This Week in Solar

Exact Solar
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A weekly look at what's new in solar, brought to you by Exact Solar. Clean energy news, policy updates, and stories that matter. exactsolar.substack.com

  1. The Complete List of States Considering Plug-In Solar

    4D AGO

    The Complete List of States Considering Plug-In Solar

    What’s new: As of March 2026, 1 state has passed legislation to legalize plug-in solar kits, and 29 states are considering legalizing them, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey (though bills in PA and New Jersey are currently stalled). Today’s email includes a complete list of all the states considering this shift, and a link to the relevant legislation. Plug-in solar kits are small, DIY systems that connect directly to standard 120-volt wall outlets. People can put them anywhere that gets direct sunlight, plug them into a standard outlet, and use the output to lower their electricity bills. Why it matters: Plug-in solar is the most significant deregulation of residential energy in decades. Since Utah legalized it last year, thousands of residents have installed kits. In Utah, these kits are legally treated like appliances rather than professional construction projects, so they don’t require permits. 70% of Americans have historically been locked out of the solar market due to rental status, roof design, or high upfront costs. Plug-in solar helps change that. Which Bills Are Close to Passing? * Colorado’s HB26-1007 advanced through committee last week with a 9-2 vote, and passed the House yesterday (March 5th, 2026) by a vote of 48-16. This bill makes it illegal for a utility to prohibit these kits and allows up to 1,920 watts per meter, 60% higher than Utah’s limit. * Vermont’s S. 202 passed the Senate with a unanimous 29-0 vote in late January. The bill allows systems up to 1,200 watts per meter. * Washington’s HB 2296 passed the House 56-38 in February and is now sitting in the Senate Rules Committee. This bill specifically prevents Homeowners’ Associations (HOAs) and landlords from banning plug-in solar devices and also sets a 1,200-watt limit per meter. * New Hampshire’s SB 540 moved out of the Senate in mid-February with an "Ought to Pass" recommendation. This bill prohibits utilities from charging any extra fees or requiring prior approval for plug-in kits. It also caps the systems at 1,200 watts per meter. Which Bills Are Dead? * Georgia’s HB 1304 effectively died in late February. Despite bipartisan sponsorship, House Bill 1304 was “held” by the Energy, Utilities & Telecommunications Committee without a vote after intense opposition from Georgia Power and the state’s Electric Membership Corporations (EMCs). * Wyoming’s “Affordable Electricity Act of 2026” also failed to advance out of committee this February after the House Transportation, Highways & Military Affairs Committee declined to move the bill forward after hearing testimony almost exclusively from utility representatives. Utilities in Georgia and Wyoming mainly focused their arguments on: * An inability to ensure safety if consumers use this tech * The idea that people who pay less for power wouldn’t be paying their fair share for grid upkeep A Complete List of States Considering Plug-In Solar Below is a list of states considering similar legislation. Utah HB 340 - Enacted (2025) Colorado HB26-1007 - Advanced (Passed Committee and House) Vermont S. 202 / H. 598 - Advanced (Passed Senate) Virginia HB 395 / HB 289 - Advanced (Passed Senate) Washington HB 2296 - Advanced (In Senate Committees) New Hampshire SB 540 - Advanced (On Track) New Jersey S 4982 / S 2368 - Advanced (On Track) Illinois HB 4371 - Advanced (On Track) Oregon HB 4080 - Advanced California SB 868 - Introduced New York S 8512 / A 9111 - Introduced Connecticut HB 5340 - Introduced Idaho HB 612 - Introduced Arizona HB 2843 - Introduced Pennsylvania HB 1971 - Introduced Alaska HB 257 - Introduced Hawaii HB 2435 - Introduced Maryland HB 39 / HB 0345 - Introduced Indiana SB 74 / HB 1084 - Introduced Iowa HF 2046 - Introduced Maine LD 1730 - Introduced Minnesota HF 3555 - Introduced Rhode Island H 7269 - Introduced Oklahoma HB 4060 - Introduced Missouri HB 2444 / 2528 - Introduced South Carolina HB 4579 - Introduced New Mexico SB 157 - Introduced Washington DC HR 1047 - Introduced Georgia HB 1304 - Sidelined/Dead (Not Voted On) Wyoming HB 146 - Dead (Voted Down) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit exactsolar.substack.com

    4 min
  2. Perovskite is About to Change Solar Forever: Scott Wharton

    6D AGO

    Perovskite is About to Change Solar Forever: Scott Wharton

    In this episode of This Week in Solar, host Aaron Nichols sits down with Scott Wharton, CEO of Tandem PV, to explore the new frontier of renewable energy: perovskite solar technology. They discuss why traditional silicon panels are reaching their physical limits, how “tandem” structures are shattering efficiency records, and why this new material is a game-changer for everything from utility-scale power plants to NASA spacecraft. You can connect with Scott on LinkedIn here. Listen to this episode here, or on: * YouTube * Apple Podcasts * Spotify Expect to learn: * Why NASA is betting on perovskites to power spacecraft. * How perovskite panels reach way higher efficiencies than traditional silicon ones. * The three hurdles (efficiency, durability, and scalability) that perovskite must clear to survive in today’s solar market. Quote from the episode: “Silicon took 60 years to get to where it is today. Perovskites took about a dozen years… It’s a completely new material science that’s revolutionizing the solar industry.” — Scott Wharton Transcript: Aaron Nichols: Scott, I’m really excited to have you on today because I don’t know anything about perovskite solar panels yet other than the fact that NASA’s really interested in them for space travel. So, where do normal solar panels fall short and why are perovskite panels the future of solar energy? Scott Wharton: Well, normal solar panels today get about 22% efficiency, so basically for every hundred beams of light that hit the panel, they can convert about 22 of them to electricity. With perovskite tandem panels, we’re already over 29% and the theoretical limit is between 45 and 50%. So the current solar panels basically, through the laws of physics, probably can only get to 26%, so they’re already kind of tapping out for what they can get. If you want to be able to get higher efficiency and power density, almost everyone in the industry agrees that these perovskite tandem—I’ll explain that in a minute—is going to be the future. Now, perovskite itself is a crystal structure, and it was discovered about a couple hundred years ago. It was named after Dr. Perovsky, a Russian dude and scientist. And the fun fact is, if you go underneath the Earth’s crust about 400 miles, more than 90% of it is perovskite. Aaron Nichols: Really? Scott Wharton: But we don’t do any mining or minerals or anything. We basically make it synthetically in a lab. So there’s no earth metals and minerals and mining and we create this very thin layer that is less than one micron thick and it only weighs actually two grams. So it’s super thin and light, but it adds all this more power to a solar panel. So it’s basically a completely new material science that’s revolutionizing the solar industry. Aaron Nichols: That’s amazing. And for anyone listening, welcome back to This Week in Solar. As always, I’m your host Aaron Nichols. Our guest today is Scott Wharton; he’s the CEO of Tandem PV, which I don’t quite understand how Tandem PV works. So, if you’d introduce yourself and the company, that’d be amazing. Scott Wharton: Yeah, so first, I’ll start with my background. I am a startup junkie. This is my fifth startup. Clearly there’s something wrong with me; I like to continue to do this over and over again. I’ve been very fortunate in my career. The first two companies I did early stage, they were both in the voice-over-IP telecom space, both of them IPO’d on NASDAQ, the second company got sold to Cisco for $2 billion. Then I started the world’s first cloud video conferencing service called VidTel. So I like to say, I had the right idea, but it was three years earlier than Zoom. So I was a little early, ended up selling the company, and then my wife and I loved traveling. Aaron Nichols: Pre-COVID? Scott Wharton: Yeah, this was—we started it in 2008 and then we sold it in 2013. So my wife and I love traveling. So what we did is we got rid of our house and our cars and we pulled our boys, then 10 and 13, out of school and we backpacked around the world for a year with a bag a little bit bigger than a carry-on. I hope probably that’s another discussion in your head. But then when I got back my wife said, “Would you mind not doing another startup for a while?” So, I went to this company that almost everyone here knows called Logitech, and I built the world’s biggest video conferencing hardware business. So this headset, the webcam, a lot of the conference room systems that people are using around the world—Zoom, Microsoft, Google—were something me and my team built up basically from scratch to over a billion dollars a year organically. Before I came to Tandem PV, I was running a $2 billion a year global manufacturing business for Logitech. And so I’ve been here about two and a half years. Came into the company not as a founder, but there were two brilliant founders who both had PhDs from Stanford in Material Science and Applied Physics—you know, “dumb guys.” And then basically came in to help commercialize the company to go from late-stage R&D to commercialization, which is—I’m sure we’ll talk about—that’s where we’re here now. And then the company itself, the reason why it’s called “Tandem” is that we basically make a solar panel sandwich. We put this perovskite layer on top, we take the traditional silicon cells that are commodity in the bottom. And by having the two layers, you’re actually able to capture a lot more light than you can from one of the other. Aaron Nichols: That’s amazing. And where do these perovskites come from? Because once again, like I said, I don’t know anything about them, other than the fact that NASA’s so interested in them. So where are they? You mentioned that we’re not mining a lot of them? Are they synthetically created? Scott Wharton: Yeah, exactly right. We make them in a lab. So we make them in a lab here in California. And then you don’t need to mine them, although I guess that they’re all over the planet—Earth is full of them. But we make them synthetically and relatively inexpensively, and then we process them and convert them into solar panels. And as it turns out, perovskites are incredibly good and efficient solar panel materials. They’re essentially semiconductors. Aaron Nichols: Why is that? Why are they better at conducting or absorbing sunlight or whatever it is they do? Scott Wharton: There’s a couple of reasons why. One is that they are actually 200 times thinner than a traditional silicon panel, so it’s a lot cheaper to make. It ends up you putting a thin film down glass, so it’s more like making a TV from a manufacturing process point of view. As I said earlier, it doesn’t use any rare earth minerals or metals or mining, so it’s relatively inexpensive to create the materials. And then it only uses about 10% of the energy to make it. We can make it at a lot lower temperature than traditional silicon panels, which—they’re silicon, they’re sand—you have to heat them up to thousands of degrees and then purify them. We don’t need to do that. So there are physics and cost advantages. And then the last thing is we’re able to stack them because the perovskite captures a different part of the light than the silicon does. There’s this thing called the band gap, which is how much light can you capture, and we’re just able to capture a lot more light collectively than you can with just perovskites or silicon. So the name of the company “Tandem” was actually formed with this idea of creating stackable solar panels technologies as opposed to just using one of the other. Aaron Nichols: Okay, so integrating perovskite with existing silicon technology so that everything is more efficient. Scott Wharton: That’s what we’re doing today. In the future, we might engineer out the silicon where it’s perovskite and perovskite, but today, primarily it’s perovskite plus silicon. Aaron Nichols: Okay, so that was my next question and you went ahead and answered it for me. So you’re already a step ahead of me, but I was interested in why it takes so much less energy to produce. Now you mentioned that you have to heat silicon—or the sand to create silicon—to a very high temperature in order to refine it. But what do you have to do with perovskite to refine it? Scott Wharton: Yeah, so part of the reason why silicon and the so-called polysilicon technology is primarily in China is that it’s so energy intensive and relatively dirty. So like 98% of polysilicon comes from China today, so they almost completely dominate it. With perovskites, it’s just you heat it up to a much lower temperature to basically turn it into a crystal structure. So we did a study with Columbia University some years back and estimated it’s about 10% of the energy needed. So it’s an order of magnitude cheaper to make from that point of view as well. Aaron Nichols: So then what are the raw building blocks that you’re using? Scott Wharton: Well, you know, that’s our “Coca-Cola formulation.” They’re all about it, but it’s nothing exotic. One example of something that we use in our product is iodine—pretty simple molecules and chemicals. Aaron Nichols: Okay. Yeah, you can just pull it right out of table salt and throw it into the factory. Scott Wharton: Yeah, in a way, yeah. Aaron Nichols: Nice. Well, so, I mean, the thing I’m most excited to talk about is why these are better for spacecraft and why NASA is so interested in developing these? Scott Wharton: Yeah, there’s a couple of reasons for that. One is because they’re so much thinner than silicon, you can make them quite a bit lighter. Now, obviously, you need thinner materials like glass or stuff, but there are companies like Corning and others that make very thin glass for space. That’s number one. Number two, perovskites are particularly resistant to radiation, so

    23 min

  3. FEB 27

    What You Should Know About Plug-In Solar

    Last Friday, we did an episode about the 24 states considering legalizing plug-in solar. It’s already our most listened-to episode by far since starting This Week In Solar, so we thought we’d take a deeper dive this week. What Is Plug-In Solar? For decades, going solar has been a big project, requiring: * Home ownership * Thousands of dollars in permits * Permanent roof modifications (in most cases) But in the last few years, we’ve started to see mass market “plug-and-play” solar kits all around the world. These are often called “balcony solar” systems because anyone can slap them on a balcony, plug them into a standard wall outlet, and reduce their electric bills. In many European countries, you can buy these kits in retail stores, go home, hang them on a railing, and start saving money immediately. I was in Europe last fall with my family, and I can verify that these kits are absolutely everywhere. (Fun fact, the German word for them is Balkonkraftwerke). The History of Balcony Solar This idea isn’t new. As far back as 2011, when the U.S. Department of Energy launched the SunShot initiative, it included a $25 million grant specifically for “Plug and Play” solar innovation. However, for the last 15 years, American plug-in solar adoption has been stalled by utility rules only designed for one-way power flow and the permitting nightmares that plague the solar industry. While the U.S. stagnated, Germany became the global testing ground for balcony solar. Following a 2019 move to streamline utility connection rules, adoption there exploded. By 2023, Germany saw a quadrupling of legal interconnected systems, proving that if you remove red tape, the public will choose to own their own power. As of mid-2025, Germany had nearly 800,000 registered balcony solar installations. Why Europe is So Far Ahead * High Electricity Rates: Energy prices in Europe have historically been much higher than in the U.S., meaning that a $600 kit pays for itself in less than three years. * Rental Culture: Over half of Germans rent their homes. The “Solar Package I” policy of 2024 legally protected tenants’ rights to install these systems. It put the burden of proof to deny them on the landlords, who must now provide documentation if they want to refuse a balcony solar system to a tenant. * Standardization: Europe adopted a standard 800W inverter capacity limit for these systems, which allowed these kits to be treated as household appliances rather than power plants. UL 3700 Saves The Day? We’re finally seeing enough demand for balcony solar that a major breakthrough in the U.S. market happened on January 7, 2026. UL Solutions, a company that provides independent testing, inspection, and certification of all kinds of products, released certification documentation that addresses the major safety hurdles. This includes things like: * Touch Safety: The system must shut off power to the plug’s metal prongs in less than one second if it’s unplugged, preventing shock risks. * Breaker Masking: Systems must monitor the total current in a circuit to ensure that the combined power from the grid and the panels never exceeds the safe limits of your home’s wiring. Now that plug-in solar kits can be built to an agreed-upon set of standards, utility companies don’t have as strong a case, and there’s less for legislators to push back on. So, Which States Are Thinking of Legalizing? Currently, more than 24 states are advancing bills to legalize these systems. Here is where the major players stand: * Utah (The Pioneer): Passed HB 340 in 2025, allowing plug-in systems up to 1.2 kW without utility approval or fees. * Virginia: HB 395 is currently moving through the Senate. Similar to Germany’s solution, it would prevent localities and landlords from prohibiting portable solar for apartment dwellers. * California: The “Plug Into the Sun Act” (SB 868) is currently before the Senate Energy Committee. It aims to reclassify these kits as appliances like toaster ovens to bypass expensive permits. * New York: The SUNNY Act (SB 8512) seeks to remove regulatory barriers specifically to provide “equitable access” for renters in high-density urban areas. * Maine & New England: Bills are currently moving through committees in Maine, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire to help residents combat some of the highest utility rate hikes in the country. What’s Standing in the Way? The final hurdle is utility resistance. Monopoly utilities in states like Wyoming and Arizona have successfully lobbied to kill plug-in bills, arguing that they cannot be assured of the quality of consumer-installed products. On February 20th, Wyoming actually voted its bill down. Their protests are mostly based on “islanding,” saying that a system might stay energized during an outage or grid repair, posing a risk to line workers. However, as we now know, UL 3700-certified kits are engineered to shut down instantly during outages. While we wait for the states and federal government to legalize these kits, there are several companies taking matters into their own hands, like Raya Power. Raya’s built a combined solar and battery kit that anyone, including renters, can buy and install themselves. It: * Bypasses the electric panel and backs up critical appliances directly, eliminating any worries about backfeeding the grid * Lowers bills by running those critical appliances with solar and battery power * Backs those appliances up in emergencies Hopefully, as this technology becomes too good to say no to, we’ll see more solutions like Raya’s. Sources: Power surge: law changes could soon bring balcony solar to millions across the US UL Solutions Debuts Testing and Certification Framework for Safer Plug-In Solar Across the United States How to build a balcony solar kit to UL certification Lawmaker announces bipartisan plan to allow plug-and-play solar panels in new US markets: ‘People can … just go to Costco or Ikea’ The Plug-In Solar Revolution Comes To America Lawmakers pull the cord on plug-in solar bill The SunShot Initiative Lawmakers pull the cord on plug-in solar bill Raya Power This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit exactsolar.substack.com

    7 min
  4. The Major Problem With Clean Energy Marketing: Jacob Yang

    FEB 25

    The Major Problem With Clean Energy Marketing: Jacob Yang

    In this episode, Aaron talks with Jacob Yang, the Founder and CEO of Amp Your Story. After realizing there was no central hub for clean energy marketers, Jacob launched Amp Your Story to unite the global community. He is on a mission to bridge the gap between technical expertise and world-class storytelling, and already has members on four continents. Connect with Jacob on LinkedIn here. Listen to this episode on: * YouTube * Apple Podcasts * Spotify Expect to learn: * How the clean energy industry’s “branding problem” (being 90% focused on technology and only 10% on brand) is hurting us, where it came from, and how we fix it. * Why Jacob took a leap of faith to create a global community for clean energy marketers. * Jacob’s “LinkedIn Hierarchy of Value” anyone can use to build an exponentially growing, targeted network. Quotes from the episode: “We don’t need to be good at everything, but we need a place to have support for the strengths that we don’t have.” — Jacob Yang “How do we take the best of the best in the world and incorporate that into our industry so we work better as an entire sector together?” — Jacob Yang Transcript: Aaron Nichols: Jacob, why do you feel called to unite clean energy marketers? Jacob Yang: I really wanted to be part of a group that did exactly that and when I did my due diligence and went online, looked for the opportunities. There just wasn’t anything out there that really aligned with what I was looking for. And so I put the feelers out. I asked my own community: “If I put this group together, what would you think?” and the amount of responses that were positive were overwhelming. And so I took a leap of faith and I created Amp Your Story to provide clean energy marketers with tools, resources, and community at a global scale to help them out. Aaron Nichols: So it was one of those cases of just what you wanted didn’t exist so you made it. Jacob Yang: 100%. Yeah. Aaron Nichols: That’s—yeah. And I mean I can attest to the awesomeness of it. I’ve been to a couple coffee chats and a couple speaker series now and it’s a wonderful group. And you’re really curating some awesomeness there. Jacob Yang: I appreciate that. Thanks. Yeah. Aaron Nichols: So would you like to introduce yourself and talk a bit about Amp Your Story? Jacob Yang: Absolutely. So I am the founder and CEO of Amp Your Story. Again, it’s the online global clean energy marketing community. Currently, we have 74 members across four continents, and we have a committee as well with 10 individuals—11 including myself. We really focus on two main verticals. So you think on the left hand, you’ve got clean energy facets of solar, wind, and BEST (Battery Energy Storage Systems) which are very common and predominant in the industry, but you also think about geothermal, nuclear, and other facets. And then on the right hand is all the functions of marketing. And so going back to the committee, one of the reasons I realized I needed one was because I have some strong strengths in marketing, but as you know, none of us could do it all. And so I needed people from public relations and comms, design, content marketing, and event activation to help bridge that gap. So when people come to the community, they feel like they have a source of truth that they can rely on. And it’s not even that we always have the answer, but we’re willing to go that extra step to help people find the sources they’re looking for. And that ranges from everything from revenue attribution tools, which is a constant struggle in marketing, to “how do I elevate my conversations to people who are constant blockers,” like the Chief Financial Officer or the Chief Operating Officer. That’s a constant struggle, I think, on the marketing side—to flip the script from a cost center to a “must-have” and a revenue generator. And then in clean energy, you know, there’s people that come in who have great marketing skills—they might have been on the oil and gas side and then felt like “this doesn’t really align with what I’m trying to do long-term”—or it just might be that they want to get into clean energy as a whole, or they just are a bit newer to the concept. So they might be three weeks into their role, three months in, and they need something to guide them more than just the marketing tasks they do on a daily basis. Aaron Nichols: Well, for anyone who’s listening, welcome back to This Week in Solar. As always, I’m your host, Aaron Nichols, the Research and Policy Specialist here at Exact Solar in Newtown, Pennsylvania. Our guest today is Jacob Yang; as he mentioned, he’s the founder and CEO of Amp Your Story. He’s also blowing up on LinkedIn right now, and he’s doing a great job of just unifying clean energy marketers, which I think is awesome. As you mentioned in your answer before, none of us can do it all. For example, I am one of the world’s most incompetent graphic designers. Very bad at it. I’m interested, what is the thing that isn’t in your marketing skill set? Jacob Yang: You know, as many compliments as I’ve gotten on the logo and the branding of Amp Your Story, I will say I had a little support. I reached out to a contractor and I said, “Hey look, I’m creating something that has to be world-class. I’ll pay you that top dollar, I just want it to be the best possible experience.” So when I go into the experts who do this for a living, they can be like, “Oh, this is legit. I like this. I resonate with this.” And so I think it really comes back to: we don’t need to be good at everything, but we need a place to have support for the strengths that we don’t have. And I think that example resonates because everything above the branding, I gave a lot of thought to. It was like, what are the colors that so many solar EPCs and developers use? Aaron Nichols: Oh yeah, what’s their branding? It’s like orange. It’s really funny. Because ours are blue and yellow. Jacob Yang: Yeah, and so it’s these like recurring themes that you see and I want it to be relatable. And it was even like the font, we’re doing Montserrat. I wanted something to feel bold and impressive and really stand against the status quo of “we’ve never had this, we’ve always wanted it, and now it’s here.” Aaron Nichols: That’s so beautiful man, it’s wonderful to hear that you put that level of thought into it and to understand that that’s what was going on behind the scenes, because obviously I only see the front end and I didn’t know that story till now. I know that you are in the process of becoming a top 1% LinkedIn expert, and you have advised a lot of clean energy companies on how they can do better on LinkedIn. So what’s one glaring thing that you think a lot of clean energy companies miss about LinkedIn as a platform? Where do you think they leave money on the table? Like, what do you walk in day one and say “here’s what you can do better” normally? Jacob Yang: The beautiful thing about LinkedIn is every touch point in a company—every employee, in some capacity—is most likely using the platform. So, the first thing that I talk about is not even the growth hacks—and I get into those too, you know, like how do you save money and drive half a million ad views from a hundred bucks and all those fun things. But it’s like, if you’re spending every morning on LinkedIn as an executive, what are the functions you do? If you’re scrolling and you’re clicking on these posts and you’re just doing a “like,” that probably has the least amount of weight on the level of engagement you bring to the people in your network. And so one of the things I walk them through was like, okay, it’s likes and comments, then reposts and original content. And that’s kind of the wheel I use to guide them from least valuable to most valuable. And even small crevices, like the difference between liking a post and finding it insightful, right? You’ve got a post that’s got 10 individuals who have liked it and you only see blue, and you want to stand out to the crowd? You put the yellow and insightful emoji to that as opposed to a like. It’s small details that add up in accumulation over six months where all of a sudden people are like, “Okay, they’re finally seeing my content,” instead of just feeling like “I think I’m doing it right but I’m not really sure.” Aaron Nichols: That’s about how long it took for me when I started writing on the platform; it was about six months before anyone noticed. So I think that is a very important piece to hit on for anyone who does want to create content on LinkedIn—it’s a slow grind in the beginning but it’s an exponential growth factor a few months or years in. I think it’s beautiful that you hit on that point that everyone in your company is probably already using it as well, because it might be the only platform that’s true of, because everybody puts their resume on at some point. So almost everybody has created an account, and you would really just have to go back through the team and have everybody turn on creator mode, rather than them having to go back and learn how to post on Facebook or create a whole Instagram account. It’s already there. Work history is already there. Jacob Yang: 100%. And I think it’s just looking at it with a critical eye. Like, there’s no key piece that I can say was what got me to be successful on LinkedIn; it was an accumulation. I audited my entire network. You know, I had, I think, two or 3,000 followers. Not a lot of connections, and I audited them all and with the exceptions of close colleagues and friends, I knew I wanted that space and capacity to be for clean energy marketers. I wanted to make sure—whether it was one person, ten, a hundred or a thousand—that the right people are seeing my content. And so it’s the same when you’re an exec

    17 min
  5. More States Consider Legalizing Plug-In Solar

    FEB 20

    More States Consider Legalizing Plug-In Solar

    What’s New: Inspired by Europe’s balcony solar boom, more than two dozen U.S. states are considering legalizing plug-in solar systems. These kits allow anyone (yes, even renters) to generate their own power by simply mounting their panels somewhere that receives direct sunlight and plugging their panels into a standard 120V wall outlet. The panels then “backfeed” the grid and lower the residents’ electricity bills. Last year, Utah became the first state to greenlight the technology with HB 340. This new law: * Removes red tape: Prohibits utilities from requiring prior approval for systems under 1.2 kW. * Eliminates fees: Stops utilities from charging extra “hookup” or application fees for these small units. * Standardizes safety: Requires certification from recognized labs like UL Solutions before retailers can sell these kits. Why It Matters: Traditional rooftop solar averages $20,000 and requires home ownership. Plug-in kits can retail for less than $2,000 and can reduce a typical utility bill by roughly 20%. They’re also portable, so renters can take them from home to home. For the 57 million U.S. households currently locked out of the solar market, this would be a huge win for energy equity. So What’s Standing In The Way? Three primary hurdles prevent plug-in solar from being legal everywhere in the U.S. today: * The “One-Way” Grid: Most U.S. electrical codes assume power only flows from the grid into the home. Plug-in solar reverses this. Without updated legislation, utilities view this “backfeeding” as a violation of existing service contracts (but there are also some legitimate safety reasons). * Safety Concerns: * Circuit Overload: Critics worry that if a panel feeds power into a circuit already running a heavy load (like a space heater), the combined current could overheat wires without tripping the breaker. * Shock Risk: Standard plugs aren’t designed to carry live power on the prongs. If a unit is unplugged while the sun is shining, the metal blades could remain energized for a few seconds. * Certification Gaps: Major retailers like Home Depot and Costco won’t stock these units until national safety standards (like UL 3700) are finalized and manufacturers have time to certify their products. The Bottom Line: Legislators in states like New Jersey, Maine, New York, California, and twenty others are betting that passing legislation with clear rules and engineered safeguards like dedicated circuits or smart power controllers will solve the safety issues. This will then allow people who are normally locked out of the solar market to save billions on their energy bills as prices for power rise across the country. New Jersey Data Center Adds Storage to Solar Array What’s New: Iron Mountain is transforming its Edison, New Jersey data center (which is already powered by solar) into a “dynamic grid asset” by adding a 23-MWh battery energy storage system (BESS). The project will integrate with the facility’s existing 7.2-MW rooftop solar array (one of the largest in North America) to create a localized, carbon-free energy ecosystem that Iron Mountain can draw from as needed. Why it matters: Data centers are massive power users that often strain local grids. By pairing on-site solar with storage, Iron Mountain can now: * Stabilize the grid: They can draw on their battery power during peak local demand to prevent added grid stress from their huge power demand. * Guarantee uptime: They can ensure 24/7 operations without relying on fossil fuels for backup infrastructure. * Control costs: They can optimize when they draw power from the grid to avoid expensive peak-hour rates. This project is a major milestone in Iron Mountain’s commitment to 24/7 carbon-free energy (CFE), where every hour of electricity consumption is matched by local renewable sources. On-site solar and storage are becoming a trend for AI providers. Underneath the AI technology race is an energy arms race. The companies that win the AI race will be the ones that invest in owning their own energy with solar and storage. Sources: States Weigh Bills to Allow You to Make Your Own Electricity - The New York Times Balcony plug-in solar panels: Are we ready for this new era of accessible energy? The Plug-In Solar Revolution Comes To America NJ data center already equipped with solar is now adding on-site energy storage Iron Mountain partners with energy storage firm Calibrant to deploy 23MWh BESS unit at New Jersey data center - DCD This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit exactsolar.substack.com

    5 min
  6. How We Get Solar On Every Warehouse In America: Belle Sherwood

    FEB 18

    How We Get Solar On Every Warehouse In America: Belle Sherwood

    In this episode of This Week in Solar, host Aaron Nichols talks with Belle Sherwood, Clean Energy Advocate at PennEnvironment, about why we don’t see more solar on warehouse rooftops. Warehouses represent billions of square feet of flat, unshaded roof space, perfect for solar. Yet less than five percent of warehouses have solar. What gives? Listen to this episode here, or on: * YouTube * Apple Podcasts * Spotify Expect to Learn: * Why warehouse rooftops are one of the biggest untapped solar opportunities in the country * The key barriers holding back warehouse solar today * What legislation in Pennsylvania could unlock solar-ready warehouses statewide Quotes: “Warehouse rooftops solve a lot of the objections people have about solar. These roofs are already built and not being used for anything else.”- Belle Sherwood Many warehouse owners simply don’t know how much solar could benefit them.”- Belle Sherwood Transcript: Aaron Nichols:Belle, I am really excited to talk about solar on warehouses because covering warehouses and parking lots with solar is a huge goal of mine. One of the most common objections people have about solar is that it’s ugly, which I guess in a neighborhood you’re allowed to have that preference, but it’s very hard to argue that a fulfillment warehouse looks worse with solar on it. So what do we need to get solar on more warehouses in Pennsylvania? How can we get there? Belle Sherwood:Yeah, I appreciate you touching on a lot of the concerns people have about it being ugly or in the way. That’s why solar on warehouse rooftops and rooftops in general is really the answer to a lot of those concerns. One of the biggest things we need to get more solar on warehouses is awareness. Most people, including warehouse owners and developers, know about solar in general and may know about the environmental benefits, but they don’t always know the specific benefits of putting solar on rooftops, especially warehouse rooftops. There’s massive solar potential being ignored when we don’t cover these flat, unshaded, sun-facing roofs with panels. So the biggest hurdle is simply letting people know about the benefits and the scale of the opportunity. The second thing we need is more incentives. Like residential solar, the upfront cost is a major barrier. Warehouses face similar challenges, including roof work and electrical upgrades. More incentives would help warehouses make the jump and start the process. Aaron Nichols:For everyone listening, welcome back to This Week in Solar. I’m your host Aaron Nichols, the research and policy specialist here at Exact Solar in Newtown, Pennsylvania. Today’s guest is Belle Sherwood from PennEnvironment. Belle, would you introduce yourself and your organization? Belle Sherwood:Absolutely. My name is Belle Sherwood, and I’m a clean energy advocate with PennEnvironment, the statewide environmental advocacy organization. We work to make sure Pennsylvanians have clean air, clean water, clean energy powering homes and businesses, and a safe, livable climate. I focus specifically on clean energy, working to increase wind, solar, and geothermal generation in Pennsylvania. Aaron Nichols:I’m excited to have you on because as we face a semi-hostile federal administration toward clean energy, it’s going to be critical to win at the state level. One of my favorite facts is that about 70 percent of locked-in carbon reductions from clean energy have come from state policy. Warehouses are a huge opportunity here. PennEnvironment published research showing 16.3 billion square feet of warehouse roof space nationwide, yet less than 5 percent have solar. Why don’t we see more warehouse solar? Belle Sherwood:There are a few reasons. Awareness of the potential is one. Upfront cost is another. And there’s also a lack of precedent. Only about 5 percent of warehouses have solar, so large-scale rooftop solar hasn’t been widely tested. There are also two categories to think about: existing warehouses and new or planned warehouses. The barriers are different for each. For existing warehouses, the challenges mirror residential solar. The upfront cost, roof condition, and structural capacity can be obstacles. Electrical interconnection is also a big issue because these sites can generate a lot of power and may send energy back to the grid. For new warehouses, the biggest issue is that being “solar-ready” hasn’t been required. Solar compatibility simply hasn’t been baked into building standards yet. Aaron Nichols:Policy not keeping up with reality. I recently toured a massive warehouse with solar in New Jersey and it was incredible. I know PennEnvironment just toured a warehouse with solar in Pennsylvania. What was that experience like? Belle Sherwood:It was one of my favorite tours. The warehouse had roughly two football fields worth of roof space, most of it usable for solar. One of the most striking visuals was an old smokestack behind the warehouse because it used to be coal-powered. Seeing thousands of solar panels next to that smokestack was a powerful symbol of Pennsylvania’s energy transition. The tour was also informative because it highlighted how complex the process still is. This warehouse started with solar on about a quarter of the roof before the pandemic. After the Inflation Reduction Act passed, they expanded the system, navigating utility coordination and state incentives. Today, they have 3,600 panels producing 1.3 megawatts. They power 100 percent of their operations and send excess energy back to the grid, earning over $1,000 per month from the utility. It was a challenging process, but it became a win-win. Aaron Nichols:Energy affordability is becoming huge. People keep paying more for the same product, and solar lets you opt out of that cycle. Pennsylvania is a battleground state. What needs to happen to get more solar on rooftops here? Belle Sherwood:Education is the first step. Business owners are busy and often don’t know these benefits exist. If people know someone who owns or works at a warehouse, telling them about solar can make a big difference. The next step is policy. We need to call on elected officials to support legislation that makes warehouses solar-ready. I encourage people to call their state representatives and ask them to support House Bill 1260, the Solar-Ready Warehouse Bill. It requires new warehouses to be built solar-ready and provides incentives for existing warehouses to upgrade. For state senators, ask them to support the Senate version of that bill, sponsored by Senator Katie Muth and Senator Carolyn Comitta, and also Senate Bill 983, which streamlines permitting and interconnection for warehouse solar. Aaron Nichols:So if you live in Pennsylvania and support rooftop solar, call your legislators and ask them to support House Bill 1260 and Senate Bill 983. Belle Sherwood:Absolutely. Aaron Nichols:To close, I ask everyone the same question. My grandmother was born before modern clean energy existed. In her lifetime, solar went from a lab experiment to the cheapest energy source on the grid. If you had to make a wild prediction, what does clean energy look like 80 years from now? Belle Sherwood:I’m optimistic. I think we’ll be using mostly renewable energy like solar and wind because it’s abundant, cheap, and fast to deploy. Even Texas now gets about 34 percent of its electricity from wind and solar, while Pennsylvania is around 4 percent. We have a long way to go, but rooftop solar, especially on warehouses, solves many concerns people have. These roofs aren’t used for anything else, and solar there avoids land-use conflicts. With the right policies and growing awareness, there’s no reason we shouldn’t see far more renewable energy across the board. Aaron Nichols:Thank you so much for coming on. Where can people find you? Belle Sherwood:You can find PennEnvironment at penenvironment.org, or search my name to see more of our clean energy work in Pennsylvania. Aaron Nichols:For everyone listening, that’s been This Week in Solar. We’ll see you next week. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit exactsolar.substack.com

    27 min
  7. Exact Solar's Habitat for Humanity Project Gains National Recognition

    FEB 13

    Exact Solar's Habitat for Humanity Project Gains National Recognition

    What’s new: Solar Power World just launched a new series, Projects of Impact, in which they interview the owners and installers of the highest-impact solar projects across the country. Exact Solar is proud to announce that the first project highlighted was our Habitat for Humanity project in Strawberry Mansion, Philadelphia. * The Build: The project added solar to five newly constructed rowhomes, totaling 17.6 kW of solar capacity between them. After construction was completed, the first-time homebuyers moved into their energy-efficient, low-cost homes. * The Funding: The installations were made possible by an anonymous donor who specifically requested that their contribution be used to add solar to Habitat for Humanity homes. * The Team: The project was a collaboration between Habitat for Humanity, Solarize Philly, and Exact Solar, with the homeowners themselves contributing “sweat equity” alongside the crews to build their homes. Why it matters: * Energy Bill Savings for Low-Income Households: Each household will save over $40,000 in electricity costs over the life of the system, more than $1,000 a year that can be redirected to essentials like food and healthcare rather than ever-rising bills. * Energy Equity: By pairing solar with ENERGY STAR-certified construction, these homes protect low-income residents against future utility rate hikes. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Recently Re-Named) Lays Off More Staff What’s new: The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which was recently renamed the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), has laid off 134 employees, marking the second major workforce reduction in less than a year. * Second Wave: This follows a previous layoff of 114 employees in May 2025. * Identity Shift: The cuts come just weeks after the Trump administration scrubbed “renewable energy” from the lab’s name, rebranding it to NLR in December 2025. * The Reason: A lab spokesperson attributed the latest layoffs to “projected funding levels” and a need to align with “new priorities” under the current Department of Energy (DOE). Why it matters: * Strategic Pivot: The move underscores the Trump DOE’s shift away from decarbonization. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who calls himself a “climate realist,” has overseen both the rebranding and the downsizing of the lab’s renewable-focused missions. * Budget Cuts: The lab’s primary funding source, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, was recently hit with a 10% budget cut (though it avoided a proposed 75% slash). * Impact on Deployment: The cuts are affecting staff who worked on practical deployment, such as helping farmers and small businesses transition to clean energy, signaling a retreat from federal support for renewable adoption. What they’re saying: “These actions were taken to adjust to existing and projected funding levels and alignment with DOE priorities.” — David Glickson, NLR Spokesperson. SOLV Energy IPO’s to $6B Nasdaq debut What’s new: SOLV Energy shares surged 20% in their public debut on Feb. 11, valuing the solar and storage contractor at nearly $6 billion. * The Numbers: The company raised $512.5 million by selling 20.5 million shares at $25, but opened trading at $30. * The Strategy: CEO George Hershman confirmed the proceeds will be used to pay off a term loan, allowing SOLV to exit the IPO completely debt-free. * Their Pipeline: The company boasts an $8 billion backlog of engineering and construction contracts, providing clear revenue visibility for the next 24 to 36 months. Why it matters: * Market Rebound: The successful listing suggests that Federal Reserve rate cuts are finally reopening the IPO window for capital-intensive climate firms, even amid political volatility in Washington. * Safe Harbor: Investors are gravitating toward “infrastructure enablers” (construction and maintenance) and view SOLV’s service-based model as a safer bet against fluctuating power prices. What they’re saying: “It gives us a lot of visibility into the next 24 to 36 months... and it gives us a lot of certainty of how the business will perform moving forward.” — George Hershman, CEO of SOLV Energy. Sources: Anonymous donor helps Philadelphia Habitat for Humanity homes go solar National Lab of the Rockies, formerly NREL, lays off more than 130 employees National Laboratory of the Rockies (formerly NREL) lays off 134 people SOLV Energy fetches $6 billion valuation in strong Nasdaq debut | Reuters This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit exactsolar.substack.com

    5 min
  8. How to Talk About Solar Without Confusing Anyone: Phil Horwitch

    FEB 11

    How to Talk About Solar Without Confusing Anyone: Phil Horwitch

    In this episode of This Week in Solar, host Aaron Nichols sits down with Phil Horwich, co-founder of AMH Enterprises, to talk about where the solar industry overcomplicates its messaging. You can connect with Phil on LinkedIn here. He’s created a simplifying solar guide for This Week In Solar listeners that he’ll send you if you DM him the word “podcast.” Listen to this episode here, or on: * YouTube * Apple Podcasts * Spotify Expect to learn: * How to explain megawatts and megawatt-hours in a way anyone can understand * What homeowners and landowners actually care about when evaluating solar projects * Why simplifying solar actually strengthens the industry against political and cultural backlash (and how acronyms, jargon, and overly technical explanations actually create fear and mistrust) Quotes from the episode: “Solar people talk in acronyms that make perfect sense to us and absolutely none to everyone else.”- Phil Horwitch “If a homeowner can’t explain their solar project at the dinner table, we’ve already lost.”- Phil Horwitch Transcript: Aaron Nichols:Phil Horwich. When I asked you to send me your clean energy rant before we recorded and we were in the pre-recording, you mentioned that you’re focused on simplifying solar without dumbing it down so that the average landowner or homeowner can explain their project at the dinner table. What does that look like for you? Phil Horwich:Yeah, so the big theme for me, Aaron, is that on a day-to-day basis you have all these technical terms that solar people like to use, and they’re very scary and very technical. You’re going through plan sets, permitting, and all the acronyms like MW or AHJ. The way we do it at AMH is translating that into language you can use at the dinner table so someone can understand solar and then explain it to their friends at the golf course, basketball court, wherever they hang out. Instead of confusing people with industry jargon that’s normal to us but foreign to homeowners, we break it down. People hear AHJ, FTC, ITC, all these three-letter acronyms, and they have no idea what they mean. So we try to simplify it. I don’t always do a great job, but I try to stop anyone who comes on a show and ask them to spell out whatever acronyms they use. We even took all the acronyms we use and started breaking them down on our socials. What is a watt? What does it actually mean when you see it in solar? That level of clarity matters. Aaron Nichols:I’m excited to talk more about that. But before we do, welcome back to This Week in Solar. I’m your host Aaron Nichols, and today we’re interviewing Phil Horwich. Phil, can you introduce yourself and talk a little more about AMH Enterprises? Phil Horwich:Definitely. Thanks, Aaron. I’m Phil Horwich, one of the owners of AMH Enterprises. We do two main things. First, we do the work. Engineering, permitting, and construction support for residential, DG, and utility-scale solar projects all over the United States. Second, we train teams and homeowners so they can simplify solar enough to explain it to non-solar people. Solar still scares people. We’re trying to make it not scary, so people understand it and don’t think it’s going to give them some disease or make them grow an arm out of their head. I’ve heard all of it at town halls. People think solar causes cancer or kills plants. It doesn’t. It just means you’re generating your own power. We started as an engineering company, but my biggest complaint was that I was tired of explaining the same thing over and over again. So we decided to educate people and make solar mainstream, like oil, gas, or nuclear. Nobody’s really scared of nuclear anymore, but bring up solar and suddenly it’s a huge deal. That’s what we’re trying to fix. Aaron Nichols:The misinformation gets pretty hilarious. I know someone in agrivoltaics who’s been told solar panels kill nearby plants, while standing next to thriving crops. Phil Horwich:Oh yeah. I’ve heard it kills people. Causes every kind of cancer. And then you see sheep grazing under solar panels. If it were that dangerous, no one would allow that. Aaron Nichols:So where do you think messaging gets too complex and too heavy? Phil Horwich:It’s the acronyms, incentives, megawatts. All things we need to talk about in the industry, but landowners want to know if their land is usable after 30 years. What happens after the lease ends. Who’s responsible if a panel breaks. Homeowners want to know if their bill will actually go down, or what happens during a storm. I lived in Texas, and after a big outage people asked why their panels didn’t give them power. They were told that’s how it works, and it’s not. We simplify megawatts and megawatt hours by saying one is your fuel tank and one is your odometer. Everyone understands that. We all drive cars or charge them now. Aaron Nichols:That’s amazing. We work hard to do that at Exact Solar too. It blows my mind how much of the industry thinks graphs will solve everything. Phil Horwich:Oh my God, yes. Big infographics with wild claims. Sure, technically you could power the world with a small area of solar, but that’s not how it works in reality. People want to see what it looks like on their house. Will it still look nice? Can we paint conduits to match the siding? Make it normal. Aaron Nichols:Especially after some bad actors in the early 2020s. Phil Horwich:Yeah. But the industry is resilient now. Every few years it feels like we get punched in the face, but after RE+ this year it felt different. People weren’t panicking. Solar’s mainstream now. That’s why simplifying it matters. If regular people understand it, it’s harder to tear down with misinformation. Aaron Nichols:You mentioned the industry growing faster than the talent pool. How do you handle that? Phil Horwich:We create playbooks. I have a football background, so everything’s a playbook. We share them freely. People think utility-scale projects get permitted like a house. They don’t. We’ve been on projects for five years without permits. Entire teams turn over before construction starts. So we break it down, set realistic expectations, and don’t set people up for failure. Aaron Nichols:What roadblocks surprised you most? Phil Horwich:Civil work. Dirt isn’t just dirt. Stormwater rules vary wildly by state and county. Florida is extremely strict. And the second thing is just being nice. Reviewers are buried. We walk in, humanize it, give clear comment logs, show exactly what changed. Don’t hand someone a hundred pages and make them guess. Aaron Nichols:That’s huge. Sometimes permitting takes longer because we’re bad at communicating. Phil Horwich:Absolutely. I’ve told developers from day one their project won’t be permitted on the first try. They don’t like hearing it, but at the end they’re grateful. We give risk reports, mitigation plans, setback tables, and full Gantt charts so leadership knows the real timeline. Living in reality makes everyone happier. Aaron Nichols:That reminds me of a psychologist who says progress requires choosing to live in reality. Phil Horwich:That’s exactly it. Aaron Nichols:You work all over the country. How different is it state to state? Phil Horwich:Wildly different. Texas versus California versus Virginia. Some jurisdictions are working off hundred-year-old codes. We’ve debated whether solar panels count as impervious cover. People argue grass can’t grow under them, while standing next to grass growing under them. Aaron Nichols:What helps get faster approvals? Phil Horwich:Be clear. Point out exactly what changed. Before projects start, we call jurisdictions anonymously and ask what causes rejections. We take notes. When permits are submitted, we already know what they expect. Make it easy. Highlight changes. Screenshot fixes. Be kind. Aaron Nichols:It’s a lost art to be pleasant to work with. Phil Horwich:It really is. Nobody likes reviewing hundred-page plan sets. Not even engineers. Aaron Nichols:To close, I ask everyone the same question. My grandmother was born before clean energy existed. In her lifetime we went from coal to PV to massive cost declines. What do you think clean energy looks like 80 years from now? Phil Horwich:I hope it’s just normal. Like an iPhone. No one freaks out about the new one anymore. You drive down the road and see solar like you see substations today. And I hope AI handles the boring stuff like permitting research so humans can focus on teaching, building, and enjoying solar again. Make work fun. That’s the goal. Aaron Nichols:That’s a great vision. Where can people find you? Phil Horwich:LinkedIn under Phil Horwich or AMH. And for your listeners, we made a Simplifying Solar guide. DM me and mention the podcast and we’ll send it. Aaron Nichols:That’s been This Week in Solar. We’ll see you next week. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit exactsolar.substack.com

    28 min
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About

A weekly look at what's new in solar, brought to you by Exact Solar. Clean energy news, policy updates, and stories that matter. exactsolar.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Exact Solar
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    76
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Exact Solar
  • Show Website
    This Week in Solar

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