Expanding Solar Power Investment Opportunities to Meet Growing U.S. Electricity Demand

 Q&A with Solaris Energy’s New Chief Investment Officer Justin Bzdek

The increasing demand for electricity across the U.S. is projected to exceed production capacity in the coming decades. At Solaris Energy, we see this data point not as a challenge but as an opportunity. Solar project investment has the potential to fill the gap with a clean, renewable energy source that also provides cost savings for end users and a stable, predictable return on investment. We believe so strongly in the potential of solar to deliver on these multiple fronts that Solaris Energy is raising a fund to invest in the projects we develop. In April, we also hired our first Chief Investment Officer, Justin Bzdek, to lead increased investing in our healthy and growing pipeline of solar projects.

“We want to build as much solar as possible for as many people as possible, and we've proven solar is a good investment,” says Chief Financial Officer Jes Rawley. “These are very unique asset classes, and they have been and remain stable investments that make a strong addition to a diversified portfolio. You could own real estate, or you could own solar. So, why wouldn't you own solar? As our project success continues to grow, we’re ready to develop bigger projects and larger investment opportunities. It’s an exciting time.”

Justin Bzdek, who co-founded Solaris in 2008 and served as its COO, returned to the company to act as CIO in April 2025. With his diversified experience — including co-founding Solaris Energy and its longtime capital partner, Solaris Investment Group, as well as launching and serving as CEO of Symbios Technologies — he brings valuable networks to Solaris. Bzdek will drive company growth while drawing on his expertise in strategic capital raising and financing for renewable energy and cleantech, across solar, biofuels, RNG, waste-to-energy, and wastewater reuse. He will provide crucial support for the company’s mission-aligned efforts to accelerate the deployment of distributed solar energy and battery storage systems by implementing a more streamlined approach to financing projects for customers and partners alike.

“We’re excited to have Justin’s expertise on the team to develop and execute investment strategies to grow the Solaris portfolio while deepening and expanding relationships with funding and investment partners,” says CEO Nick Perugini. “With Justin’s help, we can scale while better serving our clients, community, and network.”

We asked Justin to share more about the stability and growth potential of solar investing with Solaris. Below, he provides insight on his new role and what it means for the future of the company and industry for developers, customers, and investors.

Can you share more about the investment opportunities Solaris is offering and growing into? How is Solaris changing its role on the investment side?

Solaris is transitioning to a true independent power producer (IPP) that can develop, finance, own, operate, and manage more and larger projects through longer life cycles. The projects in the current pipeline are trending more toward investment-grade commercial, industrial, and community solar projects that require a diverse capital stack. We are expanding our investor and banking relationships to accommodate these larger-scale projects, including our hiring of CRC-IB, the leading renewable energy investment bank in the U.S., to lead our financing.

Why is 2025 the year to start a heavier focus on solar investing for Solaris?

The main driver is the rapid growth of Solaris Energy’s project finance business and the pipeline of projects, which has grown exponentially in the past few years. Our company’s success and reputation have led to developers increasingly approaching Solaris to work together. The pipeline has also outgrown our current internal capital limitations.

In addition, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and other policy drivers—along with the massively increasing demand for electricity driven by data centers, EV charging, and crypto—have created an increasing demand for renewable energy sources and distributed generation. Solaris is well-positioned to address these needs and has built a solid partner base to do so.

How does this year’s changing landscape impact solar investing, and how is Solaris working with that information to provide valuable opportunities for investors, developers, and end users?

I don’t know that anyone is fully confident in a prediction that would answer this question. I was recently at an industry conference in Colorado, where experts and pundits spent a lot of time hand-wringing and guessing about this topic, with wildly divergent charts, graphs, and rhetoric — indicating there isn’t a consensus on this changing landscape.

Our CEO Nick Perugini was a speaker at the conference, and he spoke of the importance of staying the course. He shared that the industry has seen all of these threats and opportunities related to tax credits, tariffs, fluctuating government support for this or that energy source, etc., in the past — and has gotten through it. At Solaris, we have not yet seen a blip in project finance opportunities related to the current policy chaos, but we are implementing finance and sourcing methods to minimize risk.

How does the investment side of the organization support the mission of renewable energy for all?

Solaris started with a vision to help people and the environment. As the company has grown and expanded into more commercial and industrial projects, the mission remains and is growing alongside our financial and project growth. For example, recent projects include a large collaboration with a tribal organization in California and builds with school districts. The way I look at it is: Money is energy, and the money that we invest into decarbonization, cleaner energy sources, social justice efforts, and fighting climate change for the betterment of humanity is the engine that drives the impact we are trying to achieve. This is why we do what we do.

If you’d like to develop a relationship or investment partnership with Solaris, reach out to Justin! We are actively seeking investors, financial institutions, and funds to join our mission to finance a brighter future for all. You can connect with Justin on LinkedIn or send him an email to start the conversation.