Day: July 28, 2020

Especially in a down economy, every installer is hunting for ways to keep looking ahead and not lose momentum. Unirac’s Installer Sales Specialists have been adjusting to continue bringing our customers as much value as possible in the industry.

One of the services these specialists can offer (thanks to their own backgrounds as installers) is the ability to show products hands-on and answer questions only an installer might have answers to. It’s a role that Unirac takes seriously and encourages specialists in the company to offer its customers regularly.

Take Tom Talmage, Installer Sales Specialist for Florida, for instance. You can learn more about his background in the profile we did of him last month. He recently visited Optimus Solar, a Central Florida company based in Mount Dora, to meet with owner Ben Pauluhn and three of his lead installers.

Tom brought a portable mock roof and spent the morning showing the team in detail how Unirac’s SFM Infinity rail-less system looks, feels, and works in practice, sharing his tips and tricks along the way. He also brought along samples of the new SOLOBOX junction box, new universal flat-roof attachment, and E-Boss Solartrays. Later he’ll return with the team for a trial install on a live roof.

“It’s a little different these days in that we’re wearing masks and maintaining separation, but we’ve been able to make it work,” he said. “We’ve expanded into some new virtual areas, but there’s still nothing like live, hands-on training to really get into the nitty-gritty, which helps to fully grasp the concept of a new racking system.”

The results of having a live expert able to speak to an installer’s questions are apparent. Soon after the training, Optimus posted the following on its social media:

“Thanks to Unirac for their (socially-distanced) training on many of their products today at Optimus. We are appreciative of quality manufacturers in the solar space, and Unirac has gone above and beyond on all of our projects with their components. Thankful to use this time to further train our teams and bring long-term value to clients.”

If you’re interested in hands-on training or would like more information, please contact us at: 505-242-6412. 

As much as we might wish jobsites could be standardized, we all know that every installation is unique. When unforeseen difficulties come up, you need a team that can help you get it back on track quickly. That’s what happened when Pennsylvania Solar Energy Company Inc. encountered a challenging site recently in the Pennsylvania hills and Unirac’s support provided a quick solution.

The project was going up on a residential property with grapevines and a winery near Pittsburgh. The spot chosen for the arrays had its south face looking uphill—obviously, an unusual situation to begin with. Further complicating the question, Pennsylvania Solar Energy wanted to avoid poured concrete foundations because of the mountainous terrain, and they also wanted to maximize panel density.

“This wasn’t just your average cookie-cutter site,” said Zachary Kushner, Installer Sales Specialist for the Northeast. “Besides the grade, we knew a lot of the ground contained fractured shale rock, so we were aware upfront that it wouldn’t be completely straightforward.”

Unirac’s ULA groundmount system was chosen for its flexibility and panel density and designed to be installed with ground screws, avoiding the need to pour concrete.

“There were four tables (arrays) total. One went in without any issues,” Kushner explained. (Ground screws normally install with nothing more than a Bobcat and a torque adapter.)

“We knew the shale might be a little challenging, so we sank pilot holes with a small auger, which worked for more of the screws,” Kushner said. “But the terrain turned out to be extremely rocky at some points, so we had to call an audible and get a drill.” With the drill, they were quickly able to install the remaining screws, thanks in part to Unirac Soils Engineer Jon Schermerhorn, who was able to consult with Kushner and Pennsylvania Solar via Facetime on the best approach.

“It was a very tough puzzle they had to figure out,” Kushner said. “But ultimately, ULA plus ground screws was still the right solution for this site because of the other constraints.”

Pennsylvania Solar Energy was pleased with how quickly Unirac was able to help it adapt.

“It feels great to be finished with such a great-looking array,” said Zachary W. Reedy, VP of Construction Management. “Really painless too. In three days, we had 170 (Canadian Solar) panels and micros up, with trunk cable run and minimal manpower. It is pretty good in my book!” The site will produce about 34kW of power.

Pennsylvania Solar Energy has been a Top-500 Solar Contractor award winner in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2019. It has been working in the Pittsburgh area and throughout the state since 1999.

Unirac’s Installer Sales Specialists are unique to the industry. With a background in installation, they bring unique insights and efficiencies to Unirac’s customers, working alongside them on site.

“It’s these out-of-the-ordinary situations that give us the insights to take to the next customer,” Kushner said. “We learn something every time we’re out at a site, and being able to translate that into savings for our customers is what makes Unirac stand apart.” 

A WEBINAR ABOUT OUR NEW UNIVERSAL FLAT-ROOF ATTACHMENT

Unirac’s new single-SKU flat-roof attachment is changing the game in commercial solar. That may sound like a big claim, and so we welcome you to learn about it in detail with the insights of Chem Link, manufacturer of the sealant that helps make Flashloc™ RM unique.

On July 29, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. Mountain Time, Tristen Foley of Unirac and Rick Berthiaume of Chem Link will present an in-depth webinar showing how you can save time and money with this simple, strong, easy-to-install attachment for any type of flat roof. You’ll also learn about Chem Link sealants and how to select and use attachments in general. (Register Here.)

Flashloc™ RM develops on the technology pioneered last year by Unirac in its Flashloc™ mount for rail-based systems. The RM product is a powdercoated cast-aluminum spoked disc for flat roofs with a host of benefits that make it unique, including:

• No membrane heat welding and no adapters required.
• Lightning-fast installation with reliable and proven Chem Link sealants, saving time and money.
• 6,600 lbs. of ultimate uplift offset.
• A new standard of affordability.
• Included hardware.
• Holes for up to eight fasteners.
• Unirac’s standard 25-year warranty.

Chem Link was founded in 1990 and formulates and manufactures high-performance adhesives, sealants, coatings, and related products through three business units: construction & maintenance; private label; and industrial/OEM. Proactive environmental policies and safety policies meant to protect installers are among the company’s major focus areas.

Our experienced installers say the combination of the form factor plus the Chem Link sealant is a winner. Tom Talmage, Unirac Installer Sales Specialist for the Southeast, says the new Flashloc™ RM is something he wishes he’d had on the roof sooner.

“When I think about this product,” he says, “the first thing that comes to mind is versatility. It’s not something you can use only on a commercial racking system application or only on a residential racking system application—it’s something you can use on a wide array of racking systems. So, if you’re installing a ballasted system, you can attach this to your roofing surface and then thread directly through to your strut to attach your strut to it. And if you’re installing on a residential flat roof, and it’s a tilt leg system, you can attach this to it and then attach your L-feet and tilt legs directly to this.”

Talmage says adding in the 25-year warranty of Unirac products, combined with the elimination of the hassle of adapters, makes this a clear choice over existing attachments.

Flashloc™ RM will be shipping in the near future, but if you’d like to learn more about the product and try it out before then, please sign up for a sample. If you have a project that requires attachments, you can reach out to our Commercial Solutions team at CommercialServices@Unirac.Com for assistance.

“We’re definitely hoping everyone can make it to the webinar on the 29th,” says Foley, Associate Product Manager. “We think we have a tremendous value proposition for this product, so we’re really looking forward to telling everyone about it to help them start saving time and money.” 

The Ecolibrium Solar team—now working alongside Unirac as part of the recent acquisition—brings a depth of great new talent.

Take Lab Manager Gary Norman, for instance. He’s a born gearhead—literally.

“My family drag-raced,” he said, “and my mother’s water broke with me at the racetrack. She had to go to the stage lanes to get my dad in the tow truck to go to the hospital. The following weekend, we were back at the track.”

With that beginning, he grew up in Florida working in the family racing fabrication shop, which prepared him for the huge variety of jobs that come up in his current position in Boulder.

“It was basically a competition between me and my dad,” he said. “We’d come up with an idea and then try to one-up each other with ‘what if we tried this?’ or ‘what if we tried that?’ We built three cars of our own, and nothing is really off the shelf when you do that. Everything has to be made or adapted.” His father bought a lathe and a mill, and they worked on machine blocks, valves, chassis, body work and painting, upholstery, to name a few.

As a result, it makes sense when Norman describes his role as Lab Manager as “a very loose title—I’m the maintenance guy, the fab guy, the welder – the ‘can you fix this?’ guy.”

It’s something Norman has always loved. “I started doing models at five,” he explained. “Anything I could build or touch or make, I did.” He was the head assembler at a pneumatic cylinder company and was getting restless, so he and his wife, their young daughter, and their dog and cat traveled the country for his wife’s nursing job, spending several months each in cities they thought they might like to live in. They traveled from New York to Washington State. Ultimately, they chose Boulder, and Norman joined Ecolibrium four years ago, around the time his daughter started kindergarten.

After joining with the company to assist with production on a project, he was eventually asked to stay at Ecolibrium. Soon, Norman discovered a passion and a talent for prototyping and design.

“Testing is the bread and butter, but I really like it when the apps team brings a problem,” he says. “I like trying to solve it.”

Norman said the concepts for three of the company’s upcoming releases were his.

“Jonah told me a year or so ago about what he was looking for,” Norman said. “And I’d start thinking about it and making something and he would say, ‘No, not like that’ or ‘I like that.’” Pretty soon the team had working prototypes that are translating into production as a direct result of Jonah Coles and Norman’s work. Coles is part of Ecolibrium’s Product Solutions team.

Coles calls Norman an “amazing fabricator,” and Sam Veague, former CEO of Ecolibrium, sums him up this way: “If you have an idea, Gary can make it!”

Since moving to Boulder, Norman hasn’t been racing hands-on anymore, but he and a cousin do meet up for a NASCAR race each year. It’s a tradition he said might have to give way this year for Covid—though they haven’t given up quite yet and are still holding out hope to attend.

He’s plenty busy, though. Last year, he and his wife had another baby—a son—and he says his job offers continuous challenges. UL testing is another big part of what he does, including mechanical load testing for new modules. Conducting the quick-turnaround tests and tracking the data generated require constant problem-solving.

According to Norman, this variety makes it the best job he’s ever had.

“I don’t mind getting up and going to work every day,” he said. “Besides working at a NASCAR race shop, this would be the next best thing. If I can find the best way—the neatest way—to fix something, I’m very happy. There’s a shirt my wife saw that she swears she’ll get me. It has ‘fabricator’ spelled out like in the dictionary with the pronunciation and under it, it says, ‘I build stuff you can’t.’” 

You may or may not have caught the news a few weeks back, but Unirac, has successfully completed the acquisition of Ecolibrium Solar. The acquisition represents a significant expansion of Unirac’s product portfolio, adding Ecolibrium’s commercial flat roof, residential rail-less and metal roof products to its product line, already recognized as a leader in the industry.
“We are excited about the Ecolibrium team and the products they have brought to the market. They share our passion for customer success and have a strong focus on distribution,” said Peter Lorenz, Unirac CEO. “Better solar starts with great partnerships. The increased scale in production, engineering services, and field support allow us to help customers reduce costs and grow their solar business, especially on commercial projects”.
“With a similar focus on customer experience, quality, and product development, the strength of our combined team enhances our ability to provide our customers with exceptional products and services” said Sam Veague, former CEO at Ecolibrium.

Watch the interview and learn more about what this acquisition means to the industry and our customers.