In Conversation with Sergey Vodolagin, Director of Business Development at Siriteja Energy

Future Is Solar

Sergey Vodolagin, Business Development Director at Siriteja Energy, on why Thailand is entering a pivotal phase of its energy transition, how an engineered project differs from a typical “boxed” solar installation, and under what conditions a solar system can truly be considered a long-term investment. 

How did you get into this business?

By training, I’m an engineer. I majored in industrial process automation. But after university, I ended up in sales and business. I worked for international FMCG companies in a variety of roles — from sales representative to business development manager. Later, I joined a Russian-Japanese project focused on AI solutions. There, I was involved in market research: competitive analysis, financial modeling, venture landscape assessment. 

To sum it up, my focus has always been at the intersection of three things: how a product is built, how it actually helps the client, and how it looks in numbers — revenue, expenses, payback. So in many ways, solar energy made perfect sense to me. There’s a tangible product — a power plant on the roof. There’re clear benefits in terms of lower electricity bills and sustainability for business. And the economics can be clearly modeled over a 20–30 year horizon. 

I like that values and business align here: you’re building profitable projects and reducing carbon footprint at the same time. What’s really motivating, though, is the sheer scale: Thailand is aiming for substantial growth in renewables and carbon neutrality by mid-century, which means decades of steady demand for high-quality solar solutions. There’s a real opportunity to influence the country’s energy landscape.

Why Thailand?

At first, like many people, I just enjoyed it for great climate and beautiful environment. But the more time I spent here, the more I realized Thailand is not just about tourism. It’s one of the largest economies in Southeast Asia, with a strong industrial base, solid logistics, growing electricity demand, and a clear direction toward energy transition. 

I realized my experience in sales, business development, and analytics could be genuinely useful here. It’s also a comfortable place to live and work, where you can build long-term projects without constant firefighting or getting stuck in a dull routine. 

What is your role at Siriteja?

My role is to align the client’s priorities with our technical expertise, and the financial logic of the project. I make sure our commercial proposals are based not just on system capacity and a list of equipment, but on a solid financial model that actually makes sense for the client. My goal is for someone with no technical background to be able to look at our proposal and clearly see a investment with a defined payback period and predictable results. I’m also responsible for the company’s growth strategy, building internal processes, developing partnerships, and market analysis.

Tell us more about Thailand’s energy transition. Why now? 

Now is the moment when technology, global market conditions, and government policy have converged. Thailand seems to have reached a pivotal point: either continue relying on expensive imported gas or shift toward solar power.  

The country’s energy system is heavily dependent on imported natural gas. It accounts for more than half of total electricity generation. Gas is expensive, and its price is sensitive to geopolitics. At the same time, energy demand is rising. There’s industry, tourism, logistics, and ongoing construction of data centers and AI infrastructure, that consume enormous amounts of energy. 

Meanwhile, over the past 10–15 years, the cost of solar power has dropped dramatically. Panels are more efficient, inverters more reliable, manufacturing has scaled up. China currently has significant overcapacity in production, which drives equipment prices down. Supporting technologies, like batteries, smart homes, remote monitoring, have matured too. For countries with the right climate, solar energy is already cheaper than traditional gas and coal plants. It simply makes no sense to build those anymore — they’re more expensive and dirty. In the past, large solar projects were seen as risky experiments. Today, they’re sensible, predictable investments. In Thailand, you can see the trend clearly in the numbers: installed solar capacity has been growing at around 20% annually for years. It is now at roughly 5–6 GW total. 

In this context, the government is rolling out a new energy transformation strategy and has officially set a target of 51% renewables in the energy mix by 2037. Regulations for rooftop solar are being simplified, permitting processes streamlined.

Green energy buy-back programs are expanding, producers can now sell electricity to other users via state networks (MEA and PEA) acting as intermediaries. 

To sum it up we’re seeing a clear structural shift: expensive gas and rising electricity bills on one side, cheaper and highly mature solar technologies on the other — with strong political backing at the center. 

So yes, it is clear that Thailand’s energy future is solar.

What challenges does the industry face?

Solar energy has been around for decades. The market already has plenty of equipment suppliers and installation companies. In Thailand, it’s relatively easy and inexpensive to install a standard system — buy panels, an inverter, mount everything on the roof. 

But more often than not, what clients get is not a tailored solution but a standard kit, installed without deep analysis of the property’s actual consumption profile. As a result, the system doesn’t deliver the promised numbers, the economics don’t work, and the projected payback doesn’t hold up. That undermines trust in the entire sector. Some clients already have skepticism: “We installed solar. We were promised one thing, we got another.” Our answer to that is transparency: we are sharing assumptions, data, risk scenarios before signing a contract, not after. 

The second challenge is regulatory uncertainty. We can’t influence government policy, but we can model different scenarios. We present clients with both base and conservative cases and avoid promising what is beyond our control. 

The third challenge is price competition. There will always be someone willing to undercut the market. Usually, that comes at the expense of equipment quality or installation standards. Our strategy is to demonstrate, with numbers, that “cheap” at the moment of purchase doesn’t necessarily mean profitable over 30 years. What matters is not the lowest upfront price, but the lifetime cost per kilowatt-hour. Proper configuration and reliable equipment produce better financial results, even if the initial investment is slightly higher.

How do you plan to succeed in this market?

Thailand is a large and relatively mature market, with strong players, but it’s still not well structured. There’s room for improvement in quality. Solar already contributes several gigawatts nationally, but rooftop adoption among businesses and households is still far below its potential. 

We treat every installation as a long-term investment. The first question we ask in every project is how can this specific business or household invest wisely in solar generation? We don’t just mount the panels — we integrate effective solar energy solutions. We aim to be a partner in the client’s energy strategy. 

To that end, we focus on these key areas. 

First, deep actual energy consumption analysis. We study electricity bills, analyze load curves minute by minute, hour by hour, and gather long-term data. We consider tariffs and expansion plans. For example, if today a property uses three air conditioners but plans to use five, that must be factored in. Based on that data, we model system performance: expected generation, self-consumption ratio, and long-term bill impact. This leads to a precise economic forecast over 30 years. 

Second, we always provide multiple configuration options. Different capacities, equipment combinations, price levels. The client sees the trade-offs: faster payback with less future potential, or higher initial investment with lower lifetime cost per kWh. 

Third — and I want to emphasize this once again — we view solar as a 20–30 year asset. After the initial payback phase, panels continue generating electricity for decades, reducing bills and effectively generating cash flow. 

Fourth, it’s after-sales service and long-term support. As we’re planning for 20–30 years, we can’t completely eliminate uncertainty over that kind of timeframe. A lot can happen: equipment wears out, failures occur, operating conditions change. That’s why, for us, service is part of the investment logic of the project. We stay involved after installation, carry out regular maintenance, handle warranty repairs, and replace equipment when necessary. When we continue to monitor and manage the system ourselves, it’s much easier for us to stand behind our commitments and validate the projections built into our financial model. 

Let’s talk about project economics

The market today promises payback anywhere from four to eight years. That’s a wide range. Our projects, thanks to deep analysis, tailored design, and careful equipment selection, typically fall between 3.7 and 4.2 years. 

When it comes to financing, we always consider three scenarios. 

The first option is full upfront payment. That gives maximum lifetime savings. After payback, there are no regular expenses except maintenance. This works well for clients with available liquidity who want to reduce operating costs long term. 

Then there’s a bank loan. Thailand offers financing products tailored to renewable energy. With a “green loan,” clients can install solar and still keep their monthly cash flow positive. I’ll give a simple example. Let’s say before installation, someone pays $100 per month for electricity. After installation, the bill drops to $60. Add a $30 loan payment, and total monthly cost is now $90. So even with a loan, it’s cheaper than before. Yes, total payments are higher due to interest, but the entry barrier is lower. For businesses looking to preserve liquidity, this can be optimal. 

We also offer an installment plan. The structure may vary, but the idea is always the same: to spread payments over time. We can align the schedule with business seasonality. For example, keep payments minimal in early years and increase them once savings grow. Again, we do our best for the client to clearly see how payments compare to actual savings. 

In all cases, we start not with a flashy price quote, but with real data analysis. We model performance over 20–30 years, factoring in panel degradation, maintenance, and potential tariff changes. I prefer not to promise some magic numbers. That’s why I put so much emphasis on discussing different scenarios — it’s the foundation of long-term, healthy partnerships. 

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