades for her forward looking approach to investing, including being named to Fortune’s Inau­gural World’s Top 25 Eco-​​Innovators and appearing in Fast Company’s 2016 List of Most Cre­ative Peo­ple in Busi­ness. I hope you enjoy today’s conversation. Experts Only is made possible by CleanCapital. Learn more: http://www.cleancapital.com Follow on Twitter: @CleanCapital_

This week, Jon Powers speaks with, Bill Bush, the Chief Financial Officer of Stem, a leading energy storage company, where he manages the company’s corporate and project financing efforts, guiding Stem from a startup to a $200 million-invested leader in the industry. Prior to joining Stem, Bill was CFO at multiple companies within the solar space, including Borrego Solar Systems, and Solar Semiconductor Inc., leading them to high-growth and profitability. Bill brings a wealth of accounting and financial experience to the clean tech world, previously serving as CFO and Corporate Controller numerous software, and online media companies. Additionally, Bill worked for seven years in public accounting with Ernst & Young (EY) and PricewaterhouseCoopers. We discuss energy storage, and the potentially transformational impact it will have on the energy sector, and what Stem is doing to drive this change. We hope you enjoy our conversation today with Bill as much as we did. Experts Only is made possible by CleanCapital. Learn more: http://www.cleancapital.com Follow on Twitter: @CleanCapital_ Learn more about Stem here: http://www.stem.com/, follow on Twitter: @stempowered

Today we sit down with the CEO of Elemental Excelerator , Dawn Lippert. Elemental Excelerator is a startup accelerator, supporting companies who seek to improve communities through technology, innovation, economic opportunity, and sustainable modernization. They've awarded over $22 million to over 60 companies working in energy, transportation, water and agriculture. Dawn has had an incredible career that's taken her from Washington State to Yale to India, Africa, Latin America, and of course, ending up living in Hawaii where she’s help set Hawaii's goal of 100% renewable by 2045. We hope you enjoy today's conversation. Experts Only is made possible by CleanCapital. Learn more: http://www.cleancapital.com Follow on Twitter: @CleanCapital_ Learn more about Elemental Excelerator here: https://elementalexcelerator.com/, follow on Twitter: @elementalexcel

In today’s episode, Jon Powers sits down with Amory Lovins, the co-founder, Chief Scientist, as well as the Chairman Emeritus, of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI). Amory is a leading innovator on energy and environmental issues. Time has named him one of the world’s 100 most influential people, and Foreign Policy named one of the 100 top global thinkers. His current work explores how to make integrative design the new normal, so investments to energy efficiency can yield expanding rather than diminishing returns. If you’re unfamiliar with RMI, it is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization that engages businesses, communities and institutions, as well as entrepreneurs to accelerate the adoption of market based solutions to help us shift from fossil fuels to energy efficiency and renewables. Today’s fascinating conversation covers a variety of topics from the start of Amory’s career, the founding of RMI and what's currently happening internationally India and China. It’s a little bit longer than our normal episode, but we hope you enjoy it as much as we did! Experts Only is made possible by CleanCapital. Learn more: http://www.cleancapital.com Follow on Twitter: @CleanCapital_ Learn more about Rocky Mountain Institute here: https://rmi.org/, follow on Twitter: @RockyMtnInst @AmoryLovins

Join CEO Thomas Byrne and VP Zoe Berkery as they sit down with Erin Robert. Erin is Head of Capital Strategies at J.P. Morgan Chase Sustainable Finance. We cover a number of topics, including green bonds, corporate sustainability, and J.P. Morgan's effort to transform into a clean energy advisor and financier. She's a great guest with tons of insights we're sure you will enjoy as much as we did. Experts Only is made possible by CleanCapital. Learn more: http://www.cleancapital.com Follow on Twitter: @CleanCapital_

Today we're speaking with Greg Wetstone, the President and CEO of the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE). ACORE is a national nonprofit focused on how finance, policy, and technology accelerate the transition to a renewable energy economy. Throughout his career, Greg's demonstrated leadership in this sector both in the private and public sector. Prior to joining ACORE, he served as the Vice President of Terraform Power, a renewable energy company as well as working at the American Wind Energy Association and with the National Resources Defense Council. In our conversation, we discuss what's happening in the federal policy space to help drive generation We also examine what's happening with commercial customers that's helping to drive demand for renewable energy in a way that we've never seen before. You should definitely check out ACORE's Renewable Energy Finance Forum Wall Street, which is June 19th-20th in New York City. You can find more information at ACORE.org. Experts Only is made possible by CleanCapital. Learn more: http://www.cleancapital.com Follow on Twitter: @CleanCapital_

This week, Thomas speaks with Jessica Bailey, the Co-Founder and CEO of Greenworks Lending, a leading PACE lending platform. Jessica is a pioneer and advocate of PACE lending, and Greenworks has done some groundbreaking deals in the past year. Jessica discusses her career to date, Greenworks, the PACE market, and the future of the industry. It’s fascinating conversation about how to set up market signals for clean energy to scale through private capital sources. We hope you enjoy the conversation. Experts Only is made possible by CleanCapital. Learn more: http://www.cleancapital.com Follow on Twitter: @CleanCapital_

This week, Jon, sits down with Dr Emily Reichert, Emily is the CEO of Greentown Labs, the largest cleantech incubator in the United States. She helped grow the company from it’s four co-founders into a global leader in cleantech. Emily is chemist by training, who went to MIT Sloan Management. Listen in and learn how she leverages her technical experience and enhanced her skillset with the management work to lead this incredible lab. We dive into what’s the future for the cleantech space, how these incubators are emerging and what VCs should look for in the space. Experts Only is made possible by CleanCapital. Learn more: http://www.cleancapital.com Follow on Twitter: @CleanCapital_

This week, Thomas Byrne, CEO of CleanCapital, sits down with Varun Sivaram, a thought leader in the clean energy space. He’s We discuss his exceptional new book, Taming the Sun, which outlines the current clean energy landscape, and the advances that we need to make to unleash it. It's a thought-provoking book, and we encourage all listeners to grab a copy. I hope you enjoy the conversation. Experts Only is made possible by CleanCapital. Learn more: http://www.cleancapital.com Follow on Twitter: @CleanCapital_ Learn more about Varun (@VSIV): Science & Technology Fellow @CFR_org; Prof @GeorgetownSFS; Fellow @ColumbiaUEnergy. Order the @MITPress book, #TamingTheSun via http://amzn.to/2Aaal2E

For our 20th episode of Experts Only, we are bringing you an Experts Only first. Join us for our first ever live taping of the podcast at the PACENation Summit in Denver last month. Our bi-partisan panel discusses the different perspectives on PACE, how it relates to policy goals, and the wavering support from the federal government. The panel was a lively discussion of PACE administrators who are well versed in federal policy, as well as leaders in both Residential and Commercial PACE, and affinity groups. Tune in to learn why they’re interested in PACE financing. Panelists: Genevieve Sherman Head of New Markets and Partnerships, Greenworks Lending Keith den Hollander National Field Director, The Christian Coalition Michele Combs Chairman and Founding Partner, Young conservatives for energy reform Cisco Devries Founder and CEO, Renew Financial Experts Only is made possible by CleanCapital. Learn more: http://www.cleancapital.com Follow on Twitter: @CleanCapital_ Learn more about PACENation: http://pacenation.us/

This week, Thomas Byrne, CEO of CleanCapital, sits down with Graham Smith, CEO and Founder of Open Energy Group. We discuss the challenges of financing small scale solar as well as the opportunities presented by technology to simplify the process. Graham was drawn to clean energy from a very early age and seized the opportunity to combine his background in finance with his early passion as a career in renewable energy finance. He has also had a front row seat to evolution of the global clean energy landscape and offers a unique perspective on where the industry is headed. Experts Only is made possible by CleanCapital. Learn more: http://www.cleancapital.com Follow on Twitter: @CleanCapital_ Learn more about Open Energy Group: https://www.openenergygroup.com/

We have a unique episode this week. There is a lot of industry interest in PACE financing but not a lot of people know how it works. So we're joined this week by PACEnation's, David Gabrielson. David serves as the Executive Director and founded PACEnation in 2010. David and I will talk about PACE, which is property assessed clean energy, which is a financing mechanism that enables low cost, long term funding for energy efficiency, renewable energy and water conservation projects for both residential and commercial. The PACE financing is repaid as an assessment on the properties, regular tax bill in his process, the same way that other local public benefits assessments are like sidewalks and sewers and those programs have been in place for decades. But a lot depends on the local legislation. PACE can be used for commercial, nonprofit and residential properties. Today’s episode is a great introduction to this innovative and complex PACE financing for #CleanEnergy. Listeners can learn even more at the PACEnation Summit, which will be out in Denver in March. Learn more at PACENation.us. Experts Only is made possible by CleanCapital. Learn more: http://www.cleancapital.com Follow on Twitter: @CleanCapital_

Join us this week for a great conversation with Ethan Zindler, Head of Americas at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Ethan’s career has taken him from baggage checker on the Clinton campaign to the White House to MTV to the early days of clean energy covering Cape Wind. For the last 12 years, as Head of Americas for Bloomberg NEF, he’s been at the helm when it comes to clean energy research, with industry leading data on deals and market reports, trends and forecasting. Today we have a great discussion about the market trends and the progress of the industry over the last 10 years. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Experts Only is made possible by CleanCapital. Learn more: http://www.cleancapital.com Follow on Twitter: @CleanCapital_