Solarcity Acquired Zep Solar

SolarCity acquired Zep Solar, a railless mounting system, for $158 million in stock.

Zep's system makes the solar panel itself part of the racking hardware,
. . . via a specially grooved frame, eliminating rails and
. . . using the module frame as the structural and mounting element.
That special frame does not come from Zep -- rather,
. . . it comes from a panel vendor,
. . . that has licensed the Zep design and the aluminum die.

Lyndon Rive, SolarCity CEO, reports that the Zep system "doubled throughput" and
. . . brought down the time of install from 2 or 3 days to less than one day,
. . . adding that it "looked better and made for a better customer experience."

Now SolarCity wants to apply Zep's groove technology,
. . . to improve installation and increase solar output for commercial rooftops.

The company claims that "the system’s dense, east-west layout structure,
. . . will allow SolarCity to fit up to 20% more solar panels on standard roofs and
. . . up to 50% more panels on lightweight roofs,
. . . such as those commonly found on warehouses."

The east-west orientation allows more panels on each roof,
. . . than standard south-facing systems and
. . . also captures peak power production over a longer period of the day.
. . . SolarCity claims it also allows more efficient sizing and
. . . operation of the solar inverter.

09-16-2014 Source:  SolarCity acquired Zep Solar