The smarter E Podcast

The artificial intelligence boom is driving an unprecedented surge in electricity demand, putting power grids, energy prices, and emissions reduction under pressure. Malaysia's rapidly expanding data centre industry is requiring the utility TNB to embark on market reforms. While in the United States, energy became a defining issue of the recent mid-term elections including pushback against datacenter development.

It raises an intriguing question: can datacenters and the AI boom also become an unexpected catalyst for the energy transition?

This week, host Jonathan Gifford explores how soaring demand for electricity is impact markets and politics on two continents, speaking with guests from Malaysia and the US.

First, Narendra "Ned" Johl, founder and CEO of Asia Carbon Exchange, joins the podcast from Kuala Lumpur to discuss how Malaysia's emergence as a major regional datacentre hub is forcing a rethink of its electricity sector. With tech giants investing heavily in the country, Johl explains how unprecedented demand is accelerating reforms that open the grid to private renewable energy developers, encourage on-site generation, and drive investment in battery storage.

But can clean energy deployment keep pace with the rapid growth of AI infrastructure? Joel also examines the challenges of financing new projects, the changing role of renewable energy certificates (RECs), and why geothermal power could become increasingly important across Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, in the United States, the consequences of rising energy costs are playing out at the ballot box.

Solar and battery marketing and PR leader Jessica Fishman examines how soaring energy costs helped shape the historic US midterm election results, turning electricity affordability into a powerful political issue. With Democrats gaining control of Congress, Fishman discusses the prospects for renewed clean energy legislation, a potential revival of Inflation Reduction Act incentives, and reforms that could make solar cheaper and easier to deploy. She also considers what the election results mean for electric mobility, battery manufacturing, and the final two years of the Trump administration.

As AI infrastructure expands and electricity costs become increasingly politically charged, the stakes for the energy transition are rising. Whether governments can turn this pressure into faster renewable energy deployment, rather than deeper dependence on conventional generation, could determine not only the future of clean energy, but also the competitiveness of economies racing to lead the AI revolution.

✉️ Questions, comments or suggestions? Reach us at podcast@thesmartere.com

Perovskite solar cells have promised to push photovoltaic efficiency to new heights for years. Now, with major manufacturers achieving crucial reliability milestones and the first large-format modules entering large-scale production, the technology is moving beyond the laboratory. But as the race to bring perovskites to market accelerates, a fundamental question remains: will production processes deliver on cost, efficiency, and durability?

This week, host Jonathan Gifford speaks with two leading manufacturers pursuing different approaches to perovskite-silicon tandem solar technology at the Perovskite Connect 2026 event in Berlin.

First, Fabian Fertig, head of R&D PV technology at Qcells, discusses the company's breakthrough in achieving independent certification for its two-terminal tandem modules – a significant step towards commercial viability. Fertig explains why reliability, rather than record-breaking efficiency, has been the real challenge, and how Qcells is preparing to scale production to gigawatt scale.

But the best route to commercialization is not yet locked in.

Frank Mu, head of sales Europe at GCL Perovskite, makes the case for the four-terminal approach to tandem modules. With GCL already delivering its first large-scale orders in China, Mu explains why the company believes its architecture offers advantages in manufacturing scalability, material stability, and real-world performance. He also discusses the practical challenges of bringing these modules to market, from simplifying electrical connections to overcoming moisture-related failures and proving long-term durability.

With two industry heavyweights backing competing technologies, the race is about both high conversion efficiency alongside reliability, and manufacturing an affordable product that can be supplied at scale. And if perovskites can meet those demands, the next major transformation of the solar industry may happen faster than many expect.

✉️ Questions, comments or suggestions? Reach us at podcast@thesmartere.com

Germany helped pioneer the political frameworks that made solar a global success. But with daytime electricity prices falling, solar companies under pressure, and significant policy reforms taking shape, could the impressive solar and battery installation rates of recent years slow dramatically?

This week, host Jonathan Gifford speaks with David Wortmann, founder and CEO of Berlin-based consultancy DWR eco, about the proposed overhaul of Germany’s Renewable Energy Act (EEG). The reforms could fundamentally change the financial returns that solar projects can deliver, with support for residential and commercial rooftops set to shrink. But it’s not all one way; utility-scale tender volumes under the same reforms are likely to increase.

Wortmann argues that the main concern may be the speed of the reforms. As solar businesses are pushed towards self-consumption and market-based revenues, it appears that some are struggling to adapt. He discusses whether Germany can strike the right balance between rooftop and utility-scale solar without jeopardizing the country’s stated renewable-energy ambitions.

But as growing solar generation causes intraday power price spreads to grow, there are attractive opportunities for another technology: battery energy storage.

Recorded at the unveiling of a new battery manufacturing facility near Izmir, Turkey, Jonathan speaks with Salomé Perperot, senior consultant at Clean Horizon, about Europe's evolving battery storage economics. As lucrative ancillary service revenues give way to merchant trading opportunities, Perperot explains which markets look most attractive, and why securing even a small share of guaranteed revenue can be crucial to getting battery projects financed.

As both of these conversations demonstrate, generating more renewable electricity is only part of the challenge – the next test is finding the market structures, contracts, and policy settings that make it work.

✉️ Questions, comments or suggestions? Reach us at podcast@thesmartere.com

Europe has some of the world’s best solar researchers and strongest local markets. So why is so much of the PV manufacturing happening somewhere else?

Recorded at the recent EU PVSEC scientific conference and exhibition in Rotterdam, host Jonathan Gifford explores this question with Gaëtan Masson, CEO of the Becquerel Institute and co-chair of the European Solar Manufacturing Council. They examine Europe’s increasingly unusual position within the energy transition: a major solar market with very little manufacturing of its own. Meanwhile, India, the U.S. and China are building enormous production capacity – often drawing on European research outcomes.

So, can Europe leverage its solar knowhow to rebuild its industry? Masson argues that European-level industrial policy is required – particularly if manufacturers are going to attract the investment needed to scale.

Jonathan also speaks with 2026 Becquerel Prize winner Delfina Muñoz, Research Director of the Solar Energy Department at CEA at INES. Much of Muñoz’s research has focused on the interfaces between the different layers of a solar cell – because even well-designed solar products can generate weak results if the layers within the PV cell don’t function efficiently together. It’s an idea that is becoming even more important with technologies such as perovskite-silicon tandems, where efficiency, degradation, and stability factors can all hinge on what happens at those interfaces.

As a board member of the European Solar Manufacturing Council, Muñoz is also working at another kind of interface: between academia, industry, and policymakers. Closing the gaps between these groups could assist Europe in contributing to the development of the next generation of PV technology – and manufacturing it.

✉️ Questions, comments or suggestions? Reach us at podcast@thesmartere.com

Germany’s utility-scale battery deployment is hitting an inflection point.

After years of projects piling up in development pipelines, utility-scale storage is arriving at gigawatt scale – just as Germany’s huge solar fleet drives electricity prices towards zero, or below, during sunny hours.

For batteries that can shift that power into higher-priced periods, the opportunity is enormous.

Host Jonathan Gifford speaks with Thaddäus Kreisig, Principal at Aurora Energy Research, about Germany’s forming battery boom – and how developers are building revenue stacks to make projects viable.

The shift is striking: more than two-thirds of solar developers recently surveyed by Aurora said every project they plan to deploy will be co-located with a battery system. Falling battery-system equipment costs are strengthening the business case, while arbitrage, ancillary services, EEG revenues, and new financing models are opening up ways in which battery energy storage systems can pay off.

But grid constraints remain a major hurdle. Flexible connection agreements can restrict when batteries charge and discharge – limiting revenues, even as energy storage could help resolve the German energy market’s pricing peaks and troughs.

In short, Germany’s massive solar fleet has created both the need and the opportunity for batteries. And energy storage is rapidly shifting from optional extra to essential infrastructure – but the route-to-market for projects certainly promises to be an interesting ride.

✉️ Questions, comments or suggestions? Reach us at podcast@thesmartere.com