SMP 82:  Startup Focuses on Technology Innovations for Solar Panels

Episode Summary

In this episode of the Solar Maverick Podcast, Bill Nussey and Dr. Ben Damiani discuss their startup Solar Inventions and how they are improving solar technology and scaling up and commercializing their inventions.  They also speak about being the first winner of the American-Made Solar Prize Competition and how it has helped their company.  Ben and Bill also discuss their predictions for the clean energy industry and their experiences as entrepreneurs.

Solar Inventions was created with a mission to accelerate the pace of innovation in solar and other clean energy solutions.  Their first wave of products is based on the work of Dr. Ben Damiani.  The benefits of the technology include increased power, improved shading tolerance, and reduced hotspot risk.  Their product compliment existing technologies and do not require new equipment or manufacturing techniques.

Our Host

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.

Our Guests

Bill Nussey, Partner and CEO

Prior to Solar Inventions, Bill spent most of his career as a tech CEO. He co-founded his first company in high school which provided graphics software for early, text-based personal computers. His second company was started out of his college dorm room and ultimately sold business software across 45 countries. After several years as a venture capitalist with Greylock, he left the firm to run a portfolio company which he took public and grew to almost $500 million in revenue.

His company prior to Solar Inventions, Silverpop, was sold to IBM where he later served as IBM’s VP Corporate Strategy out of their world headquarters in New York. Bill’s companies have created thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in value.

Bill received a degree in electrical engineering from North Carolina State University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He holds several patents and has published two books with another book in development called Freeing Energy.

Dr. Ben Damiani, Partner and Chief Scientist

Ben has spent his career in solar. His innovations have enjoyed global reach through his work at early solar pioneers, Suniva and SolarWorld. He has worked across the world commercializing new solar technologies and building solar manufacturing facilities.

Ben received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech and did part of his grad work at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany. After graduating he joined Intel’s Process Technology Development (PTD) group and lead the medium current ion implant group. Bridging the technology from the integrated electronics industry into the solar industry, Ben was responsible for the first-ever implementation of Ion Implanted Solar Cells in high volume production for Suniva, Inc. Ben successfully realized this USA born technology from concept and feasibility to 180 MW’s production capacity in less than 28 months, a process that normally takes 6 years.

As the Director of Industrial Technology Development for Semco Engineering in France, he developed new processes for plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, low pressure diffusion and oxidation, bifacial solar modules, and n-type PhosTop solar modules.  He holds several patents and has authored more than 30 papers.  

Stay Connected:

Benoy Thanjan

Email: info@reneuenergy.com

LinkedIn: @bthanjan

Website: https://www.reneuenergy.com

Bill Nussey

Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/billnussey/

Website:  https://www.solarinventions.com

Dr. Ben Damiani

Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-damiani-3560491b/

Website: https://www.solarinventions.com

Solar Inventions White Paper

https://www.solarinventions.com/whitepaper

Sponsor:

Thank you to our sponsor Solar Energy Systems LLC who sponsored this episode of the podcast.  Solar Energy Systems, LLC (SES) is a solar energy photovoltaic design/build firm headquartered in Brooklyn, NY and serving the Northeast U.S.  Founded in 1998, the company designs, builds, and maintains solar photovoltaic (PV) systems within the public and private domain.  We interviewed David Buckner who is the Founder and CEO of SES on Episode 65:  20 Year Solar Veteran and Entrepreneur Provides Perspective on the Solar Market. 

To learn more about Solar Energy Systems, check out their website which is www.solaresystems.com.  Email SES at info@solaresystems.com or Call 718-389-1545.

 Top 5 Solar Energy Podcasts You Must Follow in 2020

Thank you to Feedspot for having the Solar Maverick Podcast as one of the top 5 Solar Energy Podcasts You Must Follow in 2020.  Below is the link with more information.

https://blog.feedspot.com/solar_energy_podcasts/

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This episode was produced and managed by  Podcast Laundry (www.podcastlaundry.com)