The road to solar glory has been littered with failed companies -- the ones you may know (Solyndra) and hundreds you probably do not.Will the burgeoning hydrogen space follow a similar bumpy road? Hydrogen is at a similar phase of market and technological maturity, with similar levels of hype.&nbsp;In this episode, Shayle talks to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/raffigarabedian/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Raffi Garabedian</a>, the former CTO of pioneering solar manufacturer First Solar and now the co-founder and CEO of Electric Hydrogen Co. (Disclosure: Shayle just led Energy Impact Partners’ investment in the company).First Solar was one of the very few Western companies that survived the price pressure, commoditization and trade dynamics in the solar industry during its early growth phase. How did First Solar do it? And what does that tell us about surviving the heady-but-volatile hydrogen space?Shayle and Raffi dig into that history, covering First Solar’s bet on mass-producible cadmium telluride technology, as well as the risky step of retooling manufacturing.They also cover the parallels to hydrogen: How does a novel technology compete against dominant incumbents? How does that technology navigate the boom-and-bust cycles of an emerging market? How can an executive team pick the most useful metric for its creative teams?&nbsp;The Interchange is brought to you by Hitachi ABB Power Grids. Are you building a renewable plant? Looking for a battery energy storage system? Thinking about how to integrate renewables to your grid? <a href="http://hitachiabb-powergrids.com/grid-edge" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hitachi ABB Power Grids</a> is your choice.&nbsp;The Interchange is brought to you by <a href="https://en.longi-solar.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">LONGi Solar</a>, the world’s leading solar technology company. A global market leader, LONGi has unmatched bankability, quality and performance validated by third-party laboratories, and has breakthrough innovation at both the wafer and module level.See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

Will Hydrogen Look Like Solar?

The Interchange: Recharged podcast is a leading global clean tech podcast that has been running since 2017. Each fortnight we invite experts and industry leaders from the world of clean tech and energy to join in a deep dive about their tech, the future of their sector, funding and policy impacts. We aim to provide a platform for start-ups, new companies and organisations who are innovating and solving real world problems in the energy transition. Our listeners are energy experts, industry evangelists who’re interested in companies that do pioneering work to accelerate the transition. Our host David Banmiller takes our audience through a 45-60 minute exploration of the revolutionary tech these companies are developing, asking about the history, the ongoing work and the vision our guests have for their business. The conversation often turns to funding and policy as well.