Sean White‘s Solar and Energy Storage Podcast whitehousesolar

Hermann Scheer (RIP) was a German politician who is responsible for making grid-connected solar profitable in about the year 2000 as he brought the German policy forreimbursing people for solar energy, so that they would make a profit. This broughtabout years where over half of the World’s installed PV was in Germany. This createdthe modern solar industry and kick-started modern PV manufacturing. If it were not forHermann Scheer, we would probably be 10 years behind where we are now with PVprices and installed capacity. Eicke Weber was a friend of Hermann Scheer and Eickewas also the director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems for 10 years,which is the European equivalent of NREL. Eicke brought Intersolar to San Francisco,he was on UC Berkely Faculty and has done a million other things, while remaining areally nice person. I am proud to call Eicke a friend.
 
Hermann Sheer’s Legacy www.ilsr.org/hermann-scheers-feed-tariff-legacy-75-worlds-solar-pv/
Bill Brooks www.brooksolar.com
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems www.ise.fraunhofer.de/en
Madam Mi
Fusion
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) www.NREL.gov
International Solar Energy Society www.ISES.org
Governor Jerry Brown
California Solar Initiative (CSI)
SNEC World’s Largest Renewable Energy Conference www.pv.snec.org.cn
Nancy and George Lightman
Hans-Josef www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Josef_Fell
Swanson’s Law
Feed in Tariff (FIT)
Sultan Al Jaber
Irena www.IRENA.org
International Solar Energy Society (ISES) www.ises.org
PV manufacturing in China
Deng Xiaoping
IRA
John Kerry
Deng Xiaoping
CO2
PV Technology and Market Developments
Global Shifts in Energy Policy
Clean Tech Business Club www.cleantechbusiness.club
 
Learn more at www.solarSEAN.com and be sure to get NABCEP certified by takingSean’s classes at www.heatspring.com/sean

Where do we start, in this podcast we covered many things and Jeff Spies is very active and connected in the solar industry.
 
Here is a short list of what Jeff does and has done:
 
Owner of Planet Plansets www.planetplansets.com
NABCEP Board of Directors www.nabcep.org/about-us/board-of-directors
CALSSA Board of Directors www.calssa.org
Solar Roots, the Pioneers of PV Documentary, Executive Producer www.solar-roots.com
The Solar Panel Podcast www.linkedin.com/company/the-solar-panel-podcast
 
Here are some of the many topics we covered:
Solar PV origin in Humboldt and Mendocino Counties in Northern California
Marijuana wars with guns in Northern California: solar using weed growers vs. the Feds
Hippie Definition
Rednecks and Hippies
Hipnecks
AEE Solar
David Katz is a genius
DC Power
Solar Depot
Real Goods 
Solar Living Institute
Ironridge
Quickmount
Stuart Wentworth
Claudia Hansen Wentworth
Johnny Weiss
Go Green Solar
Home Power Magazine
Humboldt Country
Nika Show
Oregon Solar Energy Industry
Boogy rough cut version
Plastics
Blue grass
Solar Pioneer Party
Bell Labs
BriceLand, CA
Brian Tittlebaum
Solar PV Magic
Nobel Prize
Solar Pioneers group in Facebook
John Burdner
Brian Teitelbaum
Davey Rittner
Jason Vetterli
Wendy Dankof
Gov. Jerry BrownBob McKee
Joseph Marino
Keisha
Johnny Hill
Sam Vanderhoof
Ron Kennedy
John Schaefer
Arthur Rudin
Ezra Auerbach
Richard Perez
Bob O. Schultz
Kathleen Schultz
Mark Moroz
Charlie Gay
Albert Einstein
Edmund Becquerel
Adams and Day
Charles Fritz
 
Learn more at www.solarSEAN.com and be sure to get NABCEP certified by taking Sean’s classes at www.heatspring.com/sean

This is my first interview with a real US Military General and I am honored that he took the time to meet with me. I am not worthy!
 
John Kem is in the civilian sector now and is the President of American Battery Factory! In this podcast we discuss their huge Gigafactory, which they are building in Arizona and which will go online towards the end of 2025 making made in the USA lithium iron phosphate (LFP) lithium-ion batteries. They are working on prismatic battery cells, which are as big as 1kWh each! In the podcast we talk about the manufacturing processes and how the battery materials are put together in a factory that can produce 4GWh per year of battery cells.
 
Topics covered:
American Battery Factory
Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP)IRA = Inflation Reduction Act
Army Corps of Engineers
Civil WorksMining
Battery cell production and safety
Investment and manufacturing scale of American Battery Factory
The process and challenges of battery cell manufacturing
Battery factory
American Lithium Mining
Cobalt in the Congo
Gigafactory
Abundance and toxicity of Lithium, Iron and Phosphorous
Big Battery Cell
Folding Cells
Prismatic Battery Cell
314 Ah cells x 3.2V = 1kWh/cell
Half of a shoebox size cell
Bigger is better
Pouch and cylindrical battery cell comparison
Prismatic folding speed increased
Longer cycle life
Fiji Water bottle shape comparison
Chemical Mixing
Anode and Cathode layers
Thin coating
Isotropic graphite = consistent shape
Narrow film
LFP is the cathode
LFP mix in vats
Absorption capacity for ions to flow
Buy pre-mixed LFP
Separator between anode and cathode
Foils
Cans - Aluminum
Food can people making battery can for prismatic battery (cell casing)
Stationary Energy Storage Systems
Smart grid
Underground mining operations
Drag racing and LFP
Range anxiety
Home to GWh ESS
Tax credit survival vs. competitive manufacturing
Made in America with Chinese parts
Smartest people in the world come to America
Energy storage is required for net zero
Investing and buying American Battery Factory
Privately held now
Series A and Series B funding defined
Accredited investors and venture capital
 
Check out the American Battery Factory website: www.americanbatteryfactory.com
 
For good luck, give this podcast 5️s
 
Learn more at www.solarSEAN.com and be sure to get NABCEP certified by taking Sean’s classes at www.heatspring.com/sean

Joe McCabe has been in the solar industry since before there was a solar industry. In this podcast we talk about many things. 
 
Here is a list of topics:
ASES Fellow
American Solar Energy Society www.ASES.org
International Solar Energy Society www.ISES.org
MREA = Midwest Renewable Energy Association
SMUD = Sacramento Municipal Utility District
PVUSA Davis California
PV Policy
SAM software
PV Reliability Workshop Nerdfest
Golden Colorado
SANDIA
Community Solar Gardens
Bifacial Solar
Vertical Bifacial produces more than tilted south no matter what the direction
Higher latitude better for vertical bifacial
Vertical bifacial requires smaller wires because of lower Isc
Clipping
Hanging vertical bifacial to swing in the wind.
North facing PV for used PV
PV module size increasing
PV efficiency not important; LCOE (levelized cost of electricity) is important. 
Monofacial
Agrivoltaics
Agrisoltaics
Dual use of land
Mark Fitzgerald
Jane Wiseman
IREC = Interstate Renewable Energy Council
NABCEP Entry Level
Praise Ward Bower!
George Kelly
NREL
NABCEP Exam Committees
Photovoltaic effect
Conduction band
Photoelectric effect
Becquerel
Einstein
Quantum mechanics
Thermodynamics
Nuclear engineering
Schrödinger’s equation
Straw bale construction
SERF = Solar Energy Research Facility
SERI = Solar Energy Research Institute
Neutron Scatter
Cadmium rods
Neutron magazine
Smart Inverter Working Group
Dan Shugar
Howard Wenger
PG&E
PV for $9/watt in 90s
Richard Swanson and Swanson’s curve
Colorado Public Utilities Commission
CALISO
California Independent System Operator
BIPV
California Energy Commission (CEC)
Community Solar Garden
Solar Shares
Stupid grid vs. smart grid
Grid following and grid forming inverters
Reactive power
Rule 21 Smart Inverter Working Group
Smart Inverter Classes
Hermann Scherr
Frieberg Germany 
Smarter E in Munich (formerly Intersolar)
Intersolar in San Diego and Long Beach
RE+ conferences
Making education fun
University of Arizona Reactor
How PV works
Photons
Grid Forming and Grid Following Inverters
Donating a kidney to Bill Brooks
Freiburg Germany
NABCEP Certification
Energy Ideas
Renewable Energy Steward
Giant Bifacial module 
Joe Mccabe recommends Bill Brooks on LinkedIn 
Blue light inside a reactor
Integrated Resource Plan (IRP)
Carl Weinberg
Paul Fenn
Community Choice Aggregation = CCA 
Eicke Weber
RE+ Texas
Sean Sings ABC 123 at NABCEP Conference
 
Homework Assignment read: Leverage Points, Places to Intervene in a System by Donella Meadows
https://donellameadows.org/wp-content/userfiles/Leverage_Points.pdf
 
Joe McCabe LinkedIn Page
 
Joe’s email: energyideas@gmail.com
 
Learn more at www.solarSEAN.com and be sure to get NABCEP certified by taking Sean’s classes at  www.heatspring.com/sean

In this podcast, we learn how UL issues first certification to UL 9741 (and UL 1741 SA) for an AI-Driven Vehicle-to-Grid Compliant EV Charger to Fermata Energy.
 
https://www.ul.com/news/ul-solutions-issues-first-certification-ul-9741-and-ul-1741-sa-ai-driven-vehicle-grid
 
Alex Cattelan has been working on EVs for 2 decades and has experience engineering many famous electric and hybrid vehicles, including the Chevy Volt for GM. She also has extensive experience working for Polaris, Johnson Controls and many others.
 
At the end we decide to go to Burning Man together on a bidirectional electric bus and she is going to teach me how to do wheelies on an electric motorcycle. Nothing can compete with the torque of electric motors, much more than those old fashioned explosion driven motors.
 
Here are some of the topics we cover:
UL 9741 EVPE (Electric Vehicle Power Export Equipment)
John Deere EVs
AI for EVPE
Software engineering
Drive trains
Electric vehicles  
Nissan Leaf
Chevy VoltLithium-ion batteries
Hybrid
EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
Mechanical Drivetrain
CO2
UL 9741 & UL 1741
VPP (Virtual Power Plant)
Cost Savings
Public utility commission (PUC)
Stationary Storage
Nissan Leaf
Nissan Kicks
Bidirectional charging
Commercial fleets
Bus fleet
Johnson Controls
Pop a Wheelie
Ford F-150
Cyber Truck
Tesla
Developing Software
AI Driven Data Science
Residential bidirectional chargers
 
Check out Alex on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alexandra-cattelan-59abbb11
 
Email: alex.catelan@fermataenegy.com
 
Check out the Fermata website: https://fermataenergy.com
 
Learn more at www.solarSEAN.com and be sure to get NABCEP certified by taking Sean’s classes at www.HeatSpring.com/Sean

One week before recording this podcast, Garret Little passed his NABCEP PVIP exam. In this podcast we talk about his experience taking the exam 9 years after his first try and getting a really good score! We also talk about the exam experience, memory techniques, taking the Ecotech class vs. the HeatSpring class for preparing for the exam. There is nothing more important for passing an exam than knowing what to study.
 
Here is the class Garret took to pass the NABCEP PVIP exam:
 
NABCEP PV Installation Professional (PVIP) Certification Prep
 
Garret also has installed PV systems in Nepal and Colombia.
 
Here is a list of topics we covered:
 
Exam Prep
NABCEP PV Installation Professional (PVIP) exam
NABCEP Energy Storage Installation Professional (ESIP)
NABCEP PV Associate (PVA)
NABCEP PV Technical Sales (PVTS)
NABCEP PV Design Specialist (PVDS)
NABCEP PV Commissioning and Maintenance Specialist (PVCMS)
NABCEP PV Installer Specialist (PVIS)
NABCEP PV System Inspector (PVSI)
Meazure Online exam platform
Taking the exam in person like Garret did
Kaplan CleanTech (no longer in business)
Brian Hayden the Founder of HeatSpring and super cool dude
Tom Chatagnier Solar Saint from Diablo Valley College
Live online proctoring from home vs. testing center for NABCEP exam
Dry erase board for test notes
ESIP = Energy Storage Installation Professional NABCEP Certification
Colombian Comedian into solar
Brittany, Brit, Brian, South, James and Nycx
Learning techniques
Memory techniques
State dependent memory
Short term memory
Long term memory
Quantum memory
Memorizing Pi
 
Here is from the email Garret sent me after passing the exam:
 
Hey Sean,
I just wanted to express my gratitude towards you for the classes you teach through Heatspring. Hopefully my name rings a bell as I have sent a few messages recently via the 58-hour course, one particular about question 30 on the 1-30 bonus practice exam - looks like the Heatspring team is pretty dang on top of it to make changes, so kudos to them!
 
I took the PVIP yesterday morning and passed with an 87%. I can't express enough just how instrumental this course was in my confidence and ultimately, results. I took the PVIP nine years ago and was far underprepared and it's been a dark cloud looming over me since and when I finally would apply to retake it, I never really had direction in what to study, so I honestly just didn't take it and wasted money and time applying. This time around, after finding out about Heatspring, I signed up back in September of last year and went to work, and boy am I happy I did. 
 
The very first thing I noticed during the start of the 40-hour course was how easy it was to stay attentive. The videos and lectures are engaging. Listening to you isn't a chore like many online courses, and please for the sake of everyone, don't ever stop cracking little jokes throughout like the white house being your house, or pointing out the solar "clip art" guy with the blue shirt who appears to be "measuring a module with a fluorescent wire...?". These things make the biggest difference and I absolutely wish more online lecturers leaned a little more into that!
 
This course really covered everything I experienced on the exam and in all honesty, to me it seemed it presented quite a bit more information and material than the NABCEP covered, at least from my experience . For example, I don't think I had one string sizing question, conduit fill, or even conductor sizing with derates (if my memory serves me right). It was not nearly as much calculations as I had anticipated, aside from interconnection calcs, which were all fairly similar. With that being said, I feel tremendously more knowledgeable than I was even just a few months ago prior to taking this course and I am so thankful for that.
 
Thank you again so much for working with Heatspring on these courses to provide such  thorough, entertaining, and educational content. It feels so incre