Power Reimagined: Treating Energy as Evolving Technology, Not a Static Utility
Michael is the founder and CEO of Cherry Street Energy, a leading solar energy provider across the Super South. With a background in finance and a passion for sustainability, he drives innovative solutions that enable businesses and communities to adopt clean energy.
His dedication to renewable resources fosters positive growth, economic impact and environmental responsibility across the region.
In this compelling talk, Michael Chanin, CEO of Cherry Street Energy, presented a new framework for understanding energy—not as a commodity but as a rapidly improving technology. Chanin challenged conventional utility paradigms by positioning solar as a dynamic, decentralized solution capable of meeting Georgia’s soaring energy demand, while offering customers more predictability, efficiency and economic value. Drawing on Cherry Street’s experience deploying solar across the state, Chanin offered insights into the real-world opportunities and barriers facing the transition to distributed clean power.
Energy as Evolving Technology, Not Scarce Commodity
Chanin began by reframing energy from something we consume passively to a platform that evolves, much like software or hardware. Traditional fossil fuels are volatile, supply-constrained and controlled by a small set of producers. In contrast, solar power benefits from continual technological improvement and falling costs. Over the past decade, solar panel prices dropped from 75 cents per watt to 27 cents, while their output nearly doubled. This deflationary trend makes renewables increasingly cost-competitive and scalable, especially when paired with smart deployment models that reduce risk and upfront cost for customers.
Cherry Street’s Model: Scalable Solar With No Upfront Cost
Cherry Street Energy’s approach centers on providing solar infrastructure without capital expenditure from customers. The company installs, owns and maintains the systems, then sells the energy back at fixed rates below traditional utility prices. This power purchase agreement model has found traction across Georgia, particularly with cities, schools and corporations that seek predictability and long-term savings. As Georgia’s energy demand is projected to double in the next decade—matching what previously took a century to build—Chanin argued that scalable, distributed generation like this is the most practical way to meet that demand while reducing grid stress and cost volatility.
This model also avoids the common pitfall of overbuilding. Instead of maximizing panel count, Cherry Street aligns solar output with building demand, leaving room for future battery attachment and system expansion. This demand-matching philosophy optimizes capital efficiency and enhances grid resilience.
Batteries, Policy Gaps and Workforce Realities
While batteries are often seen as the next major lever in distributed energy, Chanin noted that commercial adoption remains low due to high costs and policy constraints. Residential use is growing, and Cherry Street expects future integration to rise significantly as prices fall and control systems mature. Still, regulatory hurdles in states like Alabama and South Carolina, where retail energy markets are closed and resale is limited, hinder the rollout of battery and solar systems alike. Chanin called for reform in utility regulation to enable broader participation in distributed generation.
Another critical bottleneck is labor. Despite surging demand, the solar industry still faces a shortage of trained workers. Cherry Street’s “Shine On” initiative addresses this by training workers from underserved communities, ensuring high-quality installations while creating local economic opportunity.
Smart Deployment and the Future of Distributed Energy
Solar isn’t suitable for every building or customer, and Chanin was candid about these limitations. Factors like warehousing logistics, short lease terms and erratic energy pricing can make deployment unviable. However, Cherry Street mitigates these risks using proprietary analytics to model building load profiles and optimize tariff structures—sometimes saving clients money even before a solar panel is installed.
The company is notably cautious about relying on renewable energy credits (RECs), which Chanin likened to “buying a star.
Though RECs can help meet sustainability targets or reduce customer costs, Cherry Street focuses on delivering real on-site generation, not just synthetic offsets.
Looking forward, Chanin envisioned a future where affordable solid-state batteries and flexible utility regulations make clean, distributed energy the default. Until then, Cherry Street is scaling practical, financially grounded solutions that offer immediate customer benefit and long-term regional resilience.
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