The solar industry has never been built by people who played it safe.
From the engineers who installed the first projects to the entrepreneurs who built today's largest companies, progress has always come from people willing to take risks.
My latest Scaling Clean guest, Yann Brandt, has spent nearly two decades doing exactly that. He's worked across residential solar, utility-scale development, manufacturing, storage, and public company leadership. Today, he's also the publisher of SolarWakeup, one of the clean energy industry's most influential newsletters.
Our conversation covered everything from leadership and public markets to clean energy policy and the future of the solar industry.
Here are four takeaways from our conversation.
Yann believes one of the industry's biggest challenges has to do with politics.
Solar enjoys broad support among voters, but that doesn't mean the industry can afford to be passive in DC. Policy shapes project economics, manufacturing investment, permitting, and long-term growth.
Yann argues that the industry has often failed to engage as aggressively in the political process as other energy sectors.
"We think of ourselves as spectators in a full contact sport."
He thinks more executives need to treat political engagement as part of their business strategy, not something left solely to trade associations.
"Policy is business development. Always has been, always will be."
Yann said that as a CEO, by the time ideas reached his desk, they had often been filtered, softened, and stripped of what made them interesting.
"The number of ideas that are pitched to me are very limited... If an idea is coming to me, it's been filtered and mediocre-ized with opinions and 'can't do' and 'can't that.'"
His advice to younger professionals was to stop waiting for permission.
Ask the question. Share the idea. Reach out to the person you admire.
The clean energy industry has grown because people were willing to challenge conventional thinking, and Yann believes the next generation should do the same.
Before SolarWakeup became one of the industry's must-read newsletters, it started with just a few dozen subscribers. But Yann says the biggest benefit wasn't building an audience, but rather forcing himself to read, think, and write every day.
"It's forced me to read what's going on in solar and then put some thoughts on paper... You do that four or five thousand times over 14 years, you tend to be able to put pieces together a little bit better."
Over thousands of newsletters, that discipline sharpened his understanding of markets, policy, and leadership. It also created opportunities for others to challenge his thinking, making him a better communicator and a better executive.
"The best part is when someone says, 'Yann, you got this wrong,' or they disagree with my opinion... it allows me to reshape, did I get it wrong? Did I have a different opinion? Should I have had a different opinion?"
Rather than framing the ITC as an incentive for solar companies, Yann views it as an affordability policy.
As electricity demand rises from AI, data centers, electrification, and economic growth, the country will need enormous amounts of new generation. Because solar has no fuel cost, lowering the upfront cost of building projects can translate into lower-cost electricity over time.
"One of the best things that Congress can do for affordability is to help lower the cost of CapEx."
He argued that the industry shouldn't be afraid to make the case that extending the ITC benefits consumers, businesses, and the broader economy, not just solar developers.
The solar industry is entering a new phase of growth.
Electricity demand is climbing. Domestic manufacturing is expanding. AI is reshaping the grid. At the same time, policy decisions continue to influence how quickly the industry can scale.
A few reflections from our conversation:
The solar industry's next chapter won't be written by people who play it safe. It will be written by those willing to think bigger, speak up, and take the shot.
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