Solar developer announces acquisition of Renewable Resources as it seeks to strengthen team offering rooftop installations to corporate customers
Lightsource Renewable Energy has continued its recent expansion drive, confirming it has acquired commercial solar rooftop specialist Renewable Resources for an undisclosed sum.
The deal will see Renewable Resource's 36 full time staff join Lightsource's new commercial rooftop division and the company also hinted that it would now look to expand the team further in the coming months.
Lightsource has made its name developing solar farms and has made a flurry of new project announcements in recent months as it seeks to complete new developments ahead of imminent cuts to solar subsidies. The company also revealed recently that it was planning to boost its headcount from 160 staff currently around 260 employees over the course of this year as it seeks to accelerate its expansion plans.
Part of that expansion now looks set to focus on the market for large scale rooftop solar PV installations for corporate clients, with Lightsource claiming that following the acquisition of Renewable Resources it will be able to offer a "one-stop-shop" service to roof owners that will cut their energy bills by at least 20 per cent.
"Through our new commercial rooftop division, roof owners will be able to choose between self-funding solutions where we are able to make an attractive offer on design, installation and maintenance of solar photovoltaic panels, or a fully-funded, ‘Lightsource pays for everything' solution that would fix their electricity bill for 25 years through a power purchase agreement," said Lightsource chief executive Nick Boyle. "Either way we target to ensure our rooftop clients achieve at least 20 per cent savings on their electricity bills."
He added that the latest acquisition had given the company "extensive" experience in the commercial solar rooftop market, with Renewable Resources having installed over 770 rooftops to date. "Having a fully integrated engineering, procurement and construction team in-house means we can deploy at scale and speed, guaranteeing a quality service to our clients," he said.
Supporters of solar technology have long argued that large rooftops, such as those found on warehouses, factories and supermarkets, often represent an ideal location for solar arrays. Consequently, a number of high profile firms have undertaken major rooftop solar installations across their portfolio of properties, with retailers such as Sainsbury's and IKEA just two of the retailers to pursue major solar investment programmes.
However, the market has failed to expand as quickly as the solar farm and domestic solar rooftop markets in recent years, with some industry insiders arguing that the government has failed to provide the same level of support as that on offer for other sections of the solar market.
