Marcel Hrubý - Chief Technical Buddy
- What do you find most challenging about your job?
We build solar power plants and battery energy storage systems (BESS) throughout the European Union. It might seem that everything in life and business within the EU is harmonised and standardised. Upon closer inspection, however, this is true only with regard to technical standards and design drawings. But if we look at the EU through the eyes of a project manager, right next to the drawings and the contract is the customer – a person who can no longer be described as “made in the EU". It’s the same as thinking that all Americans are the same or that all of Latin America loves spicy food like they do in Mexico. The most difficult and, at the same time, most exciting task is to understand the mentality, personality, and behaviour of customers from Norway to Malta. For whom do you think the contract serves more as a guide?
- If you could change one thing about the solar industry, what would it be?
I always think of the words of one of the founders of Greenbuddies, Aleš Spáčil, who likes to say that business doesn’t like surprises. It’s more than enough when fuel prices suddenly skyrocket or when political and financial support for renewable energy sources shifts after elections in EU countries (meaning not just solar but also wind turbines and battery storage). Significant fluctuations in the prices of photovoltaic panels are probably the least desirable change for investors and EPCs. Then, when you hear a customer say, “The panels have gotten more expensive, so you have to lower the cost of labour," it’s the panels that remain in the EU as added value. Sad, illogical math.
- What do you wish other people knew about the solar industry?
I remember very well how, after the revolution in 1989 or 1990, my parents went on a fact-finding trip to the Western world, to Austria. They were eager to see just how far those Western capitalists had come while we were building socialism. Today, I would send every die-hard opponent of renewable energy on this eye-opening trip to see how systematically they continue to build wind and solar farms within sight of Vienna. Burgenland is becoming the most important hub for renewable energy in Austria. When people ask again why electricity is more expensive in the Czech Republic than in Austria and why our neighbours have a higher standard of living.
- Is your family supporting you in your mission?
At first, I had to justify my frequent business trips abroad. Then, during the summer holidays, I took my family on several vacations that combined sightseeing with visits to photovoltaic construction sites – whether to Hungary to see rooftop installations on shopping centres or to Italy for retrofit projects in Termoli. Now, every spring, my kids ask me where we’re going this year—whether we’ll go for gelato again, or maybe finally see the carports fitted with panels at Disneyland.
Tereza Zelfel - Sales Buddy
Tomáš Krejčí - Chief BESS Flexibility Buddy
- What project are you currently working on? What is interesting about it and why do you enjoy it?
I work on a lot of projects at the same time, and it’s that diversity that I enjoy most about this job. One day I’m at a biogas plant fine-tuning the details of a control system, the next day I’m in a shirt at a meeting with an investor managing a portfolio of dozens of projects, and the day after that we’re discussing a strategy for where to take the company next. I also like that I’m given a great deal of trust, I can focus on what I consider most important at any given moment.
- What do you find most challenging about your job?
We strive to ensure that our projects and products are based on accurate data and high-quality analysis. This is challenging – we work with a wide range of tools, from Excel to custom economic models in Python to control software in Rust. Our work also includes automated trading, where there is simply no room for error. And we do all of this as a small team, so everyone has to juggle multiple tasks at once.
- What's your personal philosophy on what should be done about the renewables/solar industry?
The entire industry has been experiencing tremendous growth in recent years, and yet I feel that if society is truly to transition to a predominantly renewable energy system, we’re only just getting started. We have a lot of work ahead of us: from the actual installation of renewable energy sources and energy storage to shaping the market and fostering a society-wide approach to the issue. I see enormous potential in this, and that is exactly what motivates me.
