PVcase acquires Anderson Optimization

June 6th, 2023. VILNIUS, Lithuania – PVcase, the global leader in solar project design software, announced today it has acquired Anderson Optimization, the world’s most popular solar siting software platform. The “software as a service” (SaaS) firm said it is making the acquisition to streamline the process of designing utility-scale solar power plants in E.U. markets.

Across much of the world, the solar industry’s rapid growth is straining the labor market’s ability to produce enough qualified workers to build and maintain high-performing solar power plants. Developers and asset managers are turning to software to extend their staff resources.

Until now, solar developers have used separate software platforms to handle different tasks in the process of designing solar projects. The fields of data differ significantly from one platform to another, and site data for most European markets are often difficult to obtain. Some are not yet digitized.

Transferring data demands reconciling those fields through a slow, manual process. The cumbersome process of multiple data transfers risks the degradation and loss of data – creating an industry-wide challenge that PVcase calls “data risk.”

Lithuania-based PVcase offers software products that have become the fundamental tools used by builders and owners of utility-scale solar farms to work faster and more accurately. U.S.-based Anderson Optimization’s software is similarly used as the anchor site-selection tool in the U.S. Its platform is used by developers to accurately assess the feasibility of building a solar power plant on a particular plot of land, accounting for factors, such as interconnection, terrain analysis, solar potential, and environmental considerations.

The integration of these two, dominant offerings into one platform not only cuts data risk. It also improves the entire development process, say PVcase executives. Anderson Optimization’s software has not been available in the E.U., though the two companies say the acquisition will change that. PVcase is bringing the Anderson platform to market for the German, Spanish and UK markets in time for the Intersolar Europe trade show in Munich.

“Solar software incompatibility might seem like a technicality to some. But in our work across 75 countries, developers and asset owners say it’s emerging as a serious growth constraint,” said PVcase CEO David Trainavicius. “With this acquisition, developers can cut their data loss risk substantially. And for European developers, we’ll be able to cut the project design process from weeks to roughly 20 minutes.”

That is because the two companies have already matched the fields of data used by the two platforms, making transferring data between them seamless.

“The result of this acquisition is a vast savings in time, software costs and staff,” said PVcase Chief Sales Officer Douglas Geist. “Every customer is struggling with a tight labor market and extreme competition for the same development sites. Our software was helping solar companies address that problem. By adding Anderson Optimization’s platform, we can help more solar designers and operators work faster, more accurately and with greater confidence.”

A survey taken even before the U.S. landmark Inflation Reduction Act passed found 89 percent of solar companies said they were having difficulty finding qualified applicants.

“Our customers always tell us they want a ‘one-stop-shop’ software platform on which they can manage the entire project lifecycle. This would allow them to dramatically decrease costs, expedite project timelines, and improve team collaboration. This team is a perfect match of culture and technology, able to deliver huge time savings to this industry,” said Anderson Optimization’s CEO Jake Anderson.

PVcase’s Trainavicius said Anderson Optimization possessed more of the grid connection details vital to solar development than any company he had found. The acquisition will enable PVcase to aid Anderson Optimization’s expansion in Europe.

The PVcase’s leadership team will remain unchanged, while Anderson co-founders Jake and Eric Anderson will continue in their respective leadership positions at that company.