Solar Maverick Podcast SMP 08: How companies are reaching 100% renewable energy goals with Benoy and Li
About our Hosts:
Benoy Thanjan
Benoy Thanjan is the Founder and CEO of Reneu Energy and he 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.
Li Wang
A life-long journalist and communications professional, Li Wang was hooked on the news as an intern at the Philadelphia Daily News during the summer of the O.J. trial. He has been a business reporter, arts editor and film critic. He has shifted his focus to digital marketing and creative services. His company, MJ Wang Media, develops brand messaging and identity through website design and content marketing.
Episode summary:
Benoy explains what it means when companies say they’re working toward becoming 100% renewable and how they go on to make that happen. He offers his insights on the risks involved in committing to purchasing 100% renewables and how he incorporates energy consciousness into his own every day life.
Insights from this episode:
- Strategies for smaller companies to achieve 100% renewable
- Secrets to reduce risk and save money when committing your business to a 100% renewable goal
- How to support renewable energy and energy efficiency in your own life, and how that can translate into living a simpler life altogether
- How decreasing costs of lithium ion batteries will revolutionize access to electric cars and solar storage
- How increasing transparency in your company can improve its success
Quotes from the show:
- On developing the SREC program for Solar City in Silicon Valley: “It was crazy going from having no volume, to basically then having a multimillion dollar portfolio where I was helping them broker those sort of transactions.” - Benoy Thanjan, Episode 8
- “We have these big ideas but then we find reasons why it’s not going to work, but really we should be constantly pushing ourselves and thinking bigger and doing more than we think we can.” - Benoy Thanjan, Episode 8
- “The most successful people or the most successful company is failing more than most and learning from it and adapting.” - Benoy Thanjan, Episode 8
- “I believe every failure is supposed to happen.” - Benoy Thanjan, Episode 8
- “You can’t take the present for granted.” - Benoy Thanjan, Episode 8
- “Success and business and life are about being strategic. It’s about working hard, but it’s also about working smart and doing what you believe you want to do and what is your purpose.” - Benoy Thanjan, Episode 8
- “Transparency Promotes Accountability” - Li Wang, Episode 8
- “Talk is cheap, play the game” - Benoy Thanjan, Episode 8
Stay connected:
Benoy Thanjan
Li Wang:
Instagram: @liwang22