Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 10

118 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 10 PREFERRED VENDOR/ PARTNER n Knobelsdorff Electric keway.com of solar power we install, an initiative that saw us plant 35,000 trees last year, with every indication that we will exceed that number this year.” At an industry level, advances in the solar industry, especially technologically and legislatively, are crucial tailwinds in the quest for growth for IPS. “As the price of energy storage comes down on a similar trajectory as that of solar, we are starting to evaluate upcoming projects to determine whether storage would make sense,” says Pasi. On legislative advances, IPS has experienced a mixed bag of effects, although mostly positive, starting with the 2013 Solar Jobs Act. Pasi adds, “The Solar Jobs Act kicked off Community Solar. It created a billion- dollar industry virtually overnight.” Although the law took several years to get off the ground, it is responsible for over a Gigawatt of solar power in the state while, in the process, creating a blueprint for other community solar projects nationwide. Yet legislation hasn’t always offered a straight path to growth, especially when politics muddies the waters. “It’s been tricky to navigate these somewhat tumultuous legislative waters at times,” Pasi admits. “However, after the pandemic and with the current administration, we are feeling the tailwind effects of the infrastructure package expected to pass and a general corporate shift to clean energy. These are pushing us forward.” While these twin factors continue to buoy the growth of the solar industry, it has faced several challenges, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Supply chain issues have been the main challenge facing, not just solar companies like ours, but most companies,” avers Pasi. “As industries globally rebound, supply and cost pressures have emerged especially for components like silicon chips used by multiple industries.” Facing the future, IPS has set an ambitious three-year target to install one Gigawatt of solar, a 5X increase from its current total installed capacity of 200MW. “Coupled to our internal goal, we hope to see solar achieve 10% national penetration by mid-decade and 30% by the end of the decade,” says Pasi. “As the country moves towards solar, we hope to continue playing a meaningful role in the democratization of energy by increasing access to clean energy to people in places where it hasn’t normally been available. I think we’d be more than happy with this achievement.”