SolarEdge Closes the Energy Storage Division

Photo above: SolarEdge’s “Sella 2” plant, a two gigawatt-hour (2GWh) battery cell manufacturing facility in Korea

SolarEdge Technologies announced today that as part of its focus on its core solar activities, it will cease all activities of its Energy Storage division. This decision will result in a workforce reduction of approximately 500 employees, most of whom are in South Korea. The expected quarterly operating expenses savings due to the closure are approximately $7.5 million with the full run rate expected to be achieved by the second half of 2025.

The Company intends to sell the assets related to the storage division activities including its manufacturing facilities for battery cells and packs. This does not impact the solar business sale of batteries for residential and C&I markets. Ronen Faier, Interim Chief Executive Officer of SolarEdge, said: “The decision to close our Energy Storage division represent continued execution of two of our main priorities: financial stability  and profitability; and focus on our core business lines of solar, PV-attached storage and energy management capabilities.”

The activity in Korea is based on Kokam, a local producer of Lithium-ion battery cells, batteries and energy storage solutions, which was acquired by SolarEdge  in 2018 for approximately $105 millions. Following the acquisition, SolarEdge opened in May 2022 Kokam’s second plant, “Sella 2”, a two gigawatt-hour (2GWh) battery cell manufacturing facility. The manufactured battery cells for SolarEdge’s residential solar-attached batteries as well as battery cells for a variety of industries, including mobile, energy stationary storage solutions and UPS.

Ending all Non-solar activities

During 2023 , SolarEdge continued to ramp up the manufacturing capabilities in Sella 2, and planned to gradually increase its manufacturing capabilities during 2024. The current descision marks an historic moment for the company: the completion of the exit from all the non-solar activities, such as UPS, e-Mobility and battery cell productions. The non-solar activity never took off and had remained bewlow 10% of total revenues.

At its peak, in 2023, it had reached $200 million sales, when total sales surepassed $3 billions. During the first nine months of 2023, Kokam’s sales totaled $51.9 million, out of  SolarEdge’s $730.7 millions sales. The market reacted to the news by sending SolarEdge stock price on NASDAQ 8.5% up, giving the company a market cap of approximately $861 millions.

Ecoppia raised NIS 440 million on its Tel Aviv Stock Exchange IPO

The Israeli Ecoppia, which manufactures autonomous robots designed to clean solar panels, announced Tuesday morning that the Israel Securities Authority has approved the listing of the company’s share for trade on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. According to the company’s announcement, the proceeds from the IPO is expected to amount to NIS 282 million, along with another NIS 157 million following the exercising of options. According to a prospectus recently submitted by the company, its backlog now stands at $ 42 million.

Ecoppia has developed a family of robots that clean solar panels automatically using microfiber and without the use of water. Regular cleaning of the panels is important for generating high output, as dust and dirt accumulation may reduce their power output by dozens of percent. Ecoppia’s robots operate autonomously and clean the panels at night, removing about 99% of the dust that has accumulated on them during the day. One robot is capable of cleaning about 1,200 panels a night.

To date, Ecoppia’s robots have cleaned more than 2 billion solar panels. The company collaborates with leading companies in the solar sector, including the French Engie Group and EDF, the Indian NTPC and Adani Power, Actis Group from the UK, unEdisson/TerraForm from the United States, and the Finnish Fortum.

The hottest sector in the stock market

In a presentation to its investors, Ecoppia reported that it experienced an average annual increase of 248% between 2014-2020, and that its robots are currently cleaning panels at a total capacity of 5,200 megawatts. The company estimates that the solar panel maintenance market is valued at about $4-5 billion, and is expected to grow in the coming years along with the growth of the entire solar market.

In 2018, the company’s revenues totaled at $4.9 million, and in 2019 they spiked to $8 million. However, Ecoppia’s revenues so far during the first half of 2020 totaled only at $673,000, partly due to a stagnation in the Indian market, which is the company’s main market and is responsible for more than half of its revenues.

Solar stocks have seen significant momentum in world markets over the past year, against the backdrop of the global solar market’s growth, and as many countries adhere to multi-year plans meant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on electricity generated from polluting sources. Joe Biden’s election to the presidency of the United States has also added to the momentum of the solar sector, given the president-elect’s commitment to combat the climate crisis and promote renewable energies. For example, the TAN ETF, which contains shares of leading solar companies, including the Israeli Solar Edge, has risen by about 150% since the beginning of the year.

Ecoppia received $40 million investment for Solar Panels Cleaning Robots

CIM Group has made a $40 million investment in Herzliya-based Ecoppia, a provider of robots for automatic cleaning of solar panels, and became the largest shareholder in the company. Ecoppia’s VP of marketing, Anat Cohen-Segev, told Techtime that CIM’s evolving ecosystem in the solar market will drive business expantion. “They have established extensive activity in the solar market.”

Ecoppia’s robots clean the solar panels automatically using only microfiber and without the use of water. Regular cleaning is vital, as dust and dirt may dramatically reduce their power output. These autonomous robots clean the panels every night, removing about 99% of the dust that has accumulated during the day. One robot is capable of cleaning 1,200 panels a night.

Ecoppia robots have their own on-board dedicated solar module, allowing batteries to quickly charge in between operations. A cloud-based platform enables remote management via any connected device, while data arriving from smart sensors and AI platform can independently initiate cleanings, based on weather conditions and other parameters.

Founded in the early 1990s by the two Israelis, Avi Shemesh and Shaul Kuba, CIM Group currently manages assets worth of $60 billion. Its portfolio company, Sky Power from Canada, manages solar projects with a total capacity of 2,500 megawatts worldwide. Earlier this year CIM has begun developing the Westlands Solar Park, a 20,000 acres solar park in California, planned to produce 2,700 megawatts.

COVID-19 had a Positive Impact

Ecoppia collaborates with leading Energy companies such as the French Engie Group and EDF, the Indian NTPC and Adani Power, Actis Group from the UK, unEdisson/TerraForm from the US. It says that its activities have grown annually by 200% in the last 6 years. Big financial backer is crucial in the energy market: agreements demand long-term commitment, sometimes for decades, and the ecosystem prefer a strong financial soundness. Thus, CIM Group’s investment helps Ecoppia to meet the financial standards needed in the market.

Unlike many technology companies, the COVID-19 crisis had a positive impact on Ecoppia’s businesses. Cohen-Segev: “It made our advantage clearer. Due to the quarantine and social distancing, maintenance works were stopped at many solar sites, and the panels accumulated dust and dirt that damaged performance. However, in the case of our customers, cleaning works continued as usual, since the cleaning is performed by automatic robots. We have always believed in automation, and COVID-19 has accelerated this understanding among energy companies as well.”

Audi to explore Apollo Power On-vehicle Solar Sheets

Yokneam-based (north of Israel) Apollo Power has signed an MoU with Audi AG to examine the integration of Apollo’s flexible solar sheets technology into cars made by Audi or another brand of Volkswagen Group. During the first 12 months of the agreement, the technology will be evaluated and tested. Following this, the parties will develop relevant products for Hybrid/Electrical vehicles, and after achieving certain milestones, they will introduce products to be integrated in future vehicle models. Apollo Power’s stock rose by about 30% on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

Apollo Power has developed flexible solar sheet technology that can be adapted to the needs of the Automotive industry. Last year it conducted a series of experiments in collaboration with BWR, in which a 1.2-square-meter solar sheet was installed on the roof of a Kia Niro family car. According to the research company Market Study Report, the market for flexible solar sheets will grow at an annual rate of 8.7% in the next 5 years, reaching $610 million in 2024.

A solar solution for non-flat surfaces

Founded in 2014, Apollo Power is controlled by Westar Holdings (61%) and its operations are carried out through its wholly-owned subsidiary SolarPaint. Its main target markets are floating solar, automotive, and off grid applications. Thanks to their elasticity and low weight, the solar sheets can be easily deployed on top of uneven surfaces, and thus utilize structures and areas where hard and heavy panels cannot be installed. The main disadvantage of flexible solar sheets lies in their lower energy conversion efficiency compared to rigid solar panels.

Apollo Power’s technology and composition of materials are protected by undisclosed registered patents. According to the company, it has achieved 13.6% conversion efficiency – relatively high compared to competing solutions. The sheets weight 1 kg per square meter. The use of flexible sheets is particularly suitable for the electric and hybrid vehicle industry, as their light weight allows them to be positioned over the entire surface of the vehicle, including the roof and hood, and thus attain an additional energy source to increase the vehicle’s range, or to reduce the batteries’ capacity.

The company is building a semi-automatic production line commissioned from a European manufacturer specializing in machines for the solar industry has recently arrived in Israel. It is considered the first production line of its kind in Israel, and it is planned to start operating as early as in 2020. Its production output is expected to reach up to 6 MWp per year.