German Co. Acquires San Diego Solar Developer
SAN DIEGO — German solar leader Payom Solar AG completed the acquisition of San Diego-based solar energy developer AmSolar Corporation, marking Payom’s entrance into the North American market and leveraging the company’s power purchase agreement structure for future deals.
The sale comes on the heels of AmSolar’s five megawatt power system installed for the San Diego Unified School District that covers 20 sites, 80 rooftops, six carports and 23,000 panels.
“In a short period of time, AmSolar has done what few other solar companies have accomplished — expanded solar adoption in key market segments like education and assembled an attractive pipeline of utility-scale projects," said Daniel Grosch, Payom Board Member. “We looked at a lot of companies to join our Payom team, but this one stood out amongst all others.”
Payom will retain the AmSolar brand name for its North American initiatives, with AmSolar managing partner Joshua Weinstein serving as chairman of AmSolar and management board member of Payom, overseeing non-European markets.
AmSolar’s other managing partners will continue with the company, with Jam Attari as general manager of AmSolar overseeing U.S. operations and Philip Moffat as chairman of the Payom Supervisory Board.
“We are proud to join the Payom family and excited about establishing a leading global solar development platform with capabilities throughout Europe and North America,” Weinstein said. “By combining forces and integrating our companies, the new Payom will be able to capitalize on the continued expansion of the European solar market, the explosive growth in North America and new opportunities in Africa and elsewhere.”
The company’s U.S. headquarters will remain in San Diego, Calif. and New York.
With the acquisition completed, AmSolar will “continue to expand aggressively to new markets in North America and beyond,” according to company officials.
AmSolar reports expert predictions of an expansion of solar capacities in the U.S. in the next few years.
“Bloomberg New Energy Finance expects an increase of the current installed capacity from 1.4 gigawatt to 44 gigawatt by the year 2020 alone,” AmSolar officials reported. “Germany is currently the world leader in solar capacity, with the U.S. coming in at a close fourth.”