534: How Better Battery-Based Energy Storage Will Save Power Grids, w/ Fluence’s Head of Growth, Kiran Kumaraswamy

Kiran Kumaraswamy is a high-caliber energy storage executive focused on the commercialization of technology — specifically, architecting the techno-economic analysis and justification of deployment of hardtech like batteries. He’s had a lot of practice, which contributed in-part to his rise to Vice President of Growth and Head of Commercial Business at Fluence, a global energy storage technology and services company created and backed by Siemens and AES.Kiran is an engineer who can translate technology to make it easy for customers to understand and teams to model and deploy. I was lucky enough to get an Hour with him at the recent RE-Plus show, so I dig into precisely how he has helped bring such transformative products and business models to life.So, it’s a longer Tactical Tuesday than usual, but well-worth the investment.After earning his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Madras in India and a master's in engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he took a course in energy economics."That's how I learned about the beautiful nature of power markets, asset trading, and a bunch of related things," he said.In today's Tactical Tuesday, Kiran shared insights on the "generational opportunities" created by the recently passed US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), stabilizing the supply chain, and how innovative technology is impacting the future of the potential $200 billion energy storage market in the United States. Today’s conversation was part of the RE+ PowerUp Media Zone, a live production of SunCast Media.If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to his contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/.Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!SunCast is proudly supported by Trina Solar.You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.mysuncast.com/sponsors.Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 730 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com.Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeoLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus