They have found a place under the sun in an international market. Solar power plant designers Detra Solar team is following changes in the renewable energy industry and see perspectives despite a decrease in subsidies. Lithuanians are convinced that the solar enery demand is going to grow and so say the biggest American, Australian and Western Europe investors and developers of solar power systems. Detra Solar team has recently joined Kaunas Science and Technology Park, and now they are planning to launch an application that will help to analyze solar parks in a 3D. The product has no competitors at the moment and will arrive on the market already in the fall.
Engaging in the Evaluation of Solar Power Plants
Detra Solar specializes in preparing detailed design for the installation of solar parks and calculates financial models. Solar energy business depends not only on a favorable geographical location, climate or solar illumination, an important role is also played by subsidies that are granted by states for those who generate electricity from renewable sources. “Because of the fact that there is a gradual decrease in subsidies for the introduction of solar power systems in the European states, developers and investors find it more and more difficult to implement new projects. As a result of this, each improvement, even a minor one, that we can offer those who invest in solar system installation is very significant,” states Deividas Trainavičius, the head of Detra Solar.
After receiving the overview of the project, investors can immediately reach a conclusion on whether it is worth building the solar park. Additionally, the project developers take these reports and head to the bank to negotiate a loan. Such evaluation report provides clients with more flexibility; without committing themselves to large companies, they can evaluate the investments, design the system and execute the implementation work with the assistance of Detra Solar.
Seeing the Use of New Materials and Electric Cars in the Future
Even though there is a decrease in subsidies, the Western world has high hopes in solar energy. Detra Solar notices an emerging tendency to invest in battery research for electric cars industry. In addition, the integration of solar modules into facades is gaining popularity. Such decisions still require quite considerable funds, however upon creating solar modules able to generate even more power, their integration into buildings will become more accessible to a greater number of consumers.
“Last year I visited the University of Toledo in the USA where scientists conduct research on organic solar modules. Although currently scientists manage to obtain higher efficiency in comparison to ordinary modules, however there is an absence of electric power transfer stability. Scientists are planning to receive substantial financing, therefore a huge breakthrough will be made by acting within this area and launching new modules into production,” D. Trainavičius says.
The head of the company emphasizes Germany‘s interest in solar power, which is conditioned by the country‘s steady economical growth and experience in properly selected subsidies. “Lithuania stepped in a few years ago when the amount of subsidies way too high, so it was forced to terminate subsidy scheme very quickly. Even though during the last 5 years Germany was not keen in building large-scale solar power plants, the interest has not been diminishing. Yet in the United Kingdom faces the fall of the tide after a notably big leap upward,” comments the head of Detra Solar.
Assessing Giant Companies
The work carried out by the Lithuanians involves assessing solar power plants installed by global corporations such as Google Data Centers built in Belgium as well as car manufacturers Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce. Savills, one of the biggest real estate developers, worked with Detra Solar team and the Lidle company was looking for a place in German to set up parking lots for rechargeable cars with power generated by the sun.
To date the client list of Detra Solar does not include Lithuanian investors, very few real estate companies order consultations in an effort to obtain the BREEAM certificate that is gaining more value and certifies that the building belongs to the highest energy efficiency class. “In comparison to Germany or another Western European country, electricity is very cheap in Lithuania. Even if, for example, we were able to design the system of solar power plants in the Santaka Valley for the Kaunas Science and Technology Park, the period for getting some benefit and paying off would be too long so that it would not be rewarding to develop such a project,” D. Trainavičius compares Lithuanian and foreign electricity markets.
How to Charm Global Companies?
Sthe story of Detra Solar begins in Germany, where Deividas has started up the company abroad. “While I was working as a hirable employee, I created my contact network that helped me sign a contract with SunEdison, one of the greatest companies specializing in the design of solar power plants. Afterwards I started consulting Solarcentury, one of the largest UK companies. This is what enabled my business to gather speed,” D. Trainavičius notices.