How U.S. innovators are reshaping solar – with Howard Wenger and Aaron Thurlow

Innovation in solar business models and technology is
front-and-center on this episode of The smarter E
Podcast. Featuring two leaders from the U.S. solar
industry, it explores how innovation across the solar value chain
is taking the global energy transition in new directions.
Recorded live at The smarter E Europe 2026 in
Munich, host Jonathan Gifford speaks with two executives from
companies that represent very different stages of the industry's
evolution: one scaling and redefining an established global
business, the other pushing a new generation of solar technology
toward commercial reality.


First, Howard Wenger, President of
Nextpower, discusses the company's rapid
transformation from a solar tracker specialist into a provider of
integrated utility-scale solar and energy storage platforms.
Following a series of strategic acquisitions – most recently
the German mounting system manufacturer Zimmermann and battery
storage integrator Prevalon – Wenger explains why combining
hardware, software, and storage is becoming essential for
utility-scale renewable energy. He also shares insights into
Europe's growing importance for the company, the role of battery
storage in addressing negative electricity prices and data centre
demand, and why customer-focused innovation remains central to
Nextpower's expansion strategy.


The conversation then turns to the future of photovoltaic
cell-and-module technology with Aaron Thurlow,
Chief Commercial Officer at Caelux. Thurlow
explains how the company's perovskite-on-glass approach could
accelerate commercial adoption by augmenting existing silicon
module production lines rather than replacing them. He discusses
the pathway from pilot production to scale manufacturing, the
potential for significant efficiency gains, and why perovskites
could unlock new opportunities not only for terrestrial solar but
also for space applications. The discussion also tackles one of
PV-perovskite technology’s biggest questions: long-term
durability and why confidence is growing and commercial-scale
deployment drawing closer.


Together, these conversations highlight an industry advancing on
multiple fronts and developing the technologies that could define
the next generation of highly-productive photovoltaics.


️ Questions or feedback? Write us at
podcast@thesmartere.com