EBOS: the unsung hero that’s accelerating clean energy deployment | How Shoals is improving utility-scale solar performance
The Energy Gang
Wood Mackenzie
4.6 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 24 June 2025
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sponsored content from Shoals Technologies Group.
EBOS – electrical balance of systems – includes everything that carries electricity from solar panels to the grid: wiring, switches, connector boxes and other components. It might not grab headlines, but it’s the backbone of every solar and storage project, and is essential to performance, reliability and project success.
In this special episode of The Energy Gang, host Ed Crooks talks with Stephen LaFleur, Senior Director of Sales for Utility-Scale Solar at Shoals Technologies Group, about why getting EBOS right is critical. Stephen explains how incorporating EBOS early in project planning helps EPCs and developers avoid delays, lower costs, and ensure long-term reliability.
Connectors are just one example of an EBOS component that can cause serious issues. A recent report from HelioVolta found that 83% of projects surveyed had at least one connector-related issue, many of them due to simple installation mistakes. In one solar portfolio, connector failure and replacement costs added up to nearly 60% of annual revenues. So how can developers avoid that kind of severe cost impact? Stephen and Ed discuss.
Also joining the conversation is Grant Reasor – he’s an Associate Electrical Engineer for Solar PV and Storage Projects at Burns & McDonnell, the international architecture, engineering and construction firm. From a project engineer’s point of view, he unpacks why EBOS matters more than ever, especially as the industry shifts to higher voltages and looks to repower aging solar sites.
The solar and storage industries are evolving fast. Stephen and Grant break down how smart EBOS choices can improve efficiency, reduce risk, and support the next wave of clean energy growth.
This episode is brought to you by Shoals Technologies Group. If you are in clean energy, you know that project success depends on more than just panels and batteries, it’s about the electrical backbone that connects it all. That’s where Shoals comes in. Their factory-built, rigorously-tested EBOS solutions for solar and storage streamline installs, reduce costs, and improve long-term reliability. Want to learn more? Just head over to shoals.com
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | If you're in clean energy, you know that project success depends on more than just panels and batteries. |
| 0:06.0 | It's about the electrical backbone that connects it all. |
| 0:09.0 | That's where Shoals comes in. |
| 0:11.0 | Their factory built, rigorously tested electrical balance of systems, that's EBOS solutions for solar and storage, |
| 0:17.0 | streamline installation and enhanced long-term reliability and cost-effectiveness. |
| 0:22.8 | With Shoals, developers and EPCs gain greater efficiency, fewer delays, and stronger performance |
| 0:27.8 | across the clean energy projects. |
| 0:30.3 | Visit Shoals.com to learn more. |
| 0:32.0 | There's a lot at stake here when we're building this distributed generation assets. |
| 0:37.2 | We're supplying power, we have guarantees, We have performance guarantees, uptime guarantees that |
| 0:41.2 | are requirements for these facilities long term. And if we're not meeting demands, it starts to |
| 0:47.2 | wash away the credibility of the industry. It starts to wash away the opportunity that solar |
| 0:51.6 | has in front of it to be a paradigm shift away from traditional fuels. |
| 0:57.1 | Hello and welcome to the Energy Gang, a discussion show from Wood McKenzie about the fast-changing |
| 1:02.3 | world of energy. I'm Ed Crooks. And today on this special episode, we're going to be talking about a |
| 1:08.2 | category of components for a solar generation system that's critically important but often not discussed much. |
| 1:14.7 | And that is the components for the electrical balance of systems, or EBOS, for sure. |
| 1:20.1 | Essentially, what that is, it's everything that makes it possible to get electricity from the panels to the grid. |
| 1:26.3 | And that includes wiring, switches, connector boxes, |
| 1:29.6 | electrical protection, and various other components will get into it properly in a moment. |
| 1:34.5 | When people think about solar components, I think they generally think about panels, |
| 1:38.3 | they think about mounts, trackers and inverters. But actually, these EBOS components are |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Wood Mackenzie, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Wood Mackenzie and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.