Solar resilience and where power is going, with Gerard Reid

S1E6 episode overview

The global energy transition has shifted from a technological to an infrastructure and financial matter. In this episode of Watt Matters, Ana sits down with Gerard Reid, co‑host of the award‑winning Redefining Energy podcast and a globally recognized authority at the intersection of finance, energy, and technology.

Together, they explore the change from solar skepticism to optimism in solar plus storage as the lowest-cost and most adaptable path to a resilient energy future. Gerard shares his personal insights on economics, grid resilience, decentralized power, and the systemic reforms needed to unlock the next phase of clean energy growth.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How solar evolved from a niche technology to the bedrock of energy infrastructure.

• Why pairing solar with storage is no longer optional to create real infrastructure.

• Why the industry must move past debating individual technologies to embrace holistic system design.

• What the recent outages signal about the urgent need for modernization.

• How the shifting economics and business models are shaping solar and storage markets.

• The critical role of decentralization and customer engagement in future grids.

• Practical policy and market design changes that can accelerate the transition.

Chapters

00:00 Introductions and guest background
02:00 From solar skepticism to system bedrock
05:30 Solar + storage economics
09:00 Why storage is critical
13:30 Systemic energy transition thinking
17:45 Grid resilience and real incidents
22:30 Power decentralization and microgrids
26:00 Market risks and opportunities
30:15 Policy and market design for flexibility
34:00 Final insights