Photo voltaic vitality is booming, which is sweet information for Glint Photo voltaic. The Norwegian software-as-a-service startup has constructed a platform that’s serving to vitality giants and enormous photo voltaic builders resembling E.ON, Recurrent Vitality, and Statkraft lower the time it takes to plan and pre-design photo voltaic installations to speed up the transition to renewables.
Glint’s software program pulls in information from a number of sources to assist velocity up Photo voltaic undertaking assessments. The platform options adaptable format designs and yield estimates, together with country-specific geographic info system (GIS) information and topographic evaluation to make it easer for photo voltaic builders to guage potential websites. Cloud-based collaboration options enable groups to entry important undertaking information. The platform can be used as a undertaking presentation assist by serving up 3D-rendered undertaking layouts “in seconds.”
Since TechCrunch final spoke with the local weather startup in June 2022, when it closed a $3 million seed spherical, its buyer base has grown virtually 10x, based on CEO and co-founder Harald Olderheim. It’s now saying an $8 million Collection A to maintain stoking the expansion fireplace by increasing into extra markets in Europe.
Its principal areas for patrons at present are France, Germany, the Nordics, and the U.Ok. however with the brand new funding, the March 2020-launched SaaS will likely be increasing its gross sales groups to focus on prospects in “the remainder of Europe,” together with Italy and Spain, Olderheim says.
One notable change since Glint Photo voltaic launched is that it’s narrowed the service proposition to assist the planning of land-based photo voltaic installations — dropping an earlier twin product focus that had included floating-solar installations, too.
Olderheim mentioned the software program can nonetheless be used for planning floating photo voltaic. However he famous there’s extra demand for ground-based installations. “It’s an even bigger market,” he mentioned, explaining why they’ve opting to streamline their gross sales method.
Glint Photo voltaic additionally isn’t centered on roof-mounted photo voltaic installations. A few of its prospects are utilizing its software program to assist plan photo voltaic arrays on “massive rooftops” as properly, per Olderheim. However, once more, the explanation it’s not focusing effort there may be as a result of it’s going after the biggest demand chunk.
“When you take a look at the market, about 60% of the market is utility, massive scale. After which about 20% is massive rooftops, and 20% is residential. So we’re going for the largest market,” he advised TechCrunch. “If you wish to make a big effect on this planet … we will do it via the utility scale, as a result of that’s a lot sooner in case you’re going to construct enhance the [solar] vitality on this planet.
“When you suppose the influence we’re making by one photo voltaic plant, an enormous one — like 10 megawatt, perhaps with 7,000 or 15,000 photo voltaic panels — it’s a really environment friendly means of rising the vitality manufacturing quick.”
Increasing influence
One other massive focus for the Collection A money injection is product growth. Olderheim mentioned the startup will likely be increasing its platform to assist prospects plan the place to web site batteries that can be utilized to optimize renewable investments by storing vitality.
Components resembling grid capability, protected areas, and sound (since batteries produce some noise as soon as operational) are all issues the software program will be capable of think about, per Olderheim, in addition to offering prospects with assist to make sure a battery is appropriate with the proposed photo voltaic array and serving to them share the knowledge with landowners as they work to acquire the mandatory permits.
He emphasizes how a lot the price of photo voltaic installations have dropped during the last decade (down round 90%). However he additionally says that initiatives nonetheless aren’t occurring as quick as they should given the existential threats of a heating planet which are driving waves of disasters, from devastating floods and hurricanes to heatwaves, droughts, and forest fires.
“It takes time to get all of the agreements — with the land proprietor, with the grid, and with the municipality — to [deliver a solar project] and all these processes take time; in order that’s one of many causes we’re doing Glint Photo voltaic,” he provides.
The startup could be very centered on software program design to maximise accessibility as one other tactic to assist take away friction from photo voltaic undertaking approvals.
“We’re making it very consumer pleasant so everybody in a crew can use one software program collectively and work on this downside to make [project delivery] a lot sooner. And you’ll share all the things — with the land proprietor, with the grid, with the municipality — to allow them to simply take selections a lot sooner with the decrease danger.”
The platform has a number of “modules” that enable the identical particular person to, for instance, “consider the location, manage all of the initiatives, and design a photo voltaic park,” per Olderheim, supporting undertaking groups to get extra purposes out.
He additionally flags the platform’s cloud-based collaboration options that enable everybody to work “in the identical software,” which he suggests assist give it an edge versus different instruments.
Glint says prospects are reporting its SaaS helps photo voltaic builders to triple their undertaking pipeline on common and consider potential websites 10x sooner than conventional strategies.
In fact software program can solely accomplish that a lot. Olderheim agrees that infrastructure funding and regulatory reform are key to additional accelerating photo voltaic rollouts, pointing to grid capability and photo voltaic allowing as the principle areas for lawmakers to deal with.
“Typically it takes 5 years from a [project] to begin to get constructing,” he factors out, including: “I do know the EU is this to scale back it to 12 or 24 months. So I believe that’s an excellent [start].”
Glint Photo voltaic’s Collection A is led by Smedvig Ventures, with further funding from Antler Nordic and Antler Elevate, Futurum Ventures, and Momentum.
Commenting in a press release, Jonathan Lerner, associate at Smedvig Ventures mentioned: “The photo voltaic business has carried out an important job at creating methods to reap inexperienced vitality, however now we’d like higher processes to get these plans in movement. That is the hole that Glint Photo voltaic is filling. As one of many first unified merchandise for utility initiatives available on the market, photo voltaic builders, engineers, analysts and administration can discover all the things they should find the most effective land areas shortly and precisely. It is a much-needed evolution from manually trawling via information from a number of sources, saving appreciable sources in all-important inexperienced vitality initiatives.”
