Says Lior Handelsman who is one of the five founders of the company. According to him, the company's chips are installed in millions of energy management systems, including energy storage. "The research and development done at Solaredge helped the breakthrough in the field of solar energy"
The entry of the Solaredge company into the S&P 500 index that took place this week shows the maturity of the solar energy sector and, separately, also the transformation of Israel from a start-up nation to a scale-up nation - so says Lior Handelsman, one of the company's founders, in an interview with the Hidan website. Today Lior is a partner in the Grove Ventures fund but is still active on the Solaredge board.
"Solaredge is one of the largest Israeli companies in terms of market value and a significant sales volume of about 2 billion dollars per year according to the forecasts of the analysts and the company. The company sells hardware and management systems for solar systems. The company provides all energy conversion solutions, energy storage and solar system management, and in recent years has also entered the field of vehicle propulsion, vehicle charging, and even non-stop systems."
"This is the first time that any Israeli company has entered the most important index in the world. This is another milestone for the company. She still has a lot of room to grow."
"This event of entering the most important index in the world testifies to the new and exciting phase of the Israeli technology companies that have transformed us from a "start-up nation" to a "scale-up" nation. It also shows the strength of the solar energy market in particular and renewable energies in general. This is the future of the human race."
"The market includes everyone who installs and builds solar systems, both large commercial systems and home systems, as well as energy storage providers, network managers and electric vehicle manufacturers."
"Today, the production of energy from the sun is cheaper than any other energy source and those who claim that it is expensive compared to energy from fossil fuels are simply not informed. Solar energy is one of the cheapest sources of energy available. To increase the share of solar power generation systems in the energy mix, we also need solutions to the problem of energy storage. There is a storage option in batteries similar to those found in electric cars. Even when the use of batteries increases the cost of energy production, it is still cheaper than any other type of fossil energy."
Why not "beat gas" in adopting solar energy?
"Indeed, the field is gaining momentum. Energy from the sun is the fastest growing source of energy in the world's energy mix - more than any other source. It takes decades to move from energy production based on fossil fuels to energy production based on solar energy, but that is the trend. You have to understand that it takes time to go from zero to a hundred. Already today, in quite a few countries in the world, solar energy is a significant percentage of energy production, although fossil fuel is still the main source."
Solaredge's contribution to technology maturity
In response to the question of why the transition to solar energy was not accelerated in 2000, which might have somewhat alleviated the severity of the climate crisis, Handelsman explained: "Obviously, companies that live off the sale of fossil fuels have made a great effort for years to slow down the transition to solar energy, but today, With solar energy being so cheap relative to fossil fuel energy, even major energy companies are embracing renewable energy. In 2000, the technologies of converting solar energy into electricity and storing it did not reach today's level of maturity. Part of this is done by us - at Solaradge. This was our goal when we founded the company. I am very happy that it also worked."
How will solar energy affect the electricity transmission component?
"Many do not understand that one of the most significant advantages of solar energy is the fact that it can be produced where it is consumed, in contrast to fossil energy, which is only economical in large power plants, and when power plants are built, the electricity must be conducted to the areas of consumption. The solar energy is produced on roofs in the consumption area. Much of the additional savings of solar energy comes from the fact that it greatly facilitates the transmission chain and reduces the expenses required in it."
What is your suggestion for entrepreneurs who come today and want to be like you?
Handelsman: "They have to find a big problem and develop the best product that the customers need and focus on that. Once you have a good product that solves a big problem you can grow and grow. A big problem means a big market.”
We are missing Guy Sela
Solaredge was established in 2006 by five former members of the technology unit of the Intelligence Division: the late Guy Sela, who served as CEO and chairman for years; Lior Handelsman, VP of Marketing and Product Strategy; Yoav Galin, VP of Development; Meir Edst, Vice President of Core Technologies; and Amir Fishlov, software architecture manager.
Handelsman wants to mention Guy Sela: "Guy was the CEO until the last moment of his life. He passed away about two years ago from cancer, and it is events like this when the company is successful and growing, that are the events where we miss him very much and we miss him very much and we are sorry that he did not get to see us celebrate these moments."
More of the topic in Hayadan:
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Are there already solar panels that are based on perovskite? If so, are the company's products suitable for such panels?
Interesting and important article. It should be noted that its entry into the index will occur on 20/12/2021 and not as stated at the beginning of the article.