There have been a lot of news over the last few weeks on German and European Solar PV companies active in the retail segment. To name just a few: #sonnen seems to be for sale and #EON may acquire #Klarsolar. #Otovo has lost about 85% of its equity value over the last two years despite its growth and just this week had a painful, but necessary “downround” of funding. A lot more is happening in the market.
We have all seen news around the massive price drop of solar PV modules and now also battery storage systems. Whether those warehouses full of Asian PV modules exist or not, prices have come down and continue to do so.
On the side of secrets rather publicly known, the demand for solar systems has dropped quite substantially after Q2 this year and the players active in the market keep their engines running by working through back-logs rather than by winning more new business. Customer acquisition costs continue to rise and margins are declining during this phase. Different players are fundraising in this challenging environment and more already feel the dark clowds on the horizon. Noticed? Even the “poster boys” of the residential retail space, #Enpal and #1KOMMA5, have not talked about their new customer acquisition numbers for a while – they will not defy gravity either while luckily, they can still draw on their cash piles from earlier funding rounds.
Tobias and I sat down last week to review the status quo of retail solar in Germany. In summary: Dark clouds – yes, but fundamentals are intact. We have identified the key key drivers behind the current developments and we have specifically focused on the demand side and on the investor / financial side of the developments. Look out, we will share our perspective over the next days, starting with the demand side.
Lastly, we’d love to hear the perspective form our fellow industry experts, what do you hear, see, observe and think. Please comment. If you want to engage in some “sense-making” with us, please reach out.