As reported by PV Magazine – PanelClaw one of the remaining few independent solar racking companies in the industry globally has reportedly been acquired by Esdec.
Esdec has made a series of acquisitions in a rapidly consolidating solar industry.
Why does it matter?
- Rapid consolidation means that the industry has matured to a point where firms are realizing the space has been commoditized
- We see this happening in solar panel manufacturing with groups like Sunpower selling off their panel manufacturing business
- Software/energy management solutions are also being aggregating by PE firms and the like showing that the industry as a whole has matured
What’s next?
- We are likely going to see the acceleration of infrastructure adapting to take maximum advantage of solar assets on the grid
- This gives opportunity to energy storage providers to being to grow as solar/renewables as a whole have begun to saturate the grid in states like California
- This likely will drive the emergence of microgrid deployments yielding enhanced reliability grid wide
- Financing and infrastructure management will be the big focus for the next 10 years of the solar niche within the energy industry
Thoughts
As a whole the solar industry has come a long way in the market to have gotten to the stage where the main focus is figuring out how to funnel additional capital into new projects.
The future for this industry is going to be predicated on their ability to maintain this level of growth going forward. Esdec buying Panelclaw is just a testament to the speed at which consolidation is happening – which will yield some massive giants taking advantage of solar infrastructure deployments over the next 10 years.
If you want to track the solar industry growth, track the acquisitions of old solar farms as they are being sold to large PE firms looking to deploy billions into the market over the next 10 years.
About The Author
Swarnav has over 10 years of experience in the energy & climate tech space, holds 2 patents and is active in the tech, climate and media industries. He specializes in Product/Product Innovation as well as Go-To-Market and Growth Strategy.
By training he’s a Materials Engineer with a background in research from his time at Georgia Tech and University of Illinois (UIUC).
He founded TouchLight a utility backed energy company focused on developing IP for utilities and startups pushing electrification forward. He also serves as the appointed Chairman for the Town of Yorktown’s Climate Smart Communities Task Force, where he helps with drafting legislation and enabling sustainability efforts within the town.
Concurrently, Swarnav founded The Impact to help investors, emerging founders and driven climate enthusiasts discover and identify new climate-tech startups, technologies and opportunities before they hit the traditional media sources.