The US company which last week acquired German solar mounting solutions provider, Renusol, is planning to use the deal to gain access to the European PV market, highlighting specific interest in the commercial rooftop sector.
The takeover of PV mounting company Renusol by RBI Solar was announced a day before the opening of Intersolar Europe last week in Munich. PV Tech took the opportunity to speak with Stefan Liedtke, managing director of Renusol, and Richard Riley, head of its new owner.
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The deal gives both companies the chance to access new markets, or markets where each has had limited involvement to date, both regionally and in terms of market sector. Among other things, for Renusol, it means the company can provide ground mounting solutions to their customers in Europe by drawing on the experience gained by RBI Solar in the US ground mount market. Conversely, RBI Solar now seeks to enter the European market, as well as diversifying into commercial rooftops, a new area for the company.
In discussion with PV Tech, Liedtke and Riley explained in detail how they believe Renusol’s “simple but adaptable” mounting solutions make for competitive sense. The commercial rooftop segment, especially in Europe, was one of the most talked-about topics overall at Intersolar, and Liedtke and Riley were able to share their thoughts on what challenges and opportunities the sector presents.
According to Liedtke, “self-consumption is changing the rooftop market” in Europe. He explained how cost reduction in rooftop mounting systems can be a key factor in capitalising on this market and why he believes Renusol’s approach is suitable for doing so.
Richard Riley began by saying that RBI Solar was excited to acquire access to Renusol’s range of mounting systems for rooftops.
“The second thing is access to the European market,” he went on to say.
“We have literally zero product right now that’s coming into one of the biggest PV markets in the world, so we’re quite excited about that.”
Riley said the deal armed RBI with a “good and broad” product offering. RBI has an extensive background in building specialist outdoor structures – the company originally focused on greenhouses, diversifying into solar around eight years ago. RBI Solar has since provided canopies and car ports as well as ground mounting solutions for solar farms in the US.
