Execution Portfolio
Solar Energy · Global · International Scale-Up · 2001–2008
Joined Isofoton in 2001 after originating and closing a rural electrification contract in Ghana worth approximately 50% of the company's annual revenues at the time. Over the following seven years, built and scaled the International Division into a multi-country operating platform spanning four continents — each market requiring a fundamentally different GTM approach, financing structure, and commercial architecture.
The Situation
Isofoton possessed strong technology, a recognised brand in Spain and ambitious international aspirations. What it lacked was the infrastructure required to execute globally.
When I joined in January 2001, international operations remained relatively small compared to the company's potential. The opportunity was clear. The execution path was not.
Building a global solar business in the early 2000s required simultaneously solving commercial, financing, operational, manufacturing and regulatory challenges across multiple continents — while every investment competed internally for resources against a domestic business generating immediate returns.
The Challenge
The challenge was not market entry. The challenge was building an international growth platform where every geography required a fundamentally different operating model.
Projects depended on sovereign financing structures, bilateral cooperation agreements, FAD soft loans, CESCE-backed export credits and multilateral funding frameworks. Each project required interministerial approval in Spain and parliamentary ratification in recipient countries.
The PERG programme represented one of the largest rural electrification concessions in Africa — a long-term public-private partnership requiring multilateral financing, operational delivery across nine provinces, and retail revenue collection at scale.
Future competitiveness required local manufacturing capability and direct access to the emerging solar supply chain. This meant establishing a Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise — one of the first by a Spanish solar company — and building strategic relationships with manufacturers who would later become global top-10 players.
Growth required local commercial presence, customer acquisition, and manufacturing structures aligned with federal and state energy programmes. Off-take agreements with major utilities required a fundamentally different commercial approach than any other geography.
Product adaptation, regulatory compliance, pricing localisation, and customer adoption frameworks had to be developed simultaneously across multiple European and Asian markets — each with different certification requirements, grid standards, and procurement cultures.
The sequencing had to be right. Every investment competed for the same capital. Every geography had a different risk profile and a different timeline to revenue.
What I Did
Leveraged relationships and financing expertise developed during my previous role in West Africa. Structured projects using combinations of FAD soft loans, CESCE export credits and multilateral financing frameworks. The Ghana programme became a blueprint for wider regional expansion.
Supported development and execution of the PERG rural electrification concession — more than 13,000 household systems across nine provinces under a long-term public-private partnership co-financed by AFD, EU, and ONE. Managed operational delivery including retail revenue collection at scale.
Led the creation of one of the first Chinese WFOEs established by a Spanish solar company. Developed strategic alliances with Suntech, Canadian Solar, and Yingli to support manufacturing scale-up and supply chain integration.
Established the foundations for Isofoton's US expansion — first commercial clients including SunEdison, Ohio manufacturing strategy development, and off-take framework agreements with Duke Energy and AEP Ohio.
Every market required a different go-to-market approach. Product adaptation, pricing structures, regulatory compliance, certification requirements, and customer adoption frameworks had to be developed simultaneously across 15+ countries on four continents. This was not delegated to local teams. This was designed centrally and executed locally — with continuous feedback loops between markets.
Served as Deputy Managing Director of the International Division. Board Director across all eight international subsidiaries. Member of the executive leadership team responsible for global growth strategy. Reported directly to the Executive Chairman for four months in 2008.
Results
Why It Matters
Most companies approach international expansion as a series of individual market-entry exercises. The reality is different.
Sustainable international growth requires financing structures, operational capability, manufacturing strategy, governance and customer relationships to evolve together. Each geography informs the next. Each failure teaches. Each success creates a template — but only if the organisation is designed to learn from it.
Revenue growth was the visible outcome. Building the infrastructure that made that growth possible was the real work.
Key Takeaways
What this case study demonstrates
Executive Capability Demonstrated
Designing and scaling multi-country industrial operations — simultaneously managing GTM localisation, manufacturing build-out, financing architecture, and governance across 15+ countries and four continents.