25 years of SOLARA

a success story with solar energy

Today, the use of solar energy is completely standard and general knowledge. For sailboats and motorhomes, a solar module has become a standard product. It is impossible to imagine life without it.

25 years ago, this was quite different. Although there was already a relatively large selection of solar modules, the benefits were unknown to most people. Hardly anyone could imagine that electricity could come from anything other than a socket. Self-generated electricity from solar cells seemed unrealistic, except for pocket calculators. The prevailing opinion was that the amount of sunshine at our latitude would not be sufficient and that the technology was not yet fully developed.

“Education was necessary and would already convince people of solar energy,” said Thomas Rudolph, founder of SOLARA.

In 1987, a world congress on solar energy took place in Hamburg. The message of the experts at that time: After more than 100 years of corresponding research achievements, it was clear that solar energy was a clean alternative to conventional power generation and could be used on a much larger scale than was usual at that time. That was the initial spark and the reason why Thomas Rudolph started working for a Hamburg engineer with a small shop for solar energy in 1988 after his studies.

Rudolph worked there for eight years. Originally he was selling various products, mostly homemade with solar cells, in the shop in Gärtnerstraße. Seamen from faraway countries came and used their wages to buy small solar modules for their families in places without electricity. Soon the shop became known not only to sailors but also to allotment gardeners, yachters and motorhome owners.

In 1996, Thomas Rudolph thought that more people should be able to enjoy solar technology and that selling directly to end customers was not the best way. His idea: where people usually buy their accessories for motorhomes or sailboats, solar technology must also be offered. The managing director of the small engineering firm preferred to stick to his last and let Rudolph move on after eight years of apprenticeship.

With his friend and colleague Hans Jacobs, Thomas Rudolph founded SOLARA in 1996 when he was just 32 years old. The motivation was enormous. Having just become a father and thinking of a future worth living in. With environmentally friendly and infinite solar power for the children of this world. “When my children are grown up, solar systems should be normal on sailboats, mobile homes and even on houses,” was already his idea back then.

Hans Jacobs (l.) and Thomas Rudolph 1996

Hans Jacobs (l.) and Thomas Rudolph 1996

Thanks to a business start-up initiative in Hamburg (HEI), corresponding state loans and guarantees and the Deutsche Bank, which also believed in the future of solar energy, a new company was launched despite the very modest equity of the two founders. SOLARA was born and already had the first employee, Dipl.-Ing. Frank Heise. Who would also be managing partner of SOLARA in 2014 in Hamburg.

After the first attempts came out of the garage and living room from Thomas Rudolph, it was clear that a real office with a warehouse, and as usual small shop had to be found in Hamburg. Quickly a suitable domicile was found in Hamburg Eimsbüttel. The second employee, Bozena Frejlich, has just been hired. To this day, she is the faithful soul in order processing and well-known to all customers worldwide.

The founders initially concentrated almost exclusively on the boat and motor home market in Germany. Own fair stand at all relevant exhibitions and intensive contacts with potential resellers quickly led to the planned success. “We have overcome the skepticism about solar energy and ignorance of their great advantages by emphasizing the benefits and not the technology,” says Thomas Rudolph. Not watts, volts and amps were the focus, but information about which electrical equipment you can operate with solar and how long. The simple representation of the average day (Wh / d) of a solar module was born. Thus it was now easy to bring the electricity demand of the consumers in relation to the solar yield. The specialist was able to quickly identify the customer’s needs and then recommend the appropriate solar module. This was the breakthrough in sales. According to the motto “Make it simple”. Today you would probably say “plug and play”.

First SOLARA M series for sailing boats and sea signs

First SOLARA M series for sailing boats and sea signs

Of course the right products were decisive. Even though the resellers were able to demonstrate the benefits of the SOLARA solar system for sailboats or camper vans, it was above all the message that the solar module is a suitable product. So the SOLARA specialist had to prove to the skeptical customer again and again that sea water or hail is not a problem for solar modules.

SOLARA already had its own development ideas, special requirements and the highest quality requirements were requested of the producers. Surely this is also an important part of the now twenty-year successful existence. Also because camper drivers and sailors exchange their experiences and recommend good products.

Already one year after the founding, the management decided to enter international business, especially in other European countries. All information and user manuals had to be translated into English. English-language sales talks, travelling abroad and trade fairs were now the new challenges. Frank Heise: “At that time still without Euro, with passport and extensive export processing, partly even with customs. Today hardly imaginable in a unified European market. ”

1999: Employees (e.g. bottom row 4th from left Bozena Frejlich, back row 4th from left Frank Heise) and owner (left Thomas Rudolph, back row 5th from left Hans Jacobs) of SOLARA on a company outing to a production site in France.

1999: Employees (e.g. bottom row 4th from left Bozena Frejlich, back row 4th from left Frank Heise) and owner (left Thomas Rudolph, back row 5th from left Hans Jacobs) of SOLARA on a company outing to a production site in France.

The premises were quickly too small and already in 1999 the next move to Hamburg Altona had to be made. In the meantime more than 12 employees were employed at SOLARA, and sales had risen to several million DM.

The high requirements and specifications for the different applications with SOLARA solar modules made it necessary to build up their own production. With the support of his suppliers and the graduate physicist Ralf Hennings from Wismar, who had already had a few years of experience, the SOLARA Sonnenstromfabrik started production in 2001.

2001: Thomas Rudolph (l.) And Ralf Hennigs, Managing Director SOLARA Sonnenstromfabrik during the inspection of the solar cells and connections before laminating

2001: Thomas Rudolph (l.) And Ralf Hennigs, Managing Director SOLARA Sonnenstromfabrik during the inspection of the solar cells and connections before laminating

From then on the development continued in huge steps. The double-digit million mark was quickly broken, and SOLARA was one of the first major players in Europe. With the start of the “100,000 roofing program”, the funding initiative of the Federal Government in 1999, solar modules for grid systems were also manufactured. In 2004, a trade magazine drew SOLARA not only as the best brand of the year, but also supplied the solar modules for the world’s largest roof-mounted system for BMW in Dingolfing, Bavaria.

The production was constantly expanded and finalized in 2008 in a building with 20,000 square meters and a capacity of several hundred megawatts and over 200 employees in Wismar, on the coast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

To cope with this rapid growth, SOLARA had grouped with other companies in 2006 and merged into CentroSolar AG under the listed CentroSolar Group AG. This was a surely wise decision to continue to operate and expand the business model with production and wholesale competitively in the rapidly growing demand and financially strong competitors.

Like many companies, the Centrosolar 2013 had also fallen into the vortex of the decline in the solar industry for grid systems in Germany. In this situation, the SOLARA dissolved again from the Centrosolar Group. With its off-grid applications such as sailing boats and mobile homes but also for extraordinary electrification in Africa, for expeditions and much more, SOLARA continues to be very successful. With a completely revised product portfolio, the company has returned to its headquarters in Hamburg Altona. With the three solar-driven and solar-inspired engineers Frank Heise, Mirko Held and Walter Grauerholz, as managing directors, SOLARA is well positioned for the future.

Frank Heise

SOLARA solar modules still come from the Sonnenstromfabrik in Wismar. The factory can now look back on over 15 years of experience.

Frank Heise: “Innovations, quality and durability are still important to us, and after 25 years I know how to do that. More than 20 years of warranty have been a matter of course for SOLARA since its foundation.”

In this still young industry, SOLARA is a company with a history and is characterised by consistency despite past turbulence.

The vision of SOLARA founder Thomas Rudolph 25 years ago: “When my children grow up, solar systems on sailboats, mobile homes and even houses should be normal” has, as we know today, not only become reality but has been surpassed with well over a million solar systems on house roofs in Germany alone and far more on sailboats and mobile homes worldwide. Today, operators of solar systems can produce a kilowatt-hour for less than 10 cents in Germany. This is far cheaper than the around 30 cents that customers often have to pay energy companies today.

1996
SOLARA Hans Jacobs und Thomas Rudolph

Hans Jacobs und Thomas Rudolph

Hans Jacobs and Thomas Rudolph in front of the first business premises of SOLARA - Energy from sun and wind

Today, the use of solar energy is perfectly normal and widely known. For sailboats and mobile homes, a solar module is now a standard product and it is impossible to imagine life without it. 25 years ago this was completely different …

1997
SOLARA M-Serie

Erste SOLARA M-Serie

First SOLARA M-series

Sales start of the seawater resistant and walkable SOLARA M-series. First presentation at the international fair “Boot Düsseldorf”

1998
SOLARA AG Fahne

Solara AG Fahne

Conversion of the company into a stock corporation. Takeover of the Shell Solar representation for Northern Europe.

1999
SOLARA

Geschäftsräume Hamburg-Altona

Office, exhibition and warehouse in Hamburg-Altona

First move to new business premises in Hamburg-Altona.

2000

Mitarbeiter 1999

SOLARA employees (e.g. bottom row 4th from left Bozena Freijlich, back row 4th from left Frank Heise) and owner (left Thomas Rudolph, back row 5th from left Hans Jacobs) on a company outing to a production facility in France

SOLARA Team – Company outing to France to visit the then largest solar cell factory in Europe and subsequent weekend at the Club Mediterranean in the Alps.

2001
Logo SOLARA

Solara-Logo

Thomas Rudolph und Ralf Hennigs

Managing Director Ralf Henning (right) and Thomas Rudolph assessing the quality

Foundation of SOLARA Sonnenstromfabrik Wismar GmbH.

2002
SOLARA S-Serie

S-Serie

Complete SOLARA S-series

Completion of the SOLARA S-Class module series.

2003
SOLARA Mitarbeiterin an PV-Anlage

Mitarbeiterin an PV-Anlage

Checking the solar cells and connections before processing (lamination)

TQM (Total Quality Management) introduction in the factory.

2004
pro mobil

Beste Marke des Jahres

SOLARA

BMW Aufdachanlage

BMW Building, Dingolfing, Bavaria

SOLARA – Best brand of the year. Worldwide largest roof top system, BMW, Bavaria with SOLARA S-series.

2005
TÜV Zertifikat

TÜV Zertifikat

TÜV certificate

First SOLARA module with TÜV certificate for highest quality.

2006
SOLARA by

Awarded “Best Brands of the Year 2004” by pro mobil.

Awarded "Best Brands of the Year 2004" by pro mobil.

SOLARA becomes part of Centrosolar Group AG. 

2007
SOLARA

Expedition in der Arktis

SOLARA solar technology to supply power to an expedition in the Arctic

Further internationalisation of SOLARA for independent power supply worldwide.

2010
Aufbau der SOLARA Solarstromanlage

Aufbau der SOLARA Solarstromanlage

Installation of the SOLARA solar power plant

Project German Embassy Vientiane, Laos, Vietnam.

2011
SOLARA Solarenergie

solarenergie-sos-kinderdorf-solara

Children of the SOS Children's Village experience SOLARA solar modules

Project SOS Children’s Village Mombassa, Kenya

2013
SOLARA

Centrosolar Katalog

last SOLARA by Centrosolar catalogue 2012/201

Like many companies, 2013 Centrosolar is also caught up in the maelstrom of the demise of the solar industry for grid-connected solar systems in Germany.

In this situation, SOLARA detached itself from the Centrosolar Group again.

2014
Logo SOLARA module. komponenten. systeme

Solara_logo

Solara becomes independent again and presents itself with a new logo.

A complete revision of the Solara solar modules series will follow. The next generation of the M-series and S-series is established on the market.

2015
DCSolar Logo

DCSolar Logo

SOLARA Solaranlagen DC Solar

DC Solar in der Praxis

Introduction of DCSolar as a second brand of Solara GmbH.

2016
SOLARA Solaranlagen

SOLARA nach 25 Jahren

SOLARA continues to be innovative with the latest technology after 25 years.

Highest quality, reliability and especially long life time have been proven over the last 25 years. Even today, our first customers still enjoy SOLARA’s solar technology.

2021

SOLARA now has the largest selection of different solar modules since it was founded 25 years ago.