S201: ”California Dreamin’” with Howard Wenger of Nextracker

We're kicking off Season 2 of The Solar Journey with solar industry leader Howard Wenger, President of Nextracker!
In this episode, host Dr. Torsten Brammer dives deep into Howard's incredible 40-year journey, from waiting in gas lines during the 1970's oil crisis to leading one of the world's most innovative solar tracker companies. Howard shares how he fell in love with photovoltaics (spoiler: he may bleed silicon!) and never looked back. He walks us through the early days of solar, when costs were sky-high, and people thought he was chasing a pipe dream.
Fast forward to today, and Nextracker is celebrating 100 gigawatts of solar trackers shipped. Get a behind-the-scenes look at what drives Nextracker's success and hear Howard's insights on what it will take to push solar energy and clean tech to the next level.
PLUS: On the Espresso segment, Radovan Kopecek from ISC Konstanz joins us live from Anaheim, California – from the RE+ trade show and conference. He provides an update on solar manufacturing in the US and how intellectual property issues are creating challenges for prospective cell producers in the country. He also hints at an opportunity for non-Chinese cell makers that may present a profitable sales channel in the currently challenging market situation.