Photo voltaic vitality is booming, which is nice information for Glint Photo voltaic. The Norwegian software-as-a-service startup has constructed a platform that’s serving to vitality giants and huge photo voltaic builders reminiscent of E.ON, Recurrent Power, and Statkraft reduce 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 structure designs and yield estimates, together with country-specific geographic data system (GIS) information and topographic evaluation to make it easer for photo voltaic builders to judge 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, in response to CEO and co-founder Harald Olderheim. It’s now saying an $8 million Sequence A to maintain stoking the expansion hearth by increasing into extra markets in Europe.
Its major areas for purchasers 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 targeted 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 effectively, 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.
“If you happen to have a look at the market, about 60% of the market is utility, giant scale. After which about 20% is massive rooftops, and 20% is residential. So we’re going for the largest market,” he instructed TechCrunch. “If you wish to make a big effect on the earth … we are able to do it via the utility scale, as a result of that’s a lot sooner in the event you’re going to construct improve the [solar] vitality on the earth.
“If you happen to assume the affect we’re making by one photo voltaic plant, a giant one — like 10 megawatt, perhaps with 7,000 or 15,000 photo voltaic panels — it’s a really environment friendly approach of rising the vitality manufacturing quick.”
Increasing affect
One other massive focus for the Sequence A money injection is product improvement. 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 reminiscent of grid capability, protected areas, and sound (since batteries produce some noise as soon as operational) are all concerns the software program will have the ability to 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 data with landowners as they work to acquire the required permits.
He emphasizes how a lot the price of photo voltaic installations have dropped over the past 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 can be 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 may be very targeted 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 person pleasant so everybody in a group can use one software program collectively and work on this drawback to make [project delivery] a lot sooner. And you may share all the pieces — 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 functions out.
He additionally flags the platform’s cloud-based collaboration options that enable everybody to work “in the identical device,” 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.
After all software program can solely achieve this 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 primary 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 taking a look at this to scale back it to 12 or 24 months. So I believe that’s an excellent [start].”
Glint Photo voltaic’s Sequence A is led by Smedvig Ventures, with extra 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 trade has executed an awesome job at creating methods to reap inexperienced vitality, however now we want 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 pieces 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.”
