Sunstalling the future – 10 year Anniversary

Dear Sunstall partner,

It’s been ten years in the making and we are thrilled to have reached this milestone, with you by our side. 

From Hawaii to Massachusetts, Sunstall has been there to bring solar to the reaches of the US. Continuing forward, our mission is to sunstall solar in evermore States, proliferating reusable energy, and carrying forward our key partnerships.

A decade of Sunstalling is just the beginning! We look forward to the next ten years and to the growth to come.

Birth Day

Ten years ago we started our solar coaster by coming together and filing the articles of incorporation.

Sunstall owes its place in the solar industry to a fun coincidence and a lot of hard work. In 2009, Helge attended a GACC West Oktoberfest and met a German manager of a solar manufacturing company wanting to start a solar racking firm in the US. As is often the case, this chance-meeting started the idea behind Sunstall. Shortly after Helge, Heiko and two more co-founders, Craig and Stefan, founded Sunstall in January 2010, in support of the solar-racking industry. Ten years later, Sunstall has worked in 23 states and installed solar on all kinds of terrains and under the harshest conditions. “There is always something new, from Nenes in Hawaii to Caliche in the southern deserts, that we have to cope with, but that makes our industry so interesting,” says Craig Dinsdale, COO.

The Team

When we started it was just the founders trying to get the startup going, but soon after many sunstallers joined the team and supported us on projects across the country. A big thanks to all who have worked at Sunstall to support the energy transition in our country!

We would like to give a special applause to our longest serving colleagues:

• Sabine Schramm since 12/01/2011
• Marjun Biernath since 12/01/2011
• Jose Manuel Loera since 04/24/2012
• Torie Phipps since 01/10/2013
• Jose Diaz since 06/13/2013
• Carlos Gomez since 07/08/2013
• Manny Loera since 09/14/2015

A special Thank You to these colleagues for sticking with us through the ups and downs!! 

First project

Our first full solar project was in Wasco, San Joaquin Valley, California. Being our first project there was a lot of excitement in developing the knowledge necessary to get the project completed.

From understanding how to operate our newly bought pile driving machine to the task of laying out a two row system, we were confronted by our first basic challenges. Another learning that we encountered during the first project was the alignment of  the optimization of the racking versus the clients’ visual expectations.

Luckily, we were supported by a great racking manufacturer, Mounting systems , who gave us the needed support.

They trained and guided us through the installation process. Making the final product look great! We were very happy with our first executed project, but most important was the satisfaction of the client!

Just the beginning

The Lawrence Livermore National Lab publishes the Sankey diagram yearly to show the energy flow in the US. “One thing is obvious: Solar has not reached its potential – not even close. Take a look at the transportation box. All the input comes from Petroleum – that will change and will skyrocket the market potential for renewables,” says Helge Biernath, Co-founder and CEO of Sunstall.

Stefan Bauer, CTO, is following the trends: “The solar industry is innovating every day, from GPS and drone use, to higher efficiencies in the modules, to higher density in batteries.” The industry is innovating on every level – from business model innovations to floating solar. “Witnessing all of the novel changes makes it especially exciting to work in solar right now,” Stefan adds.

Every business with a sizable energy bill should consider a solar investment. Whether you own your office building or not, there are ways to connect energy off-takers with energy producers. “The tax credits in 2021 are still phenomenal at 26% but will go down at some point, so we can only encourage business owners to take a serious look at this now,” explains Heiko.

Given all these trends the overall outlook for the solar industry is bright. Our company has been able to adapt under the pandemic and will continue to adapt even further to master the challenges of this century. Sunstall will be a part of it – no doubt!

Go Solar and THANK YOU for being our partner!