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In this episode, we sit down with Nikhil Vadhavkar, co-founder and CEO of Raptor Maps, to uncover how the company is tackling the invisible crisis in clean energy: operational inefficiency across $250B+ worth of solar assets.
Nikhil explains why the solar industry’s problems aren’t just about building more — they’re about getting the existing infrastructure to perform. From labor shortages to rising insurance costs, from underperforming fields to unscalable maintenance methods, Raptor Maps is turning traditional solar operations on its head.
Their secret? A software platform built on digital twins, computer vision, and robotics that lets field techs do more of what matters.
You'll hear how Raptor Maps found product-market fit by replacing the most dangerous and manual tasks on solar farms with drone- and robot-driven workflows, and how that foundation has evolved into an AI-ready platform used across tens of gigawatts of global deployments. Nikhil shares the journey from MIT and NASA to Y Combinator and utility-scale solar, reflecting on what it means to build something technically excellent, deeply customer-embedded, and truly scalable.
We cover:
How climate-driven damage (hail, fire) and tariffs are reshaping solar economics
Why investors are demanding deeper visibility into solar asset performance
What it takes to operate robots and AI in the middle of nowhere
And how Raptor Maps built a customer-led culture — even as it scaled
If you care about where solar is really going, and not just the shiny parts, this is the episode to listen to.
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📝 Show Notes:
Topics
02:51 Shifting Value Toward Operational Assets
03:02 Core Challenges in Solar
06:26 The Insights Behind Raptor Maps
11:06 From Doing a PhD to Raptor Maps
20:31 Creating Scalable Solutions
24:44 Shifts in the Ecosystem and Market Positioning
31:45 Building Trust Through Industry Collaboration
40:36 Looking Ahead
Links
Connect with Somil on LinkedIn | Connect with Silas on LinkedIn
This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.
