An Entrepreneur's Journey from Russia and Oil to the US and Clean Energy: Lumin

In this episode of the Energy Changemakers podcast, host Elisa Wood interviews Alex Bazhinov, founder and president of Lumin, a smart panel company. Alex shares his remarkable journey from working in the mining industry in Russia to pioneering smart home energy solutions in Charlottesville, Virginia. Like so many entrepreneurs, he began in his garage developing a prototype. Now, partnering with clean energy giants, Lumin offers a smart panel that gives homeowners more control over specific household appliances and is rolling out new technology that, among other things, lowers costs for homeowners readying for EV charging.

00:00 Introduction to Energy Changemakers Podcast

00:50 Meet Alex Bazhinov: From Moscow to Clean Energy

02:09 The Mining Industry and Its Environmental Impact

05:04 The Shift to Renewable Energy

09:18 Challenges and Opportunities in Russia

11:07 Entrepreneurial Journey in the US

20:49 Founding Lumin: The Smart Panel Idea

30:06 Introduction to Smart Panel

30:41 Residential Solar and Battery Use Case

31:45 Dynamic Energy Management

32:55 Challenges with Traditional Battery Backup

34:14 Market Adoption and Partnerships

35:30 Introducing LuminEdge

36:51 Grid Services and Demand Response

40:36 Electrification of Homes

43:39 Avoiding Costly Electrical Upgrades

47:14 Distribution and Partnerships

51:20 Company Overview and Vision

52:12 Advice for Entrepreneurs

57:23 Conclusion and Call to Action

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