Catalyze, a developer and independent power producer of renewable distributed generation, storage and electric vehicle projects, has acquired PermaCity, a solar developer and installer, representing a strategic transaction in Catalyze’s recently announced market consolidation strategy.
With a commitment to deliver more than 400 MW of projects within the next few years, PermaCity expands Catalyze’s project pipeline to more than 2 GW and establishes a stronghold in the large California distributed solar market.
The transaction is expected to produce substantial synergies between the two companies as Catalyze will use PermaCity’s rooftop solar panel mounting technology, SolarStrap, to deploy rooftop solar projects more quickly, efficiently and profitably nationwide. In addition, PermaCity will now be able to provide battery storage solutions in partnership with Catalyze for their existing and future customers.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, PermaCity was founded in 2003 by Jonathan Port. The company has developed more than 100 MW of installed and operating solar generation on more than 9 million square feet of commercial roofs, including the Westmont Industrial Complex, the largest solar roof in the U.S. at 16.4 MW, the L.A. Convention Center, Fox Studios and many others.
“By acquiring PermaCity, not only are we adding an experienced professional team from the most successful C&I solar developer and installer in Southern California, but we also gain the ability to implement the SolarStrap rooftop installation strategy which enables us to rapidly and efficiently deploy hundreds of rooftop projects for our customers,” says Steve Luker, CEO of Catalyze. “This standardization of rooftop installations will drive down costs, decrease construction time and allow us to deploy more capital across a larger number of rooftop projects, all of which is critical in meeting requirements from large customers with multiple installations occurring in parallel across the country.”
PermaCity will now operate as a business unit of Catalyze and Port will continue to lead the PermaCity division while also joining Catalyze’s executive leadership team. As part of the transaction, PermaCity says it also has access to Catalyze’s proprietary origination-to-operations software integration platform, REenergyze, battery storage and integration expertise, supply chain, project capital, tax equity partners and shared services.
Catalyze, which is backed by energy investors EnCap Investments L.P. and Yorktown Partners LLC, recently purchased two community solar projects in upstate New York and integrated battery storage provider Prisma Energy Solutions at the beginning of the year.
Photo: PermaCity’s SolarStrap web page
The ground strap method looks like a fast install. The problem is the wind will also have a fast de-install of these systems as ther is no vertical stiffness in the system support. Once one comes loos it allows the wind to lift-bend up panel, catching more wind, multiplying the forces ripping up more ribbon mounts as strap just rolls up like a piece of paper. Each bolt snaps via the zipper effect and the whole roof can be ruined by wind in this manner. What are the studies and wind levels with: 0 loose modules 1 loose module 2… Read more »