SMP 126: Benoy Thanjan discusses what the Australian Solar Market can learn from the US Solar Market

Episode Summary In this episode of Solar Maverick Podcast, Nigel Morris and Benoy Thanjan discuss the differences between the Australian and U.S solar markets and the varying pricing costs. Benoy highlights the high solar prices, especially in the U.S, and the factors contributing to the costs. Finally, he provides lessons that the Australian market can learn from the U.S solar industry and what he thinks is the future of the U.S solar market.    Benoy Thanjan Benoy Thanjan is the Founder and CEO of Reneu Energy and is also 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 and utility-scale solar plus storage projects. The company also sources financing for solar projects and hedges energy and environmental commodities. Reneu Energy has brokered $27 million in environmental commodities transactions.    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.   Nigel Morris With 30 years of experience in solar energy Nigel Morris is a Solar Technology Advocate and was recently added to a list of the world's Top 20 Solar Influencers. He is an experienced and passionate solar professional and co-host of Solar Insiders, one of the world longest running and best-ranked solar industry podcasts, and Great Solar Business, a new series exploring the secrets of building solar companies. He is obsessed with electric motorcycles, vehicle to grid, and the power of data.   Insights from this episode:  Differences between the U.S and the Australian solar market Differences in pricing in the U.S and the Australian solar market Insights into why solar prices are in the U.S Insights into the competitive landscape of solar energy in the U.S What the Australian solar market can learn from the U.S   Quotes from the show: “The west of the U.S and Hawaii have a high solar radiance, so it makes a good market for residential solar” -Benoy Thanjan, Solar Maverick Podcast “Australia has relatively expensive energy prices” -Nigel Morris, Solar Maverick Podcast “The price of batteries are going down substantially, specifically lithium iron technology ”-Benoy Thanjan, Solar Maverick Podcast “We [Australia] do not have the experience that you guys [U.S] do in the large scale space, although we are chasing quickly there”  -Nigel Morris, Solar Maverick Podcast “There is so much disruption that is happening in the industry” -Benoy Thanjan, Solar Maverick Podcast “If you want that low-cost energy in Australia, if you want the cheapest energy, to top up your EV, you do that from a home solar system; you don’t do it from grid power” -Nigel Morris, Solar Maverick Podcast   Stay connected:   Benoy Thanjan Website: www.reneuenergy.com Email:  [email protected] LinkedIn: Benoy Thanjan Facebook: Reneu Energy   Nigel Morris LinkedIn: Nigel Morris  Facebook: Nigel Morris    Subscribe to our podcast + download each episode on iTunes, Podbean, YouTube, and most of the major podcast platforms.   This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.