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sciencenaturaleducation
925: Ahmad Chatila & Jigar Shah on Solar’s Capital Problem
About this Episode
Most people [who have been in the industry awhile] have opinions about SunEdison.
This is one of the first times Ahmad Chatila and Jigar Shah have sat down together to compare notes on how it actually played out.
Both were inside it.
Both made the bets.
Both saw things others didn’t.
In this conversation, the two leaders who helped build one of solar’s most ambitious companies sit down to examine how it actually worked and why it did not hold.
They walk through the operating logic that made SunEdison so competitive. Using semiconductor-style cost modeling to see price declines before the market. Making audacious bets on equipment inputs. Structuring deals that looked aggressive at the time but consistently won.
Ahmad explains how lessons from silicon manufacturing shaped that thinking and created a real edge.
But they also get clear on what ultimately determined the outcome.
The strategy worked.
The cost curve was real.
The execution was there.
What broke was the financial architecture behind it.
A capital structure that depended on continuous demand.
A global footprint that introduced currency and market friction.
And a model that moved faster than investors were willing to follow.
In this live conversation, Ahmad Chatila joins Jigar Shah and Nico Johnson for a candid look at the decisions, convictions, and missteps that helped shape one of the most consequential chapters in clean energy history.
This is not a sanitized founder story. It is a rare, honest reflection on what worked, what failed, and why the hardest problem in clean energy may still be capital formation, not technology.
You will hear how Ahmad anticipated solar cost declines years ahead of the market, why he determined that owning the PPA mattered more than owning construction, and how TerraForm Global became the critical fault line in SunEdison’s collapse.
The conversation also reaches far beyond the past, into the future of India, currency risk, and the global financing models that still need to be built if clean energy is going to scale where it is needed most.
It’s one of the most fascinating conversations Nico has had the opportunity to co-lead (and eaves-drop on!)
Solar may be cheap, but capital still decides what gets built.
If you’re trying to scale projects, raise money, or understand where deals actually break, this is worth your time.
Press play and decide what you would have done differently.
Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?
Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.
If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.
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Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.
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Hosts & Guests
No transcript available for this episode.
