meteocontrol North America, a subsidiary of meteocontrol GmbH in Germany, is making a strong push to expand its North American market share with the addition of Todd Hext as its regional sales manager for North America.
Hext’s responsibilities are on identifying new markets and expanding the reach of meteocontrol’s world-renowned monitoring software solution into the United States, Canada and Mexico. In his position since June, Hext expects to be announcing new partnerships in the near future.
“I’ve been working with our team on three different, special strategic partnerships that we will be excited to announce next quarter,” Hext said. “In addition, we’ll be expanding our service offerings through our Quality Services division. With the growth in solar, there has been an ever increasing need for independent engineer analysis in order to receive funding of projects, inform warranty claims and fulfill other aspects of deals. We will be known throughout the industry as the company that can help developers close deals.”
Hext said the North American Market ebbs and flows state by state and country by country. He sees the greatest growth in the United States centered in the Midwest - and meteocontrol agrees.
“It’s no accident that we moved our North American headquarters to Chicago from San Francisco,” Hext said. “Illinois has a big push underway after the Future Energy Jobs Act passed at the end of 2016, and there is confidence the market here will grow to 25% renewable rmrthu by 2025. Minnesota’s community solar market is growing like gangbusters. Michigan and other states in the Midwest all have meaningful potential to increase their renewable-energy footprints.”
“It’s clear that the Midwest is where the most intense action is in the United States, which is exciting. It means that solar is moving beyond the coasts and into the mainstream,” he added. “While my focus is all of North America, we see the Midwest as one of the most important drivers of solar growth in the United States, and we are excited about the opportunities to serve it as it continues to grow.”
Hext says he’s currently focused on reaching out to companies that understand the need to maximize their portfolios’ yield and is looking to find portfolios with projects between 300Kwp to 50Mwp. He is also focused on coordinating his efforts with meteocontrol’s Quality Services Division for utility-scale projects. Hext also notes that most community solar projects also fall into meteocontrol’s sweet spot.
Anson Moran, CEO of meteocontrol North America, says Hext’s insights into the North American solar market make him a valuable addition to the meteocontrol North America team.
“We’re thrilled to have someone like Todd join the team at this pivotal moment in our development,” Moran said. “He is the kind of leader we need to grow and expand our brand within North America and bring our expertise into previously underserved markets.”