The next episode, in the Conversations in Clean Energy podcast, “The Elimination of Peaker Plants. A Conversation on Grid Demand Solutions,” explores these renewable energy and storage solutions through an interview with distinguished guest, New York State Senator and Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Telecommunications Kevin Parker, as well as further conversation with renewable energy industry expert James Spano, and Michael Gilbert, the Director of Energy & Sustainability at Fairstead. The episode focuses on grid demand response solutions as tools to eliminate polluting and costly oil and gas-fired "peaker" plants with application to the New York area and national scope. PUBLISHED: Monday, May 31, 2021 12:43 PM SEASON: 1 EPISODE: 3 Listen to Postcast

Coronavirus has drastically changed the global economy with impacts across every industry, including clean energy and solar development. We may have never seen an economic or public health crisis at this scale, but policy, solar and finance experts have reason to believe that renewable energy can weather this storm and continue to grow. Moreover, the industry can help create jobs and meet public policy goals once we return to a new normal. During the webinar, panelists will provide insights from their current positions and past experiences, including the 2008 financial crisis. They will discuss how to navigate current challenges, and what to expect from the future of solar financing and development. The specific examples that panelists offer will be applicable to a wide range of stakeholders across the country. There will be a Q&A opportunity at the end of the session. The webinar will include insights from New York [...]

Jim Spano is co-founder of RadientREIT, a firm pioneering the use of the REIT real-estate construct to treat solar generation deployments as real estate, making solar a very attractive investment. He also told us about his work using home solar plus battery storage to build virtual power plants. This industry is wide open and he has very few competitors and told us how regulatory constructs are blocking progress. LISTEN: Podcast

Jim Spano’s strong financial background, as well as his expertise in real estate and land development, gives him a unique perspective among solar energy developers. Mr. Spano has played a key role in the development of projects totaling over 300 MWs in solar generation facilities. LISTEN: Podcast

Sometimes, it pays to look at what projects you have on the sidelines because they just might be what will lead you to success. Jim Spano is an Air Force veteran who specialized in Russian linguistics. After leaving the service, he went on to work for the Metropolitan Insurance Company and later on put up an insurance brokerage that eventually became a high-net-worth financial planning firm. His interest in real estate led him to establish his own company that focuses on renewable energy solar projects. In this episode, Jim shares how he was able to get back into the black after the real estate crash of 2008. He says that instead of always looking at the next product to deliver to the market, you need to think of developing a platform that would allow other products to get into the market. SOURCE: Mitch Russo

Jim Spano, co-founder of RadiantREIT, joins us to discuss the evolution of the solar market and the idea behind his new company. RadiantREIT has an interesting business model for providing long term fixed-rate debt to solar projects. LISTEN: Podcast