GridShare, in the words of the founders

When it comes to an innovative project, often the person most suitable to tell it is the person who created it. In the case of GridShare, founder Giovanni Maria Antignani represents an essential key to understanding: through his words, not only the idea behind the company emerges, but also the way in which the model has been validated by investors, the vision of the relationship between citizens and energy and the criteria with which shared solar park projects are selected.

The core of the project is simple to understand, but revolutionary in its effects: making photovoltaic affordable, transforming energy from an inevitable cost to a possible source of profit. A perspective that is gaining more and more attention in the current renewable energy market.

The innovative concept of GridShare: democratizing energy

The very name of the company makes the objective clear. 'Grid' refers to the energy production and distribution network; 'share' expresses its sharing. The idea is to overcome the traditional logic in which photovoltaic is accessible only to those who have adequate space, capital and technical conditions.

GridShare focuses on a model that allows many to participate in the production of renewable energy, even without installing a plant on their roof. The democratization of energy thus involves the possibility of investing in shared solar parks, making the energy transition more inclusive.

The GridShare investor's sketch: families, not funds

Right from the start, the startup chose to focus not on big funds, but on the retail market. The ideal audience is made up of citizens who would like to participate in photovoltaic production but who, for technical or bureaucratic reasons, cannot install a domestic system.

The most common motivations are known:

• Living in a condominium
• absence of suitable roofs
• impossibility of supporting building interventions
• lack of a home ownership

In this scenario, investment in shared solar parks becomes a concrete response. The user does not buy a domestic plant, but a share of an industrial plant already designed and feasible, benefiting from the revenues generated by the sale of energy.

Reversing the paradigm: energy from cost to resource

The communication approach was decisive: to stop perceiving energy as only a cost. Energy can in fact become an economic resource, capable of generating a return.

GridShare projects fit into this logic: they allow you to participate in the production of solar energy in a simple way, transforming an element of everyday life (Electricity) in an investment instrument. It is this reversal of perspective that attracted the first investors and allowed the startup to grow rapidly.

Sustainability and profitability: a possible balance

One of the central issues of Antignani's story concerns the need to balance two needs often perceived as opposing: environmental sustainability and economic performance. In fact, many green investments are environmentally beneficial but less economically competitive, or vice versa.

The shared solar park model tries to overcome this dichotomy:

• produces renewable energy
• protects the territory and promotes plants with low environmental impact
• generates returns distributed over time

Balance is possible only if the project is technically and financially sound.

Consistent and competitive performance: what does it mean

The promised return does not stem from speculation, but from the life cycle of photovoltaic systems. A solar park can produce for more than 30 years, with revenues linked to the sale of energy at a market rate or an incentive.

GridShare selects only plants that have already passed the most delicate phases of the authorization process, in order to propose projects to investors:

• feasible in the short term
• supported by updated feasibility analyses
• with performance expectations consistent with production data

The consistency of performance derives from the repetitiveness of energy revenues and from the multi-decade lifespan of the plants.

The selection criteria: why not all projects are chosen

One of the most characteristic aspects of the GridShare method is the selection of projects. Only installations that have already passed:

• site verification
• technical feasibility study
• economic assessments
• authorization procedures

are inserted into the pipeline. The objective is clearly proposed: not to offer uncertain projects, but only those that are ready for the executive phase.

This selection also shows a strong focus on profitability. Among the technically feasible projects, only those with potential competitive returns compared to the market are chosen.

The reference sector: plants between 2 and 3 MW and an incentive market

GridShare is in the segment of medium-sized photovoltaic systems, between 2 and 3 MW. It is a particular sector:

• too big for a single private investor
• not big enough to attract more structured funds

Precisely for this reason, it represents an ideal terrain for the participatory model. In addition, the legislation provides for 20-year incentive sales rates for many plants of this size, an element that stabilizes revenues and contributes to the predictability of returns.

The choice of equity crowdfunding

To make this model accessible, GridShare uses platforms of Equity crowdfunding regulated. This allows retail investors to participate with variable amounts and to become partners in the corporate vehicle that builds the solar park.

This approach:

• allows citizens to invest in a real, identifiable and documented plant
• creates a direct link between investors and the project
• offers greater transparency compared to more complex traditional financial instruments
• allows the redistribution of value even to those who cannot install a domestic system

According to Antignani, equity crowdfunding is the means most consistent with GridShare's initial mission: to make renewable energy participatory, accessible and understandable.

Conclusion

The founder's story highlights how the GridShare model was born with a specific objective: to open the world of energy production to those who, until now, have remained on the margins. The result is an investment system that combines sustainability and performance, supported by a rigorous selection of projects and an approach that starts from the needs of the small investor.