Developing future energy. Today.
Your partner for the solar century
From pioneering solar company to international developer
Founded in 1998, Solarcentury has been around since the early days of the solar industry. We've been part of the rapid evolution that has made solar PV a mainstream energy source that it is today, and are proud to be one of the most respected solar companies in the world.
Mission
We're in business for a purpose: to make a meaningful difference in the fight against climate chaos through the widespread adoption of solar power.
Approach
We offer an integrated service: developing, structuring finance, building and operating solar projects at utility scale.
The value we bring
Our partners benefit from our experience in terms of engineering quality, financial stability and sheer breadth of deployment.
What we do
We’re committed to making solar more accessible and more attractive.
Development & sales
Site identification and design, securing connections, permitting and PPAs.
Financing
Structuring and sourcing project finance (alongside framework partner Encavis AG).
Construction
EPC management, using Solarcentury's experience and warranty strength with trusted networks of contractors.
Ownership & operation
Monitoring, operation, maintenance, reports, site coordination, analysis, technical design support, performance optimisation.
Partners
Landowners
Landowners seeking to diversify their business and looking for a cost effective way to turn their land into new energy generating capacity.
Co-developers
Co-developers wanting an international partner with a proven development track record in multiple markets.
Regulators
Regulators and governments requiring trusted, experienced development partners, particularly relevant in emerging markets.
Asset-owners
Asset-owners seeking a company with a proven track record in developing, delivering and operating utility-scale, commercial and residential solar and storage projects, or who may be in the market to sell these assets.
Suppliers
Suppliers wanting to work with an established, growing and ambitious solar developer, with a major pipeline of projects through to the 2020s.
An international portfolio
A selection of some of our projects spanning the globe
Solarcentury has been active in Latin America since 2012, with a pipeline of major projects in Chile since 2015. In April 2017, we completed our largest Latin American project to date, 40MWp Doña Carmen ground mount.
Solarcentury heeft in de afgelopen tien jaar een aantal dak- en grondinstallaties ontwikkeld in Duitsland. Zoals overal in een volwassen markt, wordt de toekomstige groei gedreven door de kosteneffectiviteit van de technologie, waarbij in Duitsland de zonne-energie op de schaal van nutsbedrijven al goedkoper is dan de marktprijs voor de groothandel. Hierdoor is zonne-energie financieel aantrekkelijk voor commerciële en industriële klanten.
Our East Africa projects showcase our African experience, knowledge and expertise across a range of solar applications, including pioneering hybrid and off-grid systems.
In 2018 Solarcentury won 57 megawatts (MW) of solar power capacity in the solar auction in France, marking the launch of its first development projects in the country.
Solarcentury has many years’ experience in the solar market in France, on residential and commercial scale projects. The auction wins are a significant milestone for Solarcentury’s French team, who, after three years developing a strong pipeline in the market, will construct, operate and manage the three French plants.
Solarcentury has developed a range of rooftop and ground-mount projects in Germany over the past decade. As elsewhere in mature solar markets, future growth will be driven by the cost effectiveness of the technology, with utility-scale solar in Germany already below the wholesale market price, which makes solar financially viable for a range of commercial and industrial clients.
Solarcentury has long experience of the Spanish market dating back to 2007. Today Solarcentury Iberia has a strong development pipeline in place and is well placed to take advantage of the new Spanish renewable energy auctions.
Solarcentury’s experience in Italy dates back to 2008. Over the years we have installed numerous commercial-scale solar roofs, a series of solar roofs for schools in Milan, and multiple solar farms.
Mexico is an increasingly important market for Solarcentury. We established our Mexico office in 2014 and partnering with JinkoSolar, we won two large projects in the country’s 2016 renewable energy auction. In total we are developing over 200 MWp of projects won in the 2016 and 2017 auctions, with a very large further pipeline for deployment through to the 2020s.
Solarcentury completed our first unsubsidised solar farm in Panama in 2016. Earlier this year, our regional hub business in Panama City was boosted by the acquisition of a 400 MWp pipeline from local investment partner ECOSolar.
Solarcentury has been active in South Africa since 2013, originally focused on rooftop projects. More recently, developing ground-mounted projects, especially in the mining industry, is the focus of our pipeline.
Solarcentury has had a team in The Netherlands since 2012 and has built up a project pipeline of nearly 300 MWp. Our track record includes building the country’s largest solar farm to date in 2015 and winning 46 MWp in the Netherlands auction in 2017. Solar is forecast to continue enjoying strong growth in The Netherlands and it is one of Solarcentury’s core markets.
Solarcentury has been at the forefront of the UK solar sector since we were founded in London in 1998. We’ve won multiple project and product awards, including The Queen’s Award for Innovation. We were the first company to deploy more than 500 MWp in the UK, including world-leading installations such as Blackfriars solar bridge in London, and launched IKEA’s international solar homes business in 2015.
In Western Africa, our partnerships with international companies allowed them to reduce energy costs and their climate impact, taking advantage of the significant benefits of solar.
The team
The highly qualified Solarcentury team is world-class, over 200 professionals led by senior executives with extensive experience in the renewable energy and power sector.
Frans van den Heuvel
Chief Executive Officer
For 11 years, Frans was founder and former CEO of Scheuten Solar. He is a serial entrepreneur and non exec board member in semiconductor and renewable industries. Frans boasts of 20+ years’ PV industry leadership experience, 7 years in the semi conductor industry, joining Solarcentury in 2012.
Barbara Flesche
Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Previously Barbara was Vice President International Project Development and Finance at Conergy. With 15+ years’ experience in the renewable industry and at Solarcentury since 2015, she has more than 18+ years in M&A and structured finance in the banking and renewable energy industry.
Derrick Allan
Board Chairman
Derrick has worked in the utility industry undertaking various roles for over 30 years, the last 15 of which were spent working in Corporate Development roles leading various acquisitions, new business opportunities and joint ventures. He has considerable experience across a range of projects and businesses both in the creation and disposal of key ventures. These include building a portfolio of PFI projects, managing a portfolio of venture capital investments and teams as well as a number of overseas businesses. Derrick is currently Director of SGN Smart.
Neil Perry
Director of Business Continuity
Neil has been CFO at Solarcentury since 2000. Previously he was Director of the number one rated Latin American equity research team at ING Barings and CEO of ING Barings Argentina, with seven years’ experience as a Portfolio manager, covering Europe and Japan.
Tony Crawte
Chief Financial Officer
Tony has extensive commercial and technical experience at finance director and controller level, mainly within renewable and technology sectors. Before Solarcentury he was Director of Finance EMEA at Verifone, a $1 Billion-plus turnover listed US corporation, supplying payment-technology solutions. Tony has been at Solarcentury since 2009.
Evert Vlaswinkel
Managing Director EMEA
Evert has over 20 years of experience in senior management positions in the renewable energy sector. After working for Shell for ten years, he moved to Nuon/Vattenfall. Evert has been in the solar energy sector for over 10 years, joining Solarcentury in 2018.
David Edwards
Director of Global Strategy & Resources
Formerly David was head of product development and finance offers at Solarcentury. Prior to that he was part of PwC’s strategy and transaction team. He had 5 years in blue chip strategy consulting before joining Solarcentury in 2006.
Enrico Ambrosini
Global Head of Assets & Origination
Enrico boasts nearly 20 years’ trading experience in the energy sector, with previous experience at TrailStone, the global commodities trader, and roles at Deutsche Bank, Noble Group and EDF Trading. He joined Solarcentury in 2019 to lead the development of energy management and power offtake agreements, before moving to his current position in 2020.
Steve Taylor
Chief Operating Officer
Steve heads up the operational functions, supporting the development phase with engineering resource and strategy and then throughout the Procurement, Construction and Operational stages. He has 14 years in the semiconductor industry working for one of the top 3 distributors in various marketing, sales and operations roles before spending 5 years as Director of Procurement. He took up the same role with Solarcentury in 2014 before taking on more operational responsibility.
Debbie Hayes
HR Director
Debbie joined as HR Director at Solarcentury in 2018, previously she has held European, global and UK-centric HR Director positions in different sectors such as media, insurance, marketing, hospitality FMCG, production and transport in companies such as Gate Group, Hilton, Gorkana (now Cision) and actively worked on company integrations and people strategy – with a focus on talent acquisition, development and employee engagement.
Jake Davies
General Counsel
Jake has been General Counsel at Solarcentury since June 2016. Prior to that he worked mainly in private practice specialising in in the development and construction of projects and infrastructure. He was of Counsel at Jones Day and a partner at Forsters LLP.
Jeremy Leggett
Board Director (Founder)
Jeremy is a social entrepreneur and author, founder of Solarcentury and founder and chair of SolarAid, a charity set up with Solarcentury profits, winner of a BITC Unilever Global Development Award. An Entrepreneur of the Year at the New Energy Awards, he was the first Hillary Laureate for International Leadership in Climate Change. www.jeremyleggett.net
Gary Le Sueur
Board Director
Gary Le Sueur is a founder and former partner at SEP, where he is now Senior Adviser. Gary specialises in clean energy and sustainability focused investments, and leads SEP’s secondary fund, Environmental Energies Fund. Gary is a director and board observer for a number of SEP’s portfolio companies. He has played a key role in more than 40 investments and exits during his career, as well as being involved in fundraising and investor relations activities.
Pat Splinter
Board Director
Pat is currently COO and MD at VantagePoint Capital Partners, one of Silicon Valley’s leading venture capital firms specialising in energy innovation and efficiency, with over $4 billion under management. Her responsibilities include deal flow, investment activity, mergers and acquisitions and board-level participation at a number of portfolio companies. Pat has an extensive 34-year background of successfully leading and growing workforces globally, managing multi-million dollar budgets and advising executives.
Samer Salty
Board Director
Samer is the Founder and CEO of Zouk Capital, a private equity and infrastructure fund manager. The Growth Capital team invests in high-growth technology companies capitalising on a wide spectrum of investment opportunities. The Infrastructure team finances the construction of renewable energy and environmental assets. Samer has 27 years’ experience in private equity, investment banking and technology, and oversees both the strategic direction of the firm and the investment process.
Andreas Eggenberg
Board Director
Andreas is a board member of various corporations across Europe, Latin America and North America. Besides Solarcentury, he currently sits on the board of Masisa in Chile, VIVA Trust in San José and Escotel in Barcelona. He has also been a board member for Younicos in Berlin and Austin, Ecogeo in São Paulo, and Cetsa in Mexico. He is Chairman of Grupo Ecos, a private equity fund based in Panama. He was previously CEO of Grupo Ecos and CEO of Amanco Agricultural Solutions based in Brazil. Before that, he held various executive positions in GrupoNueva and Amanco in Switzerland, Argentina, Costa Rica and Guatemala. Andreas has also held the position of Senior Vice President at Volkart Brothers Holding in Switzerland and the US.
Discuss your opportunity
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Chris Banks
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90 Union Street
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United KingdomJournalist enquiries: +44 (0)20 3128 8788- Journalist enquiries: +44 (0)20 3128 8788
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José Miguel Ferrer
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Cristian Fuenzalida
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ChileJournalist enquiries: +44 (0)20 3128 8788Fabian Ortiz Sandoval
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Company news
Making a difference in the fight against climate chaos
- 6060446515.3192 Units of electricity produced
- 1767660207.202 KG CO2 prevented
