Founded in 2020 by Harald Olderheim, Even Kvelland and John Modin, the Norwegian startup Glint Solar aims to accelerate the adoption of solar power through its SaaS platform, which enables solar developers to evaluate and pre-design sites in a matter of minutes.
The company promises that with the platform solar solar developers could triple their project pipeline and evaluate project sites 10 times faster than traditional methods. It blends adaptable layout designs and yield estimates with country-specific GIS data and topographic analysis. The user-friendly collaboration hub would give teams full oversight and control over essential project data, the company claims. 3D-rendered project layouts created in seconds would allow users to slash land negotiation times and powerfully communicate projects to stakeholders.
Rapid growth since its $3 million Seed round in 2022
Gustav Alberius, Chief Strategy Officer at Turn Energy, a customer of Glint Solar, said: “The Glint Solar software has significantly boosted our development processes by having a centralised platform where we can evaluate buildability, permit conditions and yield as early as in the origination process. It has effectively allowed us to triple our project pipeline and reduce development costs. We’re very excited to follow Glint Solar’s continued innovations in the solar software space.”
Also see: Efficient obstruction detection for solar project planning using AI
Glint Solar has experienced rapid growth since its $3 million Seed round in 2022, with its customer base more than tripling in the last 12 months. The software is used by small to large solar developers and energy companies in more than 35 countries globally, including Recurrent Energy, Statkraft and E.ON.
Also interesting: Inion Software sees major growth in renewable energy projects in 2024
This latest investment will be used to expand both into new markets and the overall product offering, serving both existing and new solar developers. To support this, the company will grow its sales and product development teams, aiming to more than double its current headcount of 30 over the next 12 months. The product will grow into a wider platform to solve key challenges for developers, including a battery energy storage systems (BESS) feature to help project developers identify where to develop energy storage units.
Speed up the global solar adoption
Harald Olderheim, CEO and Co-founder of Glint Solar, said: “To counteract the effects of climate change, renewable energy needs to be adopted at a faster pace. The UN IPCC report says that 70-85% of the world’s electricity must come from renewable sources by 2050 to avoid the worst impacts of a warming planet. Luckily, utility-scale solar is quickly becoming the most cost-efficient form of energy one can build – in Texas, for example, it has overtaken coal as the most important energy source. The remaining factor is to also make solar energy development time efficient. Software is at the heart of the solution and this investment allows us to continue to push the boundaries of making complex, fragmented data and insights easily accessible, directly impacting the speed of global solar adoption.” (hcn)
