In the latest episode of The Solar Journey podcast, Nextracker President, Howard Wenger reflects on his 40-year journey in solar with Dr. Torsten Brammer, where they dive deep into the moments that have shaped both his career and the solar industry.
A few of the many key takeaways from this podcast include:
1. Passion for renewable energy can be a lifelong journey, and solar technology offers a powerful medium for long-term impact.
2. Customer-centric innovation is key—listening and adapting to customer needs drives both product success and company growth.
3. Industry leaders must always think ahead, anticipating the next big challenge to remain competitive.
In this retrospective, Howard shares his excitement about solar’s persistent and dynamic growth. Howard highlights Nextracker's key differentiators—such as its independently monitored, wireless mesh-networked trackers, which optimize energy output by following extreme terrain without disrupting the land. He also underscores the importance of building lasting relationships, noting that customer feedback has always been crucial in shaping Nextracker’s product evolution and ensuring top-tier performance in the field. Howard’s deep technical and commercial expertise, combined with decades of collaboration with CEO Dan Shugar, has positioned Nextracker at the forefront of the solar tracker market.
Howard goes into the exponential value of solar and that the speed of solar’s current tech development points to the importance of integrating other technologies, like battery storage, to create a more resilient, 24/7 energy solution. "Trackers are still the core. We view the tracker as the spinal cord, the skeleton of the system," Howard states, reinforcing the critical role that trackers play in solar power plants. But the industry is evolving, and there’s potential for reintegration of services to offer more complete solutions, as customers increasingly request more from their OEM partners.
In closing, Howard reflects on the global solar market's evolution and the role that U.S. policy, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, plays in fostering innovation. He touches on the challenges ahead, including grid interconnection, where the U.S. interconnection queue for new projects exceeds 2.5 terawatts—double the nation’s current electric generating capacity. Remaining optimistic about the future, Howard stresses that collaboration, policy, and innovation will be key to scaling renewable energy to meet the world’s growing energy needs.
We hope you enjoy this podcast as much as our staff did. Thanks, Dr. Brammer for making this such a special episode: https://lnkd.in/e5fkcRdx
#podcast #intersolarmunich #solarenergy #businessleadership
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