Inside the Solar PPA Model Driving Clean Energy Growth Artwork

Climate Confident - Practical Climate Solutions That Cut Emissions

Climate Confident is for business leaders, climate professionals and policymakers who need to understand what is actually cutting emissions—and what it takes to make those solutions work at scale.

Each Wednesday, technology and sustainability analyst, keynote speaker and former SAP Global VP Tom Raftery speaks with the executives, engineers, scientists, founders and policymakers turning climate ambition into measurable progress. Together, they examine the technologies, business models, policies and implementation strategies reshaping energy, transport, industry, supply chains, food and finance.

These are not conversations about distant targets, vague pledges or greenwash. They are candid discussions about what is working, what is failing, where the real bottlenecks lie, and how leaders can make better decisions about decarbonisation, resilience, investment and risk.

You will hear:

Proven approaches to reducing emissions
Hard-earned lessons from real-world implementation
Analysis of the markets, technologies and policies driving the transition
Honest examination of costs, trade-offs, setbacks and unintended consequences
Practical ideas for turning climate commitments into action

New episodes are published every Wednesday at 7am CET. Subscribers also receive bonus episodes featuring highlights, analysis and emerging themes from across the series.

Follow Climate Confident for practical climate solutions, informed debate and the insights you need to turn ambition into measurable progress.

Guest suggestions and feedback are welcome at Tom@tomraftery.com.

All Episodes

Climate Confident - Practical Climate Solutions That Cut Emissions

Inside the Solar PPA Model Driving Clean Energy Growth

November 26, 2025 • Tom Raftery • Season 1 • Episode 248

0:00 | 42:28

Get in touch - leave me a message

What if the real disruption in solar isn’t the technology — but the business model behind it?

This week I’m joined by Scott Therien, Director of Strategic Partnerships at REC Solar, to unpack one of the most important, and least discussed, shifts in the energy transition: the move from one-off construction projects to long-term, risk-bearing power-purchase agreements. It’s a change that’s quietly reshaping who owns energy infrastructure, who carries the financial risk, and how quickly commercial sectors can decarbonise.

In this episode, you’ll hear why the old “buy a solar system and hope it performs” mindset is being replaced by something far more aligned - developers putting up the capital, carrying the downside, and only winning when the customer wins. We dig into how solar-plus-storage now beats diesel on cost and resilience in many markets, why procurement processes often sabotage their own climate goals, and what separates successful projects from expensive disappointments. You might be surprised to learn how much hinges not on panels or batteries, but on load profiles, tariff structures, and whether an organisation actually knows what it wants.

We also explore the future: a post-ITC world, the rise of data centres as demand engines, and unexpected benefits like agrivoltaics, including sheep producing better wool under solar arrays. It’s a vivid reminder that decarbonisation isn’t just an engineering exercise; it’s a systems shift.

🎙️ Listen now to hear how Scott and REC Solar are reshaping real-world decarbonisation through smarter ownership, smarter incentives, and smarter design.

Support the show

Podcast subscribers
I'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:

Anita Krajnc
Cecilia Skarupa
Ben Gross
Jerry Sweeney
Andreas Werner
Stephen Carroll
Roger Arnold

And remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.

🎤 Looking for a keynote speaker on climate, energy, AI, or sustainability?

I help executive audiences understand the technologies, trends, and decisions shaping the low-carbon transition.

Download my Speaker Pack: https://tinyurl.com/spkrpck

And a quick note before you go: I’ve started a new Reddit community for serious, evidence-led discussion on climate solutions, clean energy, decarbonisation, policy, technology, and what actually works in practice.

If you’d like to suggest future guests, challenge ideas from the show, or share climate reports and solutions worth discussing, join us at r/ClimateConfident