Days after US based solar PV and battery storage technical advisory firm Clean Energy Associates (CEA) secured TUV Rheinland’s Jörg Althaus as its director engineering and ESG, the company is ready to be acquired by British total quality assurance provider Intertek.

The British company sees significant opportunity in the transaction as the world gets serious about decarbonization, greater energy sustainability and security, and solar tipped to become the largest source of renewable energy globally.

CEA provides inline production monitoring and quality assurance, supply chain management and traceability, along with technical support to the solar energy value chain, with major operations in the US and China. CEA has a strong track record of organic growth, generating revenues of £21.7 million in 2021 and has over 150 employees, according to Intertek, which currently offers product testing, certification, in-field inspections, asset management and condition monitoring for solar and other industries. Intertek has a network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices in more than 100 countries and posted end of July a 13.2% YoY increase in revenues to £1.49 billion and a 6.8% growth to £185.5 million in operating profit for H1/2022.

To Intertek, the acquisition of CEA is a ‘compelling strategic fit and opportunity’ to expand its energy service offerings to provide total quality assurance (TQA) for solar PV and energy storage products and installations. For CEA, the Intertek platform will bring it access to the latter’s global network and customer base, facilitating expansion opportunities into new geographies.   

“As the solar energy market expands, the pace of decarbonization intensifies and the regulatory environment becomes more complex, it is clear that demand for mission-critical, end-to-end Total Quality Assurance (TQA) solutions will continue to grow,” said Intertek CEO Andre Lacroix. “We look forward to welcoming the CEA team to Intertek and working together to seize the attractive opportunities ahead by supporting our clients on their sustainability journeys with our industry-leading ATIC (Assurance, Testing, Inspection, Certification) solutions.”

CEA is founded by Former Board Member of the US Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and former Vice President of Business Development for Trina Solar Limited, Andy Klump. While the website of CEA only referred to the Intertek press release, that one did not state anything about Klump’s future at CEA, but a few day ago, Klump posted on LinkedIn that he is moving to Thailand after living for 19 years in China, saying “I still intend to be as active as ever in the solar PV and energy storage sector as I will stay closer to many SouthEast Asian factories and help grow CEA’s business in the local market.”

In recent months prior to the acquisition, CEA had hired many well known senior solar experts, among others former Rocky Mountains Institute Editorial Director Christian Roselund in February. In June 2022, CEA hired VP of Operations at KORE Power Inc and solar and energy storage manufacturing expert Mark Hagedorn as its VP Manufacturing Services.

This acquisition of CEA seems to suggest consolidation activity in the solar PV quality assurance and technical advisory services as the news comes just months after the Netherlands based Kiwa Group acquired PI Berlin to its portfolio, after taking over US based PV Evolution Labs (PVEL) (see Kiwa Group Acquires Germany’s PI Berlin).