CleanTechies #251 How to Fix a Quarter Trillion Solar Assets at Scale | Nikhil Vadhavkar (Raptor Maps)
In this episode, we sit down with Nikhil Vadhavkar, co-founder and CEO of Raptor Maps, to uncover how the company is tackling the invisible crisis in clean energy: operational inefficiency across $250B+ worth of solar assets.
Nikhil explains why the solar industry’s problems aren’t just about building more — they’re about getting the existing infrastructure to perform. From labor shortages to rising insurance costs, from underperforming fields to unscalable maintenance methods, Raptor Maps is turning traditional solar operations on its head.
Their secret? A software platform built on digital twins, computer vision, and robotics that lets field techs do more of what matters.
You'll hear how Raptor Maps found product-market fit by replacing the most dangerous and manual tasks on solar farms with drone- and robot-driven workflows, and how that foundation has evolved into an AI-ready platform used across tens of gigawatts of global deployments. Nikhil shares the journey from MIT and NASA to Y Combinator and utility-scale solar, reflecting on what it means to build something technically excellent, deeply customer-embedded, and truly scalable.
We cover:
- How climate-driven damage (hail, fire) and tariffs are reshaping solar economics
- Why investors are demanding deeper visibility into solar asset performance
- What it takes to operate robots and AI in the middle of nowhere
- And how Raptor Maps built a customer-led culture — even as it scaled
---
Upgrade to paid today! It’s $10/month or $100/year. You probably spent that much on random Amazon stuff last week. What’s stopping you from upgrading to paid?
📺 Watch on YouTube | 🍎 Apple Podcasts | 🎧 Spotify | 🗣️ Join the Slack Channel
📝 Show Notes:
Topics
- 02:51 Shifting Value Toward Operational Assets
- 03:02 Core Challenges in Solar
- 06:26 The Insights Behind Raptor Maps
- 11:06 From Doing a PhD to Raptor Maps
- 20:31 Creating Scalable Solutions
- 24:44 Shifts in the Ecosystem and Market Positioning
- 31:45 Building Trust Through Industry Collaboration
- 40:36 Looking Ahead
This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.
If you're gonna change the world, you're gonna need a world-class team. Partner with ErthTech Talent to help you do that, for less.
- 70+ Placements
- 5+ Years (exclusively in CleanTech)
- The Lowest Fees in the Market (12-15% of first-year salary)
- 90-day placement guarantee
It's really hard to say no to that.
Wait?! -- The best service is also the cheapest? Seems too good to be true, but it's the entire reason we started this company.
We believe that Climate entrepreneurs are doing important work, and there should be a firm to help them find the best talent, without it breaking the bank.
Reach out today for a free assessment of your hiring process. hello@erthtechtalent.com