“Take-Care packages” support Premium Partners worldwide with the marketing of storage solutions 

Bad Staffelstein / Germany, July 13th, 2017 – IBC SOLAR AG, a global leader in photovoltaic (PV) systems and energy storage, supports its international Premium Partners with new service packages for lithium-ion storage systems. Installers in more than 30 countries are tapping into new business segments with the “Take-Care packages”. 

“We are an experienced partner with more than 7,000 installed storage systems of all sizes worldwide. Our international customers often express the wish to be supported when initially installing a lithium-ion storage system,” explains Albert Engelbrecht, Director Solutions International at IBC SOLAR. The company is now accommodating this request with the new service packages.

“The “Take-Care packages” help our partners with the planning, installation and maintenance of storage solutions and offer them important added value. The packages make it possible for our partners to implement the systems quickly and reliably and also ensure satisfied customers,” adds Engelbrecht. The customer decides which “Take-Care package” is the right one. Three versions are available “Essential”, “Empowering” and “Ensuring”.

The “Essential” basic package is also the basis for the two other packages. It includes an extensive pre-consultation session with technical pre-selection and sizing of the storage system. Fundamental questions about the application and expectations of the system will be resolved. It is important here to determine whether only the self-consumption needs to be increased or whether the storage system should also provide an emergency power supply.  The “Empowering” package involves IBC SOLAR also providing support with an extensive system design, circuit diagrams and parts lists as well as telephone support to help put the system into operation.

The “Ensuring” premium package also includes on-site support with a handover report and an optional workshop for service and maintenance work. IBC SOLAR has been active in the photovoltaic and battery storage sector for more than 35 years. The international partners will benefit from the company's years of experience in the storage segment with the new “Take-Care packages”. 

About IBC SOLAR
IBC SOLAR is a leading global provider of photovoltaic and energy storage solutions and services. The company offers complete systems and covers the entire product range from planning to the turnkey handover of photovoltaic systems. The product range comprises solar parks, self-consumption systems for commercial enterprises and private households, off-grid photovoltaic systems and diesel hybrid solutions.

As a project developer and general contractor, IBC SOLAR implements and markets major solar projects worldwide. The manufacturer-independent system house guarantees the highest quality for all projects and has currently implemented photovoltaic systems with an output of over 3 gigawatts worldwide. IBC SOLAR works with a close network of Premium Partners and supports them with their own software tools for planning and designing grid-connected systems including storage systems. IBC SOLAR offers customised packages for energy providers, municipal utilities and providers of photovoltaic solutions.

The company ensure the best possible output of solar parks through technical management and monitoring. IBC SOLAR was founded by Udo Möhrstedt in Bad Staffelstein in 1982 who has managed the company as the Chairman of the Executive Board to date. The system house is a pioneer of the energy turnaround in Germany and is especially committed to energy cooperatives with its own planned public solar parks. The company is represented internationally with numerous regional companies, sales offices and partner companies in more than 30 countries.

Mayor Patricia de Lille and Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee, Freestate of Thuringia, Germany inaugurated today themaxx-solar academy in cooperation with SARETEC

The maxx-solar academy was established in 2011 by the German Solar Energy Society DGS and the maxx I solar energy PTY Ltd. Since than more than 1500 engineers, architects, craftsmen andinterested citizens have been taking part in the maxx-academy courses in Africa. The South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre (SARETEC) is the first national renewable energy technology centre in South Africa and has been established at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology(CPUT). maxx I solar academy and SARETEC unites the objective to pave the way for a sustainable use of solar power by education. After a first meeting end of 2015, both partners ratified their cooperation with an MOU signed in April 2016. Mayor Patricia de Lille and Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee, Freestate of Thuringia, Germany officially inaugurated the maxx I solar academy CapeTown in cooperation with SARETEC on 10 November 2016.

The maxx I solar academy, Africa´s Premier Training Institute on Solar Power acts as non-profit training center for solar energy. It was established in 2011 by the German Solar Energy Society DGS and the maxx solar energy PTY Ltd. South Africa. Since then more than 1500 engineers, architects, craftsmen and interested citizens have been taking part in the maxx-academy and DGS courses in Africa. Our fast grow is only possible due to great local partners. All maxx-solar academy courses are centrally managed and quality assured by the maxx-solar academy team. However the single academies are operated by local partners. Presently we have 5 academies in South Africa in Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Upington.

The maxx-solar academy in Cape Town was established 2012. Since then maxx was looking for a partner with similar objectives as maxx. With SARETEC we found a new home for our academy in Cape Town. The South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre (SARETEC) is the first national renewable energy technology centre in South Africa and has been established at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) - Bellville campus, Cape Town, South Africa. SARETEC offers specialized industry-related and accredited training for the entire renewable energy (RE) industry along with tailored short courses and workshops. This new technology centre is the perfect location to offer the maxx-solar academy trainings. SARETEC’s workshops are equipped with mock roofs and different demo photovoltaic systems which allow the maxx I solar academy to offer the hands-on training which is needed to train the future installers in state of the art installation, operation and maintenance of embedded generation PV systems.

CPUT, SARETEC and maxx signed the MOU to operate the maxx-solar academy Cape Town in cooperation with SARETEC in 2016. First training courses were already offered in 2016, but Mayor Patricia de Lille and Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee, Freestate of Thuringia, Germany gave us the honour to officially inaugurate the maxx-solar academy in cooperation with SARETEC on the 10th of November. Patricia de Lille said the “training institutes like the maxx I solar academy are an important to help the City of Cape Town's green development”. The origin of the maxx I solar academy is in in the Freestate of Thuriniga in Germany. The first time that Minister Tiefensee saw the engagement of maxx I solar in South Africa was during his first mission to South Africa in 2015. He saw that even a small company as maxx I solar can play an important role in building up one market segment, such as maxx I solar plays with his training academy in the photovoltaic sector. Antje Klauss-Vorreiter, director of the maxx I solar academy, presented the development of the academy during the last 5 years. She said that “in 2011 we came as a Germans training provider to South Africa, today we are a South African training academy with mainly South African Trainers.” The training programme of the maxx I solar academy is dynamic. Every year the academy reworks the training programme to follow the fast market development. The trainings courses are accredited internationally by the German Solar Energy Society DGS and locally by SAIEE. Participants will be awarded with CPD points.

The first training in 2017 we offer in March. The so called SuperSolarSchool is a one week intensive course where the participants learn how to start or professionalise their solar power business in only one week. Trainers with practical experience train the design of embedded generation system and the proper installation. All our alumni become part of the maxx I solar alumni network. Maxx offers its alumni’s frequent network meetings, access to latest market development including new technologies and even consultants with their first projects.

Maxx I solar academy – More than only Training!

maxx I solar energy PTY Ltd.

The maxx | solar energy group with headquarters in Thuringia, Germany provides its customers with all services related to photovoltaics. Through maxx | solar energy PTY Ltd., the maxx group extended its presence to South Africa in 2011. The service range of maxx | solar energy PTY Ltd. includes training, wholesale and consulting. As the South African Premium Partner of the German PV system integrator IBC SOLAR, we stand for the highest quality standards in wholesale of photovoltaic technology. Our maxx-solar academy is Africa´s Premier Training Institute on Solar Power. It was established in 2011 by the German Solar Energy Society DGS and the maxx group. Since 2011, hundreds of engineers, architects and craftsmen have been taking part in our trainings and many of them now work as certified maxx I team installers.

After three weeks of intense voting, pv magazine and Hanwha Q CELLS is happy to declare the South African-German Maxx-Solar Energy as the winner for its inventive project: delivering innovative financing solutions for solar PV in Africa.

A total of 20 companies submitted their entries for the Installation Innovation Award, of which four finalists were handpicked by pv magazine. Their project concepts were presented at the recent Intersolar Europe exhibition in Munich, after which online viewers could vote for their favorite pitch. With more than 800 votes cast, the winner became apparent on Monday, July 8, with Thuringen, Germany-based Maxx-Solar Energy claiming top spot.

About the project

In 2011, Dieter Ortmann built a bridge from Germany to South Africa and founded a branch office there. "With the goal of bringing training through the newly-founded Solar Academy and becoming a supplier to the installers we train there," says Ortmann, the founder and Managing Director of the Maxx Solar Energy Group, which also recruited the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sonnenenergie to help with training. Now Ortmann is involved in a project that he is so proud of he threw his hat into the ring for the Innovation Installation Award sponsored by Hanwha Q Cells and pv magazine. Ortmann arranged financing for a PV plant for the Dominican Grimley School; a school for the deaf attended by some 100 children. Ortmann thinks of the undertaking as an exemplary project that can act as a model for further PV installations. After all, even though many people are convinced of the benefits of solar energy, the requisite money is often lacking.

His partners at the school are nuns, some of them more than 70 years old. "I found it fascinating that people of an advanced age have an appreciation for the role of renewables and energy independence," says Ortmann. "Be More Independent" is his motto for the project. At the Grimley School, the motto applies both to energy security and with regard to his helping people help themselves. "Sure, there's plenty of sunshine; it is definitely worthwhile to go there," says Ortmann. "But the financing is often a problem.”

Ortmann and his team have to link up potential operators with investors and develop a good solution for both. The school is now renting the PV system. The conditions are right. The location gets approximately twice as much solar radiation as Germany, for example, which makes the power half as expensive. Amortization for off-grid systems therefore follows a similar track. Added to that is the aspect of self-sufficiency, he says, as the power supply is not as dependable as in Europe. Maxx Solar implemented the project with a local installer. "All we're doing is helping people to do something for themselves, and we merely act in an advisory role," says Ortmann, explaining his motto. The rental model works much like similar schemes in Germany. The owners are from "our area," and comprise a tax adviser and a South African owner. The first thing is to be done is to show how this can work. The school can purchase the system in 12 years for a low price, says Ortmann, for a price of around €100/kW.

This price point, however, is often a sticking point. The rental payments cannot be too high, and the purchase price at the end of the rental phase has to be reasonable so that the tenant gets something out of the system. This is the case in the Dominican Grimley School project. The monthly rent is approximately €2,700. At a 70% self-consumption rate, that is already below the cost the school would have paid for the electricity. But the system design is likely to generate a self-consumption rate closer to 100%. That means that, even in the rental phase, the school will see significant savings month after month – using 90% of the power it produces should save the school some €800 a year according to the figures provided by Maxx Solar. It is a 20 kW system producing 33,000 kWh; the school needs 144,000 kWh. "In ten years the system will have paid for itself," says Ortmann. The only thing lacking is an emergency power supply which financing options are currently being explored.

Read the original article http://www.pv-magazine.com. 

The project in Hout Bay was supported and implemented by local PV companies, the maxx-team partners Patrick Baldamus from SolarPowerPB, Clemens Brandt from RED Engineering and Peter Anders from HH Roofing. More information about the project, the PV renting approach and maxx-solar energy on www.maxx-energy.co.za.

The lack of financing options is one of the main obstacles to the implementation of small-scale photovoltaic systems in South Africa. PV renting is an innovative financing option which allows schools, guest houses, public bodies, small and medium sized companies and many others to benefit from cheap, green solar power. Thanks to the dena Renewable Energy Solutions Programme, maxx-solar energy PTY Ltd. is able to set up two PV renting pilot projects in Cape Town, a 20 kWp system at the Grimley School in Hout Bay and a 14 kWp system at the Atlantic Gold Guest House in Camps Bay. Klaus Heidorn, Consul and Deputy Chief of Mission of the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, and City of Cape Town Clr Matthew Kempthorne, Chairperson of Energy and Climate Change Committee, will officially inaugurate the two systems on 19th May 2016. 

“One year ago, we thought of transferring the PV renting approach to South Africa and thanks to the dena, the German Energy Agency, we are able to inaugurate two pilot projects this week”, said Dieter Ortmann, founder and Director of maxx-solar energy PTY Ltd. He is proud of his company’s development in the last five years. “We started to work in solar power business in South Africa when there was actually no solar power market and now we are part of the incredible solar movement here.” maxx | solar energy has its headquarter in Thuringia, Germany. Through maxx | solar energy PTY Ltd., the maxx group expanded into South Africa in 2011. The service range of maxx | solar energy includes training, wholesale and consulting. As premium partner of the German IBC Solar AG, maxx | solar energy has access to a wide range of quality PV products. Since 2011 hundreds of engineers, architects and craftsmen have been taking part in maxx-solar academy trainings and many of them now work as certified maxx I team installers.

More than 40 maxx I team installer companies are based in the Western Cape. Very often they discuss the issue of financing with their clients. “Clients approach me as they are aware that solar power is much cheaper than conventional electricity, however they often have difficulties finding affordable financing”, lamented Martin Pollack, CEO of Treetops Renewable Energy Systems CC, in one of the maxx I installer meetings last year. The maxx group wanted to offer the companies not only quality training and technology made in Germany, e.g. by the German company IBC Solar, but also support them with regard to financing PV.

The German company maxx I solar & energie GmbH & Co. KG has experience with PV renting projects in Germany. PV renting means that one entity invests in a PV system (system owner) and rents the system to a second entity (system operator). The system operator uses the electricity and pays a monthly rent to the system owner. Furthermore, the system owner gets the option to buy the system after five to 15 years (similar to car leasing). Thanks to the dena Renewable Energy Solutions Programme, the maxx group was able to transfer the PV renting approach to South Africa. And thanks to the maxx I installers RED Engineering PTY Ltd. and SOLARpowerPB PTY Ltd, the two pilot projects, Dominican Grimley School and the Atlantic Gold Guest House in Camps Bay could be identified.

Patrick Baldamus, CEO of SOLARPowerPB PTY Ltd., has already installed a heat pump in the Dominican Grimley School for deaf children in Hout Bay. The school has limited resources and could only invest in the heat pump thanks to external funding. Sister Macrina, the head of the school, is always seeking opportunities to reduce the school’s monthly infrastructure costs to free up money for deaf kids’ individual needs. She is very happy to get one of the pilot PV renting systems, as the PV renting concept allows her to reduce the school’s monthly costs without any upfront investment. After ten years, the school will own the system and produce their own solar electricity for free. The 20 KWp solar power system was installed in February 2016 and will produce 33,600 kWh electricity per year.

Clemens Brandt, CEO of RED Engineering PTY Ltd., has already installed solar power systems in Camps Bay. Among RED’s clients, Atlantic Gold Guest House owners Alice and Gerald Zidek are committed to offering their guests not only a luxurious but also an ecofriendly service. The first step towards green tourism was the installation of solar thermal collectors and two heat pumps for solar water heating. The use of solar power as the guest house’s main electricity source was planned as a second step. The maxx group, the financing partner Centrafin and RED Engineering jointly developed a package (PV system and financing) for the Atlantic Gold Guest House and thus allowed the installation of a 14 kWp pilot project in April 2016. The PV system will substitute expensive grid electricity, which costs the guest house 1.87 ZAR per kWh excl. VAT. The guest house will substitute approximately 23,400 kWh/year with solar power.

One year after the idea was born, Mr Klaus Heidorn, Consul and Deputy Chief of Mission of the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, and City of Cape Town Clr Matthew Kempthorne, Chairperson of Energy and Climate Change Committee, will officially inaugurate the two systems on 19th May 2016. The PV renting approach will also be presented at the African Utility Week. Antje Klauss-Vorreiter, maxx-solar energy, and Clemens Brandt, RED Engineering, will present both pilot projects on 18th May at 1pm at the German Pavilion.     

The dena RES Project South Africa is part of the worldwide dena Renewable Energy Solutions Programme coordinated by Deutsche Energie-Agentur (dena) - the German Energy Agency - and co-financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) within the German Energy Solutions Initiative.

Deutsche Energie-Agentur (dena) The Deutsche Energie-Agentur (dena) - the German Energy Agency - is Germany's centre of expertise for energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and intelligent energy systems. dena's aim is to ensure that energy is used in both a national and international context as efficiently, safely and economically as possible with the least possible impact on climate. dena is working with stakeholders from the worlds of politics and business and from society at large to achieve this aim. Shareholders in dena are the Federal Republic of Germany, KfW Bankengruppe, Allianz SE, Deutsche Bank AG and DZ BANK AG. www.dena.de/en.  

German Energy Solutions Initiative The transfer of energy expertise, the promotion of foreign trade and the facilitation of international development cooperation are part of the German Energy Solutions Initiative, which is coordinated and financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The initiative offers networking and business opportunities in Germany and abroad, it showcases reference projects and facilitates capacity building. www.german-energy-solutions.de/en  

dena Renewable Energy Solutions Programme (dena RES Programme) The dena RES Programme was developed by the Deutsche Energie-Agentur (dena) – the German Energy Agency. This programme, co-financed by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy within the German Energy Solutions Initiative, supports renewable energy companies entering new markets. Within the framework of the programme reference and demonstration projects are installed nearby designated institutions in different countries around the world. The installation is accompanied by comprehensive marketing and training programmes. These projects impressively present high-quality renewable energy technology. www.german-energy-solutions.de/en/res