Episode Summary
In this episode of the Solar Maverick Podcast, Benoy talks with Chris Diaz who is co-CEO of Seminole Financial Services has directly funded over $2 billion totaling more than 1 Gigawatt (GW) of Renewable Energy nationwide. Chris speaks about a lot of interesting topics about what makes a project bankable, potential new Federal incentives for solar, tax equity outlook 2021, and solar trends.
Benoy Thanjan
Benoy Thanjan is the Founder and CEO of Reneu Energy, as well as an advisor for several solar startup companies. Reneu Energy is a premier international solar energy consulting firm and developer, and the company focuses on developing commercial and industrial solar, as well as utility-scale solar plus storage projects. The company also sources financing for solar projects and hedges both energy and environmental commodities.
Benoy received his first experience in Finance as an intern at D.E. Shaw & Co., which is a global investment firm with 37 billion dollars in investment capital. Before founding Reneu Energy, he was the SREC Trader in the Project Finance Group for SolarCity, which merged with Tesla in 2016. He originated SREC trades with buyers and co-developed their SREC monetization and hedging strategy with the senior management of SolarCity, to move into the east coast markets. Benoy also worked at Vanguard Energy Partners, Ridgewood Renewable Power, and Deloitte & Touche.
Chris Diaz
Chris Diaz is co-CEO of Seminole Financial Services, LLC (“SFS”). In addition to his role as co-CEO, Mr. Diaz oversees the Business Development team as well as Capital and Investor Relations. He is also a corporate shareholder.
Seminole is a leading finance provider to small scale (1MW – 40MW) Renewable Energy facilities. The company has directly funded over $2 billion totaling more than 1 Gigawatt ("GW") of Renewable Energy nationwide.
Since joining SFS in 2009, Chris has been responsible for the identification, evaluation, and negotiation of renewable energy finance transactions focusing on solar and wind projects between $2 million and $40 million in need of construction/interim financing and permanent debt financing.
Prior to SFS, Chris was employed by Credit Suisse, MMA Financial and the Midland Companies where he gained over 15 years of experience with tax credits and financial services. He has had multiple articles published about renewable energy finance and continues to be a frequent speaker on renewable energy finance and energy credits at national industry conferences. Chris is a member of the Board of Directors for the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) as the Vice Chair of the Solar Services & Consumers (SSC) Division, is a board member for the Solar Energy Trade Show (“SETS”) Board of Managers, is a member of SETS Board of Managers Finance Committee, and was Vice-President of the Board of Directors for the Distributed Wind Energy Association (DWEA). He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science with an emphasis in urban and regional planning from Florida State University, as well as an MBA from Nova Southeastern University.
Stay Connected:
Benoy Thanjan
Email: info@reneuenergy.com
LinkedIn: Benoy Thanjan
Website: https://www.reneuenergy.com
Chris Diaz
Website: https://seminolefinancialservices.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-diaz-61688617/
Phone: (727) 460-0578
Email: cdiaz@seminolefinancialservices.com
A Guide To Preparing A Successful Solar Energy Project Finance Package by Chris Diaz
https://www.seminolefinancialservices.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/A-Guide-to-Preparing-A-Successful-Solar-Energy-Project-Finance-Package.pdf
Subscribe to our podcast + download each episode on iTunes,Podbean, and youtube.
This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry (www.podcastlaundry.com)
SMP 18: Financing Platform for Renewable Energy Projects
SMP 17: Solar Engineering and Advice for Entrepreneurs looking to grow successfully in the solar industry
SMP 16: Solar Power Growth and Entrepreneurship Goal Setting in 2019
SMP 15: Colombia Solar Market Discussion with Benoy and Li
SMP 14: How Institutional Investment Capital is Transforming the Renewable Energy Market with Thom Byrne
SMP 13: How to develop a great solar project and many other interesting topics about solar and entrepreneurship with Jim Spano from Spano Partners
SMP 12: Secrets of the Latin America Solar Market with Rik Teeuwen
SMP 11: The marriage of roofing and solar: Innovative and economic solutions with Daryl Pilon and Bob Burwasser
SMP 10: Li and Benoy talk about their experiences as entrepreneurs
SMP 09: How David started his solar company with David Magid from YSG Solar
SMP 08: How companies are reaching 100% renewable energy goals with Benoy and Li
SMP 07: Getting down to Earth with Solar: Construction, quality control and O&M insights from Chris Grablutz
SMP 06: Why solar is a great industry to work in with Suzanne Waters from Reneu Energy
SMP 05: Common Myths of Solar Energy
SMP 04: Strategies to Acquire Commercial & Industrial Solar Customers and the NJ Solar Market with Alex Rivera from Vanguard Energy Partners
SMP 03: Innovative Solar Financing Solution with Abinash Tiwari from Blue Flame Energy Finance
SMP 02: Solar with Sports Teams with Benoy and Li
SMP 01: Introduction to the Solar Maverick Podcast with Benoy and Li
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures Podcasts
Rationally Speaking
Big Ideas: Science
Math Mutation
The Science Bar Podcast