SMP 103: LG’s Business Development Executive Discusses Trends in Residential Solar Customer Acquisition

Episode Summary In this episode of the Solar Maverick Podcast, Benoy talks with Brian Lynch who is the Director in Sales and Business Development in Solar plus Storage for LG Electronics which manufactures high efficiency high quality PV modules solar panels in the US and South Korea.  Jon speaks about a lot of interesting topics like residential solar customers will pay more for premium solar equipment and brand awareness matters,  how to lower residential solar customer acquisition cost, and why solar assets are underperforming their initial production estimates. Benoy Thanjan Benoy Thanjan is the Founder and CEO of Reneu Energy, as well as an advisor for several solar startup companies. Reneu Energy is a premier international solar energy consulting firm and developer, and the company focuses on developing commercial and industrial solar, as well as utility-scale solar plus storage projects. The company also sources financing for solar projects and hedges both energy and environmental commodities.  Benoy received his first experience in Finance as an intern at D.E. Shaw & Co., which is a global investment firm with 37 billion dollars in investment capital. Before founding Reneu Energy, he was the SREC Trader in the Project Finance Group for SolarCity, which merged with Tesla in 2016. He originated SREC trades with buyers and co-developed their SREC monetization and hedging strategy with the senior management of SolarCity, to move into the east coast markets. Benoy also worked at Vanguard Energy Partners, Ridgewood Renewable Power, and Deloitte & Touche. Brian Lynch Brian Lynch is Director in Sales and Business, Solar plus Storage at LG Electronics.  He works with accomplished sales team to expand market of LG's high efficiency and high quality PV modules (made in Huntsville, AL) and next-gen ESS products.  Brian has 18 years of solar experience and is experienced in solar industry marketing, communications, and business development professional. Brian has been involved in hundreds of megawatts of solar projects that are generating clean energy around the world. Sponsor:  Summit Ridge Energy Thank you to Summit Ridge Energy for sponsoring this episode of the Solar Maverick Podcast! Summit Ridge Energy is the leading owner-operator of community solar projects in the United States. The team has been a strong force within the U.S. commercial solar market for years and was instrumental in the creation of "virtual" power purchase agreements and associated financing structures. Summit Ridge Energy has leveraged this experience to launch Summit Ridge Capital, a dedicated funding platform that acquires pre-operational community solar and battery storage projects. SRE also works with land owners across the country to maximize the value of their acreage by offering predictable lease income to host their solar farms. From site identification and system design, to take-out financing and construction management, Summit Ridge is the most complete solutions provider in the community solar space.  https://srenergy.com [email protected]   Stay Connected: Benoy Thanjan Email: [email protected]  LinkedIn: Benoy Thanjan Website: https://www.reneuenergy.com   Brian Lynch Website:  https://www.lg.com/us/solar Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/belynch/ Email:  [email protected] Articles that Brian has wrote are listed below. There’s more to solar systems than module capacity https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2020/07/06/yield-for-growth/ Underperforming solar assets shade the entire industry. Here is how to fix it https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2021/03/10/underperforming-solar-assets-shade-the-entire-industry-here-is-how-to-fix-it/ 2020: Top Takeaways on Selling Solar Through a Pandemic https://solarindustrymag.com/2020-top-takeaways-on-selling-solar-through-a-pandemic   Subscribe to our podcast + download each episode on iTunes,Podbean, and youtube. This episode was produced and managed by  Podcast Laundry (www.podcastlaundry.com)