SunCast

This is Episode 24 of SunCast, and Episode 5 in the Latam Founders Series, which is being brought to you through a special collaboration with Enphase Energy.  This episode is entirely in Spanish (well, except for the introduction).Today on SunCast, you'll meet Arturo Duhart, founder of one of Mexico’s largest solar companies, and possibly the largest solar distributor - Exel Solar.  Today's episode was recorded live in Las Vegas back in September during the annual Solar Power Int'l conference.Arturo and I spent some time talking about:The early days of ExelTheir growth trajectoryExpansion plans outside of MexicoAnd, of course, what he sees happening in the market And as always, you can check the blog page for a longer writeup & resources from today's show.If you like what you hear, please SHARE it!And be sure to check out all the rest of the episodes in this Latam Founder series - stay tuned!!!Check out OpenSolar OS 3.0 at: https://suncast.media/opensolarIf you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeoLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

This is Episode 23 of SunCast. Today we take a break from the Latam Founders Series, but not from meeting yet another solid founder in the solar industry.Today on SunCast, you'll meet Jon Bonanno, CCO of Empower Micro Systems.   Jon is a friend and mentor, and knows a Ton about technology, launching and growing new companies, and is well-versed in the challenges of the Solar Industry. In the next 30 minutes, we discuss:Jon's penchant for Making up new wordsWhy he believes Module level power electronics (MLPE) is the most appropriate technology for rooftop projectsSurvival when you're founding companies that are way ahead of their time or the marketAnd of course, much more We hope you get a ton of value from today’s episode, and if you’re interested in learning more about Jon or Empower, I encourage you to visit their website or ping Jon on LinkedIn. Both are in the show notes; check the blog page for resources from today's show.If you like what you hear, please SHARE it!And be sure to check out all the rest of the episodes in this Latam Founder series - stay tuned!!!Check out OpenSolar OS 3.0 at: https://suncast.media/opensolarIf you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeoLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

This is Episode 22 of SunCast, and Episode 4 in the Latam Founders Series, which is being brought to you through a special collaboration with Enphase Energy. Today on SunCast, you'll meet Maximo Torres, founder of Maximo Solar in Puerto Rico, along with his GM, Jonattan Martir.  Today's episode was actually recorded live in Las Vegas during the annual Solar Power Int'l conference.I call Maximo the Solar philosopher, and it's true.  He has an infectious passion for solar, and it's no surprise that his company is one of the strongest in the Puerto Rico market. There are some real goodies in here, so take some time to listen intently, as we discuss:Choosing between the large utility-scale markets, C&I or ResidentialThe importance of having a growth mindset, and the resulting view on competitionThe value of being extremely customer-centricOne internal tool they've used multiple times to expand beyond their current product offering into profitable new segmentsThe two most important people in a solar company, and aligning corporate values around themAnd so, so much moreWe hope you get a ton of value from today’s episode, but if are interested in learning more about Maximo and his team, I encourage you to visit their website or their Facebook Page.And as always, you can check the blog page for resources from today's show.If you like what you hear, please SHARE it!And be sure to check out all the rest of the episodes in this Latam Founder series - stay tuned!!!Check out OpenSolar OS 3.0 at: https://suncast.media/opensolarIf you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeoLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Bienvenidos and Welcome to Episode 21 of SunCast, and Episode 3 in the Latam Founders Series, which is being brought to you through a special collaboration with Enphase Energy.  Today we have a slight departure from the usual format.  No, it's not in Spanish like last week's episode, but it also doesn't follow the typical question flow I've used in the first 20 episodes. In prep for the interviews in this series, I asked my friend Luis over at Enphase if there was anyone on his team who was able to articulate well the challenges they come across in the field, especially from the perspective of financing for C&I customers.  He pointed me to Jake Hoppe.  And after you hear today's conversation, you'll understand why.  I was originally going to use my call with Jake just to backfill with some soundbites on the episodes (like Episode 17 with Jose Zambrano) as a way to provide a third voice explaining some of the intricacies of financing C&I deals.  But after I heard the interview again, I knew it was plenty good enough to stand on its own merits.   Today on SunCast, you'll meet Jake Hoppe, who is currently working in Business Development for Spruce Finance, but Jake got his start in the solar industry at Enphase.  And from what I can tell, he was instrumental in helping get some of their pivotal early deals across the finish line in Latin America.  He's also been very hands-on with areas of the business like working with underwriters (think Moody's) on evaluating the underlying risks of assets Enphase had deployed for large IPPs looking to go public.  I've said it before, but you'll want to take notes on this one.  If you're anything like me, you'll have to go back and listen to it again as Jake dispels wisdom at almost every turn in the conversation.Jake and I discuss:Some of the difficult problems his team was able to help customers solve in the field.Where you can look to better understand what he calls the Gold Standard in conservative best practices in valuing solar systemsThe fundamental elements of project underwriting for financing C&I dealsThe one question that could radically change a company’s ability to scale - or put a  different way, the wrong versus the right way to think about how you value the inputs to your IRR and margin calculationsI am supremely positive you’re going to get a ton of value from today’s episode.If you like what you hear, please SHARE it!And be sure to check out all the rest of the episodes in this Latam Founder series - stay tuned!!!Check out OpenSolar OS 3.0 at: https://suncast.media/opensolarIf you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeoLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Bienvenidos and Welcome to Episode 20 of SunCast, and Episode 2 in the Latam Founders Series, which is being brought to you through a special collaboration with Enphase Energy.  If you didn’t have a chance to hear the setup episode last week, go back and check out Episode 16, as I speak with Luis Morales at Enphase about why we wanted to collaborate on this specific series of conversations.As you may have noticed in the show title - today’s episode, and several others in the series, is completely in Spanish, si, totalmente en espanol.  One of the ideas I'm exploring with Enphase's support is whether there is an audience for our content in Spanish.  So, if you don't speak or understand Spanish, you’ll want to key in on the [ES] in the show title, just like today's which let’s you know ahead of time - they're totally in Spanish.If that is you, and you don’t speak Spanish - have no fear, b/c I’ll also be releasing some minisodes like the one I did this past Wednesday with Rod Barfield.  The content will vary, but it will be a bite-sized morsel of sunshine, in English, to brighten your week!  If that’s you, or if you missed it, go back and listen to that one, it’s only 15 min.I'll put up a summary of the episode in English along with the resources mentioned, so feel free to go check that out over at http://www.mysuncast.com.Today on SunCast, you'll meet Julian Willenbrock of Enlight.  Julian and his partner Roberto founded the company as Enerclima several years ago, but in 2016 they took on investment and rebranded the company as Enlight, aimed at taking a leadership role in the Distributed solar market in Mexico.Julian and I discuss lots of things particular to their business as well as the Mexico market generally:History of Enlight's foundation, formation, growth and inflection points.Role and/or importance of technology in scaling the businessdetails around how Enlight has overcome obstacles and roadblocks to deploying projects, to growing the companyFinanced systems as a means for growth (vs turnkey ownership)We hope you get a ton of value from today’s episode.  If you are interested in learning more about Enlight, I encourage you to visit their website or their Facebook Page. If you like what you hear, please SHARE it!And be sure to check out all the rest of the episodes in this Latam Founder series - stay tuned!!!Check out OpenSolar OS 3.0 at: https://suncast.media/opensolarIf you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeoLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

A few weeks ago we published Episode 15 with my friend Rodrigo Barfield of Long Light Energy.  Last year in 2016, he had moved back to Brazil to run his new company, and we discussed his thoughts on the market. As with many startups, things don’t always go as planned, and I hinted at the end of the show that Rod had an update pending.In this episode of SunCast, we have a follow-up call with Rodrigo.  While he is still actively developing business in Brazil, he has made the decision to return to the US. Today we discuss Rod’s thoughts on the state of Brazil in 2017, what it would take for the market to be "ready" for his project pipeline, as well as why he believes the US market is hotter than ever, especially for DG finance. As always, If you like what you hear, please SHARE it!Check out OpenSolar OS 3.0 at: https://suncast.media/opensolarIf you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeoLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

In this episode of SunCast, you'll meet Manan Parikh of GTM Research.  Many of you already know who Manan is, but, for the uninitiated, Manan is the analyst at GTM who authors their quarterly Latam PV Playbook - basically the bible on all-things-solar for latin america from market size and potential, to who, specifically, is doing what in each region.  I love catching up with Manan, as he always has his finger on the pulse of what's hot in the region.  And this week he's fresh off publishing the latest quarterly report.  In today’s episode, Manan shares his predictions for markets like Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, and more.  You'll want to listen to all 60 minutes of this interview, as Manan is one of the industry experts on where the market is trending and what to look out for.He gets into specific detail about Argentina right out of the gate (the entire first 10 minutes!), so you'll want to tune in if you're at all curious whether that market will meet expectations for the Year of Renewable Energy they've declared!If you like what you hear, please SHARE it!And thank you for continuing to help make SunCast one of the most listened-to solar podcasts!Check out OpenSolar OS 3.0 at: https://suncast.media/opensolarIf you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeoLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

In this episode of SunCast, I'd like to introduce you to my friend, Jose Zambrano, Founder & CEO of Galt Energy, one of Mexico’s fastest growing residential and commercial solar installers.  This is the inaugural episode of the "Latam Founders Series", and I really think it’s a great example of the kinds of entrepreneurs we’re seeing arise in the solar industry throughout Latam.  Galt and Jose are emblematic of solid fundamentals, great leadership, and being out ahead of what we believe will be a massive wave of solar growth in Mexico.  In today’s episode, Jose and I dig into exactly how Galt has become one of the fastest growing solar companies in Mexico, maybe in Latin America.It's impressive to see how they’ve built such a successful system to scale the company, and he shares the tools and mindset that have helped them get to this stage in their growth.He even shares the secret hiring tip that took their system failures down to zero.If you've ever wondered how to start and scale a distributed solar company in latin America, or how to sell to one, then keep your pen handy, you might want to take some notes.If you like what you hear, please SHARE it!And be sure to check out all the rest of the episodes in this series, which are forthcoming - stay tuned!!!Check out OpenSolar OS 3.0 at: https://suncast.media/opensolarIf you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeoLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

In this episode of SunCast, I'd like to introduce you to my friend, Luis Morales, Head of Latin America for Enphase Energy.  For the last year, Luis and I have been in discussions about an idea that is now bearing fruit in the form of this special Series of interviews we're calling the "Latam Founders Series".  I have spent the last 6 months meeting with or interviewing some of the Enphase customers who are growing the fastest not only in their own countries but in the Latam Region and have taken often innovative approaches to both technology and financing to do so.The thesis is this: If you're building a business you're a maverick. If that business is in the growing but still extremely small niche of solar power, in Latin America, and beyond that, you've done in-depth analysis of cutting-edge technology like Enphase sufficient to standardize (and scale) around it as you grow, there's a chance you have an interesting story to tell.NB: There are 6 episodes (presently) in the series - FOUR of them will be completely in Spanish. Yes, we're proud to be FINALLY releasing content to the SunCast audience in Spanish (or to those who would be in the audience if only we would produce some content in Spanish - Yep, I've heard that, so we'll test it!)In today’s episode, we discuss the thought behind why we think these entrepreneurs need to be heard, and why Enphase is teaming up with us to bring these stories to light.If you like what you hear, please SHARE it!And be sure to check out all the rest of the episodes in this series, which are forthcoming - stay tuned!!!Check out OpenSolar OS 3.0 at: https://suncast.media/opensolarIf you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeoLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

A 2015 Financial Times article says, “Brazil is mired in its worst recession since the 1930’s, but entrepreneurs know how to find opportunities.”  That sentiment is pervasive in the booming Brazilian solar market; despite economic turmoil, sky-high interest rates and fluctuating exchange rates, the Brazilian solar market grew to more than 72MW of interconnected DG systems!Last year, I sat down with my friend Rodrigo because I was really interested in better understanding the Brazil market.  He had just moved back to Brazil to run his new company, so I reached out and we chatted for a bit about what’s going on down there. This is part of what I’m calling The Founders Series, stories from entrepreneurs on the front lines of solar in Latin America.In this episode of SunCast, you'll meet Rodrigo Barfield of Long Light Energy.  Rod has had quite an interesting career from the World Bank and private equity in SE Asia to building Real Infrastructure in Central America.In today’s episode, we discuss:What Rod believes are the Biggest bottlenecks to DG solar in BrazilThe difference he sees among the various markets in Latin America and why, for him, Brazil represents by far the largest opportunity yet.And how he really feels about some of the other markets!Brasil’s distributed market regulations that are boosting solar DG (in particular Residential) installations.His big question for Brazil is - How do you structure the deals to solve for Debt financing?Today’s episode is full of information, so I hope you stay through to the end.If you like what you hear, please SHARE it!Check out OpenSolar OS 3.0 at: https://suncast.media/opensolarIf you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeoLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus