– PV MAG – FEB 15, 2022 EST (NORTH AMERICA)

The Clean Growth Fund, a U.K.-based venture capital fund, has led a GBP£2.4m (roughly USD$3.3m) investment in Above, a world-leading solar data and analytics company. The company is revolutionizing the solar industry, developing software, digital models and AI to help generate more solar power from big data.

Above has worked on over 2,500 solar assets and supported customers across six continents since 2016. It cooperates with many of the world’s leading solar energy companies to collect solar plant data and deliver analytics through its interactive web-based platform, SolarGain. The company’s technology digitizes solar assets, optimizing the operational efficiency and performance of ground-mounted and roof-mounted solar PV assets.

Besides conducting data analytics and AI optimization for existing solar assets, Above also provides its customers with a suite of data solutions that help companies design, build and manage better, more efficient solar plants. Its work includes aerial topographical mapping, construction management, and solar plant inspection solutions.

The Clean Growth Fund was established in 2020 with a focus on investing in the U.K.’s most promising early-stage “clean growth” companies that are pioneering carbon emission reductions in the areas of power and energy, buildings, transport and waste. This investment in Above is the fund’s first investment in the U.K. solar industry.

With an established presence in the global solar industry, Above is in a very strong position to expand and grow its operations. With the deployment of solar forecast to increase globally by 165GW every year over the next three years, efficiency in condition monitoring and asset maintenance is becoming increasingly important for the industry to increase yield factors. Above’s growth prospects are exciting.

—said Susannah McClintock, Investment Director at Clean Growth Fund.

According to Will Hitchcock, founder and Chief Executive of Above, this investment underlines confidence in the company’s innovation and vision for how technology will transform the global solar industry. “We are at the heart of the digitalisation transformation now underway within a rapidly growing industry, a transformation which is critical in ensuring the rapid and sustainable deployment of solar across the world,” said Will. Impressed by the consistent success of Above, Jeremy Elden, Chairman of Above, has made an additional investment in the company as part of this funding round.