Soliverse | The Future of Solar

Peter Pongracz

Soliverse is a solar and renewable energy podcast for professionals who want clarity in an industry that keeps shifting under their feet.The energy transition is moving fast, but the real story is not in press releases or policy headlines. It is in how projects get financed, permitted, connected to the grid, and built in the real world. Soliverse focuses on solar, storage, and the broader energy ecosystem, with a strong emphasis on utility scale projects in the EU and the US.Through in depth conversations with developers, operators, investors, engineers, and industry leaders, the podcast explores how successful teams navigate changing regulation, political risk, grid constraints, and volatile capital markets. The goal is simple, to cut through noise and hype and replace it with practical, execution focused insight.Listening to Soliverse will help you:• Understand where solar, storage, grids, and capital are really going• Learn directly from people building and financing real projects• Connect the dots between technology, policy, finance, and execution• Avoid common and costly mistakes by learning from experienced operators• Stay relevant and competitive as the solar industry matures and consolidatesSoliverse is for anyone working in solar and renewables who wants to think more clearly, move faster, and lead with confidence as the energy transition accelerates.

  1. Navigating EU vs. US Solar Regulation ft. Benoy Thanjan | Soliverse Ep. 36

    25 MAR

    Navigating EU vs. US Solar Regulation ft. Benoy Thanjan | Soliverse Ep. 36

    Send us Fan Mail What does it really take to build, finance, and scale solar projects when policy keeps shifting, capital is more cautious, and grid constraints are getting harder to ignore? In this episode of Soliverse | The Future of Solar, host Peter Pongracz sits down with Benoy Thanjan, Founder and CEO of Reneu Energy and host of the Solar Maverick Podcast, for a grounded conversation on where the solar market is actually headed across the U.S. and beyond. They unpack the real-world state of solar in 2025 and beyond, from agrivoltaics and floating solar to community solar, storage, project risk, data center demand, recycling, repowering, and the long-term challenge of competing with China. Benoy also shares what developers, investors, and industry leaders need to understand now about energy independence, market messaging, and why creativity remains one of solar’s biggest competitive advantages. If you work in solar, storage, development, project finance, or clean energy investing, this episode gives you a practical look at the forces shaping the next phase of the energy transition. Connect with Benoy Website Solar Maverick Podcast Podcast page LinkedIn Today’s Partner: Enerdatics Looking for better deal timing and granular M&A insight in solar and storage? Enerdatics helps renewable energy professionals identify transactions early, track trends, and price assets with real deal data. Use code SOLIVERSE10 for 10% off Enerdatics products and services. Terms apply. Explore Enerdatics Support the show Thank you for listening to Soliverse | The Future of Solar, the podcast for people building the future of solar, storage, and renewable infrastructure. Each episode features grounded, unfiltered conversations with the people financing, developing, operating, and scaling real projects across the solar and clean energy ecosystem. Soliverse exists to cut through noise, hype, and disconnected narratives and replace them with clarity, realism, and execution-focused insight for professionals who want to make smarter decisions, faster. 📌 Explore more from Soliverse Explore our partners: Enerdatics, renewable energy market intelligence PVX.AI, utility-scale solar design software 📲 Follow Soliverse and Peter for more insights and updates: Peter on LinkedIn Soliverse Instagram Soliverse X (Twitter) Subscribe on YouTube 🎙️ New episodes release bi-weekly. Produced by APodcastGeek

    51 min
  2. How Top Solar Teams Handle Red Tape | Soliverse Ep. 35

    11 MAR

    How Top Solar Teams Handle Red Tape | Soliverse Ep. 35

    Send us Fan Mail What really slows down utility-scale solar projects, bad engineering, weak execution, or the red tape nobody budgets for early enough?  In this episode of Soliverse, Peter Pongracz sits down with Phil Horwitch, co-founder of AMH Holdings, to unpack how the best solar teams handle permitting delays, stakeholder friction, QA/QC problems, and the hidden communication gaps that quietly derail projects. With more than a decade in utility-scale and distributed generation, Phil shares a grounded operator’s view on what separates teams that keep projects moving from teams that lose months, money, and momentum. Phil explains why realistic timelines matter more than optimistic ones, why local relationships can speed up approvals, and why “buildable” engineering always beats “perfect” engineering on paper. They also get into battery storage trends, the growing need for solar education, and the kind of cross-functional thinking young engineers need if they want to build a long career in renewables. If you work in solar development, EPC, engineering, project delivery, battery storage, or renewable infrastructure, this conversation is packed with practical insight on how successful teams think before the first shovel hits the ground. Guest & Episode Links Phil Horwitch, Co-Founder, AMH Holdings LinkedIn AMH Holdings LinkedIn Today’s Partner: Enerdatics Looking for better deal timing and granular M&A insight in solar and storage? Enerdatics helps renewable energy professionals identify transactions early, track trends, and price assets with real deal data. Use code SOLIVERSE10 for 10% off Enerdatics products and services. Terms apply. Explore Enerdatics Support the show Thank you for listening to Soliverse | The Future of Solar, the podcast for people building the future of solar, storage, and renewable infrastructure. Each episode features grounded, unfiltered conversations with the people financing, developing, operating, and scaling real projects across the solar and clean energy ecosystem. Soliverse exists to cut through noise, hype, and disconnected narratives and replace them with clarity, realism, and execution-focused insight for professionals who want to make smarter decisions, faster. 📌 Explore more from Soliverse Explore our partners: Enerdatics, renewable energy market intelligence PVX.AI, utility-scale solar design software 📲 Follow Soliverse and Peter for more insights and updates: Peter on LinkedIn Soliverse Instagram Soliverse X (Twitter) Subscribe on YouTube 🎙️ New episodes release bi-weekly. Produced by APodcastGeek

    47 min
  3. How Romania is Beating Western Europe on Solar & Storage

    10/12/2025

    How Romania is Beating Western Europe on Solar & Storage

    Send us Fan Mail On this episode of the Soliverse Podcast, Peter sits down with Gijsbert Huijink, co-founder of SOL Romania, to unpack why Romania might just be Europe’s most underrated solar and battery market. Gijsbert shares hard-won lessons from developing 1 GW+ of projects—from grid hacks and battery-first strategies to why Romania is moving faster than Germany or the Netherlands on BESS deployment. They discuss: • Why Romania is a sleeper hit for hybrid projects • The “cooperative-to-gigawatt” journey behind SOL Romania • Grid access, flexibility, and why BESS is easier in Bucharest than Berlin • The downsides of poorly run CAPEX subsidies • How they permitted a 350 MWp hybrid plant in under 12 months • What other countries can learn from Romania’s pragmatism • Why their team will stop at 1 GW and go windsurfing ⚡ Guest & Soliverse Links: 🌐 SOL Renewables Romania: https://www.solrenewables.ro 🔗 Gijsbert: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gijsberthuijink/ 🎧 Soliverse on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6C2HVmlEcsFXJqzxlfT9uA 🌐 Website: https://soliverse.energy 🔗 Peter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterpongraczsaas/ Today’s Partner: Enerdatics Looking for better deal timing and granular M&A insight in solar and storage? Enerdatics helps renewable energy professionals identify transactions early, track trends, and price assets with real deal data. Use code SOLIVERSE10 for 10% off Enerdatics products and services. Terms apply. Explore Enerdatics Support the show Thank you for listening to Soliverse | The Future of Solar, the podcast for people building the future of solar, storage, and renewable infrastructure. Each episode features grounded, unfiltered conversations with the people financing, developing, operating, and scaling real projects across the solar and clean energy ecosystem. Soliverse exists to cut through noise, hype, and disconnected narratives and replace them with clarity, realism, and execution-focused insight for professionals who want to make smarter decisions, faster. 📌 Explore more from Soliverse Explore our partners: Enerdatics, renewable energy market intelligence PVX.AI, utility-scale solar design software 📲 Follow Soliverse and Peter for more insights and updates: Peter on LinkedIn Soliverse Instagram Soliverse X (Twitter) Subscribe on YouTube 🎙️ New episodes release bi-weekly. Produced by APodcastGeek

    57 min
  4. David Spieldenner on PVsyst, 3D Modeling, and What It Really Takes to Scale Solar

    03/12/2025

    David Spieldenner on PVsyst, 3D Modeling, and What It Really Takes to Scale Solar

    Send us Fan Mail On this episode of the Soliverse Podcast, Peter sits down with David Spieldenner from Terabase Energy, to expose the massive bottlenecks holding solar back—and why smarter performance modeling might be the key to unlocking the next Terawatt. David doesn’t hold back as he makes the case for PlantPredict over legacy tools like PVsyst, and highlights why accuracy isn’t enough—realism is what developers, EPCs, and banks really need. They cover: ⚠️ Why PVsyst is holding the industry back 🧠 Why “realism” > “accuracy” in yield estimates 🔁 How sub-hourly and 3D modeling reshape performance forecasts 🔋 Why terrain-following trackers can actually boost energy yield 📈 How hybrid plants and dispatchable renewables will reshape grid planning 📊 What banks, IEs, and EPCs really need from energy modeling tools 🚀 Why Terabase is betting on AI, automation, and integrated design-to-SCADA workflows 🧩 What most solar designers miss when modeling plant performance David also shares an exclusive offer on PlantPredict + PV Radar bundles and reveals why data centers and the AI boom are pushing solar innovation into overdrive. Referenced Tools & Links 🌐 Terabase: https://www.terabase.energy 🔧 PlantPredict: https://www.plantpredict.com 🧩 Pricing: www.plantpredict.com/pricing 📊 PV Radar: https://www.pvradar.com Connect with David Spieldenner 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidspieldenner/ 📨 Email: support@plantpredict.com Connect with Soliverse 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6C2HVmlEcsFXJqzxlfT9uA 🌐 Website: https://soliverse.energy 🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/soliversepodcast 🔗 Peter Pongracz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterp Today’s Partner: Enerdatics Looking for better deal timing and granular M&A insight in solar and storage? Enerdatics helps renewable energy professionals identify transactions early, track trends, and price assets with real deal data. Use code SOLIVERSE10 for 10% off Enerdatics products and services. Terms apply. Explore Enerdatics Support the show Thank you for listening to Soliverse | The Future of Solar, the podcast for people building the future of solar, storage, and renewable infrastructure. Each episode features grounded, unfiltered conversations with the people financing, developing, operating, and scaling real projects across the solar and clean energy ecosystem. Soliverse exists to cut through noise, hype, and disconnected narratives and replace them with clarity, realism, and execution-focused insight for professionals who want to make smarter decisions, faster. 📌 Explore more from Soliverse Explore our partners: Enerdatics, renewable energy market intelligence PVX.AI, utility-scale solar design software 📲 Follow Soliverse and Peter for more insights and updates: Peter on LinkedIn Soliverse Instagram Soliverse X (Twitter) Subscribe on YouTube 🎙️ New episodes release bi-weekly. Produced by APodcastGeek

    57 min
  5. 15 Years in EPC: Andreas Bach on Solar Construction Mistakes, MC4 & Grid Bottlenecks...

    26/11/2025

    15 Years in EPC: Andreas Bach on Solar Construction Mistakes, MC4 & Grid Bottlenecks...

    Send us Fan Mail On this episode of the Soliverse Podcast, Peter sits down with Andreas Bach, a senior EPC executive and advisor with 15+ years of solar and storage experience, working across Europe, the Middle East, India, and Africa. From burned MC4 plugs and untrained labor to winter construction delays and 300,000 tons of PV waste on the horizon—Andreas shares hard-earned lessons on what goes wrong when projects are rushed, and how to build solar like you’ll actually own it. They discuss: 🔌 Why cheap MC4 connectors quietly kill performance (and insurance won’t cover it) 📉 1.7 TW of clean energy stuck in grid queue limbo 🛠️ 15 classic EPC mistakes—and how to fix them before they bankrupt your project 🧱 Why concrete foundations are the silent killers of solar ROI ♻️ What nobody’s budgeting for: the €2.7/panel recycling time bomb 📊 Why owner’s engineers and quality sign-offs are mission-critical 🇪🇺 How Europe can lead by example—if it learns from its early scars Connect with Andreas Bach: 🌐 Website: https://a-bach.com 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreas-bach-solar Connect with Soliverse: 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6C2HVmlEcsFXJqzxlfT9uA 📨 Email: peter@soliverse.energy 🔗 LinkedIn – Peter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterpongraczsaas/ 🔗 LinkedIn – Soliverse: https://www.linkedin.com/company/106534214/ 🌐 Website: https://soliverse.energy Today’s Partner: Enerdatics Looking for better deal timing and granular M&A insight in solar and storage? Enerdatics helps renewable energy professionals identify transactions early, track trends, and price assets with real deal data. Use code SOLIVERSE10 for 10% off Enerdatics products and services. Terms apply. Explore Enerdatics Support the show Thank you for listening to Soliverse | The Future of Solar, the podcast for people building the future of solar, storage, and renewable infrastructure. Each episode features grounded, unfiltered conversations with the people financing, developing, operating, and scaling real projects across the solar and clean energy ecosystem. Soliverse exists to cut through noise, hype, and disconnected narratives and replace them with clarity, realism, and execution-focused insight for professionals who want to make smarter decisions, faster. 📌 Explore more from Soliverse Explore our partners: Enerdatics, renewable energy market intelligence PVX.AI, utility-scale solar design software 📲 Follow Soliverse and Peter for more insights and updates: Peter on LinkedIn Soliverse Instagram Soliverse X (Twitter) Subscribe on YouTube 🎙️ New episodes release bi-weekly. Produced by APodcastGeek

    46 min
  6. Geospatial AI for Solar Developers: Planno.io's Blueprint for Smarter C&I Pipelines with Daniel Domingues

    20/11/2025

    Geospatial AI for Solar Developers: Planno.io's Blueprint for Smarter C&I Pipelines with Daniel Domingues

    Send us Fan Mail About This Episode On this episode of the Soliverse Podcast, Peter sits down with Daniel Domingues, Founder & CEO of Planno.io, the Geospatial AI platform that’s fixing one of distributed solar’s biggest bottlenecks: finding the right commercial and industrial rooftops. After years developing rooftop solar projects across the Middle East and Europe, Daniel saw firsthand how slow, manual, and incomplete the prospecting process really was. So he built Planno — combining satellite imagery, AI rooftop detection, business intelligence, and market insights into one platform that turns months of hunting into minutes of clarity. They discuss: 🏢 Why 90% of viable C&I rooftops are still being missed 🛰️ How AI + geospatial data can map entire regions overnight 🌍 Europe’s data-rich but fragmented rooftop landscape 🏭 Why the Middle East is an untapped goldmine for C&I solar 🎢 The “solar coaster” dynamics of the U.S. market 🔍 How property + business intelligence transforms pipeline quality ⚙️ Why better prospecting leads to better engineering & better returns 🧠 What solar prospecting will look like by 2030 If you work in BD, EPC, development, or distributed solar strategy — this episode will change the way you think about rooftop pipeline building. Connect with Daniel / Planno 🌐 Website: https://planno.io 🔗 LinkedIn – Daniel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-domingues-a42a5b155/ Connect with Soliverse 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6C2HVmlEcsFXJqzxlfT9uA 📨 Email: peter@soliverse.energy 🔗 LinkedIn – Peter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterpongraczsaas/ 🔗 LinkedIn – Soliverse: https://www.linkedin.com/com Today’s Partner: Enerdatics Looking for better deal timing and granular M&A insight in solar and storage? Enerdatics helps renewable energy professionals identify transactions early, track trends, and price assets with real deal data. Use code SOLIVERSE10 for 10% off Enerdatics products and services. Terms apply. Explore Enerdatics Support the show Thank you for listening to Soliverse | The Future of Solar, the podcast for people building the future of solar, storage, and renewable infrastructure. Each episode features grounded, unfiltered conversations with the people financing, developing, operating, and scaling real projects across the solar and clean energy ecosystem. Soliverse exists to cut through noise, hype, and disconnected narratives and replace them with clarity, realism, and execution-focused insight for professionals who want to make smarter decisions, faster. 📌 Explore more from Soliverse Explore our partners: Enerdatics, renewable energy market intelligence PVX.AI, utility-scale solar design software 📲 Follow Soliverse and Peter for more insights and updates: Peter on LinkedIn Soliverse Instagram Soliverse X (Twitter) Subscribe on YouTube 🎙️ New episodes release bi-weekly. Produced by APodcastGeek

    40 min
  7. Joshua Feinberg on Sales, AI, Talent in Clean Infrastructure and Data Centers

    13/11/2025

    Joshua Feinberg on Sales, AI, Talent in Clean Infrastructure and Data Centers

    Send us Fan Mail On this episode of the Soliverse Podcast, Peter sits down with Joshua Feinberg, Founder of the Data Center Sales & Marketing Institute (DCSMI), to unpack the evolving sales landscape in energy, data centers, and clean tech. With 30 years in tech and energy marketing, Joshua shares hard-earned insights into how AI, buyer behavior, and workforce trends are forcing a full reset in how companies grow and scale. They discuss: 📉 Why B2B sales in energy and digital infrastructure is broken 🧠 How AI is reshaping buyer behavior—and what to do about it 🏢 Why most conferences deliver zero ROI, and what works instead 👩‍🏫 Why educational content and small events outperform outbound ⚡ How to retrain tech talent into high-performing sales teams 💼 The future of talent, thought leadership, and value-driven content 🧰 Tools and tactics for founders navigating new buyer journeys Connect with Joshua / DCSMI: 🌐 Website: https://www.dcsmi.com 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuafeinberg/ Connect with Soliverse: 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6C2HVmlEcsFXJqzxlfT9uA 📨 Email: peter@soliverse.energy 🔗 LinkedIn – Peter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterpongraczsaas/ 🔗 LinkedIn – Soliverse: https://www.linkedin.com/company/106534214/ 🌐 Website: https://soliverse.energy Today’s Partner: Enerdatics Looking for better deal timing and granular M&A insight in solar and storage? Enerdatics helps renewable energy professionals identify transactions early, track trends, and price assets with real deal data. Use code SOLIVERSE10 for 10% off Enerdatics products and services. Terms apply. Explore Enerdatics Support the show Thank you for listening to Soliverse | The Future of Solar, the podcast for people building the future of solar, storage, and renewable infrastructure. Each episode features grounded, unfiltered conversations with the people financing, developing, operating, and scaling real projects across the solar and clean energy ecosystem. Soliverse exists to cut through noise, hype, and disconnected narratives and replace them with clarity, realism, and execution-focused insight for professionals who want to make smarter decisions, faster. 📌 Explore more from Soliverse Explore our partners: Enerdatics, renewable energy market intelligence PVX.AI, utility-scale solar design software 📲 Follow Soliverse and Peter for more insights and updates: Peter on LinkedIn Soliverse Instagram Soliverse X (Twitter) Subscribe on YouTube 🎙️ New episodes release bi-weekly. Produced by APodcastGeek

    1hr 11min
  8. Genna Boyle of Gridcog.com on Flexibility, Grid Chaos, and the Future of Energy Modeling

    30/10/2025

    Genna Boyle of Gridcog.com on Flexibility, Grid Chaos, and the Future of Energy Modeling

    Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Soliverse Podcast, Peter sits down with Genna Boyle, CCO at Gridcog, to unpack one of the most important—and misunderstood—forces shaping energy today: flexibility. As the grid gets more complex and congested, batteries, flexible loads, and smarter software are becoming essential to how we plan, build, and operate energy systems. Genna explains why traditional “solar vs storage” thinking is outdated, and how modeling entire energy ecosystems—across markets, technologies, and commercial models—is the new gold standard. They discuss: ⚡ Why co-location and right-sizing are now non-negotiable 🔋 The role of batteries, EVs, and hybrid assets in flex 📉 Negative prices and what they really signal 📈 Why each site needs custom modeling (no more rule-of-thumb!) 🌍 Lessons from Australia, Germany, and the UK 📊 The future of energy software: deterministic, not guesswork 🧠 How Gridcog helps developers simulate 1,000+ site scenarios at once 📡 Why data visibility, not just data itself, is the next challenge Connect with Genna & Gridcog: 🌐 Website: https://www.gridcog.com 🔗 LinkedIn – Genna: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gennaboyle/ Connect with Soliverse: 🎧 Spotify: Soliverse on Spotify 🌐 Website: https://soliverse.energy 🔗 LinkedIn – Peter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterpongraczsaas/ 🔗 LinkedIn – Soliverse: https://www.linkedin.com/company/106534214/ Today’s Partner: Enerdatics Looking for better deal timing and granular M&A insight in solar and storage? Enerdatics helps renewable energy professionals identify transactions early, track trends, and price assets with real deal data. Use code SOLIVERSE10 for 10% off Enerdatics products and services. Terms apply. Explore Enerdatics Support the show Thank you for listening to Soliverse | The Future of Solar, the podcast for people building the future of solar, storage, and renewable infrastructure. Each episode features grounded, unfiltered conversations with the people financing, developing, operating, and scaling real projects across the solar and clean energy ecosystem. Soliverse exists to cut through noise, hype, and disconnected narratives and replace them with clarity, realism, and execution-focused insight for professionals who want to make smarter decisions, faster. 📌 Explore more from Soliverse Explore our partners: Enerdatics, renewable energy market intelligence PVX.AI, utility-scale solar design software 📲 Follow Soliverse and Peter for more insights and updates: Peter on LinkedIn Soliverse Instagram Soliverse X (Twitter) Subscribe on YouTube 🎙️ New episodes release bi-weekly. Produced by APodcastGeek

    41 min

About

Soliverse is a solar and renewable energy podcast for professionals who want clarity in an industry that keeps shifting under their feet.The energy transition is moving fast, but the real story is not in press releases or policy headlines. It is in how projects get financed, permitted, connected to the grid, and built in the real world. Soliverse focuses on solar, storage, and the broader energy ecosystem, with a strong emphasis on utility scale projects in the EU and the US.Through in depth conversations with developers, operators, investors, engineers, and industry leaders, the podcast explores how successful teams navigate changing regulation, political risk, grid constraints, and volatile capital markets. The goal is simple, to cut through noise and hype and replace it with practical, execution focused insight.Listening to Soliverse will help you:• Understand where solar, storage, grids, and capital are really going• Learn directly from people building and financing real projects• Connect the dots between technology, policy, finance, and execution• Avoid common and costly mistakes by learning from experienced operators• Stay relevant and competitive as the solar industry matures and consolidatesSoliverse is for anyone working in solar and renewables who wants to think more clearly, move faster, and lead with confidence as the energy transition accelerates.