Roof Tech growth has been within the yearly target despite the pandemic. We continue to introduce newer products and also adding additional manufacturing capabilities. We hit record-breaking numbers in the third and fourth quarter of the year despite COVID-19 shut-downs.
COVID-19 & Looking Ahead to 2021 and Beyond, Insights from Roof Tech
Q&A with Milton Nogueira, Senior Business Development Manager | Roof Tech, Inc.
Tell us about yourself and your company.
Roof Tech is the first U.S. subsidiary of Yanegiken, a company renowned in Japan for more than five decades of innovative roofing technologies. Roof Tech brings these unique PV mounting solutions to the U.S. solar market. Headquartered in Southern California, our national sales teams are in place to provide superior service to installers and distributors throughout North America.
How has COVID-19 changed the way your company does business?
Our National Sales team has already been working remotely, so when the stay home orders were placed, travel and visiting customers were the most impacted. It has been a learning curve to make face-to-face meetings through a computer screen and we just jumped in that wagon along with many other industries. We placed additional resources on webinars and online slide presentations, and it kept us close to our customers. Our toughest obstacle with COVID-19 was shipping. A lot of the ports to the pacific coast were shut down or delayed in at the harbor. Although there was a slower demand at the end of the first quarter, solar installations kept on the rise and it was a bit challenging to do more business with a slower flow of products due to inbound shipping issues.
Have your growth and investment plans changed in the wake of COVID-19?
Roof Tech growth has been within the yearly target despite the pandemic.
We continue to introduce newer products and also adding additional manufacturing capabilities. We hit record-breaking numbers in the third and fourth quarter of the year despite COVID-19 shut-downs in certain industries.
During this pandemic share with us some of the new products and services your company has introduced and how you were able to continue to innovate under the circumstances.
A major development for us has been the development of an estimator tool available to all from our website to assist in the design of the APEX rail-less PV mounting system designs. The introduction of hybrid attachments to roof rafters and roof decking have also been added to the calculator tool for a quick check of maximum spans for (1/2” Plywood, Rafters, and 7/16” OSB). We are working on the development of newer B.O.S. components for rooftop PV installations. Installers using the RT- MINI will also benefit from a slight change in the design that will reduce its price and improve its structural capabilities. Both RT-MINI and RT-APEX received a TAS-100 certification in 2020.
What are the biggest challenges facing the solar industry today?
In California, for instance, the challenge is Net Metering. Since other utilities in the country follow the policies of California, I believe this is the most urgent challenge to be addressed. It is CALSSAS (California Solar and Storage Association) priority.
What has you optimistic about Renewable Energy in 2021 and beyond?
We are optimistic about the future of renewables. It is the only way to move forward, and this is clear as far as the energy priorities of the current administration. But we need to support the solar organizations working on behalf of our industry and policy.
The content & opinions in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of AltEnergyMag
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