
Why Utility-Scale Solar Is Quietly Failing in 2026? #349
From Clean Power Hour by Tim Montague, John Weaver
May 12, 2026 · 27 min
About this episode
Dean Solon discusses the challenges facing utility-scale solar equipment and the state of American solar manufacturing.
American solar manufacturing is getting a reboot. Dean Solon, founder of Create Energy and formerly of Shoals Technologies, sold 1 GW of product in Q1 of this year alone. In this episode, he walks Tim Montague through his vertically integrated factory in Portland, Tennessee, and names exactly why utility-scale solar equipment is quietly failing at scale. American solar manufacturing has a reliability problem, and the utilities and independent power producers who own these fields for 30...
People in this episode
Host: Tim Montague
Guest: Dean Solon
Topics covered
- utility-scale solar
- solar manufacturing
- reliability issues
- energy production
- business challenges
Keywords
- utility-scale solar
- solar manufacturing
- Dean Solon
- Create Energy
- reliability problem
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Create Energy, Shoals Technologies
Places: Portland, Tennessee, American
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