Start-up aims to help renewable energy firms locate best sites — with one click

A young immigrant from Argentina says his company can save renewable energy businesses billions of dollars by finding the most suitable land for solar and agri-voltaic panels at the click of a button.

Tel Aviv-based Matias Sigal, 26, co-founded REplace (Renewable Energy place) together with fellow Argentinian Alan Algamis, after working for four years at a tech company in the energy field.

“I had to find places to build renewable energy projects,” he said. “Some of my projects failed because of the location we chose. I started talking to solar developers about how they found the location. They do it manually, checking data on a map. It can take one-to-six months.”

Sigal said he discovered that 80 percent of renewable energy projects failed because of the site selection. Businesses tripped up primarily over issues of land ownership, connection to the electricity grid, environment and permits, and landscape, he went on.

Problematic sites might slope too much, or attract the sun at a less than optimal angle, he explained. The landowner might be growing profitable crops and be unlikely to want panels. Or panels might be prohibited because the site adjoins a nature reserve.

REplace has put together 40 parameters of data — some built in-house, others from open sources — that relate to the four categories that cause the most problems.

Matias Sigal (left) and Alan Algamis, co-founders of REplace. (Courtesy, Techstars Tel Aviv)

“Laying one kilometer of electric cable costs $1 million,” Sigal said, by way of another example. “If I can find land that’s, say, five kilometers closer to the connection point, the cost of the project is automatically $5 million less. [That’s] one example of our 40 parameters. Over 25 years, a piece of land with 2% more radiation will produce more electricity and better profits.”

“Take California,” Sigal continued. “There are three million parcels of land. Let’s say we want to check all those parcels according to the 40 parameters of data that we use. It would take us 150 years. And we do it in one click with the algorithm we’ve developed.”

The algorithm could save renewable energy companies “billions,” Sigal went on, adding that in addition to saving money, REplace also seeks to help maximize a firm’s return on investment.

An example from REplace’s technology. (Courtesy, REplace)

Now with eight employees, the company has raised $550,000 from 11 investors. Eight of these are “very strategic Israeli angel investors,” according to Sigal, who manages the business side. Grants have come from the National Center for Blue Economy’s incubator, the Techstars Tel Aviv incubator, and 4WARD.VC.

REplace is currently working on pilot projects with three companies, and has signed an additional four letters of intent.

It is seeking overseas sites for two utility-scale solar projects for Israel’s Doral Energy and a family firm. And it is looking for land for an agri-voltaic project in Israel for the Israel branch of the huge global renewable energy company, EDF Renewables, a subsidiary of the French utility EDF Group. Agri-voltaic panels help with crop growth while simultaneously producing energy.

The company, which is heading towards commercialization of its technology, plans to work in additional countries, and to build additional proprietary data and features, Sigal said.

REplace had three main competitors — two in the US and one in Europe, he added. They offered a product that was like a map with aggregated data. “You get the information, but you still need to check the parcels manually and validate what’s best,” Sigal said.  

Sigal said his main impetus for immigrating to Israel was its tech ecosystem and work culture.

“In Israel, big-league people with companies worth billions were just happy to give me an hour. I think everyone’s an entrepreneur here,” he explained.

“When I try to sign a pilot overseas, the companies say, ‘Sounds great, call me when the product is ready.’ In Israel, the people I talked to were entrepreneurs themselves and said, ‘Great — let’s sign, and then you’ll deliver.’ This makes the difference. With this traction, you can get money, build a product, and sell.”