Soliverse | The Future of Solar

Peter Pongracz
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Technology
  • Updated Weekly

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. Aug 12 ·  Bonus Video

    Bonus Episode: Even J. Kvelland, from GlintSolar, live at Intersolar Europe 2026 - Spotlight

    Send us Fan Mail 🎙️ In this episode, Peter Pongracz sits down with Even J. Kvelland, Co-Founder & CCO of @GlintSolar, live at Intersolar Europe 2026, fresh off parental leave and straight back into back-to-back customer meetings. They dig into what it actually takes to de-risk utility-scale solar siting, why the grid is the real bottleneck everywhere, and how Glint Solar is turning AI into a genuine competitive edge — not just a buzzword. 🔑 Key topics: 🗺️ GIS-based site screening and de-risking projects across 30+ markets 🎨 Iterative layout & design tools for PV and BESS 🤝 Project management and external stakeholder communication (including AI renderings) ⚡ Grid data, redispatch, and curtailment across different European markets 🔀 The shift toward hybrid, co-located solar + storage projects 🤖 Embedding AI into developer workflows, not just using ChatGPT on the side 💡 Takeaways: ✅ Glint Solar's platform screens hundreds of critical data points per country — grid, environmental, zoning — to de-risk projects before a shovel hits the ground. ✅ Searching an entire German Bundesland for suitable land now takes minutes in Glint instead of months manually. ✅ AI-powered renderings are helping developers win over mayors and municipalities by visualizing projects before they're built. ✅ Grid data availability varies wildly by market — from open capacity data to a total black box — and Glint adapts its approach country by country. ✅ Recent funding is going straight into hiring across Europe and the US, and 2026 will bring more hybrid and co-location features. 🔗 Resources: Glint Solar - Official Website - https://www.glintsolar.ai Glint Solar on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/glint-solar 📲 Follow Soliverse and Peter for more insights and updates: Peter on LinkedIn: https://itl.ink/soliverseLI Soliverse X (Twitter): https://itl.ink/soliverseX 🎧 Listen on Buzzsprout: https://itl.ink/soliversebuzzprout 🎙️ New episodes release bi-weekly. Produced by APodcastGeek https://itl.ink/APodcastGeek 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 📲 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

  2. Aug 12 ·  Video

    Why Solar Developers Pay a Gate Fee When They Could Profit Instead ft. Dr. Jan-Philipp Mai | Soliverse Ep. 45

    Send us Fan Mail Solar panel recycling is about to flip from liability to profit center, and Dr. Jan-Philipp Mai explains exactly why. Solar developers and asset owners who treat end-of-life panels as a future disposal cost are sitting on roughly 110 billion euros of installed silver they have written off entirely. The failure is treating recycling as an inevitable gate fee rather than a recoverable asset. Dr. Mai's layer-by-layer silver extraction process at Solar Materials GmbH now recovers 60 to 80 percent of that silver, swinging the economics from 150 euros per ton charged to net positive returns and making the green business case inseparable from the profitable one. Dr. Mai traces his silicon obsession to a year-2000 high school presentation, a thread that led 26 years later to three interconnected companies: JPM Silicon as a technology holding company, Circular Silicon for material refining, and Better Cell for second-life applications, all operating under Solar Materials GmbH. The company scaled from 17 to 70 employees in roughly two years, driven by market timing, a unique silver-recovery edge, and deliberate team specialization. By 2030, Solar Materials targets 450,000 tons of panels under management, scaling through licensing in Australia, operator partnerships inside Europe, and joint ventures in India. Global panel waste sits around 100,000 tons annually today, a figure Dr. Mai projects will climb to millions of tons per year by 2030. The practical framework Dr. Mai offers cuts across every stakeholder role. EPCs and O&M firms that partner with a zero-gate-fee recycler can underbid competitors on decommissioning costs and win projects on that margin alone. Pension funds holding long-dated solar assets can reframe end-of-life provisions as a balance-sheet positive rather than a contingent liability. Critically, these economics already work without regulatory mandates, meaning first movers capture the arbitrage before compliance forces every asset owner to the same table. Waiting for regulation to confirm what the numbers already show is the costliest decision a solar asset owner can make. Connect with Dr. Jan-Philipp Mai: LinkedIn SOLAR MATERIALS 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 📲 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

    Why Solar Developers Pay a Gate Fee When They Could Profit Instead ft. Dr. Jan-Philipp Mai | Soliverse Ep. 45

  3. Jul 29 ·  Bonus Video

    Bonus Episode: Stanislas Van Der Vaeren from Sitemark, live at Intersolar Europe 2026 - Spotlight

    Send us Fan Mail This is a Soliverse Spotlight — a bonus, on-the-ground conversation recorded live at Intersolar Europe 2026. Peter Pongracz catches up with Stanislas Van Der Vaeren, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Sitemark, on day three of the show floor. Ten years after starting Sitemark as a drone hobby project with co-founder Maxime Bossens, Stan reflects on scaling to a 400 GW portfolio, what a decade of "software dog years" actually teaches you, and where the company is headed next — including a bold ten-year vision built around automation, robotics, and multi-asset expansion. Key topics: Ten years of Sitemark — from drone hobbyists to 400 GW under management The biggest lesson learned: listening to customers and solving simple problems well Sitemark's shift to multi-asset — solar, BESS, wind, hydro, and grid infrastructure Explosive US growth — now roughly half of company revenue The next ten years: closing the loop from data capture to autonomous resolution with drones and robots Takeaways: Sitemark now manages roughly 400 GW of renewable assets after a decade in business. The company's biggest challenge today isn't funding — it's hiring, with 15-16 open roles to fill by December. US revenue has grown to about half of Sitemark's total business in under three years, with contract sizes 4-5x larger than in Europe. Sitemark is expanding beyond solar into BESS, wind, hydro, and power line/grid infrastructure on one modular platform. The company's ten-year roadmap centers on automation and robotics — pairing digital twins with physical robots to detect, prioritize, and eventually resolve site issues autonomously. Resources: Sitemark - Official Website - https://www.sitemark.com Sitemark on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/sitemark Contact: peter@soliverse.energy 📲 Follow Soliverse and Peter for more insights and updates: Peter on LinkedIn: https://itl.ink/soliverseLI Soliverse X (Twitter): https://itl.ink/soliverseX 🎧 Listen on Buzzsprout: https://itl.ink/soliversebuzzprout 🎙️ New episodes release bi-weekly. This one's a bonus Spotlight from Intersolar Europe 2026. Produced by APodcastGeek https://itl.ink/APodcastGeek 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: 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 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 📲 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

  4. Jul 22 ·  Video

    The Hidden Cost of Too Many Tools in Solar Development Today ft. Douglas Geist | Soliverse Ep. 44

    Send us Fan Mail Solar developers and EPCs who assume more tools means better coverage are paying a hidden cost in wasted hours and lost data. Douglas Geist, Co-founder and CCO of PVcase, quantified the problem after surveying 400-plus industry professionals: teams are running six to twelve separate tools per project, losing control of their data at every internal handoff, and duplicating effort before a single wire is pulled. Geist's blueprint for collapsing that stack, built while scaling PVcase to a globally used solar design platform backed by over $120M raised, gives solar teams a concrete path from fragmented workflows to a unified design process that protects both margin and momentum. PVcase was born from an internal tool at co-founder David's engineering consultancy, where redesigns that once took two to three weeks were suddenly completed in a day or two. That speed caught the attention of major solar customers, who wanted direct access to the software. Early traction led to a first US appearance at SPI in 2018 or 2019, where the team discovered everything was in metric units and immediately rebuilt the unit logic after returning. The Anderson Optimization acquisition, completed three years ago, extended PVcase earlier into the project lifecycle by adding site selection to the design workflow. A fundraising round was run simultaneously to close that transaction, a deliberately opportunistic move Geist credits with averaging two to three hours of sleep per night for six months. Geist's core argument is that the real bottleneck in solar development is no longer design speed but what surrounds it: permitting, grid connection, and data continuity across six to twelve tools. For solar developers and EPCs, the highest-leverage investment right now is reducing handoff friction rather than adding more point solutions. The Anderson acquisition shows how PVcase is acting on this by closing the gap between site selection and design in one platform. Geist also flags that speculative early-stage project flipping is effectively dead in the current market, and that only projects with existing permitting approval carry real transactional value. Connect with Douglas Geist: LinkedIn PVcase: Website LinkedIn 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 📲 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

    The Hidden Cost of Too Many Tools in Solar Development Today ft. Douglas Geist | Soliverse Ep. 44

  5. Jul 15 ·  Bonus Video

    Bonus episode: Christophe Lits on Global Market Outlook 2030

    Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Peter Pongracz sits down with Christophe Lits, Senior Market Analyst at @SolarPowerEurope, live at Intersolar Europe 2026 to unpack the freshly launched Global Market Outlook for Solar Power. They dig into the slowdown in global growth momentum, China's shift away from guaranteed feed-in tariffs, Europe's first-ever expected installation decline, and why battery storage is becoming the make-or-break factor for the next phase of solar deployment. Key topics: Global solar market growth slowing from 80% to 30% to 12% year-on-year China's Article 136 reform and the shift from feed-in tariffs to market pricing Europe's first anticipated drop in annual PV installations Grid curtailment and negative electricity prices driving the storage pivot EU's new 200 GWh battery storage target for 2030 Takeaways: 2025 was a record year for solar with 664 GW installed globally, up 12% YoY. China is moving PV developers from secured tariffs to market-based electricity pricing, partly due to emerging grid constraints. Europe expects its first-ever installation decline in 2026, driven by falling residential subsidies and utility-scale developers pausing amid curtailment risk. Battery storage is now the critical enabler for renewed solar growth from 2027 onward. Solar's 2025 generation could cover five years of LNG shipments to the Strait of Hormuz — a striking energy security data point from the report. Resources: SolarPower Europe - Official Website - https://www.solarpowereurope.org Global Market Outlook for Solar Power 2026-2030 - https://www.solarpowereurope.org/insights/outlooks/global-solar-market-outlook-2026-2030 European Battery Outlook 2026-2030 - https://www.solarpowereurope.org/insights/outlooks 📲 Follow Soliverse and Peter for more insights and updates: Peter on LinkedIn: https://itl.ink/soliverseLI Soliverse X (Twitter): https://itl.ink/soliverseX 🎧 Listen on Buzzsprout: https://itl.ink/soliversebuzzprout 🎙️ New episodes release bi-weekly. Produced by APodcastGeek https://itl.ink/APodcastGeek 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 📲 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

  6. Jul 8 ·  Video

    The Soft Costs and Permits Keeping US Rooftop Solar Unaffordable | Soliverse Ep. 43

    Send us Fan Mail Rooftop solar costs seven times more in the US than in Australia, and most energy professionals don't know why. Gavin Mooney, energy and utilities software expert based in Australia, breaks down how a 7-kilowatt system runs around 4,000 USD in Australia versus 28,000 USD in the US, pointing to the specific soft-cost and permitting reforms that created that gap. Where American and European markets treat slow approvals and high sales overhead as fixed realities, Gavin explains the structural decisions Australia made that other markets can directly copy, and why those same conditions now make Australia the world leader in battery storage deployment relative to grid size. Gavin traces Australia's battery lead directly to its rooftop solar saturation: more than four million households, roughly one in three nationally, already have panels, and in South Australia the figure hits one in two. That midday generation flood drove the Hornsdale Power Reserve, installed in 2017 at just over 100 megawatt hours, and the market has since scaled to gigawatt-hour and multi-gigawatt-hour projects, with Chile the only country close in deployment rate relative to grid size. On costs, Gavin contrasts Australia's end-of-week installation turnaround against US permitting delays stretching weeks or months, state-level rule fragmentation, and high customer acquisition costs, pinpointing these soft-cost gaps as the core reason the same 7-kilowatt system costs 10,000 USD in Germany and 28,000 USD in the US. Listeners in US or European markets get a concrete reform checklist from Gavin's cross-market comparison: compress permitting timelines, reduce customer acquisition overhead, and increase installer competition. On storage, he explains why arbitrage windows are wide right now as midday wholesale prices go negative, but warns that growing battery capacity will compress that spread, making early mover advantage real. He also frames demand flexibility, EV charging, hot water systems, pool pumps, and dynamic tariffs including Australia's three-hour free electricity windows, as the fastest and cheapest lever to absorb excess solar before new transmission is needed. Software orchestration, not manual consumer action, is what makes any of it scale beyond early adopters. Connect with Gavin Mooney: LinkedIn 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 📲 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

    The Soft Costs and Permits Keeping US Rooftop Solar Unaffordable | Soliverse Ep. 43

  7. Jun 24 ·  Video

    Your Electricity Supplier Knows What You're Watching on TV | Soliverse Ep. 42

    Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Peter Pongracz sits down with Bradley Mundt, CEO and Co-Founder of PLAN-B NET ZERO AG, to explore why a renewable energy company is building something that looks a lot more like a tech lifestyle brand than a traditional electricity supplier. Bradley breaks down the concept of Neo Energy: the idea that solar industry insights and clean electricity can be packaged the same way Revolut or N26 packaged banking, with full transparency, real-time pricing, and an AI-driven app that knows your household better than you do. He explains how smart meters can read electricity usage so precisely they can identify individual appliances, and why that data layer is central to Plan B Net Zero's strategy. For anyone following battery storage markets or the evolution of the B2C energy sector in Germany, this is a revealing look at how one company is trying to change what customers expect from their energy supplier. The conversation also covers grid resilience and what households and businesses genuinely underestimate about energy security until something goes wrong. Bradley draws on his background as a day trader to explain why emotional discipline and flexibility matter as much in energy markets as they do on a trading desk. He touches on the ongoing geopolitical pressures reshaping European utility scale solar and storage investment, and why the answer to most energy dilemmas comes down to one word: autonomy. Bradley also previews Plan B Net Zero's plans for a Q3 2026 IPO and the company's next moves in the app, digital energy, and cross-industry partnership space. If you are interested in renewable energy podcast conversations that go beyond project finance and grid connection challenges and into the business model of the energy transition itself, this episode is one to bookmark. Connect with Bradley Mundt: LinkedIn Website 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 📲 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

  8. Jun 10 ·  Video

    How Sand Batteries Are Quietly Solving Industrial Heat Emissions | Soliverse Ep. 41

    Send us Fan Mail Most discussions around energy storage focus on electricity. But what if the bigger opportunity is heat? In this episode of Soliverse, Peter Pongracz speaks with Tommi Eronen, CEO and Co-Founder of Polar Night Energy, the company behind the world's first commercial sand battery. Tommi shares the story behind the technology, how thermal energy storage works, and why industrial heat remains one of the most overlooked challenges in the global energy transition. The conversation covers thermal storage economics, district heating, industrial decarbonization, project deployment in Finland, and Polar Night Energy's vision for scaling Heat as a Service across Europe. Connect with Tommi Eronen: LinkedIn Polar Night Energy 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 📲 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

    How Sand Batteries Are Quietly Solving Industrial Heat Emissions | Soliverse Ep. 41
See All (49)

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Peter Pongracz
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    49
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 © 2026 Soliverse 437905
  • Show Website
    Soliverse | The Future of Solar