691: Adding Storage to Solar is Harder Than We Thought! Leigh Zanone managed 8Minute/Avantus’s Portfolio & Shares His Insights

SunCast

Is solar plus storage magically going to fix our grid? If you listen to many of the conversations I’ve heard the last 2+ years, you’d easily assume “we got this, just throw some batteries out there and we’re well on our way to 100% RE!”

Turns out it’s not that simple.

Building hybrid power (solar+storage) projects requires a deep understanding of the unique challenges they present, from how to forecast revenue to building integrated software solutions that can handle massive complexity. Leigh Zanone, an 18-year solar industry veteran, shares his insights and experience from working in leadership roles at meteocontrol and Avantus (formerly 8Minute Energy) plus a long tenure in the monitoring & asset management side of the business long before that was even the terminology. Leigh’s expertise spans the technical, legal, and financial aspects of solar project management, and his perspective on what it takes to finance and build these projects will challenge your conventional wisdom.

Expect to Learn:

• Why deploying hybrid projects is far more complex than solar-only projects.
• Why comprehensive software solutions for forecasting and optimization are currently lacking (and how we can solve this issue).
• How we can better educate investors to help them understand hybrid project risks.
• The hidden complexities that actually require longer diligence periods for hybrid projects.
• What factors make solar plus storage almost three times more volatile than traditional solar projects

Press play, get smarter.

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CPS July 2024 V2