Mainova is acquiring 74.9 percent of the shares in the project developer and photovoltaic general contractor Solea. The contracts were signed on Thursday, 31 August, in Frankfurt.

With this transaction, Mainova aims to significantly expand its business activities and expertise in the growth market of renewable energies. This applies in particular to photovoltaic project development and to the realisation of large-scale solar plants.

The company Solea, based in Plattling, Bavaria, and employing around 30 people, has many years of extensive expertise in solar power projects. Going forward, Solea will benefit from Mainova's support and network.

Mainova Board Member Martin Giehl says: "Our stake in Solea represents another important milestone in the expansion of our activities in the field of renewable energies."

(from left) Georg Sterner (Managing Director, Solea GmbH), Markus Holler (Director of Corporate Sales, Sparkasse Passau), Hans Dorfner (Sparkasse Passau), Ludwig Fuller (Board Member, Sparkasse Passau), Erwin Braumandl (Mayor) and Anton Schweiger (Managing Director, Solea GmbH).

On 6 August 2021, the groundbreaking ceremony for the new solar park took place in Pilling (municipality of Neukirchen vorm Wald). This is now the fifth park within the municipal area.

The plant was built with approximately 5,500 modules across 3.5 hectares and thus delivers an output of 2.5 megawatts. Sparkasse Passau is the financial partner for this park.

On 24 July 2021, the 6th golf tournament of Solea AG took place at the golf course of Golfclub Gäuboden e.V. in Aiterhofen. This year, we were once again able to welcome numerous participants, including Kira Weidle. The ski racer won the silver medal in the downhill this year at the Ski World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

As in previous years, the Hole in One Contest was the special challenge of the tournament. Here, the golfers could try to sink the ball from hole 1 into hole 18 with just a single stroke. The distance was around 100 m and crossed a pond at tee 1.

(from left) Aravinda Perera (NaGa Solar Deutschland GmbH), Anton Schweiger, CSU Member of the State Parliament Walter Taubeneder, Elke Hanel (aream Advisory GmbH), Hans Beisl (Project Manager, Solea GmbH), Siegfried Putz (Lessor), Mayor Günter Straußberger.

Numerous participants attended the groundbreaking ceremony on 2 June 2021. The "am Sonnenhügel" solar park in Rotthalmünster will go into operation in August with an output of 11.5 megawatts.

More than 22,000 solar modules will be installed, delivering a full 11,167 kW. This makes the park, realised together with NaGa Solar GmbH, one of the largest in the region.

Another special feature is that the "Solarpark Kopp" is among the first plants in the area to be built without subsidies.

Solea GmbH offers PV-diesel hybrid solutions from a single source. From planning through to final implementation, the company has already completed a number of projects.

In Thabazimbi, South Africa, a PV system planned and installed by Solea GmbH has been delivering an output of 1 MWp for years.

Thanks to optimal adaptation to the existing infrastructure, an intelligent system control can completely rule out any negative impact on the stability of the grid. Real-time power measurement enables the PV plant to deliver ideal performance.

In some regions of the world, the power grid is inadequate or non-existent. As a result, diesel generators are often used to supply electricity.

Due to the rising costs of diesel and its transport to often remote areas, together with falling prices for PV technology, demand for PV-diesel hybrid solutions is increasing in these regions.

Such a hybrid system consists of one or more diesel generators, a PV plant and an intelligent control system. This control system ensures that when the output of the PV plant drops, the diesel generator is ramped up and thus contributes sufficiently to improving grid stability.

The advantages over a pure diesel generator lie not only in the lower fuel costs and the reduced risk from price fluctuations, but also in the more environmentally friendly energy generation.

Solea GmbH plans, develops, builds and markets solar power plants worldwide as a system-integrating general contractor. The company stands for the highest quality across the entire process chain, from site selection through the planning and financing of the plant to the maintenance of solar power plants of every size.

The PV plants installed by Solea GmbH have been financed by several first-class lenders such as DZ Bank, DKB Deutsche Kreditbank AG, Bayerische Landesbank, GLS Bank and many other regional building societies and credit institutions.

A photovoltaic plant can be financed even without equity capital. In cooperation with Solea GmbH, many banks offer PV financing as a traditional interest-bearing loan.