What happens when the insatiable energy demands of massive data centres collide with an aging grid, and who is actually standing up for the everyday person paying the bills?

In this episode, we sit down with Craig Memery: a leading energy advocate and renewable energy veteran: to unpack the complex realities of the Australian energy transition.

From his early days climbing 80-metre wind testing towers and developing standalone power systems, to his critical work with the Justice and Equity Centre and the Alternative Technology Association (now Renew), Craig brings a deeply human perspective to a highly technical industry.

We go deep into the philosophy of consumer advocacy, why energy efficiency remains the most overlooked solution to our grid crisis, and the massive incoming threat (and opportunity) posed by data centers.

Craig also breaks down the transition from mechanical inertia (synchronous condensers) to grid-scale batteries, and how network tariffs must evolve to avoid unfairly punishing renters and vulnerable households.

⚡ What we cover:

✅ Why the term 'consumer' dehumanizes people in the energy transition
✅ The forgotten potential of passive solar design and household energy efficiency
✅ Early wind farm prospecting and overcoming a fear of heights on 80m test towers
✅ The massive grid impact of new data centers and why they avoid deeper network costs
✅ How to co-optimize data center loads using demand response and optionality
✅ The structural flaws in volumetric network tariffs and high fixed charges
✅ Transitioning from synchronous condensers to advanced grid-scale batteries
✅ The psychological benefits of silent meditation retreats for complex problem-solving

What do most engineers get wrong about lightning protection?

In this episode, Veli sits down with Franco D'Alessandro from LPI to explore lightning protection for commercial solar, battery storage and critical infrastructure.

From astrophysics to lightning engineering, Franco explains how lightning forms, why blunt air terminals outperform sharp rods, and why surge protection, earthing and bonding are just as important as capturing the strike.

Franco has multiple patents to his name with numerous research papers published and we were so lucky to have him on!

⚡ What we cover:

✅ How lightning forms
✅ Direct vs indirect strikes
✅ Solar farm protection
✅ Earthing and bonding
✅ Surge protection
✅ Floating solar
✅ Lightning myths
✅ Risk assessments

THE CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro: Lightning & Solar
01:12 Growing Up In Tasmania
04:15 Astrophysics Journey
08:45 Entering Lightning Protection

15:10 Australia & Lightning Myths
19:40 How Lightning Forms
25:20 Why Lightning Protection Matters
33:00 Four Parts Of Protection

42:10 Air Terminals Explained
50:45 Sharp vs Blunt Rods
1:00:35 Solar Farms & Risk

1:07:15 Floating Solar
1:15:00 Large Solar Farms
1:22:00 Wrap Up

If you work in commercial solar, engineering or renewable energy, this episode is packed with practical insights that come from a massive mind that is Franco D'Alessandro!

#LightningProtection #SolarFarms #CommercialSolar #RenewableEnergy #ElectricalEngineering #SurgeProtection #Earthing #Bonding #BatteryStorage #BESS #FloatingSolar #GridInfrastructure #PowerSystems #LPI #SolarAustralia #RenewableEnergyAustralia #EngineeringPodcast #GreenwoodAcademy

What happens when defence-grade software analytics meets renewable infrastructure, and why is 30% of commercial solar offline right now?

In this episode, we sit down with Chris Martell: Managing Director of GSES (Global Sustainable Energy Solutions): to explore solar engineering, training evolution, and advanced asset management.

Chris shares his journey from working on military radar arrays at Raytheon in Boston to leading one of Australia's most respected renewable energy consulting and training institutions, GSES.
We discuss the technical challenges of early commercial solar, engineering car park canopy arrays over active easements, and the launch of Mindaro for large-scale microgrid engineering.

We also explore Diagno, a machine-learning data visualization platform built in partnership with UNSW and UTS to automate fault detection. Chris breaks down the massive industry-wide failure in communications, the lack of structured O&M programs, and how the solar sector must adapt as systems integrate into virtual power plants (VPPs).

What we cover:

✅ Chris's transition from defence systems engineering to terrestrial solar photovoltaics
✅ The legacy of UNSW and Martin Green in pioneering modern cell efficiency records
✅ Inside early commercial solar deployments and complex grid connection architectures
✅ Designing bespoke solar canopy structures over commercial easements
✅ The scaling of GSES from an international aid consultancy to an industry-standard RTO
✅ How Mindaro spun out to handle utility-scale designs up to 150MW plus
✅ The technical birth of Diagno and utilizing cloud APIs for data cleaning and normalization
✅ Why 30% of solar asset communications are down at any given moment
✅ Building structured O&M frameworks with defined SLAs for high-value asset owners
✅ The true potential of alternative storage mediums including flywheels and mechanical storage
✅ Expanding clean energy skills training across developing nations like the Philippines and Pakistan