Cleantechers -
Our most recent guest brings two decades of electrical industry experience. Brandon Moss is the CEO of Shoals Technologies Group, one of the major players in our industry. Brandon's leadership journey includes roles at Southwire Company, Lutron Electronics, and Stanley Black & Decker. Shoals Technologies Group is the leading provider of electrical balance of systems, or eBOS — electrical solutions that enable the rapid deployment of large-scale solar energy projects. Shoals is well respected in our field and among the more mature clean economy companies, having gone public in 2021.
Here are Brandon’s B3P’s:
6:36 - Despite recent headlines and political noise, solar energy remains in a strong position and is expected to stay that way for years. It’s the fastest energy source to deploy and continues to offer one of the lowest levelized costs of energy. With rising electricity demands, the growth trajectory for solar looks very promising.
8:41 - One neat thing about solar plants is their immense size. Even small adjustments, like modifying a product or its delivery, can lead to major efficiency gains for solar power projects and EPC customers.
14:50 - Early in your career, the most valuable thing isn’t chasing titles or higher pay. It’s finding a role where you can learn, grow, and have the support of mentors who are genuinely invested in your development. Leadership opportunities will come with time, but long-term success is about playing the marathon, not the sprint.
Melissa Baldwin:
All right, welcome back, cleantechers. Today's guest brings two decades of electrical industry experience. Brandon Moss is the CEO of Shoals Technologies Group, one of the major players in our industry. Brandon's leadership journey includes roles at Southwire Company, Lutron Electronics, and Stanley Black & Decker.
Shoals Technologies Group is the leading provider of electrical balance of systems, EBOS.
Electrical solutions that enable the rapid deployment of large-scale solar energy projects. And I'll let him tell you more about that on the show. Shoals is well respected in our field and among the more mature clean economy companies, having gone public in 2021. Brandon, welcome to the show.
Brandon Moss:
Hey, Melissa, thanks for having me on. Happy to be here.
Melissa Baldwin:
Glad to have you. So let's start by setting the stage. Tell us about your role as CEO of Shoals and what your company is all about, and try to explain that for maybe some of our listeners who haven't heard about EBOS.
Brandon Moss:
Sure, sure. Well, maybe I'll start out with our company's purpose, which is to positively impact the world by enabling global electrification and making the complex simple. Our tagline at our company is actually inventing the simple. We are really the leader in the US and a really aspiring leader abroad in electrical balances of systems.
And what Shoals really made its mark doing is taking what was happening around, installing electrical systems in the field, and bringing them into the factory. So, electrical balance of systems, you mentioned in the intro, what is electrical balance of systems?
Really, what we do is we are conducting and harnessing the electrons captured in the modules or panels and delivering those to the inverters. So we do that by a combination of different electrical apparatus, like combiner boxes, load break disconnects, but also some very large wiring systems. So, if you boil it down in its simplest terms, what Shoals does is make an enormous custom wire harness that is deployed in utility-scale solar fields.
And what makes our company special is really two things. Our system is custom-designed, and it's plug-and-play. So when it's delivered to the system, it cuts down on a tremendous amount of labor when our products are installed.
The other thing that makes us special is our quality. Everything is built in the factory, double injection molded. So when our stuff is deployed on a site, it will stand the test of time with that site. All of our products are designed to last 20 or 30 years, which is very important to the investors and owners of these facilities.
Melissa Baldwin:
Yeah, durability has come up again and again. Thank you for explaining that. I want to hear now from you: what drew you to clean energy? So you bring experience from companies like Black and Decker. What drew you to clean energy, and what keeps you passionate about it today?
Brandon Moss:
Yeah, again, for most of my career, I have been in the electrical space. So always very familiar with the renewables sector and the growth of it. You know, I've been fortunate; everything that I've done in my career has been around construction, really.
Like I've always been drawn to building things, whether it's commercial construction or now solar power plants. It's just, I guess, satisfying to me to know that we're doing something that is a tangible and really the infrastructure of this country. The neat thing about the renewable space is, and a lot of people talk about, the triple bottom line: being able to take care of the company and generating profit to keep the company healthy, taking care of people as your company grows and doing right by your employees, and doing right by the planet.
And the renewable sector really allows you to do all three of those things. I mean, you find a lot of different industries where it's really easy to take care of the company, it's really easy to take care of the people, and it's probably harder to take care of the planet, and Shoals specifically enables us to do that. And it's neat to work at a company like that.
Melissa Baldwin:
Yeah. And you guys are right at the cutting edge. When you mentioned construction and building things at the time of this recording, SIA has just come out with a report that shows that solar for the second consecutive year, we have record breaking growth, 50 gigawatts of capacity put on the grid in 2024, 66 % of new capacity on the grid was solar. So you mentioned that you like building things, and building solar and storage is especially an interesting and hot topic right now. So I think you're in the right place at the right time.
Brandon Moss:
There's no question, despite maybe some of the headlines out there today with the new administration and some of the other, I guess, industry noise, solar is in a really good spot and we believe will continue to be for years to come. It is the fastest to deploy of all energy sources and is also still, when you think about the lowest levelized cost of energy.
Either at the top or near the top. So I am really excited about the future of solar, particularly over the course of the next couple of years. I think we're going to see this growth trend continue with all the requirements and demands on electricity right now.
Melissa Baldwin:
Yeah, I agree. So I want to talk more about Shoals. Your company is known for innovation in the clean energy space. How do you foster a culture of creativity and out-of-the-box thinking when you're in a manufacturing environment?
Brandon Moss:
Yeah, I think to really stay innovative and still stay on the cutting edge, really in any industry, I think the key is to make the customer the center of the universe.
So since I've arrived at Shoals, I have made sure that we've doubled down on voice of customer, make sure obviously our customer-facing team, like our sales team, is always out in the field to make sure that our product management team, even to some degree, the folks that are in our operations are out in the field with our folks and seeing what our products do on the field and interacting with customers and solving pain points. So I'm excited about where we're headed.
We've had, I don't know, I think probably the largest groups of products ever launched in the history of Shoals in 2024 and those are getting seated in the market right now and I think it's again from keeping that customer as the center of the universe and really doubling down on solving problems for them.
Melissa Baldwin:
I think that's one of the exciting things about being in solar and clean energy: that we're discovering together, through partnerships with manufacturers, buyers, customers, off-takers. The industry itself has become so innovative.
Brandon Moss:
Yeah, I think what's really neat about solar power plants is just the immense size of these things. The simplest things that you may do, like changing the product slightly or even changing the way you package the product or deliver the product, can generate enormous productivity gains for our EPC customers.
So, I think it's the little things a lot of times that go a long way for these guys.
Melissa Baldwin:
Absolutely. That resonates with me. So my next question is about leadership. And so as a leader, often that means that you have to navigate challenges, uncertainty. Can you think of a time when you faced a major challenge or a moment of doubt, and how you got through that?
Brandon Moss:
Yeah, look, I think solar has been growing tremendously over the course of the last two years, but, looking back on 2024, you can use that as an example of a turbulent time. I mean, there is a tremendous amount of uncertainty in the world today. When I look back at 2024, whether it's changes in or potential changes in public policy, there have been really significant supply chain challenges across the industry, whether it's modules, switchgear, or transformers.
We've had a significant change in the interest-rate structure that really impacts the solar industry. Although solar has been growing, we have been in a pretty turbulent and uncertain time. I think the most important thing you can do in times like that is be open and honest, continue to communicate with customers and your employee base, just to, again, make sure you're being as transparent as possible.
I think it's always good practice, and it's not only in business but in life: I mean, things are probably never as good as you think they are, and they're never as bad as you think they are, and to try to stay somewhere down the middle and keep everybody calm.
Melissa Baldwin:
Yeah, that reminds me of something one of my parents told me: if you’re worried about how you’re doing, remember there’s always someone ahead of you and someone behind you, so focus on yourself. I also agree with your point about transparency; it keeps everyone open-eyed.
Brandon Moss:
Yeah, I think in times like this, it's just continued focus on what you can control. There's so much noise out there, particularly for this industry post-election. Focus on controlling what we can control here at Shoals, and the rest of the stuff will play out as it may.
Melissa Baldwin:
Absolutely. Now that makes a ton of sense. My next question is about talent and hiring. So talent is often cited as the biggest factor in a company's success. What have you learned about hiring? And what have you done to retain talent throughout your career?
Brandon Moss:
Sure. Yeah, I think, look, one of the lessons that I've learned in building businesses over my career is you can become enamored with subject-matter expertise, because you're hiring what you need at the time as you're building the business.
You literally need components, and I think that works for maybe a short period of time, but over a longer period of time, what matters most is making sure that you're hiring people who are going to be really great leaders and managers. I think the subject-matter expertise can be learned, and so can managerial skills and leadership, but I think, really, making sure that you're hiring for character, you're hiring for leadership, you're hiring for people that are going to be a good fit in your organization is probably what's most important.
Melissa Baldwin:
Hmm, I like that point.
Brandon Moss:
In terms of retaining talent, that's a challenge for everybody this day and age, making sure that you've got good opportunities to develop. You know, we've got a pretty flexible work environment here at Shoals, which is appealing to people. I think we're a small organization, so it works quite well.
We've got an open-door policy for me and all the executives. I would hope anybody who works here would tell you they have access to us and they see us a lot. And I think that keeps people engaged and motivated.
Melissa Baldwin:
I want to ask you, I hear from some of my other clients that they are competing with really big companies for engineering talent. Do you find that you're competing with bigger companies like Teslas and SpaceXs of the world for the talent that you're seeking?
Brandon Moss:
Yeah, I think in this day and age, where you've got remote work more accepted, hybrids more accepted, we're kind of all pulling from the same labor force. So certainly we are. I think to some degree, being a small company helps us. You can really see your impact in a small company, and it happens faster. If you're working in a huge organization, you may not experience that as much.
So I think being small at times helps us compete for talent.
Melissa Baldwin:
Yeah, people feel like they're not lost in the bigger machine. I've heard exactly that sentiment expressed when I've talked to folks about this topic, about recruitment and why they work at the places they work. So, feeling like you have an impact certainly resonates.
Melissa Baldwin:
All right, I'm going to move to the next question. So, talking about talent and growing people, what advice would you give to young professionals who are interested in this field, interested in clean energy, or even in ultimately having a leadership position?
Brandon Moss:
Yeah, I think, and I probably needed this advice at some point in my career; if you talk to my past managers or mentors, it is to be patient.
You know, leadership roles will come in time, and I think the most important thing for somebody early in their career is to be in a position that they can learn, that they’ve got support in an organization, that they’ve got mentors or managers that actually care for them and are going to help develop them.
There’s always an opportunity to move to another role and chase a little bit more money or chase a title. And if you’re going to have a long career, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. The next rung up the ladder may not be as important as having somebody who’s truly dedicated to helping you out and developing you in your career long term.
Melissa Baldwin:
Great advice. So, looking back over your career, what are you most proud of during your tenure as one, and specifically at Shoals as the CEO? So, where do you feel like you made the biggest impact?
Brandon Moss:
Yeah, one thing for me at Shoals stands out. We are embarking on the build-out of a new facility. Shoals has grown over the years and probably has not had the opportunity, nor been blessed with the financial resources, to continue to invest in the business.
And in the middle of 2025, we're consolidating our Tennessee facilities, and we're gonna move into a new plant and a new office. And really, for the first time, I think, since at least the company has been very small, we'll have all of our salaried staff in one building. We'll have nice accommodations for them. Probably most important for me is that our production employees have an opportunity to move into a really nice new facility with all the amenities that they deserve.
It's going to be a safer facility for them and, obviously, a more productive facility. So, we're starting to deploy some capital back into the business. We'll have a record capex spend in 2025, and it's much needed, and I'm excited about giving the employees the accommodations they deserve and the opportunities they deserve.
Melissa Baldwin:
Setting them up for success. Let me ask you, where is that new facility going to be?
Brandon Moss:
It is literally a nine iron across the street, probably from where I'm sitting right now. Yeah, our main offices are at 1400 Shoals Way, and our new building is at 1500 Shoals Way, and we're the only two buildings on the street, right across the street. Yeah, we're just about 30 minutes north of Nashville.
Melissa Baldwin:
Nice. Okay. So my next question is about change management. It's a big part of leadership, and it's clearly a part of what you do at Shoals. How do you successfully implement change at Shoals and keep the team motivated and aligned?
Brandon Moss:
Yeah, a tremendous amount of change is going on right now in my last 18 months here. We're transitioning from a great founder-led business that went public in ’21, has been growing really like crazy over the course of, call it, the last five years, and so a lot of processes are needed.
I talked about investment and capital, as well as investment in systems and technology. We've got a lot of new people, so a tremendous amount of change within the organization. And I think the most important thing when you're doing that is to have standard processes: the way that we meet, the way that we communicate, the cadence in which we meet.
The expectations are really laid out pretty clearly in an operating model that we've implemented that ties our strategy—refreshed annually now—down to daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly KPIs. And I think that keeps everybody aligned and focused; they know what the expectations are as we're changing, and I think that's been vitally important for us here in my first, call it, 18, 20 months on the job.
Melissa Baldwin:
I think you're not alone in that. So many of the companies in this sector they're seeing this remarkable growth as the cleantech sector is just exploding. And I was just talking with another client who's similarly growing quickly. And they talked about how important building those processes is because these are companies that have started founder-owned businesses or smaller businesses, and they've just seen this epic growth. And so getting everybody rowing in the same direction is really important.
Brandon Moss:
Yeah, you get to a point where to continue to scale, you've got to take variability out of the business, and that takes process and some structure. And I think, like anything, there's got to be an important balance. You don't want to set up a big bureaucracy and not get things done. We want to remain agile and be able to take care of our customers and be pragmatic about things. But at the same time, you've got to put some structure in place to enable that growth.
Melissa Baldwin:
I love what you said: take variability out of the business. It's great. So my next question is, who had an influence on you? Who were your most important mentors, and what lasting lessons did you learn from them?
Brandon Moss:
Yeah, I have had the opportunity to work at some great companies, and I have had the opportunity to work with and for some fantastic people. Just to name some of the people specifically, the list is too long. I think what I would say is, and maybe the lesson along the way is as you're growing, you're building teams.
Really be aware of your strengths and weaknesses and build teams out to help you and make the team perform as good as possible. I think when you do that, when you're hiring people that are better than you in certain areas, smarter than you in certain areas, maybe just help you round out your management style and cover your blind spots, you have the opportunity to create mentors.
You may learn a lot from people who actually work for you or work with you. They don't always have to be the people that you would think of traditional mentors as those that you work for. So, I think that's probably the biggest lesson I've learned over the years.
Melissa Baldwin:
I was watching a teacher on TikTok who said that his students teach him every day, right? And this is a middle school or high school teacher, and he's talking about younger kids, but he learned something new from them.
Brandon Moss:
There's no question. Yeah, I mean, if you're hiring people who are smarter than you are, which is not very hard in my role, you should be learning from those individuals. It'd be crazy not to.
Melissa Baldwin:
It makes sense. I'm going to move to another question on work-life balance. So as a busy CEO, what do you do to maintain that work-life balance? What do you do to unwind? Do you have any hobbies? I heard you mentioned golf earlier in the episode.
Brandon Moss:
Golf is a hobby. I don't get to play as much as I would like. Work-life balance is always a question. It's a question that I get asked a lot. I think that probably at the executive level or as you get to senior levels in organizations, work-life balance is kind of a misnomer. Number one, it's not going to be balanced.
Think, like anything in life, there are gives and takes at different periods of your life. And if you're working as a CEO or working as somebody in a C-suite, you've got to understand what comes with that. And there's a lot of work; your schedule is very full. And a lot of times it's not full in the traditional work hours.
So, I think you have to understand that going in. I like thinking about things as a kind of work-life integration. You're going to have periods where you're sprinting and working a lot. You're going to have periods where you're not. I think the important thing is to remember your family and your friends and schedule, literally schedule those times in; otherwise, they're going to get lost.
So, I'm happy for folks that are on my team. If we're running hard for a period of a couple of weeks and they want to dial it back for a couple of days and spend time with their family or friends, we're always happy to accommodate that.
Melissa Baldwin:
And is there anything that you do that you enjoy, or a hobby?
Brandon Moss:
I have three young kids, so for me, the times that I can really detach and not think about work are probably things I'm doing with them, whether that be doing an activity directly with them, or watching them on a field or in a gym playing a sport that they love to play. Those are the times that I can really detach and unwind.
Melissa Baldwin
Nice, alright. One of my final questions is, what excites you most about the future of Shoals and clean energy?
Brandon Moss:
Yeah, look, I think maybe to close out where we started, I mean, the boom and data centers and AI that everybody's talking about every day, there is an unbelievable thirst for new power in the US and globally.
And again, I think that clean energy is going to be a huge part of that, not only because it's the right thing to do long term, but it's really needed right now.
There's no other alternative, right, to generate power like the renewable space, particularly solar.
So I think it's going to drive a tremendous amount of opportunity for companies to grow, people to grow, new technologies to come out.
There's a lot of collaboration in the industry. We collaborate a lot with our peers in trying to make things better for owner investors long term and easier for our EPC partners to install our products.
So, we look forward to continuing to reduce capital costs on the front end and O&M costs on the back end. And I think we'll be very successful in doing that.
Melissa Baldwin:
So, Brandon, thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Is there anything else that you want our listeners to know? Maybe they're a potential customer or future customer of yours. What do you want them to know about you and about Shoals?
Brandon Moss:
Yeah, sort of maybe again, finishing where we started, I think, first and foremost, it's important as a leader to really remember why you're doing it, and it's about the people first that are in the organization, to really make sure that you're taking care of people along the way, along with the company.
And as I said, in our case, working in the renewable space, we're blessed to be able to do the right thing for the planet as well. So, I'm excited to be in the role that I'm in, feel like I'm honored to be able to do it, quite frankly. And I think Shoals is in a very good spot; I'm very excited about 2025 and beyond and what we have to deliver, not only to the solar market but other markets that are driving electrification across the U.S. and the world.
So, I'll end with that, appreciate the time today, Melissa. It was great getting to meet you.
Melissa Baldwin:
Excellent. Well, Brandon Moss, thank you so much for joining our show, and we look forward to seeing you in the future.
Brandon Moss:
Thank you.