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I’ve gotta give NASA credit. It turns out the space program has delivered many many more terrestrial benefits and innovations than might be assumed at first observation. There’ve been a few folks lately on the show who’s original pursuits & passions took them closer to the moon than the average person. Today’s guest is among that elite group, having spent time in deep research for NASA’s space-walking astronauts; his co-founder worked for SpaceX. You can say these guys are used to shooting for the stars.
Nikhil Vadhavkar is the CEO and co-founder of Raptor Maps, solar lifecycle management software that they refer to as “The Slack for Solar”. Nikhil is an MIT engineer, and his graduate research was thermal control systems for next-generation spacesuits in the Aeronautics and Astronautics program. He met his co-founder in graduate school, and took Raptor Maps through Y Combinator in 2016. You’ll get a much better understanding of why when you dig in here today. Raptor Maps has delivered critical data analytics to over 45 GW of solar PV plants in 38 countries, and many of you probably consider that it’s a drone-enabled data gathering company. You’d be wrong, as was I, and Nikhil forgives you.
Nikhil is an expert in military-grade remote sensing and software and their aha moment was when they realized what they were offering to farmers was actually a perfect fit for Solar. We get into the concept of “digital twin” and why it’s critical to our booming digital economy as well as the role big data will play in optimizing renewable energy assets.
Apart from a year at Accenture, Raptor Maps is the only real job Nikhil’s ever had, though. So, how did this wet-behind-the-ears young duo fund and grow what is considered to be among the most exciting data analytics platforms in the renewables industry?
Nikhil and I discuss his “climate wakeup” moment, parlaying a $100k investment from Y-Combinator into a thriving business, leveraging their time at SpaceX, Gates Foundation, Accenture and NASA to bring military-grade remote sensing to an industry that is rapidly deploying infrastructure at scale.
One of the critical path items for any startup is finding “Product-market fit”. Nikhil and I discuss at length the timing and underlying requirements of the market that led to Raptor Maps’ PMF. It was genuinely an eye-opening conversation as much of what Nikhil and team are working on is tech that they’re importing to solar from other sectors where it’s already been through the trials and tribulations to reach market-ready application.
One of the questions that I had for Nikhil was, “How do you combine the information w/other data to create insight?” The concept of the “Digital twin”, something I was wholly unfamiliar with, really intrigued me and forms the genesis of their collective realization that they really did have something that was worth exploring for solar asset tracking. But, the data is disparate and hard to “connect”; that’s where Raptor Maps’ concept of the Slack for Solar software platform really shines. From PV ariel array scans (thermal and otherwise) to over 1M PV Module serial numbers, their database can now serve as the “System of Record” for these assets and function alongside most of the popular existing asset management systems out there to allow for better communication and correlation between the data.
Lastly, along the lines of SpaceX founder, Elon Musk (and perhaps inspired by his philosophy), we get into their decision to open-source everything:
All the data capture methodologies
Aerial inspections & hosting data (including historical data from other vendors)
Instructions on how to set up manned aerial vehicles, drones, etc
Data set for doing Machine Learning on imaging anomalies
Why did they choose this path? What could it mean for your company?
Tune–in to hear more. I promise you won’t be disappointed with today’s high-IQ episode!
Timestamps
(5:49) How Nikhil's parents influenced him
(8:21) Why Nikhil pursued biomedical engineering
(10:18) Working at Accenture
(14:04) How Nikhil got his start in solar
(17:41) Military grade remote sensing and building software around it
(19:29) What is a digital twin?
(28:32) Finding product market fit
(30:10) Leaving a PHD program to start a business
(32:28) The core product
(35:49) How does Raptor Maps differ from its competitors?
(43:00) Struggles and how they were overcome
(45:12) Inspirations early on
(47:09) Lessons learned and takeaways
(49:25) Book recommendations
(52:39) Morning routine
(53:57) Where to connect with Nikhil
(55:18) Nikhil's bold prediction
(56:20) Wrap up
Interesting articles Nikhkl's written or that have been written about the company:
Written by Nikhil:
Written about Raptor Maps
How smart tech is driving solar PV job site efficiency (Solar Builder Magazine)
2021 Global Report (Solar Builder)
Raptor Maps drone plan snags $100K prize (Boston Globe)
BOOKS MENTIONED AND RECOMMENDATIONS:
NOTEWORTHY QUOTE:
“People look at Clean Tech 1.0 as this, like abject failure... I see it more as, just like in 2008, you had some of the strongest companies coming out of the financial crisis, and there’s some of the most resilient companies, I think it did the same thing, in some ways to everyone who was able to emerge from that, and make the solar industry stronger, and the renewable energy industry stronger.”
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ABOUT THE HOST OF SUNCAST:
Nico Johnson is the creator and host of SunCast, consistently rated a top solar podcast in the clean energy sector. The content of the show is geared towards listeners looking for insights on where the markets are headed, how to position themselves or their companies, and what today's market leaders do to stay ahead of the pack.
Nico is an Investor, Executive Coach, and 15-year veteran of the solar industry, having led development in the US and Latin America for global companies like Trina Solar and Conergy.
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If you’ve been second-guessing your work decisions or maybe trying to reconsider how you "fit" in the renewable energy industry -> grab 20 minutes on Nico's calendar and discuss whether having him as Your personal coach might be the right next step.