SMP 201: Insights from Ampion on Scaling Community Solar

In this episode of the Solar Maverick Podcast, Benoy sits down with Vihann Kong, Senior Executive Director of Enterprise Acquisition at Ampion. Ampion is driving the clean energy revolution by expanding access to community energy programs across the country. Vihann shares insights on Ampion’s partnerships with major brands like Wendy’s and Colgate-Palmolive, the emerging community solar markets in the U.S., and the renewable energy technologies poised to make an impact beyond solar.   Benoy Thanjan Benoy Thanjan is the Founder and CEO of Reneu Energy and he is also an advisor for several solar startup companies.  He has extensive project origination, development, and financial experience in the renewable energy industry and in the environmental commodities market.   This includes initial site evaluation, permitting, financing, sourcing equipment, and negotiating the long-term energy and environmental commodities off-take agreements. He manages due diligence processes on land, permitting, and utility interconnection and is in charge of financing and structuring through Note to Proceed (“NTP”) to Commercial Operation Date (“COD”). Benoy composes teams suitable for all project development and construction tasks. He is also involved in project planning and pipeline financial modeling. He has been part of all sides of the transaction and this allows him to provide unique perspectives and value. Benoy has extensive experience in financial engineering to make solar projects profitable.   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 was the Vice President at Vanguard Energy Partners which is a national solar installer where he focused on project finance solutions for commercial scale solar projects.  He also worked for Ridgewood Renewable Power, a private equity fund, where he analyzed potential investments in renewable energy projects and worked on maximizing the financial return of the projects in the portfolio.  Benoy also worked on the sale of all of the renewable energy projects in Ridgewood’s portfolio.     He was in the Energy Structured Finance practice for Deloitte & Touche and in Financial Advisory Services practice at Ernst & Young.  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. He has a MBA in Finance from Rutgers University and a BS in Finance and Economics from the Stern School of Business at New York University.  Benoy was an Alumni Scholar at the Stern School of Business.       Vihann Kong With a robust background in sustainable energy and customer relationship management, my role as Senior Executive Director of Enterprise Acquisition at Ampion, PBC, is centered around pioneering clean energy solutions for enterprise customers. Our team's commitment to lowering energy costs and advancing ESG initiatives has positioned us as a vanguard in the renewable energy sector.   Previously, as Director of Sales at Metrus Energy, I spearheaded the development of a comprehensive sales strategy, contributing to significant channel growth. My expertise in sustainable energy efficiency is not just about implementing solutions—it's about leading a movement towards a greener future, with every successful partnership reflecting our shared values of innovation and sustainability.     Stay Connected: Benoy Thanjan Email: [email protected]  LinkedIn: Benoy Thanjan Website: https://www.reneuenergy.com   Vihann Kong Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vihann/ Website:  https://ampion.net   Book Discussed During the Podcast   Reinventing Fire https://www.amazon.com/Reinventing-Fire-Business-Solutions-Energy/dp/1603585389/ref=sr_1_1?crid=393DN2LYKRNEH&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.7ZlZ3ajzmHCiGkyO3koc8AUrGWG5arXAUTY8cSWB1KNRE0PcDQQ6Zw7OZGwQPfTQpAtrVbbyysqLEgM4HZbxM32mFZIsScIhkiyqS9BSnVgYF3Ho6YE1UICqgpxoK4xv8P_w3X_QCKx-Jy32WFT6d9d48KhhjOiWKYy-HJPAFajyvAxwCF22_Jyl6tTwsux8hmMvsFv_vQKJf-l3MwBkDRIXn_KIEEnkVGenWu-mAzU.xhksKUmbWyMkggL2CY0WREZnVwNkgFHJTq_PWV5Vo4M&dib_tag=se&keywords=reinventing+fire&qid=1741965815&sprefix=reinventing+fire%2Caps%2C170&sr=8-1