About Lisa Cohn

Lisa Cohn, a regular contributor at HeatSpring Magazine, has worked as a writer for more than 20 years, focusing on energy and environment. She is a former U.S. stringer for Windpower Monthly Magazine, a former associate editor of Oregon Business and a former editor of Forest Perspectives, a quarterly magazine published by the World Forestry Center. She began her writing career as an energy and environment reporter for The Cape Cod Times. Lisa has received numerous writing awards, from the Pacific Northwest Writers Association, Willamette Writers and Associated Oregon Industries.

For Potential Solar Entrepreneurs, These Opportunities Await

The U.S. has 1 million untapped solar entrepreneurs, says Kerim Baran, instructor of HeatSpring’s Solar Entrepreneurship course.

Right now, the U.S. has about 10,000 active solar installers and 1 million electricians. Many of these electricians aren’t aware that they can easily become solar installers, says Baran, an engineer who has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) […]

How Can Fast-Moving Solar Companies Adjust to Growth?

It’s no secret the solar industry is growing quickly. 

In fact, 2020 set records for the industry. The fourth quarter exceeded the quarterly records set in fourth quarter 2016 by 22%, and the year ended with 19.2 GW installed, 43% more than the capacity added in 2019 –in spite of the global pandemic, according to the […]

Climate Change and COVID Crisis Boost Interest in Ventilation

The Covid-19 crisis and climate change are boosting interest in ventilation and in training that helps people calculate the amount of ventilation needed in a home or building, says HeatSpring instructor Rick Karg.

Karg, who teaches  ASHRAE 62.2 Ventilation for Single Family Dwellings, says people are increasingly interested in ventilation because it helps reduce the spread […]

With a Mission of Boosting Solar + Storage, Chris Brown Makes his Mark

In the 1990s, when Chris Brown was in high school, concerns about global warming sparked his interest in renewable energy.

He knew that climate disasters were in his future. “And I was convinced that it was inevitable that we’d  deplete readily available fossil fuel resources and would need to adopt other sources of energy.” 

Teaching Solar + […]

April 12th, 2021|Categories: Clean Energy Policy, Energy Storage, Solar, Solar miscellaneous, Solar Plus Storage, Utility-Scale Solar||

Understanding Solar Project Finance Risks

In an ideal world, solar developers would find an appropriate site for solar, the local utility would offer low interconnection costs, the investor would receive a reasonable financial return and the surrounding community would welcome the project.

This would make developing a solar project easier than most because the risks would be relatively low, says Keith […]