By THE HAGUE / BOSTON – Dutch solar company Eternal Sun announces the purchase of Spire Corporation’s sun simulator technology division.
Objective testing has a critical part to play in developing a mature, global industry which can compete with the full range of energy sources in today’s demanding cost environment. In acquiring these assets, Eternal Sun takes the next step in its journey to become the international leader in the development and testing of solar panels.
Eternal Sun was founded in 2011 by Chokri Mousaoui and Stefan Roest and is based in The Hague. It takes over the solar testing division of Spire Corporation in an asset deal funded through a capital injection from Eternal Sun’s current investor, the Belgium family fund Vermec NV.
The two companies address different markets, and together are able to offer quality control, insight and confidence across the entire supply chain. R&D institutions use Eternal Sun’s patented solid state (continuous light) technology to emulate sunlight accurately with up to 98% accuracy, while the manufacturers use Spire’s flash technology to provide quality assurance during manufacture.
In addition to this complementary technology, Eternal Sun will benefit from the brand, market access and talent pool of the Spire employees related to the simulator business.
“This deal places us well to compete in the dynamic solar manufacturing industry in Asia, and to continue to disrupt the R&D market across the globe” says Chokri Mousaoui, CEO of Eternal Sun.
“Over the last five years we have worked tirelessly to grow our company from a Dutch startup to a global solar player.
Today marks the exciting next step of this journey as we acquire a respected business line and move forward with our ambitious growth plans with renewed pace and with the confidence that we can serve our worldwide customers throughout future cycles of our industry’s growth.” adds Mousaoui.
Eternal Sun serves customers across the world by focusing on customer needs and creating products that meet those needs. This deal brings Eternal Sun’s customer-focused rigor to Spire’s simulator customers and reinvigorates its innovation pipeline. Customers will certainly benefit from the unique and dynamic experience Eternal Sun brings to the industry and this deal places Eternal Sun in a very favorable position to respond to increasing demands, under a new company operating as Spire Solar, LLC.
About Eternal Sun
Eternal Sun develops systems with patented continuous solar simulation technology. The technique, developed at Delft University of Technology, is used worldwide for testing of products on quality norms and degradation effects. Eternal Sun is a graduate of incubator YES!Delft, won the Global Ideas Award at the Cleantech Open Global Forum in Silicon Valley in 2013. In 2014 the Belgium family fund Vermec NV invested in the company. In 2015, PV Magazine proclaimed Eternal Sun as the number 1 of top 50 innovations in solar energy industry. The solar testing division acquired by Eternal Sun will operate
under the name Spire Solar with a new headquarters in Massachusetts. Eternal Sun also acquired Spire Corporation’s regional office in Asia, established in Taiwan, as part of the acquisition. Many of Spire’s employees with specialist skills have been offered employment with Eternal Sun.
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