974: How to Make the Case for Solar + Storage to People Who Don’t Speak Energy

What if the difference between winning support and losing your audience isn’t better data, but knowing how to tell the story?

In this episode, the tables are turned once again. SunCast host Nico Johnson is the guest this time, joining as a featured communications expert alongside some of the industry’s most respected voices in policy and strategic communications.

Recorded live at the CHESSA Energize Summit, moderator Robin Dutta, Executive Director of CHESSA, brings together Molly Knoll of Align Energy Advisors, Jamie Nolan of Energy Empire, and Nico to tackle a deceptively simple question:

How do you make the case for solar and storage to people who don’t speak energy?

Molly starts with the facts behind how solar & storage can help directly address rising electricity costs. Then the conversation moves beyond the docket and into the work of influence.

How much information does your audience actually need? Who is the right messenger? When does data help, and when does a story work better? How do you earn enough relevance that someone actually wants to hear more?

The panel gets practical about story banks, trusted messengers, repetition, regulatory audiences, community conversations, and why saying less can often create more influence.

The opportunity is not to make energy less sophisticated.

It’s to become better at communicating it.

If you lead, sell, advocate, raise capital, influence policy, or simply need people to understand why your work matters, this conversation will make you better at making the case.

Expect to Learn:

🔹 Why strong evidence still needs a story people care about