Currents Ep324: Evolving Community Solar and Storage
Nov 13, 2025
Stefano Ratti, CEO of Chaberton Energy, is a community solar developer pioneering the integration of battery storage into renewable projects. He discusses the impact of market shifts and policy changes on solar development. Ratti highlights the pros and cons of project ownership versus development and elaborates on how community solar economics adapt to tariff changes. He shares insights on the comfort of financiers with community solar and the importance of state-level support. Finally, Ratti predicts a bright future for solar plus storage as the market evolves.
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Community Solar Roots And Business Focus
- Chaberton began as a community solar developer focused on 1–10 MW distribution projects across several U.S. states.
- They specialized in development tasks and historically did not retain long-term ownership of assets.
Pivoting To Solar Plus Storage
- The company is shifting from solar-only to an integrated solar-plus-storage strategy and exploring standalone storage.
- Stefano sees storage as a major evolution for their distributed-generation market over the next five years.
Stick To What You Do Best
- Focus on your core competency if you're a young developer rather than stretching into ownership prematurely.
- Selling developed projects reduces capital needs and lets you reinvest profits to scale development capabilities.