Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy Podcast

• Winning in Global Solar with Mike Silvestrini: Inside the Markets Shaping Renewable Energy

  What if the strongest opportunities in renewable energy aren’t in massive utility projects, but in the overlooked middle of the market where disciplined operators consistently outperform?In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, Wes Ashworth sits down with Mike Silvestrini, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Energea. After developing more than 500 solar projects across three continents and scaling Greenskies into a national C&I leader, Mike is now opening global solar investing to everyday investors.He unpacks the hard realities, the operational lessons, and the global opportunities most people never see.Inside the episode:How Greenskies scaled from a two-person startupWhy being undercapitalized became their advantageHow Walmart and Target reshaped the businesssWhat selling the company taught Mike about timingHow Energea was createdThe financing gap Mike discovered while meeting solar companies around the worldWhy emerging markets offered high-quality projects but little access to capitalHow Energea structures diversified portfolios with monthly dividendsGlobal markets and performanceWhy Brazil became a breakout successHow South Africa’s unstable grid drives demand for solar-plus-storageWhy Colombia’s hydro volatility creates huge opportunityOperating solar assets in the real world Why theft is often a bigger threat than weather Why key O&M and customer functions stay in-house How experience shapes better underwriting and better assetsMike also shares why he believes solar is positioned to win on economics, even if public perception lags behind.If you want a clearer view of how global solar projects are financed, built, and operated, this conversation delivers rare insight from someone who has been in the trenches for nearly two decades.Links:Mike Silvestrini on LinkedInEnergea's WebsiteEnergea - Get StartedWes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/ Email: [email protected] https://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/ https://leegroupsearch.com/

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• Can Horizontal Boreholes Solve Nuclear's Biggest Problem? Rod Baltzer Thinks So

  What if the key to unlocking nuclear energy’s future has been buried all along?In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, host Wes Ashworth dives into one of the most overlooked and misunderstood challenges of the clean energy transition: nuclear waste disposal.His guest, Rod Baltzer, is a 25-year veteran of the nuclear waste industry and now CEO of Deep Isolation, a company pioneering deep horizontal borehole disposal for spent nuclear fuel. With a background in finance and a career spanning public and private sector leadership, Rod brings a rare combination of technical insight, regulatory experience, and business acumen to an issue most would rather ignore.For decades, the nuclear industry has lacked a permanent solution for high-level waste, relying instead on short-term storage and costly, politically stalled mined repository concepts. Deep Isolation offers a radically different approach: leveraging proven directional drilling technology from oil and gas to safely and affordably isolate nuclear waste more than a mile underground, horizontally, in stable geologic formations.Rod breaks down:Why traditional mined repositories are 70% more expensive and far slower to implementHow horizontal boreholes can isolate waste for over a million years with peak doses lower than a single banana per yearWhat Deep Isolation’s universal canister makes possible across fuel types, reprocessing, and storageWhy the real bottleneck isn’t technology, but outdated U.S. policy stuck on Yucca MountainHow countries like Estonia and others in Eastern Europe are leapfrogging the U.S. with forward-looking nuclear strategiesThis episode also tackles widespread myths, including the “green goo” misconception, and explains why transportation concerns persist, even though nuclear waste has an extraordinary safety record.Rod shares why the nuclear industry can’t afford to treat waste as an afterthought any longer, and why solving it now is essential to ensuring nuclear’s role in a clean energy future.If you're curious about the back end of the nuclear lifecycle and how it may be the unlock for scaling next-gen clean power, this conversation delivers both a reality check and a hopeful vision for what's possible.LinksRod Baltzer on LinkedInDeep Isolation's WebsiteYouTube Video - Rocket Powered Train Impact Test of Spent Nuclear Fuel Shipping CaskWes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/ Email: [email protected] https://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/ https://leegroupsearch.com/

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• The Truth About Solar Panel Waste: Inside the Recycling Revolution with Dr. Janette Freeman

  Most conversations about solar focus on growth, installation, and deployment. Far fewer address the reality on the other end of the lifecycle: what happens to millions of solar panels once they’re damaged, decommissioned, or reach the end of their usable life.In this episode, host Wes Ashworth sits down with Dr Janette Freeman, Vice President of Business Development at Fabtech Solar Solutions, one of the few companies in the United States specializing in solar panel recycling, refurbishment, and reuse. Blending decades of leadership experience with a background in consciousness studies, Dr. Freeman brings a rare combination of technical clarity, industry insight, and human-centered perspective to one of clean energy’s most misunderstood challenges.Together, they break down the true scale of solar waste, why perceptions don’t match reality, and how the recycling landscape is evolving far faster than most people realize. Dr. Freeman also explains the economics behind recycling, why the reuse market is reawakening, and how developers, EPCs, and asset owners can plan ahead to protect both budgets and brand reputation.Beyond the operational side, this episode explores the mindset required to lead in a rapidly changing renewable energy ecosystem. Dr. Freeman shares how resilience, adaptability, and emotional intelligence have shaped her approach to navigating the solar coaster and helping steer an emerging industry toward circularity.In this episode, you’ll learn:Why solar panel waste is dramatically smaller than often portrayedThe biggest misconceptions that still slow down recycling adoptionWhat 75 percent of today’s recycling volumes reveal about industry growthHow companies decide between refurbishing, reselling, or fully recycling modulesThe economics behind recycling and why costs are droppingHow risk, compliance, and reputation increasingly influence end-of-life decisionsWhy landfill access is tightening and how that accelerates circular solutionsHow the recycling market has rapidly expanded from only a handful of providersWhat the next decade looks like as the first major wave of utility-scale projects retiresThe leadership mindset needed to stay steady in a volatile, high-growth sectorDr. Freeman’s mission is simple: keep solar modules out of landfills and in the circular economy. Her work demonstrates how technical innovation, practical problem-solving, and grounded leadership can move an entire industry forward.If you work in solar development, EPC, asset management, recycling, sustainability, or energy policy, this episode delivers essential clarity on one of the most important and misunderstood components of the clean energy transition.Tune in to learn how the recycling revolution is taking shape and why mindset matters just as much as machinery.Links: Dr. Janette Freeman on LinkedInFabtech Solar Solutions' WebsiteWes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/ Email: [email protected] https://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/ https://leegroupsearch.com/

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• Leading Through Uncertainty: Kimberlee Centera on Power, People, and Resilience

  When policy shocks hit and the ground shifts beneath an entire industry, real leadership is revealed.In Episode 78 of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, host Wes Ashworth welcomes back Kimberlee Centera, Founder and CEO of TerraPro Solutions, one of the renewable industry’s most trusted names in risk management and project finance.Over more than 30 years in renewables, Kimberlee has guided utility-scale projects through every policy swing imaginable. But this conversation goes far beyond spreadsheets and contracts. It’s a deep, honest look at how leaders, developers, and communities navigate change when the playbook gets rewritten in real time.Together, Wes and Kimberlee explore:Leadership under pressure: How to build trust and communicate when everything feels uncertainCommunity impact: Why renewable projects are more than energy, they’re lifelines for rural economiesPolicy shifts and resilience: What HR1 means for developers, and how the smartest teams are adaptingCulture and values: How Kimberlee keeps her virtual team engaged, aligned, and growing through changeThe next generation of leaders: Why collaboration and inclusion are shaping the industry’s futureFrom clawbacks and compliance confusion to new state-level alliances, Kimberlee breaks down what this new era of renewables really looks like and what it demands from leaders who refuse to sit still.Her message is clear: Uncertainty is inevitable, but pausing progress isn’t an option. The brave will keep moving, keep building, and keep people at the center of the mission.If you’re a developer, investor, or leader navigating the new renewable landscape, this episode delivers real insight, encouragement, and a reminder that innovation often grows out of adversity.Links: Kimberlee Centera on LinkedInTerraPro SolutionsEpisode 39 with KimberleeWes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/ Email: [email protected] https://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/ https://leegroupsearch.com/

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• Building Energy, Building Trust: Steffanie Dohn on McCarthy’s Human Approach to Progress

  Episode SummaryIn this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, Steffanie Dohn, Vice President of Government Affairs at McCarthy Building Companies, shares how one of America’s most trusted EPCs is redefining what progress looks like. From reframing the national energy conversation to transforming rural economies through workforce development and authentic community engagement, this conversation explores what it truly means to build trust through energy.Full Show NotesWhen most people talk about the energy transition, they talk about technology. Steffanie Dohn talks about people.As Vice President of Government Affairs at McCarthy Building Companies, Steffanie has built her career at the intersection of policy, community, and progress. She helped shape landmark legislation like South Carolina’s Energy Freedom Act and now leads government affairs for one of the most respected engineering, procurement, and construction firms in the United States.In this conversation, Steffanie and host Wes Ashworth explore how building trust has become McCarthy’s competitive advantage, and why the next frontier of renewable energy success depends less on megawatts and more on mindset.Together, they unpack the essential building blocks of lasting energy progress:Reframing the national dialogue: why it is time to stop talking as much about “renewables” and start talking more about energy as a wholeCommunity engagement that lasts: how early, authentic outreach can transform skepticism into local pride and long-term partnershipThe workforce revolution: how McCarthy’s apprenticeship programs and local hiring commitments are creating careers, not just jobs, in rural AmericaDepoliticizing energy: how business leaders can step into advocacy to bridge divides and strengthen America’s energy reliabilityA “yes, and” mindset: why embracing multiple energy solutions, not competing over one, is the key to abundance and resilienceThrough each story, Steffanie reveals a human-centered vision of the energy transition that honors the past, builds the future, and keeps communities at the heart of progress.Whether you are an EPC leader, policymaker, developer, or someone who wants to understand what is really happening on the front lines of energy transformation, this episode delivers insight, inspiration, and practical lessons from one of the industry’s most trusted voices.Links:Steffanie Dohn on LinkedInMcCarthy Building Companies Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/ Email: [email protected] https://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/ https://leegroupsearch.com/

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