2013 Spotlight Solar Case Competition, Hosted by Net Impact

 

2013 Spotlight Solar Case
Competition,
Hosted by Net Impact
Are you a problem solver? Do you have innovative ideas? Do you
care what has been entrusted to us?
If so, please join Duke Undergraduate Net Impact Chapter, the Duke
Energy Club, and the Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative (I &
E Initiative) in our innovative introduction of social impact by
participating in the Fall 2013 Spotlight Solar case competition.

SPOTLIGHT SOLAR

Spotlight Solar was started in 2010 and makes solar structures that are
visible and beautiful, to differentiate commercial property. Unlike
utilitarian solar “racking” equipment, Spotlight Solar products are
designed to be seen – an intersection of public art and clean energy

machine. Spotlight allows solar to be visually appealing while signaling the
owner’s environmental stewardship. Spotlight products normally
complement a larger solar system, or other (hidden) environmental
investment, making a statement in a visible location.

Market problem addressed: Solar energy systems and other measures
succeed in creating ROI and environmental impact, but property owners
and occupants also want reputation value. Since most of these green
projects are hidden from view, they do not deliver this image value.

Spotlight Solar makes customers’ properties distinctive with great looking
solar. These novel structures don’t replace rooftop solar systems, they
complement them and authentically remind people of such environmental
investments. By making solar more visible and attractive, Spotlight Solar
hopes to accelerate the adoption of solar energy. Spotlight is a B
Corporation, certified by B Lab as a positive impact business, according to
stringent criteria and an in-person audit.

Spotlight is committed to positive impact on several fronts. The top two
are 1) increase the adoption of clean energy by making it more visible and
attractive (increasing top-of-mind awareness and consideration), and add
image value to properties investing in environmentally beneficial
measures, and 2) create dignifying work which suits and celebrates
peoples’ gifts. In every aspect of business, Spotlight seeks to treat people
the way we’d like to be treated.

Spotlight is early stage, but has 14 installations, and achieves gross
margins over 50%. To reach its potential, it needs to fund sales coverage,
marketing, and product development at modest levels, and accelerate
volume growth. High-visibility, referencable installations would be very
helpful, and preferably be with clients which become repeat purchasers,
like real estate management companies. Spotlight needs $1M investment
to grow to $10M in revenue and reach positive cash flow. Another $3M
will be needed to accelerate growth and enter other categories such as
residential products. Currently, the company is bootstrapping: it makes
money on installations, but not enough to mount a growth campaign. It is
also pursuing a $1M round with angel investors.

Investment through traditional venture capital sources is a challenge for
Spotlight. It needs less than what VCs typically invest, and it doesn’t fit

well in current investment categories like clean-tech. On the plus side,
Spotlight benefits from the dynamic growth of the solar industry, without
technology risk.

Find more information about Spotlight solar at
http://www.spotlightsolar.com/

AESTHETIC SOLAR AND INDUSTRY CONTEXT

Spotlight Solar is creating a niche for aesthetic solar, starting in the
commercial market, and growing into residential. This niche will intersect
both the market for solar energy equipment, and the market for green
buildings. The solar industry in the US will exceed $13 billion in 2013,
and is expected to grow at or above 30% CAGR over the next five years to
$25B in 2018. 41% of that revenue will be commercial, 32% residential,
and the remainder “utility scale.” But nearly 100% of the project volume
will be commercial or residential. Industry data here: http://www.seia.org/research-
resources/solar-industry-data

On the green building front, there have been over 45,000 buildings
certified under LEED standards, and many more undesignated or certified
under a different brand. Annually, $15B is spent on cost premiums (over
basic building code compliance) to achieve LEED certification. These
properties can enjoy higher rents, tenant retention, employee engagement,
and customer affinity; but most green buildings are anonymous – one can’t
tell they are different from the architecture. Spotlight Solar structures
address this issue, acting as a badge for green buildings.

THE CHALLENGE

Propose an approach to fund and grow Spotlight Solar using
crowdfunding.
 Spotlight Solar is seeking to attract small amounts of money from
volumes of people to fund Spotlight installation projects and/or equity
investment. Kickstarter campaigns have been considered, but are difficult
to conceive, because there is not a typical “kickback” opportunity, like
personal technology projects offer. Since there has been much
development in crowdfunding platforms, there may be new opportunities.
As well, community solar, solar crowdfunding efforts (see Mosaic and

UVest Solar), and new leasing options are opening new lanes for funding.
On the equity investment front, the JOBS Act has partially opened the
market for soliciting investment more broadly.

Please address some or all of the following items in your proposal. If you
determine one or the other crowdfunding approach will be much more
impactful to the company, feel free to concentrate on that one.

  1) How, specifically, do you suggest Spotlight Solar use a crowdfunding
     effort to fund visible installations? Propose a specific installation
     example and marketing approach.

  2) How do you suggest Spotlight Solar pursue equity funding beyond
     the traditional angel networks? Profiles of people or organizations
     who would be target investors should be included. Specifics on
     methods for approaching these investors are valuable. Consider the
     upcoming rule making by the SEC as part of implementing the
     JOBS Act.

Additional websites you can visit:
http://www.caseatduke.org/

OFFICIAL CONTEST RULES
Participants in the 2013 Spotlight Solar Case Competition hosted by Net
Impact must be full time Duke University students. This includes
undergraduate, graduate, or professional school students.

TO ENTER
The proposal is due Wednesday, November 13, 2013. Register your team
by submitting your proposal to Daniel Ketyer, Duke Net Impact VP of
Events, at daniel.ketyer@duke.edu by 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday,
November 13, 2013.

Please include team member names, majors, graduation years and email
addresses in this email.

The proposal should consist of a PowerPoint of no more than 12 single-
sided PowerPoint slides summarizing their proposal.

Net Impact is not responsible for incomplete, lost, late, illegible,
inaccurate, delayed, undelivered or misdirected entries (or any component
thereof), or for interrupted or unavailable network, server or other
connections, miscommunications, computer or software malfunctions or
telephone line or transmission problems or technical failures, garbled
transmissions or other errors or malfunctions of any kind whether caused
by equipment, electronic or human error or otherwise relating to or in
connection with the contest.

TIMELINE
Nov. 13: 11:59PM : FIRST ROUND SUBMISSIONS DUE

Nov. 15: Top 5 finalist teams selected; teams receive feedback from Fuqua
MBA Net Impact, MMS Net Impact, and Undergraduate Net Impact

Nov. 18: Top 5 finalists submit final slide decks to daniel.ketyer@duke.edu

Nov. 20: Top 5 finalists present at the I & E Initiative sustainability event
in front of a panel including executives from Spotlight Solar

JUDGING
FIRST ROUND: A panel of officers in the Duke Undergraduate Net
Impact, Fuqua MBA Net Impact, and Fuqua MMS Net Impact
organizations will choose the top 5 finalist teams.

FINAL ROUND: A panel of Spotlight Solar executives will judge
presentations at the I & E Initiative sustainability event and select a
winning team.

PRIZE
Members of the winning team will receive interviews with Spotlight Solar
for internship and full-time positions at the company. The winning team
will also be invited to a dinner sponsored by Spotlight Solar and Net
Impact.

Who is Net Impact?

Duke Undergraduate Net Impact is an on-campus student group focused
on leading, educating, and promoting student-led social entrepreneurial
initiatives. We focus our attention on issues ranging from environmental
sustainability to international development.

Net Impact is a leading nonprofit that empowers a new generation to use
their careers to drive transformational change in the workplace and the
world. With over 40,000 students and professional leaders involved in the
network, the Duke chapter will devote time not only to educate ourselves
on important issues but also to initiate projects tackling the challenges we
see.