Gas prices are rising and the demand for renewable energy is growing. How are big players in the green tech industry preparing for the evolving policy around solar energy credits? (Recorded live at RE+ in Las Vegas)
Interchange Recharged
Wood Mackenzie
4.8 • 535 Ratings
🗓️ 11 September 2025
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Despite the US adding 4.3 gigawatts of solar manufacturing capacity in Q2, there were no additions to the upstream components of polysilicon wafer and cell manufacturing. As gas prices continue to rise and the demand for alternative power supplies grows, get a detailed look at what big names in energy are doing to get over the hurdles.
On her second day at RE+ in Las Vegas, Sylvia Leyva Martinez, Research Director at Wood Mackenzie, explores the trajectory of solar and storage. Alongside industry experts, this episode of Interchange Recharged discusses the exciting yet challenging future of solar energy and energy storage amidst changing policy landscapes and growing demand. Sylvia and her guests explore and explain the dynamics of solar capacity, regulatory and financial challenges such as One Big Beautiful Bill (OB3) accelerating the phase-down of key tax credits, and emerging technologies fueling the renewable energy sector.
This episode includes an exclusive excerpt from Sylvia’s presentation with the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). She discusses energy policy uncertainty, market saturation in the solar energy industry, and manufacturing hurdles in the renewable energy space.
Featured guests in this episode of Interchange Recharged:
- Sean Gallagher, Senior Vice President of Policy at SEIA
- Steven Munson, Valuation and Tax Credit Advisor for Energy Transition at CohnReznik
In this episode, Sylvia and her guests discuss:
- The State of Solar Energy and Storage - Sean discusses why solar and energy storage are crucial for power demands in the coming years, emphasizing their role in new energy infrastructures.
- Impact of Policy Changes - Sean and Sylvia explore the effects of recent legislative changes, including the projected decline in solar installations post-2027, and how peak chaos impacts the industry.
- Investor Perspectives and Valuations - Steven shares insights on current investor sentiments, valuation challenges, and trends in renewable energy financing.
- Technological Advancements – The guests discuss strategies to improve efficiencies in solar modules, automated permitting, and innovations aiming to lower costs.
- Looking Into the Future – Sylvia and her guests explore potential long-term effects of emerging technologies like AI on power markets and the need to adapt quickly to policy updates.
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Interchange Recharged explores clean tech, green finance and energy innovation, the three lanes on the road to a successful global energy transition. At the intersection of these lanes is a place where ideas on finance, technology and policy are shared and debated.
Sylvia Leyva Martinez, Research Director at Wood Mackenzie, and her guests bring you data and forecasts on clean technology, climate change, and offer predictions on the build out of utility-scale projects and the future of green finance.
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Check out another leading clean tech global podcast by Wood Mackenzie, Energy Gang, at woodmac.com/podcasts/the-energy-gang
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The fact of the matter is solar and storage is kind of the only game in town for the next few years. |
| 0:09.0 | If you order a new gas turbine today, it's going to take you six or seven or eight years to get it and to get it installed. |
| 0:15.0 | If you want power in the next three to five years, solar and energy storage is where it's going to come from. |
| 0:20.0 | I've been doing power generation for about 15 years with 10 in a focus of renewables. |
| 0:25.7 | So the tax credits definitely make it more interesting than others, especially with monetizing |
| 0:32.3 | accelerated depreciation, which now we have 100% bonus back back which introduces some complexities if you're looking |
| 0:39.0 | to take advantage of that and then there's different ways to monetize the ITC with the transfer |
| 0:44.0 | market from the IRA. We're still very optimistic about the future. |
| 0:48.3 | We've got just a couple of years until solar takes a big hit. Under the new laws of the One Big |
| 0:55.0 | Beautiful Bill Act, or OB3, the solar industry will no longer... Wood McKenzie's Solar Energy |
| 1:00.9 | and Storage Summit is back in Denver on the 29th and 30th of April 2026. It's |
| 1:06.9 | co-located with the brand new North American Power and Renewables Forum, which features |
| 1:11.9 | senior speakers from across the U.S. power sector. |
| 1:15.3 | Come and join over 450 senior leaders from U.S. power developers, utilities, and independent |
| 1:21.7 | power producers to tackle the industry's biggest challenges. |
| 1:25.7 | From navigating life after tax credits to capturing the |
| 1:29.1 | load growth boom, discover how the energy mix is evolving and how the U.S. is going to meet that power |
| 1:34.5 | demand. Seats are limited, so register now at Woodmac.com. |
| 1:39.1 | ...have access to the Section 48E and 45Y tax credits after 2027 or the section 25 D tax credits |
| 1:46.7 | that's the customer owned residential solar after 2025 so how are people |
| 1:52.4 | planning and are we really at peak chaos we are at Ariplus in Vegas to see how the big players in solar are responding to it all. |
| 2:04.5 | One of those big players is SIA, the Solar Energy Industries Association. |
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