In this special edition of Contractor’s Corner, solar mounting and balance of system products manufacturer, Gibraltar, talks about the benefits of working with the newly consolidated company through the entire lifecycle of a solar project.
Below is a portion of the company’s Solar Spotlight podcast with Solar Power World, but be sure to listen to the full episode here or on your favorite podcast app.
Can you tell us what Terrasmart stands for?
The new Terrasmart really unifies the strengths and legacies of four discrete, separate businesses that have their own proud history and have been successful in the U.S. solar market for some time. You’ve got RBI Solar and the former TerraSmart in ground-mount, fixed-tilt racking systems, SolarBOS for balance of system products and Sunfig optimization software. Those four discrete companies have their own proud history, but together really form a more complete portfolio that is stronger together. What customers come to realize is that we can connect with them upstream and downstream in the lifecycle of a solar site.
How will the new Terrasmart differentiate itself in today’s consolidated marketplace?
It starts with our most important asset, which is our people. We have a dynamic group of people at TerraSmart that really make a difference. That starts with our leadership and how they have full understanding of the lifecycle of a PV project from initial inception all the way to construction all the way through to operation. It really helps to understand that full path as well as understand the different markets that we play in — the C&I space and utility — and really bring that innovation to those different areas. We’re differentiating by reaching out to the customer and helping them understand their pain points so that we can help their projects succeed.
Can you share some more details about your combined market share to help listeners get a feel for the size of the new Terrasmart?
If you want to talk about the combined install base of systems, our combined companies have installed 19 GW of capacity and 4,600 systems across our history. Another way of thinking about our scale is the size of our team. We have over 600 employees all based here in the U.S. that can bring all of the services and products that we have to bear in the market.
We also have powerful project optimization software as part of our portfolio, so there’s over 250 GW of capacity that we’ve helped to optimize by running it through our optimization software. What all that means is that we’ve got the scale and the breadth to give a holistic project experience to our customers over time.
How are you supporting your customers across the entire PV project development cycle?
We start with understanding where the customer is trying to develop their project. We’re able to take the portfolios of our customers and optimize our process to focus on delivering the value for their project experience and for their returns.
Our integrated solar journey offers powerful ROI through each project phase depending upon our customers’ individual needs. We start with the intelligent project optimization software to help guide asset owners and developers in the beginning of a project and then we customize our racking solutions and eBOS solutions across portfolios that are in different geographies. We help to value-engineer each project to reach its performance goals. Integrating products, processes and people in a holistic project experience is how Terrasmart delivers unique value for its customers.
We have pile-driven, ballast and ground screw foundations, so any foundation, we can support for fixed-tilt as well as for trackers. We’re able to deliver eBOS with wire harnesses, combiner boxes and pre-fabricated solutions to help shorten the installation time, reduce O&M costs and deliver value to the project. We are unique in the industry to offer such a diverse product portfolio that we combine with civil and installation services. This end-to-end solution allows us to deliver higher levels of optimization for stronger returns across different terrains and climates. Add to this a powerful project feasibility software platform upfront in the development cycle and achieve substantial gains ranging from 5-15% in increased project returns.
How can customers benefit by working with Terrasmart?
The top benefits of working with Terrasmart are really about working with a trusted, consultative advisor both now and over the long-term. What our customers are expecting is someone that can execute right now. Between the resources, the scale and the products and services we offer, we’ve got the ability to do that, but because of that history and that scale and footprint, we can also anticipate what’s coming next. It’s about being a trusted advisor that delivers greater value over the arc of time
