Why We Invested in Yotta Energy: Simplifying solar + energy storage to accelerate the energy transition
Author: Brian Walsh, Head of Wind Ventures
The energy storage solution (ESS) market is growing fast. By many counts, it is already a $4B market in the US alone and is projected to double over the next five years. From our perspective, there are three primary drivers of this growth: 1) battery prices continue to drop, 2) market incentives continue to increase, and 3) the value of ESS to customers continues to become more compelling. Case in point, during the historical rainstorm in the SF Bay Area recently, homes and businesses with an ESS weathered it in style while many others were sent back to the “dark ages” with no lights or power. Clearly, this will drive more demand.
While the residential and the large utility scale ESS markets get a lot of the attention, there is a very large market in between these two that we call the small to medium C&I market. This market includes most of the built environment, including car dealerships, office parks, hospitals, schools, and so on.
This small to medium C&I market, however, is particularly difficult for ESS because the projects are too small to absorb the soft costs, including project origination, permitting, design, civil engineering, and real estate. In contrast, the residential ESS market is highly standardized from a sales, channel, delivery, and installation perspective, creating attractive economics. For the large C&I / utility scale ESS market, significant soft costs exist, but the projects are large enough to absorb them. As a result, we call the small to medium C&I ESS market the “messy middle” where economics are challenged. That’s why vendors today tend to focus elsewhere.
While ESS vendors are avoiding this market, it is interesting to note that it is where most solar projects are installed. There is a large, open and important market for ESS within small to medium C&I with a large footprint of solar installations. This is a phenomenal tee up for Yotta Energy and drives a lot of our excitement!
Yotta Energy has spent five years developing an ESS solution tailor-made for this market, with an ESS that is integrated directly into the solar project. Its panel-level energy storage is enabled by a novel thermal management technology that allows for low-cost energy storage modules capable of withstanding outdoor environments, including extreme conditions. The result is an ESS approach that is “plug and play” and uses the same permit, real estate, installation team, and so on as solar, eliminating design, civil engineering and other costs. The Yotta Energy team has attracted a leading eco-system for its debut commercial efforts, including Flex, QCells, PanelClaw, APSystems and a growing list of financing partners.
With the growing interest within this market for bundling solar, ESS and EV Charging, we think Yotta Energy is exceptionally well positioned to deliver not only the best project economics but also the ability to scale. To this end, WIND Ventures will be supporting the company’s global expansion as Yotta Energy sets its sights on new geographies, including Latin America.
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About Brian Walsh
Brian Walsh leads WIND Ventures in San Francisco — the strategic venture capital group for Copec, which is a leading energy and retail corporation throughout Latin America and the United States. Brian has two decades of venture capital experience in the San Francisco Bay Area, both in private and strategic venture capital. Most recently, Brian was an Associate Partner and Senior Expert at McKinsey&Company where he led the Firm’s corporate venturing advisory efforts with global Fortune 500 CEO clients. Brian holds an MBA from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a BS in Physics from Tufts University.
About WIND Ventures
Based in San Francisco, WIND Ventures is the strategic venture capital (CVC) arm of Copec, one of the leading energy companies in Central and South America and one of the most valued brands throughout Latin America. WIND Ventures leverages Copec’s significant resources to accelerate growth, primarily within Latin America, for startups and scaleups across the world within the new mobility, energy and retail sectors. Visit windventures.vc or follow us on Linkedin and Twitter.
