Roll-a-Rack

Current solar module racking systems are multicomponent, require preordering, transporting, inventorying, and labor-intensive deployment. The patent pending Roll-a-Rack system produces the rack from raw material, on demand and on site during the installation process using portable roll forming. Hardware (material) cost is 30-45% less than competitors, it is two to five times faster to install. A Department of Energy Phase I SBIR confirmed it can reduce the racking cost of solar installations by 30%. In addition to lower cost and faster installation, Roll-a-Rack has the following competitive advantages: Simplifies the supply chain; Provides a tray in which ballast may be optimally distributed; Shields the entire underside of the solar module to minimize wind uplift forces; Electrically connects every module, providing a continuous electrical grounding frame for the entire solar array; and Structurally connects neighboring solar modules which spreads local stresses across multiple modules. 

Global warming is attributable primarily to burning fossil fuels for energy. 78% of CO2e emissions are CO2 from fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes, and additional greenhouse CO2 equivalent is methane emissions associated with fossil fuel energy. Those who are economically disadvantaged, are also most vulnerable to the effects of global warming. Furthermore, burning fossil fuel energy contributes to outdoor air pollution, which is responsible for approximately 2.6 million deaths per year, and to which urban residents are especially vulnerable.

Part of the solution is making solar power cheaper. The price of solar panels has come down considerably in the past decade, but little progress has been made reducing the other costs associated with solar power. Installer overhead, and labor, as well as materials, accounts for about a quarter of the cost: 52 cents per watt out of total costs of $1.95 per watt for smaller arrays (100 kW), The roll-a-rack can reduce the labor time needed to complete installations by half while cutting materials costs by 30-45%. It can also cut installer overhead by simplifying the process of designing and laying out an array. 

Roll-a-Rack is suited for solar array installations on flat rooftops as well as ground installations. A niche market is rapid response, emergency power generation, especially after severe weather-related catastrophes like hurricanes and wildfires. The market is global, with only 10% of the potential market located in the USA. Target customers are solar installers. Additionally, metal roofing installers who use roll form machinery will be targeted to either add solar installation to their offerings or service small solar installers. Roll-a-Rack will market direct to customers using its website, videos, trade publications, trade websites, trade shows, Linked In, and scientific publications. (New Tech Machinery will produce and support the roll forming machinery and Sheffield Metals International will distribute feedstock.)

The Roll-a-Rack will not only benefit direct customers and end-users of solar energy. Most people in the world will benefit from more affordable clean energy. Urban populations, especially in the developing world, live with high levels of air pollution, a leading source of NCDs. Furthermore, the global warming has particularly dire consequences for populations who are already most vulnerable. Solving both air pollution and global warming will require replacing fossil fuels with clean energy, which the Roll-a-Rack is going to help accomplish. 

Current solar module racking systems are multicomponent, require pre-ordering, transporting, inventorying, and labor-intensive deployment. The patent pending Roll-a-Rack system produces the rack from raw material, on demand and onsite during the installation process using portable roll forming. Hardware (material) cost is 30-45% less than competitors and it is two to five times faster to install. A Department of Energy Phase I SBIR study confirmed it can reduce the racking cost of solar installations by 30%. In addition to lower cost and faster installation, Roll-a-Rack has the following competitive advantages: It simplifies the supply chain. It provides a tray in which ballast may be optimally distributed. It shields the entire underside of the solar module to minimize wind uplift forces. It electrically connects every module, providing a continuous electrical grounding frame for the entire solar array. And, it structurally connects neighboring solar modules which spreads local stresses across multiple modules.

New Tech Machinery will produce and support the roll forming machinery and Sheffield Metals International will distribute feedstock. Both companies are owned by the Mazzella Companies conglomerate, and Adam Mazzella, Vice President of Business Development at Newtech Machinery, is on the Advisory Board Roll-a-Rack. The business plan calls for Roll-a-Rack to find and retain the customer while business partners supply the machine and feedstock. This is an example of what is sometimes called a “platform” business plan.  

Acme Express, Inc. will market direct to customers to promote the adoption of Roll-a-Rack technology, using its website, trade publications, trade websites, trade shows, social media, and scientific publications. Acme’s focus is to market and sell Roll-a-Rack and train and support customers in its use. New Tech Machinery will produce and support the roll forming machinery and Sheffield Metals International will distribute feedstock. Acme will collect revenue through three channels. First are franchise fees for installers who use the Roll-a-Rack system. This will be a one-time $5,000 fee. Second is a 10% (anticipated $6,800) commission on sales of machines by NewTech. Eclipsing the other two revenue streams will be sale of feedstock material (sheet metal). Acme will collect between $0.01 and $0.03 in profit per watt of material sold, on sales of $0.08 to $0.10.

The Roll-a-Rack business model is what is often known as a "platform business model." Acme will connect two other agents, the customer (solar installers) and the supplier (NewTech Machinery and Sheffield Metals). This business model allows Acme to improve the business performance of companies on both sides of the transaction, growing the business for manufacturers and making solar installers more efficient and more profitable.

Commercializing the Roll-a-Rack will also be a very economically efficient way to reduce NCDs from air pollution and stave off global warming. It will profitably lead to the replacement of pollution intensive energy sources with clean solar power. Because everyone breaths air, almost everyone will benefit as a result of the Roll-a-Rack, regardless of whether they are customers. Besides reducing NCDs from air pollution, expanding clean energy will help lessen the impacts of extreme weather and sea-level rise from global warming. (10% of the world’s population lives less than 10 meters above sea level according to the UN.)

In the past 10 years, efforts to make solar energy cheaper focused on bringing down the cost of panels, with great success. What has not changed, however, is the cost of the racking systems, and the cost of installing the panels This now accounts for 40% of the cost of an array. Roll-a-Rack is one of the first projects that is focusing on bringing down the cost of racking hardware and installation. This is being accomplished by finding a new use for a mature and reliable technology. 

Roll forming is a mature manufacturing process, but the Roll-a-Rack project is the first to use it for solar panel installations. Machine learning and AI (which Roll-a-Rack will also use) are not quite so mature, but established technologies nonetheless. Roll-a-Rack's use of established technologies for novel purposes means that great social and economic benefits will be achieved without extra-ordinary research and development expenses.

The roll-forming process involves a roll of galvanized sheet metal being unrolled and fed into a machine that will bend it into racks of the desired length for an array of solar panels. This manufacturing process is used today to make seamless gutters and sheet-metal roofing. 

Today, solar power is cost competitive with fossil fuels (about 6 cents per kWh). The Roll-a-Rack project is part of the U.S. Department of Energy's "Sunshot 2030" initiative, which aims to cut that cost in half by 2030. Making renewables the cheapest option on the market is going to lead to their replacing pollution-intensive sources of energy. Global warming and air pollution negatively affect nearly everyone, so virtually every community is well-served by cheaper clean energy. The scale of the problem (2.6 million preventable deaths from outdoor air pollution a year, 7 million from all air pollution, to say nothing of global warming and ocean acidification) means that even small advances for clean energy save countless lives.

Air pollution is a matter of particular concern in dense urban areas (i.e. Delhi, India and Karachi, Pakistan). Air pollution (and climate change) have the most severe effects on populations who are already vulnerable. The top 30 cities with worst air pollution are in developing and least-developed countries. Clean energy benefits most those who are most in need. 

Currently the Roll-a-Rack is in the prototyping process, so nobody has been served yet. While the team has set the target for full-market entry by the fourth quarter of 2020, there is reason to believe that a minimum-viable product will be sold within the next year. The SBIR Phase II Grant we anticipate will provide for beta-testing of 7.5 kW arrays at ~20 sites. Some beta-test sites are likely to wish to build arrays larger than 7.5 kW, and would have the option to pre-order. While some testing and certification of the process will be on-going through the third quarter of 2020, local permits can be obtained to allow installations to begin as soon as NewTech Machinery finishes the prototype roll-forming machine (also funded by the SBIR Phase II Grant). This would likely be within the next year.

We expect to have a minimum of four franchises operating by 2024. The owners of those franchises (perhaps 10 or 20 individuals) would be the people directly served, but this would indirectly serve their several hundred annual customers and would also indirectly benefit everyone who enjoys the positive economic externality of cleaner air and fewer greenhouse gas emissions (nearly all people). With four franchises, operating revenue would be ~1.7 million, and net before tax profits would be about $680,000. This is an extremely conservative estimate of how many franchises would be operating by 2024. It implies a market share of about 1/100th of 1%. 

Within the next year, we hope to complete a prototype roll-forming machine and do a second round of test installations. (We have already done test installations with sheet metal that was manually bent, see video). Then we will finalize the machine design and begin taking orders. (There is a possibility to get pre-orders before the prototype is completed.)

Within five years, we anticipate a minimum of four franchises will be operating, and the Roll-a-Rack project will have an operating profit. As stated under “How Many People are you Currently Serving with Your Solution? How Many Will You Be Serving in 1 Year. How About in Five Years?” the operating profit would be about $680,000 (assuming Roll-a-Rack collects only $0.01 per watt of PV energy installed, as opposed to $0.02 or $0.03). As explained there, this is a very conservative estimate. For a more bullish projection, if the Roll-a-Rack were to account for 10% of the market share, and take $0.03 per watt of installation, operating revenue from sheet-metal sales alone would be ~$4.2 billion. Since the platform nature of the business means the relationship between operating revenue and operating costs is non-linear, the profit margin would be much higher than in the bearish scenario with just 4 franchises. 

Until the Roll-a-Rack generates an operating profit, the Roll-a-Rack project will need to raise some money to pay for overhead expenses and salaries, since the grant funding and loans that are anticipate are restricted mostly to direct R&D. The team also has very limited funds to take the technology to market, which will require traveling to trade shows, advertising in trade publications, etc.

There are no major technological barriers in the next five years. In the next 18 months, the Roll-a-Rack profile will undergo design testing, and will also be tested in a wind-tunnel to establish how much ballast will be needed for an array of a given size. (Preliminary wind-tunnel testing has already been successful.) Final certification, at least in the United States, should be done in the third quarter of 2020.

Entering the international market will require navigating the intellectual property laws of many different countries, which will involve significant expenses. 

In order to raise funds to cover what cannot be funded through grants Roll-a-Rack is applying to entrepreneurship contests such as MIT Solve and the Tiger Challenge (Roll-a-Rack intends to serve the Bangladesh market). The team is also looking for ways to generate operating revenue as early as possible, to provide some liquidity to the project. This includes taking pre-orders for installations within the coming 12 months, if possible. The team is also looking into the possibility of accepting venture capital funding. 

The Roll-a-Rack project is not its own company yet, although it may be soon. Grant applications up to this point have been conducted through Acme Express, which is an S Corporation based in Cleveland Ohio. Acme Express is owned by one of the team members (Don Scipione). 

The project currently has five people working on it. Besides the three team members profiled under “Why are You and your Team Best Positioned to Deliver this Solution?” Jamie Doyle and Jeff Kalt, two project managers at Better Together Solar, one of our partners, are working on beta-testing the technology. 

Team:

Don Scipione, Ph.D., President, is a serial entrepreneur with a forty-year history of successfully commercializing technology, including several SBIR innovations. He developed a thirty country, worldwide distribution channel for Acme products. Myles Murray, M.S., has been working in the solar industry since 2010 as a scientist, project developer and entrepreneur with seven years of experience designing and installing photovoltaic systems. John Turner, M.B.A., was a researcher with the CWRU Department of Economics, and an Intern with the CWRU Office for Sustainability, Eaton Corporation, and BT Solar.

Advisory Board:

Adam Mazzella is Vice President of Business Development at Sheffield Metals International, focusing on sales, marketing, and content development. Sheffield Metals International (Acme’s feedstock distributor) and New Tech Machinery (Acme’s roll forming machine building partner) are both sister companies under the Mazzella Companies umbrella. Brandon Cornuke, M.B.A., is Vice President of Startup Services at MAGNET and Adjunct Professor of Design and Innovation at the Weatherhead School of Management. He leads efforts to help innovators turn product ideas into businesses, specializing in strategy development, business model design, and lean innovation. Howard Shimola, J.D., is partner at Pearne & Gordon LLP with expertise in all phases of intellectual property law, litigation of patents, preparation and prosecution of patent applications, and negotiating and preparing license agreements. Joe Mosbrook, is Managing Partner at Acclaim Communications. He specializes in branding and public relations. Nicole Stika, oversees Greater Cleveland Partnership member's energy portfolios, including implementation of energy which includes efficiency and sustainability programs.

Mazzella Companies

Acme Express has an agreement with Sheffield Metals and New Tech Machinery, both Mazzella Companies. New Tech Machinery will design, manufacture, and ship the Roll-a-Rack machines, and Sheffield Metals will produce the coated metal feedstock for the machines.

Better Together Solar:

Better Together Solar is the largest PV installer in Northeast Ohio, where test sites will be located.  Better Together Solar will be doing test installations using Roll-a-Rack technology.

Cumberland Development LLC, Hemingway Development, and J&M Real Estate Advisors Inc.:

All have submitted a letter declaring their wish that one or more buildings in their possession be the sites of a five to 10 KW Phase II test arrays.

Tech Belt Energy Innovation Center (TBEIC)”

TBEIC has submitted a letter expressing their wish that a building in their possession be the site of a five to 10 KW Phase II test array. They have also referred Acme Express to the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator. 

A strategic relationship has been established between Acme Express, Inc. and two international roll-forming industry suppliers: New Tech Machinery, the leading roll forming manufacturer in the world and Sheffield Metals International, a leader in the distribution of coated coils of sheet material, the feedstock for roll forming machines.

Customers will be licensed to use Roll-a-Rack technology. The license will allow customers to purchase roll forming machinery designed to produce the patent protected Roll-a-Rack profile and require customers to purchase feedstock from Sheffield Metals through Acme Express Inc.

Company income is derived from three sources: an initial license fee, roll forming machine sales commissions, and ongoing feedstock sales. Recurring feedstock sale is by far the largest income source, completely dwarfing (the one-time)

license fee ($5,000) and machine sales commission (a 10% commission on a $68,000 machine franchisees will purchase from New Tech Machinery). The Roll-a-Rack business model envisioned is similar to the razor/blade or printer/ink model where the main profit source is the resale of consumables. In fact, machine cost could potentially be rebated after the customer installs 5 MW of generation capacity with Roll-a-Rack.

Acme Express, Inc. will market to customers to promote the adoption of Roll-a-Rack technology, using its website, videos, trade publications, trade websites, trade shows, Linked In, and scientific publications. Acme’s focus is to market and sell Roll-a-Rack and train and support customers. New Tech Machinery will produce and support the roll forming machinery and Sheffield Metals International will distribute feedstock. 

The Roll-a-Rack project should have positive operating cash flows by 2024, if not sooner. We have prepared pro-forma balance sheets, statements of cash flows, and income statements which we can share.

The project has just completed a $155,000 Phase I SBIR grant from the Department of Energy. On July 9, the project was notified that a Phase II Grant Proposal had passed review. Final approval is anticipated. This will include $1,000,000 for research and development and $50,000 for commercialization. The project has also applied for $250,000 grant from Wells Fargo IN2 Grant administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). After sales start in 2020 or 2021, Acme will pursue $250,000 in dilutive funding from Jumpstart Evergreen Investment.

This funding will cover research and development and some commercialization costs, but cannot be used to pay employees. Roll-a-Rack is applying to MIT Solve and other entrepreneurship competitions hoping to raise money to support the team until the endeavor becomes financially self-sustaining. 

Most of the funding we described earlier can only be used for research and development, with a much smaller portion set aside for commercialization. We are hoping to raise money to support employees until the project generates an operating profit. We also hope that the international network of Solve will help us to publicize the innovation and find customers. The Roll-a-Rack will make clean energy cheaper anywhere it is commercialized. Our team began this project because we want to help ensure a livable climate in the future, and for the Roll-a-Rack to accomplish this goal, it will need to be put to use worldwide. We hope the Solve network can help us reach a global market. 

Thehe project already has several partners, but new partnerships will be extremely valuable for the business. Since the business model is organized around franchising, we are looking to make connections with installers of solar photovoltaic arrays around the world. In the early stages of commercialization, we are also interested in working directly with end-users who would like an installation done on their property using Roll-a-Rack technology.

Because we intend to serve a global market, any partnership that could give us access to legal consultation regarding doing business internationally would be extremely beneficial. Of particular importance will me handling intellectual property. 

While the roll-forming of solar PV racks does not require AI or machine learning, we hope to also use AI and possibly machine learning as well to cut down on the overhead costs for installers (our customers). Today, it’s often the case that an installer will have to use one software application (Helioscope one example) to determine how large array they can build in a given area, and then manually calculate a bill of materials that will be needed to construct the array, and order them specifically for the job. This can take the better part of a manager’s day. Given the value of their time, this represents a considerable expense. Installer overhead costs account for 15% of the total cost of an installation.

We intend to apply existing AI, and possibly machine learning technology, to substantially expedite this process. Using the software platform that will be available to Roll-a-Rack franchisees, users will be able to simply input a picture from Google Earth (or a similar application) and trace the area available in which to build the array. The program will automatically lay out the array, and inform them how much material they need to use. If they need to replenish their inventory, they can then order with one click. 

Making renewables the cheapest option on the market is going to lead to their replacing pollution-intensive sources of energy. Global warming and air pollution negatively affect nearly everyone, so virtually every community is well-served by cheaper clean energy. The scale of the problem (2.6 million preventable deaths from outdoor air pollution a year, 7 million from all air pollution, to say nothing of global warming and ocean acidification) means that even small advances for clean energy save countless lives.

Air pollution is a matter of particular concern in dense urban areas (i.e. Delhi, India and Karachi, Pakistan). Air pollution (and climate change) have the most severe effects on populations who are already vulnerable. The top 30 cities with worst air pollution are in developing and least-developed countries. Clean energy benefits most those who are most in need.

According to the World Health Organization, air pollution is not only a cause of NCDs, but also increases the risks of those exposed for contracting infectious diseases, particularly of the respiratory system. Reducing communicable diseases among the world’s vulnerable populations is one more reason to support affordable clean energy. 

While the roll-forming of solar PV racks does not require AI or machine learning, we hope to also use AI and possibly machine learning as well to cut down on the overhead costs for installers (our customers). Today, it’s often the case that an installer will have to use one software application (Helioscope one example) to determine how large array they can build in a given area, and then manually calculate a bill of materials that will be needed to construct the array, and order them specifically for the job. This can take the better part of a manager’s day. Given the value of their time, this represents a considerable expense. Installer overhead costs account for 15% of the total cost of an installation.

We intend to apply existing AI, and possibly machine learning technology, to substantially expedite this process. Using the software platform that will be available to Roll-a-Rack franchisees, users will be able to simply input a picture from Google Earth (or a similar application) and trace the area available in which to build the array. The program will automatically lay out the array, and inform them how much material they need to use. If they need to replenish their inventory, they can then order with one click.

Approximately 10% of the market for solar photovoltaic installation is in the United States. The United States is the first market where the Roll-a-Rack will be commercialized, and the company is located in Cleveland, OH, providing jobs in the Rust-Belt.