← Currents
Currents
Ep343: Off‑Grid Solar for Public Spaces and Communities
00:15:04
Vanessa Branco, chief sales and marketing officer of Sunbolt, discusses off‑grid solar and battery solutions that provide reliable, low‑maintenance power for campuses, governments and communities without access to the grid.
Loading summary
Transcript25 lines
- [00:00]
A
Foreign. Welcome to Currents, a Norton Rose Fulbright podcast. Today we're recording with Vanessa Brancos, chief sales and marketing officer of Sunbolt. She joins us today to discuss off grid solar opportunities. Vanessa, thanks for being a guest.
- [00:18]
B
Thank you for having me.
- [00:20]
A
All right, so most of the time on our podcast, at least, we're talking about either large utility scale projects or we have had plenty of people on talking about community solar and distributed solar, which for me are could be 2, 5, 10 megawatt type projects. But I'm assuming here what Sunbolt's looking at is a little different. Maybe explain to people what type of, what segment of the market that you're focused on and why you would focus on that segment of the market.
- [00:52]
B
Sure. So the first thing that comes to mind is why we are who we are. So we started because of a natural disaster. So our segment really started with focusing on those who, you know, the grid has failed them, if you will. So we created solar workstations, solar charging stations for mobile devices and laptops. That's the gist of it. That's what we specialize in. So it was created Superstorm Sandy. Our founders were in the solar business. And then they saw that when the grid felt when no one had power in New Jersey and, you know, a lot of the Northeast was out of power, they saw people struggling to connect with their loved ones and to even just go to work. You know, because it was in New York and New Jersey, the offices might have been closed, but if they had offices in Texas and California, they were open. So people eventually had to go back. So that's how we started. So our segments started from those who needed power during a natural disaster.
- [01:57]
A
And for projects like that, how do you finance them, given that you got a collection of small projects, or are you financing them yourselves or are you trying to develop them? And I should probably ask better, what's your business model?
- [02:12]
B
Yes, great question. No, I know, I totally. So we are actually, our founder, Ian Jones, he founded the company and he is also our CEO and we manufacture all of our products from our warehouse in Pennsylvania. So we are purchasing the components and all of that and creating the furniture, the solar charging workstations and standups out of our warehouse and then distributing them. And how we are able to continue to stay in business and grow is from our obviously wonderful customers who continue to purchase. And we started out actually with University of California in Riverside. They purchased, I believe they have 22 units and they were our very first customer. And from there we just kind of grew and more universities Colleges purchased our units for outdoor classrooms and for areas that just needed some electric electricity and they wanted the students to be able to study and get some fresh air. And now we have plenty more markets that we didn't even know were going to exist from this.
- [03:22]
A
How about either governments, you know, you see like along the side of the road, you know, you get like lights and things that you see the solar panels on or somebody who wants, you know, I live through Sandy personally, like you know, somebody who wants to have another source of backup power or redundant power year in some someplace a hospital, whatever it is that needs access to power. Are those also markets that you've been able to penetrate and maybe explain better. Who are, who are the likely candidates for your product?
- [03:55]
B
Yeah, sure. So, so we talked about, you know, the obvious universities and stuff. Governments for sure. We are in several government entities. We are also on the TIPS USA contract which a lot of municipalities and stuff are part of. We, we have the Sprint like our standup units that are great for security purposes and in public parks and things like that where they need access to their phone, they have to somehow either use GPS or if they get lost or stranded hiking, they can contact someone. Governments are using it and purchasing our workstations for their employees to be able to work, to be able to get some vitamin D and B12 and stuff from being outside and just enhancing their well being. They're also purchasing our units for the unhoused. So the government will purchase some of our units for areas that enhance their wellbeing and shade connectivity, security, protection and to be able to have that community feel and give them resources that they may not have, such as just charging their phones and being able to connect and that nature. So we're also helping in that aspect as well. And these are things that were kind of just a natural progression picked up in a crazy unfortunate circumstance. But when Covid happens, you know, a lot of places were closed, right? We were all shut down. I'm in New York, we were shut down. But they started to really try to figure out how to expand the office and get people kind of back to work in a safe way that they would feel comfortable. So we saw a lot of that pick up from government entities also that wanted to make sure that their employees felt safe coming back to work.
- [05:41]
A
Are the systems big enough to couple them with battery storage or not?
- [05:45]
B
They're all battery. They all have batteries in them.
- [05:49]
A
Okay, so the idea is you, this is kind of a either power for where you're, you're out hiking or you're whatever you're in, in the quad on campus. And it can work even when the sun's not shining because you got this battery there that's charged.
- [06:03]
B
Okay, Exactly.
- [06:05]
A
And, and the people that are relying on this, like, how do you go in and work on kind of the architecture of it as well? Or does the campus or the government decide how they're going to apply it? Or do you sell them? Hey, look, you can set up this canopy here. That would be a great, whatever place to hang out in the shade in the middle of the park and also charge your phone or have Internet access or whatever. Are you just selling them the panels themselves with the battery?
- [06:36]
B
A little bit of both. Love when, like a landscape architect or someone will come and reach out and they're in the middle of trying to figure out, you know, what would work best for their clients. And then we can help them identify the areas that our units would make sense for the type of products, type of charging they may need, what would look great aesthetically. So I love when that happens. And we create renders and we work a lot with those kind of project managers. When a school or government entity comes in, it's. It's majority of the time, it's when they already know what they want and they're either replacing their outdoor amenities or. Or they want to enhance their sustainability statements. And our units are eye level with solar, so they feel that this would be a great way to do that. Also, from a durability standpoint, they're looking for something that would last throughout, you know, the storms and high wind ratings and things like that. So they'll kind of know what they want. They'll come in and say, okay, we were looking at your workstations, we want those. Or we're looking at the carousels. We'd rather have those. And then for me, it's just a matter of, you know, let's. Let's just talk about color and branding and things like that and, you know, the space that they have to work with. So it is. It is both. It's probably equally both.
- [07:53]
A
Why. Why would somebody, or in which applications would somebody choose this product? Because it sounds like what you could also do if you have grid connectivity is just charge a battery. And then you would have. If you're using it for backup power, for redundancy, you could also use a battery instead. And obviously that's not exactly the same. But then you don't have to put in the solar. So where is it that your product is most, you know, has Its highest value.
- [08:21]
B
Yeah, so especially where there's a rural area or a large quad where it's very expensive to connect electricity. So they're able to essentially just purchase our workstations. They're fully assembled. So it's really just a plug and play. Set it and forget it. They offload it from the truck and they put it where they want and it is fully functional and self sustaining for years and years and years. So it has the battery, the solar panels just provide power to the battery and it's just on a, you know, just constantly cycling through and just continuously powering. Which is fantastic for those who, you know, don't want to have to tie it to the grid or can't because it's just not affordable. It's just too expensive.
- [09:04]
A
So the way at least it's set up, I mean this might not be optimal energy production, but so there's no. You don't need to clean the panels, you don't need to go make sure there's no shading in the area. You don't need to replace the batteries as they degrade over time. The idea is you get something and you leave it there for whatever, 10, 20 years. And you need very little or no maintenance. As long as nothing, you know, of course the tree falls on it, that's a different sport.
- [09:29]
B
So it is very little maintenance. However, you do need to make sure, sure that there is some upkeep. For example, if there's a lot of usage, the battery will eventually die within five years. So there will be that battery replacement at certain point. And that's just like buying a car battery from either a local hardware store or we'll get a phone call and we'll be able to replace it for them, no issues. The solar panels, they are slanted, so for the most part, debris, snow, anything like that will fall right off. It'll slide right off. We do recommend that, you know, they just kind of like take a look and use a soft broom or something like you would just to kind of like clean debris from any outdoor amenity. But they are meant to have extremely low maintenance. If there is vandalism, if it's in a public area, someone decides to break an outlet or, you know, unfortunately these things do happen again, they'll call us up and if it does happen, we'll easily get them replaced. Anyone with, with minimum electrical knowledge and stuff will be able to do so when we send them the parts. So we do get some phone calls like that. And we do recommend the upkeep.
- [10:38]
A
So based on our conversation, it seems like Sunbolt's operating across the country. What, based on your sales experience, how does that inform you about how ready people are to use solar for these type of applications and where you think the market's going over the next three to five years in terms of the application for off grid solar and battery?
- [11:04]
B
I love that question. So from, from what I'm seeing, whether or not it's driven by policy or, you know, any of that, and that is very polarizing in my industry, as you know, I feel that solar is going to stay. The presence that we have is just a little tiny drop in the bucket. Even though it's 35 states and, and great companies, they already know solar, they love solar. That they have for renewable energy is so strong and the need for solar and renewable energy to not rely on the grid is so important for the natural disasters for, you know, any of that community solar, if something goes out, you know, if one of the units go out or the solar panels break, they can easily get power from another one right down the street. If we have another workstation there and they do buy clusters, the tax credits they are extended for commercial for a couple more years, which everyone knows. So that does allow people to purchase more affordably and things like that. But I'm also seeing the need and the want and the demand for solar from every type of entity, from education, government, libraries, everything, parks and rec. I'm seeing stadiums that want it because they see the need for something that's reliable, durable, sustainable and doesn't depend on that grid. So I personally feel very confident that we're going to definitely push through and that this is going to be here for many years to come. Of course protecting these things are always hard, but I am seeing positively and I feel very strongly and try to also let that be known to our audience and also employees at Sunbolt that were in such a great space. Space. And it's super exciting and rewarding to be part of this.
- [13:13]
A
All right, last question for you. What do you think is the either the biggest misunderstanding or biggest thing you think the public should know about distributed off grid solar that you encounter when you start trying to go into your sales and marketing mode and people ask you questions, you say no, no, no, that's not what we're doing here.
- [13:35]
B
Well, we, we are not. You're not install. We are not roof installers, installer installers. We don't power a building. We are, we are providing a means to stay connected and for people to be able to be productive without you know, providing power to an entire building. We do have units that can provide power for an RV and things like that but it's more just for the connectivity and to make sure that if that building loses power they can go, you know, a couple of feet or a block away or to the quad or the courtyard and be able to charge their devices without worrying too much about that. I think that's probably the biggest thing is that they understanding how it works like as far as that is concerned I feel like that's probably the thing that I have to kind of differentiate a lot.
- [14:28]
A
All right with that, Vanessa, thanks for joining us today.
- [14:31]
B
Okay. Thank you for having me.
- [14:35]
A
You can find us online at www.projectfinance.law or send us an email at currentsortonrosefullbright.com Please rate, review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred podcast app. Our show today was produced by Emily Rogers. Stay ahead of the current.