Unirac

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., April 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — An affiliate of Tenex Capital Management, an operationally focused private equity firm with more than $1.25 billion under management, has acquired Unirac, Inc., a market leading solar racking manufacturer, from Hilti.

Headquartered in Albuquerque, NM, Unirac was founded in 1998 and has established itself as the leading provider of high quality, competitive PV mounting solutions in North America. With over 15 years of customer service, Unirac is fast approaching 5GW of experience with more than 500,000 installations worth of knowledge. Unirac’s portfolio of products serves all key segments within the solar landscape, including: residential, commercial and utility.

“This is another important milestone for Unirac, which demonstrates our success in developing products with services that help our customers lower the total cost of solar power,” said Peter Lorenz, Unirac CEO. “I am proud of the legacy our employees have built over the last few years with their entrepreneurial spirit and passion for creating enthusiastic customers.” Peter also expressed, “We are excited to partner with Tenex, with their ability to foster our plans to capitalize further on business opportunities within the marketplace.”

J.P. Bretl, a Managing Director of Tenex Capital Management, stated, “In Unirac, we are fortunate to have acquired a market leading PV mounting solutions provider. We look forward to building on Unirac’s history and supporting the management team in implementing their growth plans.”

Greentech Capital served as the advisor to Unirac in this transaction.

About Tenex Capital Management
Tenex Capital Management is a private equity firm that invests in middle-market companies. Tenex uses an in-house team of hybrid investment professionals skilled in operational leadership, investing and capital markets structuring to maximize long-term value creation. Tenex’s deep operating experience allows the firm to collaborate with management teams to capitalize on business and market opportunities. Tenex has established a successful track record investing in diverse industries, including industrials, manufacturing, and health and business services. For additional information, please visit www.tenexcm.com.

About Unirac
Unirac is a leading manufacturer of solar racking in North America. Recognized for our excellence in product development, we provide the best mounting solutions to our customers through competitively priced products, responsive customer support, integrated technology solutions, robust engineering services, certified quality, and supply-chain excellence. With over 15 years of customer service, Unirac is fast approaching 5GW of experience with more than 500,000 installations worth of knowledge; partnering with Unirac leverages experience that makes a difference. For additional information, please visit www.dev.unirac.com.

Media Contact:  Charles Lubecke
Sr. Marketing Project Manager
Unirac, Inc.
1411 Broadway Boulevard NE
Albuquerque, NM 87102
V: 505-462-2167
E: charleslubecke@dev.unirac.com

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SOURCE Unirac, Inc.

ALBUQUERQUE, NM – September 14, 2015 – Unirac, Inc., a Hilti Group Company and leading provider of high quality, competitive PV mounting solutions in North America, and Folsom Labs, the new standard in PV design software, are proud to announce a milestone in the continued evolution of solar software integration.

Projects designed in the HelioScope solar design platform can now be seamlessly imported into Unirac’s U-Builder PV racking design tool for commercial flat ROOFMOUNT projects. The integration of Folsom Labs’ HelioScope with Unirac racking products helps customers streamline their design and engineering process, from initial site assessment to detailed bill of materials and code compliance.

“Folsom Labs continues to evolve, bringing their ground breaking design platform to the solar industry,” says Peter Lorenz, Unirac CEO. “HelioScope has become an essential part of our design process and plays a critical part in Unirac’s effort to simplify the layout, design and project workflow for consumers of our Roof Mount solution.”

“This integration with Unirac represents the future of solar software,” said Paul Gibbs, CEO of Folsom Labs. “By linking Unirac’s U-Builder to the HelioScope platform, our customers are now able to leverage the best of both programs. HelioScope’s rigor makes it the ideal platform for unifying all solar design and sales processes, and Unirac is the ideal partner to showcase the power of that platform.”

For more information about the Helioscope and U-Builder integration, along with Unirac’s full line of innovative PV mounting solutions, please visit us at Solar Power International, Booth 2900 (for Unirac) or Booth 7133 (for Folsom Labs), September 14-17, 2015 in Anaheim, CA.

ALBUQUERQUE, NM – April 20, 2015 – Unirac Inc., a Hilti Group Company and the leading provider of high quality, competitive PV mounting solutions in North America, is proud to announce the Unirac GROUND FIXED TILT (GFT) is in production and ready for shipment today.

The GROUND FIXED TILT (GFT), has evolved from more than 12 years of experience with more than 1 GW of ground mount systems installed worldwide. A synergy of steel components and aluminum parts deliver installation performance with the lowest system cost. Installation savings are captured through efficiently engineered components, pre-assembled parts and integrated bonding for optimized construction sequencing.
“GFT is the outcome of close collaboration with our customers and our product vision for the ground mount market. It’s pre-assembled components save labor steps for faster installation,” said Peter Lorenz. “As with any of our innovations, our goal is to continuously improve our solutions and services while dependably exceeding our customer’s expectations by delivering correctly, efficiently and on-time.”

PowerSecure Solar, a division of PowerSecure International Inc., has awarded Unirac a contract to supply two ground mount projects in Georgia totaling approximately 80MW dc.

ALBUQUERQUE, NM – March 10, 2015 – Unirac Inc. announced today that PowerSecure Solar, a division of PowerSecure International Inc., has awarded the company a contract to supply two ground mount projects in Georgia totaling approximately 80MW dc.

“We are relying on Unirac’s expertise in the engineering, design and deployment of ground mount racking solutions, coupled with their leadership in quality and project management to support our team as we serve our customer on these utility-scale solar projects,” said Benjamin Schneider, President of PowerSecure Solar.

The GROUND FIXED TILT (GFT), releasing in April 2015, has evolved from more than 12 years of experience with more than 1 GW of ground mount systems installed worldwide. A synergy of steel components and aluminum parts deliver installation performance with the lowest system cost. Installation savings are captured through efficiently engineered components, pre-assembled parts and integrated bonding for optimized construction sequencing.
“We are honored to have been selected by PowerSecure to collaborate on integrated services and solutions to safely design, engineer and deliver large scale ground mount systems,” said Peter Lorenz, Unirac CEO. “We have full confidence our newly designed GROUND FIXED TILT (GFT) will exceed their expectations.”

ALBUQUERQUE, NM – October 23, 2014 – Unirac, Inc., a Hilti Group Company and leading provider of high quality, competitive PV mounting solutions in North America, has been selected by NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) to provide a 6.4 MW DC Roof Mount (RM) for installation on the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mandalay Bay, owned and operated by MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM), is MGM Resorts’ first commercial solar project in the United States.

MGM Resorts selected the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Convention Center because of its large south facing rooftop space with roughly 20 acres of optimal surface for solar power production. The completion of the project was announced today, and the rooftop installation will produce 20% of Mandalay Bay’s power demand at peak production.

“When designing one of the largest contiguous rooftop solar installations in the world, racking performance, site logistics and project planning are extremely important,” said Todd Kerschbaum, CEO at Sunora Energy Solutions, the firm responsible for installation. “Unirac’s performance on this project was exemplified by their commitment to delivering products on time, while maximizing our field productivity through efficient product design.”

ROOF MOUNT introduces the Power of Simplicity to the ballasted, flat roof solar industry. The system consists of only two major components, minimizing preparation work and installation time. RM allows installers to seamlessly design around roof obstacles, support most framed modules and bond the system with just the turn of a wrench.

“Our mission is to deliver high-quality solar solutions at the lowest total installed cost, RM is no exception,” said Michael Kennedy, Unirac Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “We are excited to expand our partnership with Sunora and NRG on another high profile project such as Mandalay Bay.”

SolarMount enhancements featuring pre-assembled components and new grounding process launching at Solar Power International

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Oct. 20, 2014 – Unirac, Inc., a Hilti Group Company, announces a new milestone in the continued evolution as the leading provider of high quality, competitive PV mounting solutions in North America. Today, Unirac’s SolarMount system becomes the first residential PV mounting system in North America to provide a revolutionary grounding and bonding process listed to UL2703 that eliminates the need for copper wire and grounding straps from the installation process.

“In a market driven by cost, this method of grounding an array further simplifies installation, enhances safety, and saves on labor and materials costs,” said Peter Lorenz, CEO of Unirac. “The partnership between Unirac and Enphase is a signal that, as leaders of the industry, we need to harness the full potential of cost savings by working together”

SolarMount’s mounting technology when used with Enphase Energy® M215 and M250 Microinverters, meets all grounding and bonding per UL2703. SolarMount’s components feature integrated bonding from the top module clamps to the L-foot, creating a tested bond between the systems modules, racking and microinverters. The Enphase Microinverter’s DC circuit is isolated and insulated from ground, eliminating the need for copper wire.

“Since Enphase introduced integrated ground capability for the M215 and M250 microinverter systems, solar contractors have benefited from shorter installation times, lower copper and other materials costs, and improved safety conditions,” said Martin Fornage, chief technology officer of Enphase. “The UL-listed solution pairing Unirac’s SolarMount with Enphase’s integrated ground technology will provide even more cost-reduction efficiencies to our installation partners.”

All SolarMount integrated bonding components have been extensively tested by TUV Reinland Group, a leading provider of technical services worldwide, and listed to UL2703.

Unirac is introducing new enhancements designed to get installers off the roof faster than ever before. SolarMount’s pre-assembled and integrated bonding mid clamp provides module-to-rail bonding by utilizing patented top mounting technology to penetrate through the anodized finish of rail for a continuous bond through the array, eliminating additional hardware. An integrated bonding splice eliminates bonding jumpers or grounding straps to electrical bond rails across the splice, reducing installation steps and copper to shave total installed cost. Installers can seamlessly fasten the microinverter anywhere along the top of the rail while creating an electric bond.

Unirac is celebrating 15+ years of solar racking innovation at Solar Power International 2014. For more information about Unirac’s full line of innovative PV mounting solutions, please visit us at Booth 306, October 21-23, 2014 in Las Vegas, NV.

ALBUQUERQUE, NM – September 29, 2014 – Unirac Inc. is celebrating its 15 year anniversary since incorporating in 1999, as the leading provider of high quality, competitive PV mounting solutions in North America.

This anniversary marks another milestone for Unirac among many achievements as the leading provider of competitive products, responsive customer support, industry-leading engineering services and excellence in supply-chain management. Unirac is poised to introduce several new products at Solar Power International including groundbreaking enhancements to SolarMount, the standard in residential PV roof mounts, and product innovations in other application segments.

“Unirac has been providing kilowatt to megawatt, cost effective, innovative racking solutions to Affordable Solar for 15 years,” said David Hughes, president and CEO of Affordable Solar. “When we have faced challenges, Unirac is always there to help us, sometimes at great expense. They have integrity and that’s important to me, as it makes it easy to do business with them.”

On September 29, 1999, Unirac was formally incorporated by cofounders John Liebendorfer and Hal Newman in Albuquerque, NM. What started out as a small garage business developing universal pole mounts; today, Unirac has a proven track record of performance with more than 2.8 GW of experience in more than 500,000 installations worldwide since it began servicing customers in 1998.

In speaking about the company’s anniversary this year, Unirac CEO, Peter Lorenz, shared that Unirac’s mantra for success is a focused discipline on serving its partners. “We are a long-term partner to our customers, helping them build successful solar projects and improve the competitiveness of their solar business,” said Lorenz. “We are suppliers, but more importantly, we are partners.”

For more information about Unirac’s full line of innovative PV mounting solutions, please visit us at Solar Power International 2014, Booth 306, October 21-23, 2014 in Las Vegas, NV.