Canadian Battery Manufacturer Snaps Up Australian Solar Installer

Canada’s Eguana Technologies has announced acquisition of Adelaide-based solar and storage installation firm SolarLab Pty Ltd.

Eguana Technologies designs and manufactures residential and commercial energy storage systems. For home applications, Eguana currently offers the Evolve, which has been available in Australia for a few years. There have been two versions of the Evolve so far:

• Evolve LFP AU: Base model has 14 kWh storage capacity, expandable to 42 kWh. Evolve LFP AU uses Pylontech lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4 / LFP)  battery modules.
• Evolve ESS AU: Base model has 13 kWh storage capacity, expandable to 39 kWh. Evolve ESS AU utilises LG Chem Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) battery modules. Further specifications can be found on SQ’s solar battery comparison table.

Both offer 5kW output and automated backup power with solar charge and black start capability.

As for SolarLab, the company was established in Adelaide in 2017 and offers residential and commercial solar and battery storage solutions across Australia.

Why Has Eguana Acquired SolarLab?

Eguana says the acquisition will provide vertically integrated services for its utility partners and further the company’s virtual power plant (VPP) objectives. Additionally, it provides national licensing for electrical, solar and storage sales and installations, and various other opportunities such as teaming up with home builders.

Just on the latter, Eguana’s fourth quarter management discussion and analysis published at the end of September last year noted:

“Eguana continues to build its new home builder relationships in Australia and looks expects to consummate these partnerships with solar+storage sales and installations in 2023.”

Commenting on the SolarLab acquisition, Eguana CEO Justin Holland stated:

“Solarlab’s team of skilled renewable energy sales and installation professionals in Australia positions Eguana with a direct and improved customer experience with greater control of our ecosystem.”

SolarLab Head of Commercial Operations Justin Bralic says the future looks bright for both companies.

“The move is a major one for SolarLab Pty Ltd as we looking forward [sic] to continue to offer extremely high quality outcomes, not just locally but on a global stage.”

Beyond batteries, Eguana Technologies has also been dabbling in microinverters with a product line called Enfuse. In the report referenced above, Eguana said it expected its micro-inverter line will outpace energy storage system sales in the near term.

Enfuse was made available to the US market last year and the company said other markets were to follow. Whether Australia is among them isn’t clear, but I couldn’t find any Eguana microinverter entries on the Clean Energy Council approved inverter list at this point.

Late last month, Eguana announced preliminary unaudited revenue for the fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2022 was expected to exceed CAD $10.3 million, representing an increase of more than 300% compared to December 31, 2021.

“The December 2022 quarter represents a Company record as supply chain and other constraints eased with our new micro inverter products beginning to be adopted by U.S. installers,” said Mr. Holland.

Original Source: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/eguana-solarlab-acquisition-mb2855/