Reagan Farr helped start a solar development company 10 years ago in a part of the country where commercial-scale solar was virtually non-existent. That little start-up in Nashville, Tennessee, has turned into one of the largest power producers in the US - Silicon Ranch Corporation. His journey over the last decade is compelling and can serve as a learning opportunity for many others in the clean energy industry.

Formerly the State of Tennessee’s Commissioner of Revenue, Reagan Farr worked to recruit investments and jobs to Tennessee alongside Silicon Ranch’s Co-Founder, Matt Kisber, who served as Commissioner of Economic and Community Development. When they realized the economic opportunity that renewable energy could provide to their home state, they began to dream about the potential for creating a vehicle that could help bring that reality to TN and the broader Southeast region. Fast forward ten years, and Silicon Ranch stands as one of the most successful and well-established solar independent power producers in the country, counting industry giants like Facebook as clients and successfully selling a major piece of their business to Royal Dutch Shell!

As co-founder and CEO, Reagan is now responsible for all aspects of managing the company, with a specific emphasis on financial management and project execution. Under his leadership, Silicon Ranch has transacted in excess of $1.5 billion of project financing with regional and global financial institutions with a contracted pipeline of well over 3 Gigawatts of solar projects.

So, how exactly did Reagan Farr and his team take the vision from spreadsheets and powerpoints to GW of Powerplants? What were the twists and turns as they navigated product-market fit, raised hundreds of millions in funding, and ultimately built an enduring platform 10 years in the making?

Those questions and more were burning in my chest as well when I entered the SRC offices.

I got to sit down with Reagan and his team in their headquarters in downtown Nashville, and have the privilege of helping tell their story now. When I heard Matt Beasley (CCO) say, “Nico, I’ve known this person for a decade and I still heard stories I’ve never heard before!”, I knew we were getting somewhere.

You won't be disappointed, as Reagan gets into detail about how he built the business plan and went to the market to build far more than the initial 150MW target that first compelled he and Matt out of the starting blocks. You’re going to learn what it really looks like to leverage good policy as a market-maker, how they selected the markets they would operate in, and how they ultimately attracted one of the largest multinational energy companies in the world to invest in their next phase of growth.

I learned a lot of things from Reagan Farr, and my hope is that you can saddle up to the table right next to me, eavesdrop on our conversation, and come away with some earth-moving truths of your own.

When you do, would you be open to sharing them with me and the rest of the SunCast Tribe?

I know Reagan would be honored if you posted over on LinkedIn expressing how this 2-part episode landed for you. What turned out to be the thing that surprised or inspired you the most from the Silicon Ranch story?

Resources:

Connect with Reagan Farr on LinkedIn

Follow Silicon Ranch Co on LinkedIn, Twitter and check out their website.

Text Nico and start a conversation! +1 (310) 634-1780

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on Twitter, LinkedIn or email