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Scaling 28 GW: Sohan Das on Building EVS Into a Renewable Engineering Powerhouse
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In this powerhouse episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, we’re joined by Sohan Das, Vice President of Renewable Energy at EVS Inc., a firm that’s gone from traditional civil engineering roots to a national leader in solar, storage, and transmission engineering.
Since joining EVS in 2014, Sohan has helped grow the renewables team from zero to over 200 professionals, leading the design of more than 28 gigawatts of solar and 6 gigawatt-hours of energy storage across the U.S. In this conversation, we unpack the engineering, leadership, and cultural blueprints behind one of the most trusted firms in utility-scale renewables.
What We Cover in This Episode:
Engineering Lessons from the Frontlines
- Sohan dives deep into the technical challenges the industry still struggles with—from battery storage documentation issues with international vendors to balancing site grading and pile length.
- He shares how EVS built its own Python-based tool to run 50–100 iterations for smarter grading/piling tradeoffs—delivering actionable value engineering insights at scale.
Inflection Points That Scaled a Business
- EVS’s transformation didn’t happen overnight. Sohan walks through key inflection points—like expanding into energy storage in 2017, adding substation and SCADA services, and weathering COVID-era market shifts by investing in people instead of downsizing.
AI, Automation & the Future of Engineering
- From wire schedules to hydrology optimization, Sohan explains how EVS is integrating AI and automation—not to replace engineers, but to give them tools to do 10x the work with higher precision.
- He shares how EVS is developing internal platforms and working with external partners to define what AI-assisted engineering should look like in practice.
Leadership, Mentorship & Culture at Scale
- Building a team is more than hiring; it’s about values. At EVS, that means humility, respect, integrity, service excellence, and continuous improvement.
- Sohan shares how they embed these into hiring, training, and operations—and how their internal “EVS Cares” foundation fuels community service and employee engagement.
Where the Market is Really Headed
- Forget the hype cycles—Sohan offers a grounded but optimistic take on where the U.S. and global renewables markets are headed.
- From long-duration storage and green hydrogen to direct air capture and Energy Vault’s gravity systems, we explore which technologies deserve more attention—and what might scale next.
Who Should Listen:
- EPCs, developers, and asset owners in solar, storage, or transmission
- Engineers and designers looking to understand utility-scale best practices
- Sustainability leaders and executives scaling teams and tech
- Anyone navigating the “solar coaster” of clean energy market dynamics
Links:
- EVS Inc.
- Sohan on LinkedIn
- Previous episode on Energy Vault
- Previous episode on Direct Air Capture (DACLAB)
Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/
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