Nautilus Solar Energy, LLC, a major enterprise in solar power development throughout the United States and Canada, has announced the formal launch of an integrated solar asset management division, Nautilus Integrated Solar Asset Management Solutions. The division will draw upon Nautilus's eight-plus years of experience in solar development, financing, construction, and management as well as the various physical and financial aspects of asset management.
The division takes an integrated approach to managing solar photovoltaic (PV) projects, bringing construction, operations and maintenance (O&M) and financial asset management services together under one roof. These services had grown organically at Nautilus over the years out of the need to optimize the performance of solar assets and meet increasingly sophisticated requirements for financing. By bringing these often overlapping services together, Nautilus is able to increase productivity, efficiency and profitability of its projects. The company is now expanding these services, offering third-party asset management support – through comprehensive packages or customized groupings of select services – to commercial and industrial project owners, utilities, and any others involved in the day-to-day management of solar projects.
Nautilus Solar currently has more than 100 megawatts of solar systems under management in North America, representing nearly 60 solar PV facilities. As a result of this experience, Nautilus is one of the few asset management providers to offer combined physical, operational and financial asset management services, allowing stakeholders to conveniently outsource all of their asset management needs to a single provider.
"The ability to offer combined physical, operational and financial asset management services is a huge advantage because the three are interdependent," said David Velasco, Nautilus's Vice President of Construction and Operations. "By combining them, stakeholders are able to achieve a greater return on investment than if they were to handle the so-called 'blue collar' and 'white collar' aspects of solar asset management individually."
The solar industry has grown enormously in recent years. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), 36 percent of all new electric capacity installed though the third quarter of 2014 was from solar. While the focus of the industry in its early years was on getting systems up and running, it is now shifting to asset management as stakeholders realize the financial benefits of getting the most out of their systems.
"The need to manage the nation's growing portfolio of solar assets is accelerating demand for asset management services," said Jim Rice, Nautilus's CEO. "Our experience with our own solar portfolio has positioned our new division to lead this emerging market. We offer the experience and knowledge that is expected of an industry leader, along with a level of personal service that is unusual in the industry."
