Clean Power Hour

One LinkedIn post. Almost 400,000 impressions. Aaron Nichols has earned 1.8 million impressions on LinkedIn in one year, and he did it by breaking every rule the clean energy industry follows. His message is blunt: solar companies insist on being boring, and they are losing the public conversation because of it. In this episode, host Tim Montague sits down with Aaron Nichols to break down four storytelling rules that solar professionals need to win attention, build trust, and drive business on LinkedIn.
Aaron Nichols serves as Research and Policy Specialist at Exact Solar, a regional solar installer based in Pennsylvania. He also hosts This Week in Solar, a news and interview podcast covering the solar industry. His article, "Four Rules of Storytelling That Corporate America Desperately Needs," outlines the framework discussed in this episode.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Aaron earned 1.8 million LinkedIn impressions in a single year, including one post that reached nearly 400,000 people. His approach: lead with emotion, not data. Personal stories and humor drove the strongest results, outperforming technical content by wide margins.
Aaron outlines four rules of storytelling for solar and clean energy professionals. Rule one: tell one story at a time. Rule two: make people care before making your case. Rule three: if it's complicated, you haven't finished thinking. Rule four: Put a face on it by using personal LinkedIn pages instead of company pages.
Solar professionals do not need to wait for conferences to build relationships and generate business. Aaron used LinkedIn to launch a podcast, organize local events with crowds of 40 to 70 people, build industry relationships, and create direct revenue opportunities for a small regional installer.
With rising energy bills putting electricity in the news daily and federal policy headwinds challenging the industry, the ability to tell compelling stories and build trust on platforms like LinkedIn has never mattered more.
Connect with Aaron Nichols
Aaron Nichols LinkedIn
This Week in Solar
"Making Numbers Count" by Chip Heath and Carla Starr

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The Clean Power Hour is produced by the Clean Power Consulting Group and created by Tim Montague. Contact us by email: [email protected]
Corporate sponsors who share our mission to speed the energy transition are invited to check out https://www.cleanpowerhour.com/support/

The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS America, maker of North America’s number one 3-phase string inverter, with over 6GW shipped in the US. With a focus on commercial and utility-scale solar and energy storage, the company partners with customers to provide unparalleled performance and service. The CPS America product lineup includes 3-phase string inverters from 25kW to 275kW, exceptional data communication and controls, and energy storage solutions designed for seamless integration with CPS America systems. Learn more at www.chintpowersystems.com

Wind farms are defeating the Trump administration's stop-work orders 5-0 as federal judges allow offshore construction to resume, while data centers drive consumer power bills up 30-50% across the country. 
Tim Montague and John Weaver cover the latest clean energy developments from RE+ Northeast, including breakthrough robotics from Luminous and the emerging DIY solar market that could deliver $20,000 home systems. 
Episode Highlights
• Offshore Wind Legal Victories: Five federal judges have now overruled Trump administration stop-work orders on East Coast wind farms, including the latest ruling allowing Sunrise Wind construction to continue off New York. (The Guardian)
• Data Center Grid Impact: Consumer power bills have risen 30-50% in some regions due to data center demand. (Environmental Law and Policy Center)
• DIY Solar Market Emergence: Post-ITC market conditions are driving growth in DIY solar kits, with companies like Gigawatt offering 10kW solar plus 30kWh battery systems for around $20,000, roughly one-third the cost of traditional installer pricing. 
• Chinese Poly Silicon Tariffs: China extended import tariffs on US polysilicon from the Obama era, though the 50% tariffs have minimal current impact since Chinese polysilicon now costs less than half global pricing. China produces 90% of the global polysilicon supply. (Pv Magazine)
• Grid Battery Storage Surge: Grid battery demand increased 51% while EV battery demand grew 26%, with grid storage now representing 25% of global battery demand, up from historical projections of 10-15%. (Benchmark Mineral Intelligence)
• Luminous Robotics Progress: Solar installation robot company unveiled new pallet-carrying robot to complement their module placement system, tripling headcount year-over-year and working on utility-scale projects in Australia and the US.
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The Clean Power Hour is produced by the Clean Power Consulting Group and created by Tim Montague. Contact us by email: [email protected]
Corporate sponsors who share our mission to speed the energy transition are invited to check out https://www.cleanpowerhour.com/support/

The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS America, maker of North America’s number one 3-phase string inverter, with over 6GW shipped in the US. With a focus on commercial and utility-scale solar and energy storage, the company partners with customers to provide unparalleled performance and service. The CPS America product lineup includes 3-phase string inverters from 25kW to 275kW, exceptional data communication and controls, and energy storage solutions designed for seamless integration with CPS America systems. Learn more at www.chintpowersystems.com

Storm Fern just knocked out power for nearly a million Americans. But here's what the media won't tell you: this wasn't a freak accident—it's the new normal.
New research from the Union of Concerned Scientists reveals that 100% of the worst power outages in the last decade share one shocking cause. And it's getting worse every year.
This matters now because we're building infrastructure today that needs to last 50 years. But we're planning for yesterday's climate while tomorrow's storms are already here. The result? Billions in damage, lives lost, and communities left powerless when they need electricity most.
Key Takeaways:
• Why every single major blackout traces back to extreme weather events
• The 3 states actually preparing for climate disasters (and why 47 aren't)
• How community-scale microgrids could end power outages forever
• Why low-income communities suffer most when the lights go out
• The infrastructure investments we're delaying that will cost lives
The guests are Rachel Licker and Sam Gomberg from the Union of Concerned Scientists, authors of the "Power After the Storm" report. Their research uses fine-resolution power outage data to reveal patterns that should terrify anyone who depends on electricity, which is all of us.
We have the technology to build resilient grids. Solar, wind, batteries, and smart switchgear can create community-scale microgrids that keep the lights on when the big grid fails. The question isn't whether we can do it, it's whether we'll act before the next Storm Fern.
Connect with Union of Concerned Scientists 
Union of Concerned Scientists
Rachel Licker
Sam Gomberg
Power After the Storm report
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The Clean Power Hour is produced by the Clean Power Consulting Group and created by Tim Montague. Contact us by email: [email protected]
Corporate sponsors who share our mission to speed the energy transition are invited to check out https://www.cleanpowerhour.com/support/

The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS America, maker of North America’s number one 3-phase string inverter, with over 6GW shipped in the US. With a focus on commercial and utility-scale solar and energy storage, the company partners with customers to provide unparalleled performance and service. The CPS America product lineup includes 3-phase string inverters from 25kW to 275kW, exceptional data communication and controls, and energy storage solutions designed for seamless integration with CPS America systems. Learn more at www.chintpowersystems.com

A Missouri state senator wants to ban all solar construction for two years, threatening a 430 MW project already under construction. On the Clean Power Hour Live, Tim Montague and John Weaver cover the Missouri solar moratorium, the first UL standard for balcony solar, Elon Musk's 100 GW solar manufacturing ambitions, and Vineyard Wind's court victory sending its final turbine to sea. They also dig into LFP cell prices hitting $60/kWh in China, zinc battery economics for commercial projects, and what a $2.3 trillion global energy transition spend means for the US market.
Episode Highlights:
A Missouri state senator filed legislation to halt all solar construction, including projects already underway, through the end of 2027. A 430 MW project set to double the state's solar capacity faces risk. (LinkedIn)
Balcony solar UL 3700 standard. UL released its first standard for balcony solar, UL 3700. (PV Magazine)
Musk's 100 GW solar manufacturing plan. Elon Musk announced SpaceX and xAI will each source 100 GW of solar to power data centers. (PV Magazine)
LFP cells race to 500+ Ah. Chinese battery manufacturers are scaling LFP cells from 314 Ah to 500 Ah and beyond. (PV Magazine)
Global clean energy investment reached a record $2.3 trillion in 2025, up 8% from 2024. (Bloomberg NEF)
Solar module prices from China rose 20 to 30% ahead of an April 1 export tax, adding 9 to 10% to costs. (PV Magazine)
This episode is for solar professionals, battery storage developers, project developers, and clean energy investors tracking policy risk and market shifts.
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Connect with Tim
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Email [email protected]
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The Clean Power Hour is produced by the Clean Power Consulting Group and created by Tim Montague. Contact us by email: [email protected]
Corporate sponsors who share our mission to speed the energy transition are invited to check out https://www.cleanpowerhour.com/support/

The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS America, maker of North America’s number one 3-phase string inverter, with over 6GW shipped in the US. With a focus on commercial and utility-scale solar and energy storage, the company partners with customers to provide unparalleled performance and service. The CPS America product lineup includes 3-phase string inverters from 25kW to 275kW, exceptional data communication and controls, and energy storage solutions designed for seamless integration with CPS America systems. Learn more at www.chintpowersystems.com

What separates solar projects that get built from those that die in development? Brad Stutzman has spent 16 years figuring out the answer.
Brad is the Founder and CEO of O3 Energy, a Dallas-based solar development and construction company. He started in 2009 during the Great Recession, pivoting from real estate financing to renewable energy. O3 Energy has since deployed hundreds of on-site solar projects across commercial, municipal, and non-profit customers throughout the Southwest, Hawaii, Guam, and Mexico.
Key Discussion Points
How the 2009 recession and Obama's American Recovery Act launched Brad's solar career through the 1603 grant program
Why behind-the-meter projects reduce development risk by eliminating land acquisition and off-taker uncertainty
O3 Energy's approach to "practical innovation" and requiring ROI from every business improvement
How Brad converted a capped New Mexico landfill near Sandia Labs into a working solar facility (brownfields to brightfields)
Why Brad is repowering a project with Erthos flat-to-earth racking technology after wind damage destroyed the Ballasted fixed tilt system
The future of "renewable baseload power" through solar plus battery storage achieving grid parity
AI integration in solar monitoring platforms that analyze system performance and troubleshoot issues
Brad's 16 years in solar development reveal a consistent truth: successful projects require patience, practical thinking, and smart partnerships. His brownfield conversion near nuclear weapons storage required Nuclear Regulatory Authority sign-off. His California municipal project needed creative cross-property engineering. Neither would have happened without tenacity. 
As Brad puts it, mistakes are only mistakes if you don't learn from them. O3 Energy continues expanding into the Midwest and Mexico while preparing for the next wave of solar plus storage. The company is actively seeking partners for development, construction, and asset management opportunities nationwide.
Connect with Brad Stutzman 
Brad’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradstutzman/
03 Energy Website: https://o3energy.com/
Support the show
Connect with Tim
Clean Power Hour
Clean Power Hour on YouTube
Tim on Twitter
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Email [email protected]
Review Clean Power Hour on Apple Podcasts

The Clean Power Hour is produced by the Clean Power Consulting Group and created by Tim Montague. Contact us by email: [email protected]
Corporate sponsors who share our mission to speed the energy transition are invited to check out https://www.cleanpowerhour.com/support/

The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS America, maker of North America’s number one 3-phase string inverter, with over 6GW shipped in the US. With a focus on commercial and utility-scale solar and energy storage, the company partners with customers to provide unparalleled performance and service. The CPS America product lineup includes 3-phase string inverters from 25kW to 275kW, exceptional data communication and controls, and energy storage solutions designed for seamless integration with CPS America systems. Learn more at www.chintpowersystems.com