Hardware Podcasts

Unpopular solar opinions, 2022 edition

Catalyst · 1 Dec 2022 · 44m

What this episode covers

Jenny Chase, former head of solar analysis at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, discusses her annual 'unpopular opinions' on the solar industry with host Shayle Khan. They analyze critical bottlenecks holding back deployment, including polysilicon supply constraints, installation labor shortages, and grid interconnection backlogs. Chase argues that current silicon technology is sufficient and expresses skepticism about the commercial viability of perovskite and building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). The conversation also covers the economic risks of fixed-price power purchase agreements (PPAs) signed before 2021, the potential for an unsustainable manufacturing boom in the US due to the Inflation Reduction Act, and the discrepancy between BloombergNEF's solar forecasts and the capacity needed for net-zero goals.

Most relevant to

large enterprises

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BloombergNEF, Tesla, Maya Burger, Energy Hub
Products
Building-integrated PV
Materials
Perovskite
Also
Inflation Reduction Act

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 09m

    Conference Room Innovation

    Dave Jones of EEVblog and Chris Gammell of Contextual Electronics discuss the complexities of residential solar and battery storage, including specific quotes from Tesla and Enphase, and the challenges of integrating systems. They then analyze the recent wave of tech layoffs, sharing personal experiences from companies like Altium and Keithley, and debate the future of remote work and the 'conference room problem.' Finally, they explore niche PCB design techniques, such as embedding heating elements and cooling channels, and discuss Apple's shift toward in-house silicon design.

    Energy & climate techChips, FPGAs & semiconductors
    6 chapters

  • Hardware to Save a Planet · 1h 02m

    From Solar’s 90% Cost Crash to AI’s Energy Surge: The Economics Driving Climate Tech

    Pavel Molchanov, an Investment Strategy Analyst at Raymond James, discusses the economic and policy drivers shaping the climate tech sector, highlighting how solar panel costs have dropped 90% and EV adoption has surged in China. He contrasts successful scaling of mature technologies like solar and wind with the struggles of companies like Solyndra, which failed due to high costs despite innovative CIGS technology. Molchanov argues that while deep tech innovations like fusion and solid-state batteries are important, economic viability and business models are the primary determinants of success in the energy transition.

    Policy, trade & tariffsEnergy & climate tech
    7 chapters

  • The Circuit · 43m

    Episode 25: Challenges for the Semiconductor Industry to Grow to $1 Trillion

    Ben Bajarin and Jay Goldberg discuss the challenges facing the semiconductor industry's growth to a $1 trillion valuation by 2030, focusing on foundry competition, packaging, and resource constraints. They analyze the competitive dynamics between TSMC, Intel, and Samsung, noting Intel's progress with 18A and Samsung's 3nm yields, while highlighting the strategic shift toward chiplets and advanced packaging. The hosts also address critical constraints including power availability, material scarcity like gallium and germanium, and the need for new engineering talent to sustain industry growth.

    Chips, FPGAs & semiconductorsSourcing & supply chain
    8 chapters

  • The Circuit · 1h 04m

    EP 186: Mobile Bottlenecks, Skyrocketing AI CapEx, and the Compute Crunch

    Hosts Ben Bajarin and Jay Goldberg analyze recent earnings from Apple, Qualcomm, ARM, and MediaTek, highlighting severe mobile supply chain bottlenecks and soft demand driven by elevated memory costs and foundry capacity constraints. They discuss skyrocketing hyperscaler CapEx from Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta, focusing on the transition from AI training to inference, the rise of behind-the-meter power solutions like Bloom Energy, and critical labor shortages in electrical trades. The episode concludes with an examination of market volatility linked to hedge fund unwinds and the increasing reliance on debt financing for data center expansion.

    Sourcing & supply chainEnergy & climate tech
    10 chapters

  • Hardware to Save a Planet · 40m

    Why Solar Deployment Speed Is the Real Climate Bottleneck with Deise Yumi Asami

    Deise Yumi Asami, founder of Maximo at AES Corporation, explains how her AI-powered field robot automates solar panel installation to address labor shortages and deployment bottlenecks. She details the engineering challenges of using computer vision in uncontrolled outdoor environments, the role of digital twins in accelerating development, and why EPCs prioritize delivery certainty over simple cost savings. The conversation covers scaling the robot fleet, recent project deployments, and the future of autonomous construction.

    Robotics & autonomySensors & measurement in products
    8 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Catalyst. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.