The Promise of Sodium-Ion

To build a reliable, renewable grid, we need to scale grid scale batteries at an unprecedented pace. Solar paired with battery storage, represents the clearest path to cheap, abundant energy. Lithium-ion batteries, particularly LFP (lithium iron phosphate), have led the way in driving costs down and scaling deployment. But we need more tools in our toolbox – technologies that are cost-effective, serve longer durations, and have de-risked supply chains – to ensure reliability and affordability.

While LFP batteries are more resource-resilient than chemistries reliant on cobalt or nickel, the global lithium supply remains a key bottleneck. Lithium refining is geographically concentrated which introduces geopolitical risks. The continued innovation within the lithium-ion ecosystem – from materials discovery to chemistry optimization – will likely extend its dominance, but physical limits will eventually emerge in the next few years.

That’s where sodium-ion batteries come in. Historically dismissed for their lower energy density and lack of suitability for mobile applications, sodium-ion is finding its sweet spot in grid-scale storage. Sodium is abundant, widely distributed, and inexpensive. Sodium-ion batteries also have major advantages: they’re safer (less flammable), cheaper (lower-cost materials), and supply-chain resilient (raw materials are everywhere). Leading global battery manufacturers like CATL, BYD, and EVE are already taking notice, signaling that sodium-ion is moving closer to adoption readiness. It’s an exciting space to watch and an even more exciting one to build in.

Why I Joined Peak Energy

As I set out to explore my next role in climate finance, I had the broader tailwinds for grid scale battery storage, supply chain resilience, and energy security in mind. I’ll admit, I was skeptical about U.S. based battery startups. Competing with the Chinese battery giants is going to be a steep climb. But I was curious to see how different teams were approaching this challenge.

Among the companies I spoke with, Peak Energy stood out. The team’s pragmatism, rigor, and intellectual humility were a rare combination. This past fall, I joined the Peak team to help build the company with a sustainable capital stack.

At Peak, we’re working on battery systems that could be cheaper (at scale), safer, and far more supply-chain resilient. By using battery cells that are already in early commercial deployment, we’re reducing the risk of development. Despite this the challenges are immense. Competing with lithium-ion’s mature supply chain, decades in the making, will be insanely difficult. That’s also what makes it exciting. It’s the potential for outsized impact that gets me going. Tackling tough problems with a smart, driven team and an opportunity to learn a ton? Sign me up.

Reflections on Leaving King Energy

Joining Peak Energy meant leaving King Energy after a relatively short tenure. My time at King was super valuable – the team is taking an innovative approach to deploying multi-tenant solar. But as I reflected on my career trajectory, I realized I’m drawn to bespoke, high-stakes challenges.

King’s rinse-and-repeat financing strategy is exactly what the business needs to scale. But it didn’t align with the steeper personal learning curve I’m seeking. That realization taught me two key lessons:

1. Aligning with a company’s mission is critical, but so is making sure the role aligns with your personal growth.
2. Early employees at startups shoulder almost as much risk as the founding team but with far less upside. To justify that risk, the opportunity needs to offer material convexity in terms of professional learning, potential marginal impact on the problem at hand, and the potential financial outcome.

Moving to earlier-stage companies comes with higher risk, but I’m more confident than ever that the experiences will be worth it. I’m grateful and excited to be part of this journey toward clean and abundant energy. If you’re as passionate about building the future of energy as I am, let’s connect – or better yet, join us.

Rethinking buildings as power plants is an essential part of reducing the emissions footprint of buildings. Despite the economic viability of deploying solar at a majority of commercial buildings in the U.S., less than 1% of commercial buildings have onsite solar deployments. The problem is particularly acute at non-owner occupied buildings due to the split incentive problem.

This is exactly the problem that King Energy is trying to solve. I found the company when I was seeking companies enabling a future where buildings act as distributed power plants. I was fortunate to learn that they were hiring on the finance team, and recently joined the firm to take a crack at solving the split incentive problem and accelerate the deployment of solar.

How I Approached the Decision

When considering my next career move, I knew that I wanted to work on a climate postive mission. In addition, I narrowed in on the intersection of early stage startups, fintech, and software as the best opportunity for growth while also adding value right from the start. King Energy fit perfectly within these search criteria.

Yes, King Energy manages solar development and the complexity of permitting and interconnection, tenant management, EPC, and procurement relationships. However, the company’s competitive advantage will be built on repeatable processes to 1/ underwrite and finance new projects at an attractive & viable cost of capital and 2/ systematically identify buildings with the highest ROI, acquire properties and tenants efficiently, and manage the complexity of billing at multi-tenant properties.

In addition, the long term opportunity here is to couple solar deployments with storage, EV chargers, other efficiency upgrades. In doing so, potentially developing enough capacity & density to operate virtual power plants that can participate in demand response and grid optimization.

What Got Me Excited

I loved everyone I met through the interview process. I feel energized and fortunate to have the chance to build King with John, Brian, Mike, and the rest of the team!

Deploying climate solutions will require tapping into capital sources along the funding continuum including project finance. Venture capital alone won’t get the job done. The project finance markets across most of solar are mature, but not so much in the rent-a-roof business model that King is pursuing. In my role at King, it’ll be fun to try to unlock project finance and leverage incentives in the IRA for multi-tenant commercial solar deployments. I’m excited to build expertise in renewable energy capital markets and in financing mechanisms that will be critical to deploying climate solutions for many decades to come.

I expect the path ahead for King to be really hard. There are more ways this could go wrong than it could go right. But, it’s a problem worth solving and I’m grateful to have the chance to take a stab at it. If you’re considering a career transition into climate and think I could be helpful, I’d love to chat!